Simple items can make daily caregiving easier. Here are a few of my time savers.
1. My husband feeds himself on good days. I prepare his meal so that the food is soft enough to be "chewed" without teeth, and swallowed without choking. His eating utensils include a favorite fork and a long handled ice tea spoon. I purchased a dish at auction years ago that is used for almost every meal. It is actually a "pot" made by Prizer, cast iron covered in porcelain, divided in three sections, meant to be used on the stove or oven to cook or reheat foods. I pre-warm this pot/plate on the stove and then place his food onto this plate where it will stay warm for about 15 minutes - hopefully long enough for him to eat the food before it gets cold.
There are dishes and plates available for handicap use that you can find in catalogs, a drug or department store or on the internet. Some items made for early childhood use are easily adapted for all ages. Look in the baby section of the drug store - be careful to choose items that are not too babyish.
2. Eating utensils can be adapted from everyday dinnerware. In order to try utensils in different shapes and sizes find inexpensive used dinnerware at yard sales or second hand stores. What works today may not work tomorrow, but might work again next week. And you can carry any extras in the car.
3. The NUBY (6+) brand of drinking cup works well for me. I make a slight adaption to the nipple end to receive a straw. It doesn't spill when tipped over and I am able to control the flow of liquid to give water when he is laying in bed. (See my instructional video "How to Stop the Spills")
4. You may find straws of various sizes helpful depending on the drinking vessel used at the moment. My husband uses a large diameter straw to drink the milk left in the bottom of his cereal bowl. The large diameter lets him suck up smaller bits of cereal left in the milk. A narrow diameter straw will be needed for the Nuby adaptation mentioned in No. 3, a larger diameter straw for the soda can in No 5.
5. Drinking from a soda can be a challenge when the straw keeps popping back out of the can because of the fizz from the seltzer. To solve this problem, after opening the pop top, twist the pop top ring around to cover the opening and insert the straw into the opening between the pop top ring and the side of the opening. Not THROUGH the pop top ring. Twist the pop top ring to squeeze the straw between the side of the opening and the pop top ring to hold the straw in place. (See my instructional video "Keep the Straw in the Can")
6. Put the soda can or NUBY into a foam insulated sleeve to make it easier to hold and to keep it cold.
7. Boxes of pop-up facial tissues are kept in every room of the house for spills, drool, blowing/wiping noses. To eliminate the frustration of a nearly empty box of tissues that won't stay on the table, look for a weighted tissue box holder.
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