I went to the mall the Saturday before Christmas. I had been avoiding the mall because of crowds, but there was something I HAD to get. You know the drill. Anyway, I braced myself for aggressive shoppers and crowds. Boy was I surprised!

It was early enough in the day for the crowds to still be manageable. Sure, there were lots of people, but they were either already on a line somewhere, or spread out throughout the stores browsing. Whew. I made a beeline for what I needed, found a cashier who wasn’t overwhelmed. Done.

I had a little while before my ride was due to pick me up, so I decided to browse and enjoy the festiveness of the mall. Mistake. Actually, huge mistake. Now it was me and a bag. Allow me to describe myself a little more: not a wheelchair, walker or rollator, just my purse held close to my body and a bag. In addition, I am not a large person. So how come I bumped into everything as I browsed in the stores? It wasn’t my lack of balance or low vision clouding my depth perception.

These weren’t the bargain stores, either, but brand names like Harry and David, Williams Sonoma, Restoration. Product was protruding everywhere. The stores seem to try to make use of every possible square inch, filling it with temptations, signage and tripping hazards.

Has anyone ever done a study on whether sales improve or decline when a store is set up this way? I know my holiday spirit was knocked right out of me and I went to the agreed pick-up point ½ hour early. What would you do? All I can say is “Hooray for online shopping!” where the path is clear, I just have to start a little earlier and know what I want.

You see, sometimes you just don’t need to buy that daily living aid you’re shopping for. Why? The answer is simple: It’s not right for your needs and it’s going to cause more frustration than good.

The key to avoiding this is to analyze what the problem is and then look for the simplest way to resolve it. For example, say a customer calls and tells me their mother can’t use the phone and wants to know what I’d recommend. Well, I’d respond by asking for more details. Why can’t mom use the phone anymore? Is she having trouble dialing because she can’t see the numbers on the buttons? Is she having trouble holding the handset because she has arthritis? Is she having trouble hearing the person calling her? For each of these three problems I can recommend three different solutions, and several products. The key is the details.

If mom’s only trouble is holding the handset, then a speakerphone or a headset can help. If she can hold the handset just fine, but can’t see the numbers to dial, I’d recommend a voice activated dialer. That is UNLESS she has severe memory issues. The Vocally 3 Dialer responds to pre-programmed commands, and if mom says Bobby but the command is Robert the dialer will get confused. Of course, if the problem is her hearing then there are amplified products I’d recommend.

Our home assessments are a great way to figure out what you need before you buy. They’re written to help you determine which tasks you need help with and they do that without assuming the popular solution is always the right solution. People ask me about the popularity of products all the time, and I always tell them that popular does not equal universal. One hundred people might swear up and down that a product is a life saver, but it might make you homicidal.

Of course, the home assessments are just one way to analyze trouble. You can also get an unbiased third party involved: an occupational therapist. It’s especially important to consult an OT before purchasing something large and difficult to return. We want you to buy gadgets that will work for you. If you’re not sure what this is, give us a call or send our an e-mail. We’ll do our best to point you in the right direction.

Why can’t they ‘hear’ me? I have a higher pitched and softer voice than most adults and the chip technologies being used in many of the voice activated products I’ve tested have not accounted for a voice like mine. Hence the recognition is spotty at best.

Somewhere along the way we discovered that there are different levels of chips that manufacturer’s can use. For a voice activated product to be usable by me, it needs to have a chip that recognizes children’s voices. Then I can speak a command and it will respond.

Because of the issues that many of these new products have with recognizing my voice pattern, it’s always a surprise and a delight to find one that works for me. One of our best selling products, the Voice Activated Phone Dialer, started off with issues. It would not recognize my voice. But the manufacturer worked with us, listened to our suggestions so that it would appeal to the largest consumer base possible and the end result was a fantastic Voice Activated Phone Dialer! While the cost for manufacturing went up because of the specialized and more sensitive chip, the recognition rate for the Dialer is incredible and the return rate is barely measurable. It’s the perfect example of a responsive manufacturer!

Thanksgiving always sounds the starting gun for a hectic time at Dynamic Living and in my household. I have prepared for my immediate family and have that pressure under control, but we never know how the holidays will affect our business. You would think than Dynamic-Living.com and AdaptMy.com were insulated from holiday pressures, since folks need universally designed products year round so they can be more independent regardless of life’s curve balls. Funny thing about that.

I think that 2 emotional things happen at Thanksgiving and the Holidays. The first is that some customers are trying to please aging relatives, giving them aids to make their lives easier. The Big Calendar LED Clock and the Tek Pal are two popular items, for example, that help scratch the itch of memory loss. There are Big Print Check Books and Earring Converters that make great stocking stuffers while assisting with vision and lower dexterity.

What we really notice, however, is the result of that trip home, or to visit at the assisted living center. Family members notice that everything is not as safe as it could be and Mom/Auntie is not as stable on her feet as before, Dad/Uncle is having a wicked time getting out of the recliner, the neighbor is alone and could use an alert pager if something happens. It makes our lives less complicated if we know our friends and relatives are comfortable and safe.

And then there is one more factor. Everyone is online more at the holidays, shopping, gossiping and browsing for bargains. It’s a good time to also pick up that off-set hinge or wall guard you’ve been wanting to install so that Aunt Mabel’s walker doesn’t destroy your house as she struggles getting by in small places.

So we are anticipating your calls and orders. We’ve upgraded our systems, stocked our shelves and strengthened our smile muscles. We’re ready, are you?

I was certainly more prepared for the snowpocalypse than the last few curve balls thrown at us by Mother Nature. My husband and I were lucky enough to have family we could stay with. We went on a mini vacation until things started to improve near our house. Then we headed back so my husband could go to work as his office had power. We came back even though the Dynamic Living office and our apartment were still without power. I figured I’d be fine. And I was…. Sort of.

Every now and then I’d catch myself thinking “oh I’ll just plug that in…” or “I can turn that on…” Except that plugging things in or turning things on wasn’t going to do much. As one friend put it: I’d make a crummy pioneer. If the power had stayed out longer I would have eventually gotten used to it. I kept myself busy and found ways to adapt to not having power. Looking back I realize the whole experience is very similar to what happens when you have an injury or an illness that heaves your daily routine right out the window.

At first, we were shocked. We didn’t know what to do, so we went looking for help. We had to leave the comfort of our own home so that we could just have the basics that we needed to survive. We also needed help from family and friends. We came home once we were feeling a little more secure about what we needed to do. After we got home, I went through the process of adapting our apartment for the current situation and made sure we had enough gadgets to supplement those adaptations.

My husband and I were able to get back to normal fairly quickly, but not everyone got power back in a timely manner. While we were putting things back they way they were, many people in our area were looking at adaptations that could last a longer.

The whole experience was a reminder for me that I take many things for granted. For example, the ability to walk around my apartment safely after the sun sets is something I came to appreciate in those days. So now that we’re back to “normal” I’ve left many of those adaptations as they were. If I take them down, I’ll have to start over the NEXT time the power goes out. Being prepared for it will make the already stressful situation a little easier to cope with.

A few days ago before we left I starting thinking about the venue and it got me wondering about how accessible (if at all) Gillette Stadium was. I’ve been to many other sporting events and concerts and have to say the accommodations are usually very few and far between. So, I starting searching online and found a wonderful site, The Traveling Wheelchair, that has done a great job vetting out many public places and rating them for accessibility. Through the eyes and experiences of individuals who are using a wheelchair everyday it offers valuable insight and perspectives on things that many of us take for granted. The site offers a very thorough review of the stadium and a few choice spots to hang out before the game to enjoy a drink or a bite to eat.

I was very pleased to see that the stadium was, in my opinion, very accessible. You can read more about the accessibly at the stadium from The Traveling Wheelchair and also directly at the venue’s website.

I recently found out that a friend of mine, who I haven’t seen for several years, tragically lost her husband to a sudden illness. He was only 38. Today, my children’s babysitter told me she would be leaving after Thanksgiving to care for a family member who was ill and needed extra help. Instantly I assumed this family member was an elder in decline. But, no, this loved one was only 40 and had caught a virus of some sort that had left her debilitated… hopefully only short term, but no one knew for sure.

A few days ago, I overheard a physical therapist for a local hospital discussing the huge increase in cases that occurred after the recent October Nor’easter. People who were removing dangling limbs from trees or rooftops had been falling from great heights and receiving life-altering spinal and neck injuries. One false move, one misstep, and their lives changed forever.

We can’t plan for these types of things. They happen and we have to deal with the consequences. This is one reason why universal design is so incredibly important. Many of these people with spinal injuries will return to homes that are no longer suitable for them. The 40 year old with weakness and movement difficulty probably lives in a home where everything is now out of reach or too hard to manage.

If homes were made with accessibility and ease of use in mind, we would still have major hurdles to overcome when horrible events happen. But at least our home would remain the safe haven it is meant to be, instead of the biggest obstacle.

Scientists know this. Their experiments will include many underlying ‘ingredients’, so when something is changed, it will be one variant that can be tracked as an experiment. Too many changed muddy the waters and won’t tell the scientist what actually worked.

Data Marketers know this. When they perform a/b tests, they’re changing one thing about an ad so they can track the results. Just like the scientists, there will be many experiments, so there are many a/b tests all searching for the best results.

People who bake know that a poor tasting product is not necessarily the end of the recipe. They adapt the recipe, trying different ingredients until it rises properly, has the right consistency or tastes better. Even boxed mixes may need a little tweaking. We’ve heard complaints about gluten free mixes being blah. Although some are very good, some taste very bland out of the box. They may need the addition of some of your favorite flavorings to bring them to life. With a recent gluten free bread making experiment, I tried one batch plain, and then added ingredients to 2 other batches. Using the mix as a starting point made bread making possible and so much easier! Although the plain mix was kind of meek, the other two breads showed great promise. I learned something with every experiment (making good notes so I’ll remember!) and will continue to improve the boxed mix with my own tweaks.

How else can we use this in our daily lives? When we have to do something that is physically difficult, try different approaches until you find one that works. Are there other ways to use your body? Are there levers, handles, ties, etc that would make it easier? When something is mentally challenging, break it down into smaller steps, adapting the problem until you can find a solution. Start from a point you know is true, but review your thought process to be sure that something illogical didn’t slip in (it’s so easy to do!).

Consider yourself too uncreative? Nope, you just need some practice and the right to mess up now and then.

Have you tried a little ‘out of the box thinking’ today?

Within a half hour of us arriving to our first park it was clear that she couldn’t handle the walking. While the mind was willing, her body wasn’t. But she was too embarrassed to rent a scooter as she wasn’t ‘handicapped’, she just had ‘knee problems’. Within an hour I had to wave down a Cast Member (the fancy name they give to the Disney Employees) for a wheelchair. My mom finally broke down and said she’d rent a scooter after my daughter gave her the guilt trip that all grandkids just seem to know how to do from birth.

The next morning I went down to the concierge and talked to them about what mom needed and a speedy scooter complete with baskets and drink holders was delivered within the hour. Not only did I get great service from our hotel but the company they recommended was superb as well! That day of touring went so much better and after a couple hours my mom said she could have kicked herself for not having done it sooner.

Because my mom was using a scooter I was able to get a glimpse into the daily life of someone with mobility challenges.

The Parks: In my humble opinion, Disney is ahead of most other places I’ve ever been too regarding accessibility! The shuttle buses came equipped with folding ramps which made it easier to get on and off. Out of the dozen times we took one of them to a park and back to the hotel, only a hand full of drivers were ‘jerks’ and either acted like they were being put out by lowering the ramp or were just clueless. When you got to the park most Cast Members went out of their way to help my mom and were friendly. My mom learned that many of the rides were not accessible through the normal queues and there were ‘secret’ entrances that were accessible and oh, by the way, cut the wait time on a lot of attractions.

The Bathrooms: Talk about the merging of accessibility and beauty! Many of the bathrooms had decor that corresponded with the area of the park that you were in. When we visited Epcot we had lunch in the country of Mexico and the bathroom was beautifully decorated and accessible.

While not everything in Disney was the perfect idea of inclusivity, they are light-years away from other destinations that I’ve been to! Good Job Disney World!

There are definitely some good things about this remote. But, overall, I think it still misses the mark.

Here are the highlights (from the SKY website):

• Two easy grip options: a textured easy-grip battery door or “a hand strap option to help customers with dexterity problems”
• Larger and bolder graphics for easier button identification
• Raised contoured buttons with more reference points for easier button identification for visually impaired users
• Increased color contrast between buttons and body of the remote

Ok, they’re on the right track…BUT…

There are still way too many buttons, too small and too close together. The hand strap option may help people to hold the remote (of course, a side table would do just as well), but if the buttons are still too hard to single out and push for the less dexterous hand, then there is a problem.

Additionally, do the remotes really need that many buttons? 28 buttons (plus a full number pad) seems a bit like overkill.

Dynamic-Living.com offers the Big Button Remote Control with 20 buttons plus a full number pad that is easy to see and large enough to press easily. The Oversized Remote Control has 19 buttons and a number pad, with an easy to hold shape. And for the most simple to use remote, the Flipper® has just 6 buttons! These remotes have been around for a while and have proven ‘Senior Friendly’.