How do “adaptive devices” help with everyday activities? - Kim Eberhardt Muir, MS

So, occupational therapists frequently will introduce adaptive devices to allow people to feed themselves.   Whether it be cuffs you wear on your hand, or foam handles you can put on utensils, writing utensils, shaving, for toothbrushes, things like that.  There are also adaptive devices to help you push your chair better.  Gloves that have some friction on them, they also help to help you transfer, and that’s a nice thing when you’re using a sliding board, you can use them to pivot, and support yourself better.  There are leg straps that allow you to move up and down from a mat.  There are bed ladders out there that can be custom-made, that you can use to pull yourself to a seated position.  There are also a lot of things out there to help you with basic needs such as putting on socks, putting a shirt on, putting pants on.  And, occupational therapy can prescribe those after they kind of assess where you’re at.