United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Holding paper is a challenge all on it's own but stencils - well they seem impossible. Has anyone figured out a way to do stencils one handed?

Also - how about cutting (with scissors) ? Any way to hold the paper with affected arm easier? paper stand?

these are the current school challenges I'm trying to figure out. thanks for your help in advance,

francine

ps - (one more thing) I finally bought Maia card stands so that we can now play UNO - they work great except for one thing - they slide around and tip easily. Does anyone know of a heavy weight version? or a better way to accomplish this?

For stencils have you thought about using art tape? It is just sticky enough to hold paper steady then can be pulled up without tearing. You can tape the paper to the table or desk then tape the stencil down too. It tears very easily and Maia can probably hold the roll with affected arm and tear with the other. It is commonly used to mount drawings and is not too expensive. If you want to give it a try, most art stores or framing stores carry it!
HTH

Try a store that carries drafting supplies. The tape you use for drafting is not as sticky and pulls of easily. If you slightly fold the end of it under before placing it down it is easier to get ahold of to pull up. (I took drafting in high school).

For the card holders, could you glue them to a block of wood or a brick? At the flower shop our enclosure card display would get top heavy and fall over. We wrapped a brick in foil paper and zip tied the holder to the top of it.

WOW - great ideas! I will work on it and let you know!
THANKS!!

Do you mean playing cards Fran? Sorry, (I'm not familiar with UNO...!)

You can buy any number of playing card holders from loads of places...try http://www.wisent.com/leisure.htm and stick them down with Blu Tack..
..but why bother...you have the perfect solution already in your house; use a close-tufted hair brush that will lay flat, or an unused old fashioned scrubbing brush; push the cards in between the tufts..viola! instant card holder...(can cause a few raised eyebrows at whist drives, but I'm guessing Maia is a long way off those games yet..)

Stencils....if Maia is using them for paper projects, she might find an ordinary clipboard very useful; make sure it's one of the easy-clip ones as some of them are very hard for small hands to use.

Using scissors...can be very difficult; I tend to hold stuff between my knees, then cut with scissors. Mostly, I use roller blade cutters on a flat surface, but I think she is maybe way too young for those.

The other way is to try and weigh down whatever she is trying to cut, using something like a can of beans. Stand it on the opposite side to the area of the piece being cut, then slip the scissors underneath and begin to cut; move the can as you progress....it's hard to describe, but it is possible to cut out quite accurately using this method, it just takes practice.

Liz B

Fran,

Kelsey is actually very good at cutting! I was so surprised. I watched her doing her home work and she made sure that she cut the excess off every inch or so and she was able to maneuver the paper better. She uses her left hand to hold the paper down, but has to lean up from her chair to make her hand and arm heavy enough, know what I mean?

Lizzy- Love your idea about using a brush to hold the cards! I never would have thought of that!

Nancy

Our young five's teacher had the kids doing an art project today. They were cutting out tracings of themself. It was too large for them to hold and cut and manuver on their own so she rigged up a clothes line and pinned the shapes too it. Worked pretty good.

I use art tape or Blu Tack (it's a bit like chewing gum but easy to stick down and lift up again, it's not called Blu Tack here so maybe it's not called that in the States either) or often I use my right arm as a paperweight, it's still pretty heavy and sure doesn't move much lol! If the bpi is on the right side then left handed scissors are a big help, every pair in my house is left handed so my whole right handed family have had to adapt to this, I figure the advantage of having 2 arms outweighs the disadvantage of using left handed scissors as a righty. Plus, I buy the scissors around here so they just have to put up with it :0)

Francine:
At the NY Picnic I had some adaptive equipment...the most interesting to me was the stuff called "dycem". It is this sticky rubberized material. It comes in a variety of sizes. You can even stick it on glass (we do it on the sliding doors in the den) and put paper on it (it sticks) and practise putting stickers or coloring...
They also make dycem strips. They are thin and reusable in that you can stick stuff to them many times. This stuff is often used to wrap around a utensil (fork...) to give girth and grip. But they are also used to position paper because they are thin.
I get mine from SammonsPreston. It isn't cheap, but not outlandish.
I highly recommend this stuff. By the way, the dycem pad, if it gets dirty and stops sticking, can be washed in warm, soapy water and air-dried and it is like new!!
hope it helps,
claudia