Crip Tips and Crip Tech

Hi

I am going to endeavor to write weekly either a tech review or a tip to make life a bit easier or simpler for those who are, like me, disabled. I will, most definitely, avoid the stereotypical disabled aids that merely reinforce the fact that you are now DISABLED with all that that descriptor implies.

I believe that you are just as entitled to nice things as the abled and, with a bit of research, they can be found.

Now for a bit about me: I had a Hemorrhagic Stroke on the fourth of November 2013 at 10.30 in the morning. A day that will live in infamy (guess where that statement comes from). What followed was twelve weeks in Hospital learning to function again. I managed to walk (after a fashion and with a stick) but I was at least ambulatory. On my first prognosis I was expected to be in a wheelchair for life. I was left with hemiplegia on my right side, short term memory loss and mild aphasia (it sounds like I’m drunk). Nothing was wrong with my mind so I knew what I had lost. God’s really nice like that.

So I’ve spent the last three years learning to exist as a so called disabled person in a very much abled world. It’s been hard. I found that feeling sorry for myself didn’t help and being resentful of my situation merely increased my frustration. So I decided to take life by the horns and live. After all, life is what we make it to be.

My Doctor told me that most problems could be sorted out by throwing money at them. Unfortunately the DSP doesn’t provide much money for throwing around and the NDIS seems more interested in their providers than the disabled. They want to assess you for EVERYTHING (at an extortionate hourly rate) and the aids they recommend are stratospherically priced and look horrible.

There must be a better way. Then I discovered China. Goods there are a third to a tenth of the price charged in Australia. In my experience they are just as good and are probably made in the same factories.

So, here’s the deal: I’ll write Tech Tips that have made my life easier. I will write them assuming absolutely no prior knowledge. I’ll write reviews of goods I have actually used and I’ll write about goods that I feel would be useful but that I haven’t actually seen except for the website. I will religiously separate used from merely seen. I will gain a small commission from the supplier for this but it will not increase your price one iota.

I look forward to a mutually beneficial and fulfilling relationship.

Regards

Richard

 

A note for those not from Australia:

• DSP is the Disability Support Pension
• NDIS is the National Disability Insurance Scheme. This is still being rolled out across Australia.