Disability equipment helps individuals with physical disabilities maximize their independence. They are the tools someone can use to overcome obstacles that result from being differently-abled in an able-bodied person's world. Standard household objects can be changed into disability equipment that allow someone with disabilities to complete the same tasks as their able-bodied peers. In her book "Adapt My World" and on her website, J. Rose Plaxen describes a number of ingenious ways to adapt standard items so they can be used independently by differently-abled children.
Disability equipment for home, school and play is created by making minor adaptations to everyday household items.
Disability equipment helps such individuals fit in with the peer group by giving an individual with disabilities a way to be self-reliant. When they no longer depend on the assistance of others to complete mundane tasks, differently-abled children can become fully functional members of their families, their peer groups and their school communities. No longer relegated the outsider role, such children enjoy increased self-esteem, secure in the knowledge that they have the ability to reach the same goals as their friends.
Disability equipment for children to use in various settings is described in J. Rose Plaxen's book "Adapt My World", which provides strategies and instructions for creating tools at home, at school and at play. Plaxen's detailed instructions show parents and caregivers how they can adapt everything their child needs for self-reliance in their bedrooms, bathrooms, dining rooms, playgrounds and schools. With the use of such tools, a differently-abled child can be the same as any other kid.
A new car comes with a detailed owner manual, and new child comes with a wealth of how-to books, but unfortunately, resources for raising a disabled child are few. When J.Rose Plaxen realized her daughter was "differently abled" she decided to change this by writing Adapt My World: Homemade Adaptations for People with Disabilities, a home remedy-style book consisting of recipes for parents, educators and family members. "Our world, public or private, is not accommodating for differently abled individuals," said J.Rose Plaxen. "It's up to the individual who is taking care of each child to make their world truly their own. This book is filled with common-sense modifications that have an immediate and enormous impact on improving the daily lives of these children."
Adapt My World is the first such guide offering simple adaptations for many aspects of a child's life. Veteran parents, therapists, and teachers have handed down plenty of adaptations, but few have been printed for public viewing. Now families have a manual to guide them in accommodating their child's world. Adapt My World offers adaptations for the "differently abled" child at home, school, and play to achieve similar goals, tasks, and desires of an "abled" child.
