Ciske’s Homemade Dressing Stick

Description

Ciske learned to use a dressing stick so that she could remain independent with dressing and toileting despite restricted movement in her arms. When her arm mobility was restricted even further, she found that the standard dressing stick she used was no longer meeting her needs. Ciske needed a longer stick to help with pulling up her pants.

Longer dressing sticks were not available in her country, so Ciske, her dad and her friend Andrew decided to adapt the standard design and make a homemade version. They had to search for supplies in nearby cities because local stores did not have what they needed. Eventually they were able to find the needed supplies – a long wooden rod, a smaller hook, and a larger hook. The smaller hook looked like a screw on the end and was able to screw directly into the wooden rod. The larger hook did not have a way to screw into the wood, so they welded the bottom of the hook to a long screw in order to attach it securely to the wood. Their adaptation of using a longer piece of wood allows Ciske to be able to reach further down the length of her leg despite not being able to lower her arms and hands down past chest height. Nice work everyone!

Ciske also shares that the experience of making her own tool with the help of her friend Andrew has inspired them to share their instructions with other FOPers in their country who are also struggling with finding tools they need, and they also plan to tackle more projects in the future. Well done Ciske! We look forward to what you, your dad and Andrew invent next!