ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 12, 1995 TAG: 9512120023
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Personal Health
SOURCE: JANE BRODY
It is that time of year again when most people race from store to store and comb through stacks of catalogues searching for the perfect gift for everyone on their holiday lists.
For some shoppers the task is particularly challenging because the recipient has a physical disability that renders inappropriate many popular gifts, like in-line skates, books, CDs, board games or tickets to a play or concert.
For example, what might you get for the parent or grandparent who enjoys reading but whose vision is now seriously impaired, or the friend who loves to cook but is now limited by arthritic pain in her hands, or a special person who uses a wheelchair, or, worse yet, is bedridden?
Let's say your gift list includes someone like Shawna Koch of Billings, Mont., a young woman with cerebral palsy who is deaf and unable to speak, or Rey Crespo of Milwaukee, a young man who suffered serious injuries in an automobile accident that left him unable to speak or use his left arm. What could you get for them?
The task is easier than it might seem at first, thanks to companies and catalogs that have thought of virtually everything for people of all ages who face physical challenges.
In 1977, Ruth Leff, then a 50-year-old speech pathologist from Milwaukee, invented a flash card system to enable her sister to convey her needs, even though she was so paralyzed by multiple sclerosis that she could no longer move or speak.
The system, called Talking Pictures, became the linchpin for Crestwood Co., which now produces scores of language aids for people with communicative disabilities.
For Koch, for example, the $215 Communiclock by Crestwood, which enables her to convey her needs by pressing a button that moves a pointer to the desired picture or word, allowed her to break through her communication barrier. In just three months, she increased her vocabulary to 200 words on the device and continues to expand her communicative horizons.
Crespo uses a $200 bilingual Talking Crespeaker, a pocket-size device with a keyboard and speaker that vocalizes messages he types into it.
Leff's company also offers a host of inexpensive items that can become tickets to independence for the disabled, including a $50 Supermarket Shopping Passport, a series of 315 picture cards of supermarket items that can help people find their groceries by showing the desired items to a store clerk, and a $27 Dining Passport that can enable a verbally impaired person to ask for food at home or order in a restaurant.
For those who have trouble feeding themselves because of physical disabilities, Crestwood lists items like a contoured bowl with nonskid bottom for $12 and food bumpers for two plates for $8, as well as right- and left-handed curved utensils ($10 each) for people with limited wrist movement and grasping ability.
Also listed are many toys that can help learning disabled children and adults improve their language skills and express their feelings. To obtain the company's free catalog, call (414) 352-5678 or fax (414) 352-5679 or write to Crestwood Co., 6625 North Sidney Place, Dept. 50, Milwaukee, Wis. 53209.
Does arthritis limit someone's ability to sew, cook or write? Has confinement to a wheelchair sentenced someone to a sedentary life? The Arthritis Foundation has published a ``Guide to Independent Living,'' which offers tips to make daily living easier and describes more than 1,000 self-help aids and devices.
Among them are a Lazy Susan kitchen organizer that can eliminate painful reaching; double-handled cookware that reduces strain on the joints when pots are lifted; a food processor and blender that can take over chores of chopping, slicing, grating and pureeing, which can be painful and tiring for someone with arthritis, and an electric toothbrush, which is easier to manipulate than a manual one.
For further guidance about appropriate gifts for people with arthritis, including a $20 gift membership in the Arthritis Foundation, contact your local foundation chapter or call the toll-free information line at (800) 283-7800.
Also helpful for the arthritic cook (as well as cooks with tendinitis, repetitive stress injuries or no impairments at all) are Good Grips kitchen tools with large, rubber-grip handles. They include a peeler-scraper, ice cream scoop, garlic press, jar opener, can opener and knives (ranging from $6 to $13), sold in most stores that offer kitchen equipment and through the Chef's Catalogue, (800) 338-3232.
For the avid writer with arthritis, A.T. Cross has just come out with the Comfort Writer, a pen with a large, lightweight resin body and a gripping surface that eases handling.
The stylish pen is available as a ballpoint for $22.50 and rolling ball for $27.50 and has been commended by the Arthritis Foundation. There are also triangular plastic grips (50 cents each) that slip over pens and pencils, available at office supply stores.
For those whose disabilities seem to preclude ordinary forms of exercise, the Best Priced Products catalog - (800) 824-2939 or (914) 472-1006 - includes a Can-Do pedal exerciser ($140) that can be used in a bed, chair, wheelchair or on the floor, making it ideal for people with impaired balance; a wheelchair treadmill ($422), a Tricep extension exerciser ($252) and a wheelchair-accessible multi-exerciser ($260). The catalog also lists numerous devices helpful to the development of physically or neurologically impaired children.
Anyone shopping for gifts for people with limited vision can request The Lighthouse Inc. consumer catalog by calling (800) 829-0500 any time, any day. From talking watches (ranging in price from $9.75 to $93) and alarm clocks ($20 to $25) to television screen enlargers ($40 to $110) and line guides for writing checks and letters ($2.45 to $27), this pioneering organization seems to have thought of everything.
Included are a $6 push-button padlock; Braille Bingo boards ($7.50 each in plastic, $6.50 for 10 in cardboard); Braille and Low-Vision Scrabble ($50); an audible basketball set (the equipment makes a noise so a blind person can follow the ball), ($30); a page enlarger ($2); a talking dictionary ($488); a large-button Braille flashing telephone ($75); large-type books, cookbooks, address book ($15), appointment calendar ($30), calculator ($13) and crossword puzzle books; cassette players (perfect for listening to books on tape); Braille-marked tape measures ($25 to $30); handled holders for milk and juice cartons ($3 for two, useful also for those with poor gripping ability); special knives; a $20 cutting board that is white on one side, black on the other to provide contrast for different foods; a lightweight upright vacuum ($100); electric razors ($50 to $100); a $15 lighted magnifying mirror, and needle threaders (35 cents to $2.65).
LENGTH: Long : 118 linesby CNB