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Parents with disabilities: Tips to make your home more functional

Parents with disabilities: Tips to make your home more functionalBy Ashley Taylor

Becoming a parent is one of the most significant life changes you will experience. You need to prepare your life and your home for this monumental occurrence, and you may not know where to begin. Modifying your home is a must for any parent-to-be, but it is even more critical if you live with a disability.

Install Grab Bars in Bathrooms

Bathing a child is fun and frustrating all at once. Holding onto a slippery little body is not easy, and it becomes even more difficult as your baby begins to splash and wiggle around in the tub. While bath time should be fun, it also poses a danger to you and your child. In fact, The New York Times reports that the most hazardous activities for all ages in the bathroom are bathing, showering and getting out of the tub or shower: “Injuries in or near the bathtub or shower account for more than two-thirds of emergency room visits.”

Another study shows that 73.8% of bathroom injuries in children under the age of 15 were caused by falls, and the highest rate was for injuries occurring in or around the shower or bathtub.

That’s why people benefit from having grab bars inside the tub and shower and where you need to hold on to get in and out. You will make bath time safer for your child and yourself when you install bars in the correct places. Your physical therapist or occupational therapist can recommend the location that is most helpful to your needs, but The Family Handyman shares some general guidelines for grab bar placement:

  • Place an 18-inch to 24-inch long bar vertically at the tub edge, with the bottom of the bar 32-38 inches above the floor.
  • Mount a bar at an angle between wall studs on the long back wall of the tub, with the bottom of the bar about 6-10 inches above the top of the tub.
  • Mount a bar horizontally about 36-38 inches above the bottom of the tub as a handhold for showering.

Remove Tripping Hazards

New parents are exhausted. If you have mobility challenges or limited sight, remove all tripping hazards from your home before your baby arrives, so you can reduce the chances of an accident while carrying him. Begin by removing worn carpeting that is peeling. Eliminate throw rugs or replace them with non-slip rugs.

Another option is to put carpet tape on throw rugs to anchor them in place, especially if you place an area rug in your baby’s nursery. Also, place non-skid mats or non-slip appliques in the bath and shower and non-slip adhesive strips on slippery stairs.

One of the best ways to remove tripping hazards is decluttering your home. Arrange furniture to allow for clear walking paths and remove items from floors by putting them where they belong. Do not put decorative items on stairs. Add lighting to stairways and other dark areas of the home by using nightlights or hiring an electrician to install new light fixtures.

Place electrical cords baby monitors, lamps and other appliances along baseboards or behind furniture. Create areas in your home for baby toys, blankets and other items and always put items away when they are not in use. Avoid placing baby swings, bouncers and other furniture in walkways.

Label Food Clearly

Parents with disabilities: Tips to make your home more functionalIf you have limited vision, organize food in cupboards and pantries to make it easier to determine which is which. Consider putting your baby’s formula, rice cereal and juice in a dedicated area. When your child is old enough for baby food, label it with textured tape, brightly colored tape, extra-large lettering, or Braille labels, so you can tell the containers apart because they are all the same size and shape. Try organising the vegetables on one side and the fruits on the other to make it easier to distinguish between foods of similar color.

Becoming a parent is one of the most thrilling times in life. Make sure it also is one of the safest by modifying your home to make caring for your child easier. Begin by installing grab bars in bathrooms, removing tripping hazards, and labeling food clearly.

queerspace self care tips

This is a hard time for all of us leading up to Wednesday’s announcement. Whichever way it goes queerspace at drummond street services is here for you 1800LGBTIQ or enquiries@ds.org.au  🌈 #lookafteryourself

https://www.facebook.com/ourhealthinourhands/videos/1527746094007410/

Boredom Busters for the School Holidays

(6-12) Middle Years

We have put together some ideas to inspire you on how to entertain your kids these school holidays. Enjoying time with your child in the school holidays is a great way to show them that your relationship is important to you, and it can also prevent the dreaded words of “I am bored”. Most importantly, it can be a time to RELAX AND ENJOY YOUR KIDS!

  1. Camp in your backyard. There is nothing better than putting up the tent in the backyard and snuggling down in your sleeping bag under the stars with your kids. and have a midnight snack (9pm can be your midnight if the kids are young) The best thing is you can always duck inside to use the toilet!
  2. Catch the train with your bikes and cycle home is a great way to see different parts of the city and burn off some energy.
  3. Head out of the house and checkout the local library and let the kids choose some books to read over the holidays. There is often lots of fun activities to do as well.
  4. Go on a day trip to the zoo or the museum is a great way to entertain and educate the kids.
  5. Head to the local Bounce trampoline park. It is awesome fun and a great way to wear them out!
  6. Get messy and wet and have a water bomb war. The kids will spend hours filling up the balloons with water and it is great entertainment!
  7. Head out to a park you have not been to before. There are some great playgrounds with flying foxes and giant spider climbing frames. Take a picnic and make a day of it
  8. Go for a bike ride around the neighbourhood and end it with a slushy at the 711.
  9. Make a fort. Pull out sheets and blankets and let them use the furniture to make a fort. It is a great space for them to hang out, read books and play games
  10. Have an arts and craft day. Create a craft table with coloured paper, pens, glue, stickers and glitter then let them get creative. Kmart has some great craft equipment that will keep them busy for hours. If you are not into glitter, check out your local library which may have a holiday activity programme for the kids to make fun stuff that you don’t have to vacuum up afterwards!

Boredom Busters for the School Holidays

  1. Encourage your budding movie producer and let them plan a TV show. They can film it on your phone.
  2. Have your own Masterchef competition to make dinner. Whoever makes the best dish gets a prize and the bonus is you don’t have to make dinner!
  3. Do some baking and bake cupcakes, muffins or biscuits together and decorate them
  4. Rainy days are always a good chance to check out the movies, hot pools, museums and tenpin bowling
  5. Pyjama Day! It is also good to just have time to chill out and have a break, watch movies, read books and get out the board games
  6. Go to the beach and build sandcastles. It does not matter what time of year it is, just rug up and have fun
  7. Head off to the local skate park with your bikes and scooters. Have races with your friends and master the obstacle course. Just make sure you have your safety gear on.
  8. Invite some friends over – it is always good for them to let loose and hang with their mates
  9. Go swimming at the local pool.
  10. Get sporty and play backyard cricket, soccer or tennis

Extra Tip:

Make a list of a couple of activities and put it on your fridge, and have one day where the kids decide what they would like to do.

Prevalent & Preventable Violence Against Women and their children #PPVAW

Adelaide Conference – A Reflection by Phoebe Wallish 3/10/2016

The general feel at this PPVAW conference is sombre and heavy.  There seems like many people have done a lot of work/ research, yet it hasn’t even scratched the surface. As I sit in each and every presentation my heart felt heavy and I could feel the burden of how far the issue is entrenched in our system and how far we have to go.  It is not only daunting but incredibly challenging.  At least we are having the conversation!

On the flip side I was humbled to be around so many strong, intelligent, resilient women.  Women who have suffered at the hands of their abusive partners like Rosie Batty.  Women who have fought for the plight of those marginalised in our community like Antoinette Braybrook and women who advocate globally for equality and social justice for all women like Marai Larasi, to name a few.

As a women who (to be honest) sometimes thinks the problem is too large, too ingrained, I was inspired and re-energised and given a sense of hope.  We all need that.  You see violence against women is a bigger problem than we all realise.  Those at the conference like myself live and breathe the stats, we all know all too well that 1 in 3 women will experience sexually assault/ violence in their lifetime.  One women dies every week to a male that they know and these stats are 10 times worse if you are Aboriginal or a Torres Strait Islander.

At the heart of this is our society’s gender norms and stereotypes which fuel these attitudes.  For example why is it that we predominately see mens sport on our commercial television stations? Why do we only learn about the men that fought in our wars and those famous male composers like Mozart and Beethoven?  Why is it that there are next to no female statues in our major cities (New York actually has none).  There is a white male privilege that exists everywhere we look.  Did you know there are more CEO’s named John that there are Female CEO’s?

If anything this conference has started a richer more progressed conversation.  It highlights the need to work together within communities to address these issues.  It highlights that we need to take an intersectional approach in our program planning where we should always address diversity through culture, faith, gender and sexuality in our community.

The Pantene Advertisement (you know the one) was quoted several times saying “it won’t happen overnight but it will happen” as was Australia’s combative approach towards the cigarette smoking campaign.  I feel sickened to think that many more women will suffer over the next 30 years while we fight to embed cultural and societal change.

Although my feeling are contradictive and switch between sombre and sickened to inspired and energised, I know one thing.  After this conference I feel stronger about the future of my gender. I know that putting intersectionality into practice and working together is the only way forward to embed lasting change.   I feel honoured to have represented drummond street services at such an event.