It’s bad enough that I need to use mobility aids – but why do they so often have to look so ugly?

I am young (I’m in my 30’s) and I need help in the house. I have done for 3 years, and about 2 years ago I decided it was high time to stop struggling and do something about it.

I had two choices.

I could get a carer to come in and do loads and loads of things for me. This was not practical – the cost would be huge and my dignity, self respect and independence would have gone out of the window.

I could get some mobility aids to help me do the things that I  needed to do, but had difficulty doing on my own.

Really, I had no choice. I had to get some mobility aids. However, when I looked through magazines and the internet for equipment I needed – I was depressed and shocked. I didn’t want to live with such ugly equipment around me. Just because I have a disability doesn’t mean I don’t have taste.

Everything seemed to be so basic, have absolutely no design qualities and often was made out of ugly grey plastic. OK, they probably did the job. You could argue that mobility aids don’t need to look good they heed to help people get more out of their lives. I wasn’t satisfied with that though. I wanted choice. So many choices had been taken away from me. I wanted control over how my house looked. I didn’t want my Fiancée living amongst such awful aids either. Just looking at some equipment made me feel very old and disabled. No one should be made to feel like that by a piece of plastic. It’s so unnecessary.

My advice is shop around for mobility aids. Sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised. Chrome seems to be cropping up more and more. Manufacturers seem to be taking more care in how items look, not just what they do. I read that 1 in 3 people in the UK are disabled or are close to somebody who has a disability. [Source: Office of National Statistics Census 2001] And that the 10 million disabled people who live in the UK have a combined annual spending power of over £80 billion. [Source: DWP 2004] No longer do we have to make do with aids that other people say we have to use. We have the power to say no, and that we want better.

Some people will just need 1 or 2 mobility aids to make a big difference in their life. Others need so much more. Sometimes social services will help, sometimes not. My advice is always shop around for what is best for you and what you are happy using.

Author: Tim