Design for disability

[LouisTProductDesign]

Hi everyone!

I am a university student studying product design and am looking to design a product that will help make living with a disability easier. Would anyone living with a disability or anyone that knows someone with a disability be able to tell me some of the day to day problems that are encountered (it can be as simple as opening a jar or as complex as driving a car)? Any help would be much appreciated, thank you!

[reddivine]

Thats a bit of a vague and hopelessly wide remit. Anyone on here can tell you of a zillion challenges in daily life. There are already many products on the market.
Let's see, i use an electric can opener, jar-lid opener, temporary ramp (bought off internet & meant for traffic). A grabber which basically picks things up you can't reach.
Day to day problems: changing a lightbulb when you can't stand on a chair. Gardening: when you cannot lift, dig, bend down much.
Getting dressed when your legs don't work and you can't put tights.

Here's a question: how do you stop metal spokes on a wheelchair from going rusty?

[nukecad]

Here's a question: how do you stop metal spokes on a wheelchair from going rusty?

Hint; this has been discussed on here before-
http://www.youreable.com/forums/show...heelchair-care!

(I like the clear nail-varnish idea, or even try coloured if you want fancy spokes).

[sea queen]

My daughters wheelchairs never live long enough for the metal spokes to go rusty

[Caley]

If someone could design something to stop walking sticks falling over that would be great. The amount of times I prop mine against something while I'm at a till in a shop or sat in a café/classroom at uni etc and it falls over drives me crazy, and I then have to bend to pick it up unless some kind person does it for me (which they often do). It's the same with my hubby's elbow crutches. I've often said if I was an inventor I'd invent something that either stops them falling over in the first place or makes them spring back upright so us folk with bad knees/hips/backs etc don't have to scrabble around trying to retrieve them off the floor ourselves.

[beau]

I have wrist straps on mine so they just dangle, no need to prop them anywhere

[reddivine]

I had the wrist straps too, but sometimes you needed to scrabble thru purse/handbag etc and I frequently demolished shop counters by them falling over. Plus having it hang on one wrist was stressing the wrist - you know if you put a key in a door, your lifting your arm - heavy stick hanging off it....

[beau]

All my sticks are very strong and wood but very light weight so dangling from my wrist is not a problem. Bought them from the Ukraine as you can't get anything like them over here.

[Lighttouch]

If you go inside any supermarket accessible toilet - 9 times out of 10 you will find the long red vertical string emergency pull cord has been tied up and is out of reach should a disabled person find themselves on the floor and need assistance.

The cleaners like to tie it up while they mop the floor but never release it after cleaning.

Come up with an alternative emergency pull cord system that works!

[Kaff79]

My biggest problem is not being able to cook tea. I'm in too much pain and mentally tired to do it. Microwave meal isn't good enough, their are 3 of us to feed. I'd like to have a way of overcoming that! And the pain!!