Animals As Assistive Technology

by Nubyaan Scott, Program Coordinator for the AT Network

There are many different definitions for “Assistive Technology (AT)”. I usually rely on a fairly simple explanation: AT is any tool used by a person with a disability to do things for themselves that might otherwise be difficult to do. Under that definition many things can be a form of AT, including animals!

I think it is safe to say that anyone who has ever heard of the term “service animal” associates that phrase with guide dogs who assist people who are blind or have low vision. Guide

guidedogs.blogspot

dogs have been working in the United States since the 1920s, and are still a present part of society. The presence of guide dogs opened the door for people with disabilities to find a variety of animals that could provide them with service, support, or therapy –and many animals provide all three. I’d like to share with you some examples of animals being used as AT that may be a bit “outside of the box”.

 

Guide Horses

The Guide Horse Foundation provides ponies to individuals who are blind, as a way to increase their mobility. The program is relatively new and considered experimental. One might wonder why a person who is blind doesn’t just get a guide dog. Well, I am sure that you know at least a few people who are not dog lovers, are allergic to dogs, or do not live in dog-friendly housing. And, an added bonus of having a Guide Horse is that horses have longer life spans than most other guide animals.

Monkey Helpers

monkeyhelpers.com

Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers has been providing adults with spinal cord injuries or other disabilities that limit mobility with trained Capuchin service monkeys that assist with daily tasks. The monkeys are given customized in-home training in their new environments and they are provided at no-cost to the recipient. A monkey helper can assist with tasks like scratching itches, retrieving dropped objects, inserting straws into bottles, turning on buttons/switches, repositioning limbs on a wheelchair, and many other things. At some point towards the end of their lives, monkey helpers will need to be retired from service. At that time, they can be placed by Monkey Helpers into homes that will care for the monkey’s needs.

Emotional Support Animals

While many service animals also become companions to those that they help, they are legally separate from emotional support animals (ESAs). The main legal difference is that ESAs have less restrictive legal definitions, and are also therefore given less legal protection. For instance, a service animal has a legal right to accompany their handler to hotels and pretty much any other public place, but an emotional support animal does not have that legal right. ESAs are given two main legal protections: 1) they can fly with their handler, and, 2) they can live in housing that does not allow pets. And, skipping all of the legal gobbledygook, they are mainly different from service animals because they do not perform any specific service tasks. Emotional support animals help to ease the emotional or psychiatric symptoms of their companion’s disabilities. As a result, ESAs come in all breeds, shapes, sizes, and species.

Keep in mind that this is a general summary of the rules and regulations regarding emotional support animals. You can read Disability Rights California’s guide on the subject, for a more in-depth explanation: http://www.disabilityrightsca.org/pubs/548301.pdf

Read-to-Pet Programs

http://blog.betterworldbooks.com

Read-to-pet programs are set up to provide support to people who are learning how to read. Think back to when you were learning to read—you may remember it as a stressful experience. These programs are meant to ease the tension that can build within new readers. Many programs have found success in having learners read to dogs, which helps people to regain their confidence and not give up on reading even when it is difficult. The programs that take place are just as they sound for the most part. Readers are allowed to read to a dog, which helps to provide a calm environment, and consequently helps to develop reading skills.

Hippotherapy

healingstridesofva.org

Hippotherapy is a physical, occupational, and speech-language therapy treatment strategy that uses equine movement as part of an incorporated intervention plan to achieve practical results. Hippotherapy can help organize the nervous system by establishing new neuro-pathways. The movement of a horse creates a particular rhythm which stimulates muscles in the rider, as if the person were walking. The process can result in improved balance, coordination, flexibility, and strength. Hippotherapy can help with disabilities like attention deficit disorder, back pain, developmental delays, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injuries, and stroke.

Operation Purple Program

Operation Purple is a camp for children who have a parent who is deployed in the military. Having a deployed parent is a very stressful experience for a child. So, the American Humane Association’s Animal-Assisted Therapy Program collaborated with the National Military Family Association to provide trained therapy dogs at their Operation Purple camps. Through their interactions, the dogs provide a calm presence and can create the feeling of a safe environment. This can help the children to communicate any fear, anger, or feelings of uncertainty.

I hope you were able to learn a fun fact or two from this blog! Please share your experiences with animals being used as assistive technology.

Cruising With a Wheelchair

by Shannon Coe, Program Coordinator for the AT Network

Over the 2013 Christmas Holiday, I went on a 7-day Caribbean cruise with my husband and 1-year old daughter.   

It was our first family vacation together and our first time on a cruise.  

I use both a manual and a power wheelchair, so I informed my travel agent that I needed a wheelchair accessible room and other accommodations. I was told that wheelchair accessible rooms do get booked quickly.  Fortunately, my agent was able to find an accessible room on Carnival Cruise Line.   Even though my manual wheelchair is tiny, it would not have even been able to enter a standard room because the doorways and rooms on the ship are extremely tiny and narrow, there is enough room to fit you and your suitcase and that is it. Fortunately, in the accessible room, there was quite a bit more space.

Shannon and her family on the Carnival cruise ship in Cozumel, Mexico

I also had to decide whether it would best to take my manual or power wheelchair.  The travel agent told me that the port in Belize City would be tendered, which means I would need to board a smaller boat in order to bring me to land because the ship is not docked to a gangway for me to wheel off of the ship.  This would not be possible to do in a power wheelchair. I wanted to see Belize City and do the excursions that were available there, so I decided that I would take my manual chair. 

When it came time to tender in Belize City, my husband found another passenger to hold our toddler and keep an eye on her. Then my husband carried me piggy back style down a flight of small and narrow steps.  We have learned through experience that this is the best way for him to carry me so that he can see the steps without tripping.  After he put me down on a seat, he went back up to the ship to get my wheelchair and bring it down to the small boat and then went back again for our daughter.  We got to then go spend the day in Belize.

Luckily, when we returned to the cruise, the two staff members on the smaller boat (not associated with Carnival) offered to lift me up to the ship in my wheelchair so that my husband didn't have to carry me and make three trips.  One person lifted the back of my wheelchair and the other held on to the front of the chair for support.

Although some of the on-board activities, outside excursions, and ports were not wheelchair accessible, my family had a great time eating three rounds of lobster tails, visiting Mayan ruins, relaxing on the beach, hanging out with the monkeys, seeing shows, and many other fun activities on the cruise.  We may not do 16 cruises as some of the passengers have already done but we decided after this trip that we would cruise again.  Next cruise- Alaska!

Below are some more cruising tips for passengers with disabilities:

• You have priority boarding and embarking at all ports.  There are porters to help you with your  luggage from the port to the ship when you arrive on the first day.  But, there are no porters on the ship to assist you with luggage to the port on the return trip.  Your luggage will need to be ready the night before so the cabin staff can take them down to the luggage port.

• For dining, you should select a time that you will want to eat your meals - which you can schedule ahead of time- or you will have to wait in a line for awhile to be seated. We didn't do this and regretted not setting up the meal times before the trip.

• Except for the waterslide and ropes course, most activities and places on the ship were easily accessible.  The laundry room was not wheelchair accessible, and the doorways were narrow and the machines were stacked so it would be difficult to reach them if you wanted to do your own laundry while on the ship. There is an option to have the ship do your laundry, but it is expensive.  Take plenty of clothes so you won’t need to do laundry or have someone you know do it for you.

Have you cruised before with any assistive technology?  Please share your experience in the comment box below. 

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

by Samantha Garcia, CFILC Office & Logistics Coordinator

Growing up, I would frequently spend a couple of weeks each summer in San Diego with my aunt, uncle, cousins and an old family friend who was wonderfully sweet. She would always take my cousin and me for a special treat at the start of the trip but, many times, we would end up walking through a department store that would make her so sick we would have to step outside and rest for a while. Although she knew this meant she was sensitive to chemical fragrances, what none of us knew then was that she was not alone.

 

In many ways, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is what it sounds like: a heightened sensitivity to chemicals. However, there are a lot of variables, misunderstandings, and much confusion when it comes to elements of MCS.

People with chemical sensitivity develop symptoms after "exposure to chemical, biological or other physical agents" (WebMD.com). Symptoms can begin after inhaling, touching or ingesting such agents as insecticides, pesticides, fresh paint, new carpet, cleaning products, smoke, perfumes, car exhaust, etc.

Symptoms range from "headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, congestion, itching, sneezing, sore throat, chest pains, changes in heart rhythm, breathing problems, muscle pain or stiffness, skin rash, diarrhea, bloating, gas, confusion, trouble concentrating, memory problems and mood change." (WebMD.com)

Although experts are unable to put their finger on exactly why these reactions happen to some people, MCS symptoms can be caused by many things, such as a single chemical event, physical injuries,  and/or pre-existing allergies or conditions such as eczema or asthma.

According to invisibledisabilities.org, perfumes, once made from natural ingredients, now use crude oil or turpentine as a base for synthetically-created scents. All of these chemicals and harsh environmental compounds just add to the millions of other toxins we are exposed to every day, which impacts the health of everyone. Additionally, people who have multiple chemical sensitivities are extra sensitive to these chemicals and can have immediate and serious immune responses.

Although it is recognized in many studies that MCS "frequently involves imbalances in a person's nervous, immune and endocrine (hormonal) systems" (chemicalsensitivityfoundation.org), some organizations do not yet recognize Multiple Chemical Sensitivity as a distinct disability, as they claim symptoms and the suspected causes range so widely from case to case, it cannot be identified as such.

However, my old family friend was not the last person I encountered with very real reactions to chemicals. When I was in college, I noticed a rash on my arm that I was worried could have any number of causes. When I went to the doctor, we ran through several potential options before realizing it was being caused by the new detergent I was using to wash my clothes. Although I had not had noticeable issues before from the heavily fragranced laundry soaps I had always used, I suddenly could no longer use any soaps or lotions with fragrance in them without breaking out into a rash when they touched my skin. My symptoms were very minor compared to some but, to this day, I use fragrance and dye-free detergent and chemical-free home and health products, which my skin is very thankful for!

If you find that you are experiencing symptoms of MCS when you are exposed to different agents or if you have someone in your life that is, multiplechemicalsensitivity.org reminds readers that "avoidance is key."  In addition to changing the personal and home products you buy and use, you can consider the kind of energy you use, appliances you have, cleaning supplies and paints in your home, and move work areas away from common sources of symptoms such as copiers and printers. If you're in a pinch in a particular moment, make sure to go outside and get fresh air or move to a different environment. Check out chemicalsensitivityfoundation.org for more on how to make changes at work or in the home to improve the quality of life of someone with MCS!

Have you ever experienced any chemical sensitivity?  Do you have some tips for others that do?  Please leave a comment in the box below.

AT for the Kitchen

by Nubyaan Scott, Program Coordinator for the AT Network

Do you know someone who loves to cook and is limited by mobility in the kitchen?

Do you love to cook and want to make kitchen tasks easier on yourself?

Here are a few ideas for some kitchen AT that can help make you and your loved one's time in the kitchen more pleasant.

       

      E-Z Open Grip Claw

•     This little device can be helpful for those who have limited flexibility in their hands or wrists. It can be used for hard-to-open jars and containers, and even door knobs.

Juvo E-Z Open Grip Claw

       Good Grips Utensils

•    These utensils are adjustable and easy to grip. And, the knife can be useful for those with limited upper-body strength, because it is designed to allow cutting with minimal force.

Good Grips Utensils

         Cookbook Holder

•     If you love to try new recipes, a cookbook holder can be a great low-tech addition to your kitchen. It can also be helpful for those with limited upper-body strength, or for people who move with the assistance of a mobility device.

Acrylic Cookbook Holder

         Folding Pan Holder

•     This device keeps a pan from turning while you are mixing or sautéing on a stovetop. It is adjustable and can hold a pan up to two quarts.

Folding Pan Holder

         Select-A-Spice Carousel

•     This is a spice rack that can store, measure, and dispense up to 12 of your go-to spices. If measuring out spices takes longer than you’d like, this could make things easier for you. It has a dial which gives out a selected spice, ¼ teaspoon at a time. It also features labels for 55 spices and a clear window for each container, so you’ll always know what you’re dispensing.

Satin Pro Select-A-Spice Carousel by KitchenArt

         Talking Digital Scale

•    This scale might be a good addition to your kitchen if you are unable to read the weight of your food items. The scale will read items’ weights aloud and has a feature which will turn it off automatically after a few minutes of non-use. 

Talking Digital Scale

Have you found any useful AT for the kitchen? Share it with us in the comment box below.