Raised Garden Boxes

Hi avid followers of this blog. I have a lovely post from Rich Fabend today. It is always truly compelling to see how he approaches his life and his experiences in creating adaptive equipment for his personal use. Below is a really neat post from Rich.

Rich Fabend

Would you like to raise some flowers and/or grow some vegetables for your own consumption? Raised bed garden boxes will let you do that and it is great exercise. Each spring the soil must be worked up and planted. During the growing season the vegetables must be weeded and thinned. If the weather is not cooperating the plants must be watered. The wilted flower heads must be picked off the plants (called deadheading) which is great exercise for fingers. A box does not take up much room if space is an issue. Prior to placing a box, the area under it must be prepared. This is not necessary if it will be placed on cement or any other solid surface. If placed on the ground you must assure good drainage.


The height of the box opening should be a few inches taller than the armrests of the wheelchair. The width of the growing area should be several inches less than twice the gardener’s arm length which will allow one to cover the entire planting area. Built from pressure treated lumber, the box is open on two sides so one can drive a wheelchair underneath it and work straight on.


The first year my boxes presented some unique problems because of the construction. The 2” by 8” which made up the planting area did not allow for the soil to be deep enough for vegetables so most of the vegetables planted did not grow very well. The following year, as you can see from the picture, we added about 3 inches to the height of the planting area. This allowed adding another 250 pounds of soil to the bed. Also, in an effort to cut down on moisture evaporation we added Hydro-Sorb to the soil. Hydro-Sorb retains water and releases it a little at a time. These two changes made the boxes much more successful. We did not find it necessary to increase the depth of the flower boxes.


I have 6 boxes, four I plant with vegetables and the other two with annual flowers. I enjoy working these boxes very much. I use adaptive garden tools which can be purchased online. The vegetable boxes can grow salt potatoes, broccoli, onions, baby carrots, beets and garlic. Gardening is good for many different reasons.

Adapting Some Winter Clothing

Another fabulous blog from Rich Fabend!

I know that June, July and August are the winter months in Australia. Right now it is summer, in the States, but it has not been very warm. Much of the time, regardless of the season, I am cold. In my blogs I have been trying to encourage people to think of different methods and telling them that there is more than one way to solve a problem. Here are some things I have done to try to stay warm. My problem was trying to keep my hands and arms warm when I was outside. My fingers are always clenched in a loose fist position. It was very difficult for my wife or nurse to put regular gloves on my hands. It quickly became evident that mittens would work best. Unfortunately, mittens created problems of their own. It was impossible to keep my thumb in the thumb of the mitten. The major problem with mittens however, was that once I took them off I was unable to get them back on by myself. So I designed what I like to call Quad Mitts. They have an opening at each end with the front one tighter. I was able to get my wife's friend to knit a trial pair and they worked extremely well. The picture below shows the pattern that we used. Note that the cuff is extra long and can be folded over what I am wearing so I don't have to worry about them coming off. When I need to use my bare hand I just push it though the hole in the front end and then pull the end back over my hand when I am finished. I am a big man so you may need to adjust the measurements according to your own size. If you know someone who will knit for you maybe you want to think about a pair of sleeves (my arms are always cold) and/or leg warmers. Often in the morning I will have my nurse put my sleeves on with a tee-shirt and then I will take them off when the day warms up. Recently I cut out part of the back of a sweatshirt. I am able to put the sweatshirt on and take it off by myself and it’s not necessary to worry about pulling it down behind me. This was a simple thing to do but it keeps most of the parts of my body I can feel warm.

Time to Walk the Walk

Rich Fabend

In my previous three blogs I have encouraged individuals with disabilities to change their attitude, be willing to take some risks and begin to try some different ways to make their lives a little easier. I talked the talk but now it is time for me to walk the walk and show you some things that I’ve done to adapt equipment for my use. Below is a materials list of items that will be helpful to have around for making adjustments to things you use.

Cable ties, Clamps, Clips, Compression bandage, Duct tape, Friction tape, Foam, Hose Clamps, Pipe Insulation, PVC Pipe, Straps and Webbing, String and Shoelaces, Velcro, Wooden Dowels.

My hands are normally in a loose grip position. It is almost impossible for me to grip anything tightly. In order to hold on tight my hands must be strapped on to the object. I noticed lacrosse and hockey players wrap tape repeatedly around the same spot on their sticks to prevent their hands from sliding off the stick, so I decided to try it. If you look at the attached video (Adapting a Broom) you will see how I use friction tape and a piece of wooden dowel to enable me to use a broom. The friction tape has been used to make what I call a “stop.” On a long handle, such as a broom or rake, you should decide where you want your lower hand positioned and place the “stop” right there. Wrap tape repeatedly around the same spot until you have built up a raised area on the handle. Grip the broom or rake as best you can. When your hand slides up the handle it will come to rest against the “stop” and prevent any further upward movement.

The turning of the tool in my hands frustrates me to no end. I have used several different adaptions to help me control them. A rake or broom is of little use if it turns over when one goes to use it. In order to stop the roll over I drill a hole in the end of the handle, if there is not already one, and insert a piece of dowel, round pieces of wood of varying diameters. A piece of tape on either side of the shaft will hold the dowel in place or I attach the dowel through the hole using a rubber band. This enables my wife to remove the dowel if it gets in her way. In the picture I am loading the wheelbarrow with straw I have raked by turning the rake over and sliding it under the straw. Holding on to the dowel prevents the rake from rolling over.

We have a wire wreath-like birdfeeder which is filled with peanuts. We then hang the wreath outside for Blue Jays and other birds. They will pull the peanuts out one by one. As you can see in the video, the kitchen floor is quite a mess when I finish. So I use the broom I have adapted to clean up. Use this technique on other long handled tools like a mop, leaf rake and other garden tools.
 

The Value of Information

I would like to introduce a staff member of IDEAS who would like to share her experiences of her work within the disability sector and the importance of information in empowering and motivating an individual. Information allows people with disability, their carers and families to act and to find ways to live independently, information can lead to a greater quality of life and it is often knowledge that ABLES an individual. Please enjoy her story.

I work as an Information Officer for IDEAS NSW, an information service for people with a disability.

My role is as the first point of contact for people looking for information to assist them. I try to find the right service for the person to gain assistance from, whether that be supplier's of equipment, or accessible holiday options etc. Basically anything that we are asked in regard to disability we try to find the answer for. This makes my job challenging as I search for different things to suit different people daily. I never know what the next question will be!

I find my work particularly rewarding as I see people empowered by the knowledge they gain to assist them in their daily lives. This may be a little thing, like where to find a shower chair, or something seemingly larger like where to get financial assistance for oxygen support. This information empowers people with a disability and helps them to live more independent lives. For example, that information can enable a person to decide where to buy a set of small wheelchair wheels and a battery which in turn affords them significant independence and their carer relief.

Another example was a recent enquiry from a couple wanting to travel across the Nullabor Plains. We discovered how many accessible toilets are available. This allowed them to have the holiday they didn't think they could.
Information itself is necessary, particularly at turning points in a person's life or when a new situation arises. That's when it is very important to have a single point of contact that makes finding the solution less confusing. We often find that people are frustrated when they call us as they have tried so many other numbers to find the information or because they haven't been listened to. When they can contact us first, we can do the hard work for them.

Part of my job that I particularly enjoy is researching articles on accessible travel for our bi-monthly newsletter. I gain a lot of information for this research from our accessible accommodation database which I also help to maintain. As we are so busy answering enquiries this database is sometimes hard to keep up to date, so please call us to make sure you are getting the most up to date information on 1800 029 904.

My move from the dental industry to the disability sector has been thoroughly rewarding and I have found satisfying work in rural NSW. The skills I am learning I will be able to take with me anywhere.

This article was published on the carecareers website.

Attitude Adjustment

Rich Fabend

The radical physical and mental changes I went through following my accident were overwhelming. My mental rehabilitation lagged behind, slowed by two major thoughts. I had retired seven months prior, at age 55, looking forward to spending the years ahead pursuing the recreational activities I enjoyed so much. One of my biggest concerns adjusting to my new life was the belief that I would not be able to return to the activities which provided me with quality of life. I also feared my most productive days were behind me and I would simply exist for the rest of my life. The change in my outlook began during a recreation field trip to the Denver Zoo. I was accompanied on this field trip by my daughter and two grandchildren. As I watched my grandchildren running around and listened to their questions and the talk of others around me, I began to realise I still had much to share.

The ongoing process of mental recovery was greatly influenced by my former association with the martial arts and Project Adventure. The martial arts stress the mind body connection, focusing one’s mental energy and looking at issues as challenges to be solved rather than problems with which to be dealt. Project Adventure (PA) “… is a challenging outdoor personal development and team building activity which usually consists of high and/or low elements. Low elements take place on the ground or only a few feet above the ground. High elements are usually constructed in trees or made of utility poles and require a belay (being a attached to a safety line) for safety.” (wikipedia.org/wiki/Ropes course). PA helped me understand what success and failure means, and I learnt about commitment and alternative ways of solving problems. The importance of the mind, the thought process and one’s attitude facing challenges became very clear to me. When trying to accomplish a task, I believe it is human nature to rely on a method which has been successful in the past. This often encourages us to use only limited means to accomplish a particular goal. If I asked 10 people, most anywhere in the United States, to catch a fish chances are almost all of them would grab a fishing pole since this method has been successful and therefore widely used in our culture. Initially when dealing with the challenges placed on people by a disability, I think they often try to solve problems using the same skills they used before their impairment. This approach can create extreme frustration and an acute awareness of the limitations placed on them by their condition. In reality, if we think about it, there are usually many ways to solve a particular problem. If I presented the same challenge of catching a fish to 10 people who were selected from different cultures around the world we would probably see a wide variety of approaches to accomplishing this task. Fish might be taken with a spear, bow and arrow, casting a net, using a gill net, with fish traps, use of hands (one hand method is called Noodling) or use of another animal like a cormorant. With this example it becomes apparent that there are a lot of different ways to accomplish a given task. So learn to think outside the box and experiment with different approaches.

My introduction to adaptive equipment began one day when I dropped a piece of paper on the floor. Because of my level of injury I was constantly dropping things and then having to call my wife or nurse to pick them up for me. I knew something had to change. How would my attitude toward picking up that piece of paper affect me? If I decided I could not pick up the paper, chances are it would foster a negative feeling of defeat which then could further my disability. It took me quite a while and involved a lot of failure and frustration to reach the point where I am today. If at first you don't succeed try, try again. How many times have we heard that? I have learnt over the last eleven years that if you have an open mind and an active brain you can always find different ways or methods to solve most of the challenges we face. It is just a matter of how much thought, time and perseverance you are willing to commit to the process.