-
What would it mean to make aids less medicalized?
Feels like a weird question, doesn’t it? Mobility aids, respiratory aids, etc — they all exist to be medical solutions.
But when I was writing my latest column about how toy cars my parents bought for me were effectively mobility aids like wheelchairs, despite not being designed to be wheelchairs, I realized a lot of us use or have used things that make our “aids” more personal to us. And even with the actual aids, we sometimes personalize them with stickers or the like.
So I pose the question to you: how can our medical aids feel less medical, less clinical, and be more representative of who we are?
-
2 Replies
-
I have been asking this for years!! As a kid, I would take off my brace all the time because it was uncomfortable but also because it was butt ugly. If it looked a little nicer like a corset, I would’ve worn it. Happily.
What is so difficult about making the support aids look less institutional? This seems a no-brainer to me. Kids (and adults) will use these aids more if they don’t look so off putting.
Let’s be honest, some of the equipment can be intimidating, making it hard for people to approach you. More Importantly they change your self image. Most of this equipment automatically makes you feel othered. As if we needed any more obstacles.
Who do we talk to to start a real conversation? How can we change the status quo?
-
My son hated his CPAP mask until I let him pick out vinyl stickers to put on it. Dinosaurs, space ships, his name. Now he calls it his “space helmet.” He wears it without fighting. Small change, huge difference.
Log in to reply.