Users of assistive technology are like anyone else in the sense that they don’t want to look different. We all want to go about our daily lives feeling confident, and basically just fitting in. The items that we are looking at fill an assistive technology need and also doesn’t make an individual stand out.
Katherine called IPAT because she was having difficulty putting her shoes on because of Rheumatoid Arthritis in several areas of her body, to include her hands and hips. She found it difficult to put on her shoes because of the stress of bending over, from a standing or sitting position. When she was able to get her shoes on the next obstacle was she was unable to tie her shoelaces. One of the options she had considered were shoes with Velcro straps to make it easier to tie the laces. Put simply, she did not like the look of these shoes.
IPAT was able to show Katherine other options to make getting shoes on easier while also letting her choose the style, look, and feel she liked best. Two items made this possible, a long-handled shoe horn and elastic shoelaces. The great part about the elastic shoelaces is that they are tied once, allowing the user to slide in and out of the shoe. Katherine was able to sit in a chair or stand and comfortably use the shoe horn and the elastic shoelaces flexed enough to place her feet in the shoes. Katherine noted, “I am able to independently put my shoes on and I get to wear the shoes that I like.”
There are many choices for these two items, here is a Google image search for both. If you have other questions just let us know.
Elastic Shoelaces: http://goo.gl/YWGzbJ
Long Handle Shoe Horn: http://goo.gl/FAAv9t