Development of technology to aid the disabled. From pegleg to osseointegration

Most of you know by now that my girlfriend and I are both amputees and possibly also that my mum is totally blind and deaf.

I thought I'd start a thread explaining how aids for the disabled have developed during my mum's and my lifetime if anyone is interested.

If there's anything that you've experienced yourselves, wonder about or would like to ask about how technology has changed or how we go about our daily lives this is the place to do it.

Re: Development of technology to aid the disabled. From pegleg to osseointegration

You have a positive, upbeat attitude Ullabi.

I'd be interested to learn how things have improved.

Re: Development of technology to aid the disabled. From pegleg to osseointegration

Quite a brave thing to do Ullabi, to be so open regarding your disabilities, all credit to you for being so stoical and I look forward to hearing of what tech developments can do to improve the lives of the disabled.

Re: Development of technology to aid the disabled. From pegleg to osseointegration

The hand controls in cars have come a long way in design. The accelerator on the first hand controls we had consisted of a ring on long rod that went down the centre of the steering column. A purely mechanical arrangement that meant replacing the entire steering column with a modified one (Kempf hand controls fitted to a Renault Laguna). The ring and rod could be removed for non-disabled driving.

The accelerator on the present car is still a ring that sits just inside the steering wheel but it is fixed and cannot be removed. The ring operates a potentiometer that couples wirelessly to a receiver. The receiver controls the accelerator mechanism (Guido Simplex hand controls on a Renault Kangoo).

The accelerator potentiometer would normally couple via the horn brush and ring (the horn button being moved to the brake lever arm) but on the Kangoo this proved unreliable, so the wireless coupling was done instead. All clever stuff eh?

Re: Development of technology to aid the disabled. From pegleg to osseointegration

Ullabi, I would agree things have really improved for the disabled over the years, especially with motorised equipment and vehicles. The adapted cars must give so much help and freedom.

The way houses for the disabled and elderly are built or adapted these days. They now take into consideration the height of electric sockets, the width of doors, the specialised equipment and many other things to give the disabled or elderly person an easier way of managing.

How you manage, l will never know but it sounds like you have taken it all in your stride and you are carrying on regardless which is brilliant!

Re: Development of technology to aid the disabled. From pegleg to osseointegration

It's the simple things I have found, not enough lowered kerbs, ramps, cobbles - that sort of thing.

Re: Development of technology to aid the disabled. From pegleg to osseointegration

I agree Poo. I assume you also use a wheelchair?

For a society that’s supposed to be accessible to all Sweden still has quite a long way to go.

I helped our local branch of the Association for the Disabled do an inventory of shops in town. Over half were totally inaccessible to wheelchairs and in many of those that were ”accessible”, the ramps were so steep you couldn’t get up them without help.

Another thing I’ve found is that many shops cram in so much stuff that it’s almost impossible to get round in a chair or for that matter for young mums with prams.

Re: Development of technology to aid the disabled. From pegleg to osseointegration

I remember taking part in a disability awareness day at work several years ago. Our team of 4 people were assigned the task of taking a wheelchair user on a tour of the university campus. My goodness, was this an eye opener! Nowhere near enough dropped kerbs - and when we did find one, more often than not a car was parked across it (parking being a perennial problem - too many cars, not enough parking spaces).

We encountered random things blocking the footpaths - sometimes cars parked half on and half off, 'cherry picker' powered access platforms with workmen attending to whatever it is that workmen attend to on these things. Or there'd be 'A frame' signs advertising something or other (not endorsed by the University, but nevertheless local advertisers would still place them until someone got round to moving them!). Delivery drivers unloading pallets of food, stationery, furniture etc, all piled on the footpath before being trundled off to wherever. Easy for an able bodied person to just step off the kerb and walk round, but for someone in a wheelchair? It can mean having to double back and look for a dropped kerb, or make a long detour, just to get maybe a few yards past that obstruction.

Having to negotiate all these obstacles in a wheelchair meant that getting about took twice as long as was really necessary, and anyone using a self propelled manual wheelchair would be exhausted.

The day certainly made us all so much more aware of the difficulties disabled people encounter in their everyday lives. I take my hat off to you Ulla, you are so stoical about your situation, and are clearly not allowing it to stop you enjoying life as much as you possibly can. An inspiration to us all

Re: Development of technology to aid the disabled. From pegleg to osseointegration

I would like to second that .

Re: Development of technology to aid the disabled. From pegleg to osseointegration

I would like to do the same. I didn't do so before because I thought the thread was about the technologies involved in being disabled, hence the writing about hand controls.