3,181 Comments Posted by Lynne

Then you need to sit up straighter.

Melissa,

Right under each picture is a phrase that says, "Click here to hide the comments under the photos." I am fairly sure this would give you a much more pleasant experience than being forced, as you currently appear to be, to scroll down and read all of our truly tasteless comments, most of which we took great pride at the time in writing, and, in fact, the more tasteless they were, the happier we were. The comments, tacky as they are, were the result of a group process and most of us (i.e., the group) enjoyed making them and enjoyed reading them. Matter of fact, sometimes just for kicks we sneak back and re-read them and think we were pretty dang funny in our own pathetic ways, even when we weren't. Heck, ESPECIALLY when we weren't. :-)

Can't seem to paste code today. Go to the location entitled, "King's Park Psychiatric Center", the gallery entitled, "Buildings 39, 138, 139", and look at "Rotting Bathroom."

Some people have such high tone in their legs that their legs automatically cross or "scissor." Adapted chairs like this both help keep you from sliding out of the chair and help keep your legs apart so you don't get decubiti from having the skin of your legs rub together all day and create painful ulcers. If you can imagine yawning and stretching your legs and arms, when you are at your most stretched out and your toes are pointing - that is how the limbs of people with spastic cerebral palsy are all the time. The brain sends a constant impulse to increase the tension or tone in your limbs, and so your limbs are never at rest - they are always hyper-extending, but your legs would be "scissored" and cross each other all day with no break. Very exhausting to the body, very stressful for your self-concept and how others see you when you have no control over the process, and sometimes painful, especially when skin breakdown occurs. Intrathecal baclofen therapy (a muscle relaxant is implanted in a device in the body and provides timed release of medication directly into the nervous system) is one of the coolest inventions in the world because it is one of the few ways in which your extremities finally get some break from the constant tension.

Truth is, y'all, you gotta be tough as nails to have a severe disability - it's often hard work just getting out of bed every day.

I believe this is one of the early tech gadgets where the top would have some information and you could choose the correct answer from the side - possibly an early communication board.

It's just another adapted chair. Before they had PVC pipes and lightweight metals they used wood when they were making adaptive equipment because otherwise it was too heavy to move and it was difficult to self-propel or rock in an all-steel chair or rocker. In the late 60s through mid 80s a large number of adaptive chairs and other pieces of adaptive equipment had sections made of lightweight wooden boards or pressboard and the seats/sides had heavy duty padded vinyl so they could be easily wiped down and washed. It is much easier to work with a 200-pound person in a 20-pound chair than a 200-pound person in a 120-pound chair. Also it was a heck of a chore trying to move a heavy metal chair with someone in it across crowded fair grounds and go over electric cords and such or use a wheelchair trying to take a short jaunt to the store before the ADA mandated sidewalks with cut-away curbs and worry that you might tip over trying to get on or off a sidewalk - BEFORE cell phones were available so's you could call someone for help.

We LOVED that equipment - it was much easier to work with, more comfortable for the people who used it, easier to move, easier to clean, and looked a whole lot better than most of those iron maiden papa-sized chairs.

Ah, the good old days. ;-)

Adapted rocking chairs! We had a million of 'em!

Peachy!

Oh yeah! That's some fantastic lighting!

Or create them. ;-)

GREAT shot! That was one expensive piece of ergonomically correct therapeutic equipment in its day.

When you see one of these deeper tubs, realize that they have to be cleaned out thoroughly between every single use, and think of how hard it would be to properly wash and sanitize one of these so that you yourself would feel OK about using it, you get a better understanding of why the rate of back injuries is so high among staff in the field of medical care and personal health services.

It is funny how I had forgotten that people would think a slab tub was exclusively used as a morgue table until you showed one of these in an earlier gallery several years back and received so many comments. It helps remind those of us in the field how odd our "normal" world is to outsiders.

Swell title! I remember the phrase "Worshipping the Porcelain Goddess" from my drinking days. :-)

Agreed, Janice.