- ingenious solutions from someone paralysed on one side

Maiko Takahashi
Resident of Yokohama City

I suffered a stroke around 10 years ago, leaving my left arm and leg disabled. I cannot move my left arm at all. I can now manage to go outside my house if I wear a brace on my left leg and use a stick. I would like to introduce a few basic adjustments I have made in my daily life.

A floor mat in the paved area of my entrance hall

In the paved area of my house’s entrance hall (the place where people take off their shoes), there is a space where I can get down without wearing shoes. Since I wear a brace, I cannot just slip on a pair of sandals to get down onto the paved area; neither can I open and close the front door from within the house by stretching out my hand. Therefore, I have placed a 50 cm square cushioned mat of the kind available in shops in the paved area. I get down onto this wearing my brace to open and close the door. You could also use a slatted wooden board from the \100 shop, but taking into consideration the risk of wobbling or slipping, I recommend a cushioned mat. It is also popular with my family, who apparently find it convenient.

Turning the wall into a shoebox

It is difficult for me to put on and take off my shoes while standing up, so I have put a folding chair in the entrance hall. If I place my shoes in the paved area, there is less space within the entrance hall, and it is harder for me to pick them up. For this reason, I have attached rubber coat hooks, which are unlikely to slip, to the wall, and hang my shoes on these. This avoids the need to take my shoes out of the shoebox, and allows me to put them on safely. One point to remember is to attach the hooks high enough on the wall that the toes of the shoes do not touch the paved floor.

It’s easy to do with one hand! Making use of clothes pegs

We all want to be able to throw rubbish away easily, without worrying about getting dirty, don’t we? It can often be difficult to put a plastic bag inside the rubbish bin with one hand if you do it in the same way as when you could use both hands. So what I do is use a clothes peg to compensate, pegging the part which I cannot hold with my paralysed hand. If the bag is held firmly in one place, it is easy to do the rest with one hand. Please try it for yourself.

Using a hair dryer

Drying your hair with a hair dryer is a problem if you can only use one hand, isn’t it? Tools to hold the dryer steady are now on sale, but you don’t need to go to the expense of buying one – you can probably make do with the fixtures on your bathroom cabinet. The towel ring on my bathroom cabinet is just the right height and angle, so I push my hair dryer through it when I dry my hair. I think that you could also try sticking the handle into the gap between the handrail and the wall.

Photo 1: A space that allows me to take a step forward

Photo 2: Shoe hooks that are easy to reach and don’t get in the way

Photo 3: Bags can readily be put in place with clothes pegs

Photo 4: It’s easiest if the dryer blows hot air from above