How does this phone holder finally allow me to use my smartphone in a wheelchair | Wire cutters

2021-12-08 09:47:20 By : Ms. Candy Fan

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As far as I can remember, improvisation has become a part of my life — and every disabled person I know. When I was a baby, my mother put my milk bottle in the arms of my panda plush toy for me to drink because I couldn't hold it by myself. When I was a kid, I had a spice rack that revolved like a lazy Susan, with food neatly arranged along the edges. Now I am an adult living alone in New York City. These tips-the ribbon tied to my door handle, the metal straw I use to close the door, the metal straw I use to turn on the light switch and adjust the thermostat, cat Toys I used to pick things from the floor-these are part of my life, I hardly think about them.

Although I prefer that the world is simple and easy to understand, there is nothing like using my own ingenuity to solve the obstacles I encounter to achieve the thrill of success.

In 2011, when I was a junior at the University of California, Berkeley, I thought I met my opponent. Without a smart phone, it is difficult for me to be an effective editor of a university student newspaper. I was tied to my desktop computer to handle breaking news, tweets, and instant editing, but what confused my co-editors was that I still insisted on using my outdated LG Cosmos slider phone. I pretend to be a Lutheran and I am not interested in new technologies. But the real reason I didn't upgrade was that I was worried that the smartphone would become another product that I couldn't use.

I have a disease called joint flexion, which means I am sitting in a wheelchair with my hands bent at an unconventional angle. I have lived on my hands all my life, and I think they work very well, but alas, most products are not designed with them in mind. The angle of my hand is such that only my fingernails can reach the keys on the phone I am holding-this is not a problem on a physical keyboard, but the touch screen requires skin contact to work. In fact, I think it is impossible for me to use a smartphone.

But soon I was forced to change. In the late-night editing process, I drove the wheelchair under the desk too enthusiastically, and smashed the slide phone resting on the armrest on the bottom of the table. After a day of mourning, I went to the Verizon store and planned to buy a phone similar to my broken phone, until I noticed a Verizon Combo car holder designed to be installed on the windshield of a car. I think if I connect the phone holder to my wheelchair in some way, I might be able to use one of my knuckles to control the smartphone's touch screen.

Switching to smart phones will bring huge financial risks, and there is little evidence that it actually works. But I know that if I think about it for too long, I will rationalize myself. At that moment, I realized countless times how tired I was to be left behind by a world that didn't fit my body. I know that when I graduate, it is difficult for me to find a job that does not require a smartphone. So I bought an iPhone 4 and a mobile phone holder.

Investing in this phone holder about 10 years ago gave me access to many things that my healthy peers took for granted. It is this cheap black plastic rotating bracket, not Apple, that allows me to check whether subway station elevators are working properly, call accessible taxis or Ubers, find bars or restaurants, continue dating apps, and have FaceTime with friends call.

The out-of-the-box phone holder is not perfect for me. The adhesive securing the bracket to the wheelchair was not enough to prevent it from falling off when I passed a big bump, so I asked someone to screw it in with an electric drill.

It is this cheap black plastic rotating bracket, not Apple, that allows me to check whether subway station elevators are working properly, call accessible taxis or Ubers, find bars or restaurants, continue dating apps, and have FaceTime with friends call.

After so many years, I am still buying a Verizon base. Verizon no longer provides the base, but it suddenly appeared on Amazon. Other types of phone holders may also be suitable for wheelchair users (such as some of the magnetic mounting options recommended by Wirecutter); it will take trial and error to know.

Recently, acquaintances recommended iPhone holders specially made for wheelchairs, but their price is at least three times the price of this redesigned windshield holder, and frankly, they cannot meet my specific needs. They look sturdier, which may be a huge advantage for many people in wheelchairs, but they are not easy to remove, which is a basic feature of my phone holder. I am grateful for the ideas and research to create these adaptable products, but they are often much more expensive than equivalent products designed for the general population, which makes me and my disabled friends unaffordable. I hope I live a life from the design process. At the beginning, I considered the world of the disabled and made products for us without charging extra fees, but before this becomes my reality, I will stick to my own redesigned design.

Tom Dunn and Nick Gay

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Tom Dunn and Nick Gay

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