Handicapped bathtubs are specially designed for people with disabilities and make it possible for them to bathe without assistance. Handicapped tubs often come equipped with special features like build-in benches or doors that make them easier to navigate for those with physical limitations. There are simpler and less expensive ways to help those with handicaps achieve independence in bathing and other personal hygiene routines. Joyce Plaxen, the mother of a differently-abled child provides suggestions to do just this on her website and in her book, "Adapt My World."
Handicapped bathtubs are not the only means to encourage self-reliance in those with disabilities and bathing is not the only personal-care issue children with handicaps face. Actions that the majority of people perform without a second thought - holding a slippery bar of soap, shampooing your hair, even remembering all the steps involved in brushing your teeth - can be challenging to a child with special needs.
Parents can cheaply and easily adapt their bathrooms and every other room in the house to minimize obstacles their differently-abled child faces in completing activities of daily living. "Adapt My World" is a recipe-style book full of solutions for turning a standard house into an accessible one that a differently-abled child can maneuver through independently. A child who can attain competence in personal hygiene can feel proud of his or her accomplishments. That child has seen his or her own abilities in action and now possesses the tools to become self-reliant in other areas of life.
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.
