Disability Tools
I created this page to help people with disabilities–invisible and visible–find resources that make life a little easier. Got any tips on great tools you use? Just leave a comment below the article.
Guide to Remodeling Home for Disability from Expertise.com: Written by experts, this is a comprehensive guide for people living with disabilities. The article has been featured in several government publications. “Our guide aims to help make the federal grants available to seniors, veterans, and people with cognitive and physical disabilities much easier to understand and take advantage of, particularly for remodeling homes for accessibility.”
Wheelchair Superstore (SpinLife)
This website has a wide variety of wheelchairs starting at $99 from a company called SpinLife. It’s the country’s largest retailer of manual wheelchairs.
Living with limited mobility can be tiring. In 2014 there are still many stores, restaurants, and commercial institutions that are not disability-accessible. This is appalling given the fact the first President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law in 1990. But thankfully this website allows people to mark and share vital information about places all over the world!
I usually buy my masks at Walgreens. Avoiding colds and the flu is critical for many sick people. As someone with an autoimmune disease who has cancer survivors in my family, I’m no stranger to the mask. See my post, How to Look Great While Wearing Masks.
These gloves are from Kimberly-Clark. Honestly, I’ve learned that the more I wear my gloves, the fewer infections I get. And much like wearing masks, the key to being happy with gloves is treating them like they’re any accessory akin to a necklace or bracelet.
Moodtracker App (Moodtrack.com)
I love this app. As someone with Bipolar Disorder, tracking moods is a great tool. It helps reduce the frequency and intensity of my mood swings because I know when triggers are coming by observing a pattern (ex: depression following deadlines or lack of sleep). It’s only 99¢ (buy on iTunes) and it’s private, easy, and fast. It takes me less than a minute to track my moods with this thing.
I got my Erica Kane at Walgreens. We’ve been together for over three years. This is a foldable cane that’s pretty light to carry.
Carex Adjustable Bath and Shower Seat ($28.49 at Target)
I couldn’t have gotten through the past five and half years without a shower stool. What I love about this is that it has a back (some shower stools do not) and it’s slip-resistant.
Medic Alert Bracelets (Medic Alert Foundation)
A bracelet can help save a life or at least give some chronically ill people freedom, the ability to travel without having someone by your side 24/7.
This is the world’s first ultra disability-accessible theme park–people from all around the world have traveled here. I had the privilege of going there last summer when I was in San Antonio, Texas speaking at a mental health convention. When I first stepped onto the park, I started crying. I was overwhelmed with emotions. Even though I’m an adult, going to a theme park was emotional because it’s one of many activities I haven’t done since getting my autoimmune disease. I can’t say enough nice things about this theme park. They have volunteers who help disabled people get on rides as well as less strenuous rides than those at typical theme parks. Children and adults with disabilities ride for free. 
What touched me most were the figures of heroes with disabilities. (I’m still waiting for Marvel Comics to come out with a superhero who carries a cane or uses a wheelchair.)
Hi, I just wanted to mention the Walk Aid Scooter–a mobility tool for people who have pain with walking. My husband developed this scooter for himself after an injury left him with limited walking ability, and he didn’t want to use a wheelchair. It turns out these two-wheeled seated scooters are great for people with everything from neuropathy to back, hip, knee and foot pain. Scooter users need normal balance, but they can take weight off painful joints and get around indoors and outside. We sell them through our website, http://www.walkaidscooter.com. Thanks.
This is Charles Nichols with Barriers Gone (http://barriersgone.com). The website is owned and maintained by Martin Sheerin, whose neurological disorder, Friedreich’s Ataxia, took away his ability to walk. Barriers Gone is a website dedicated to providing stories about life in the wheelchair and the best reviews of personal mobility devices and wheelchairs. I hope you include them on your list of resources as well. Thanks!
Hello, Jessica, I came across your Ted Talk and it moved me so I had to know. You are an amazing advocate and please keep up the hard work that needs to be done to help improve conditions for the many people who suffer in silence like us. I just wanted to clarify one item on this page. Morgan’s Wonderland, the first of its kind theme park for everyone is actually in San Antonio, Tx, my home town, not San Jose, Tx. I’ve been there it’s a marvelous place that breaks down barriers for children with every type of disability and they are growing and doing more including the first summer camp for disabled children so that children don’t miss out on the camp experience.
Cheers to you and continued success in your wonderful work.
Hi Rumaldo, Nice to meet you — I’m glad you enjoyed my TEDx Talk. I don’t know how I missed that–good catch! I have actually been to Morgan’s Wonderland, and was so impressed with it years ago. I appreciate you letting me know. -Jessica P.S. Let me know if there are any mental health and/or chronic illness topics you’d like me to address in a future video on my YouTube channel. Blessings to you