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THE PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED - MOBILITY
The whole of the welfare services for the handicapped is focussed on independence. They
are given, by skilled social workers, advice and guidance on personal and domestic problems
affecting not only the handicapped themselves but also the family units of which they are a part.
They are encouraged to participate in activities at social centres, clubs, classes and places of
worship. Courses are available for them to be rehabilitated in daily living, the blind to be taught
mobility and skills, the physically handicapped to be taught to dress themselves and attend to
their own toilet and all of them to perform normal domestic tasks amongst other activities. Training
for employment, and special workshops where the disabled may work if they are unable to hold
their own in competition with the able-bodied, are specialised services available to them.
"Physical handicap" is in practice a varying conception. Whether or not a handicapped
person is employable depends upon the economic situation, the existence of suitable employment
in the district, his personality and social background.
The disabled, whether physically handicapped or blind, have to learn anew how to do
things which were previously done subconsciously such as getting into and out of a bath, on and
off a lavatory seat, wash, bath, dress, shave, feed, go from room to room, fetch things from a
cupboard, all without assistance. These things require tremendous physical and mental effort, and
although aids and appliances should not be supplied as a soporific or because it makes the donor
feel good to supply them there are times when these things are necessary. There is no simple way
of doing any given task, the best way being that which gives the best results with the least effort.
The aim of 'special' living is to try and make everyone as independent as possible.
Independence is achieved by restoring normal function as quickly as is reasonably possible
but where physical function is not completely possible it may have to be supplemented by the
provision of aids, appliances and/or adaptations to the home or place of work. Care should be taken
that the aid most suitable for the handicapped person is selected. It must always be remembered
that however good an appliance is, it is always an aid and can never be anything but an aid, however
well fitted. The normal body is infinitely adaptable in movement, but an aid solves only one problem
and probably raises many others. Much trouble and expense may have been involved in providing the
aid but the user may find it suits only a very limited set of circumstances and he may be thought
by the family to be fussy or difficult because he does not use it under all conditions.
There are so many designs for aids for performing one function, e.g. walking aids, that the
uninitiated might easily choose one not suitable for the individual whom it is desired to help.
Walking aids require grip and some strength of forearm and arm. They may be necessary for aiding
balance or partial weight-bearing. Quadruped walking aids allow for more stability than a stick and
walking frames are even greater confidence builders for the more tottery. The final choice of type
of walking aid depends upon the degreed of disability, the skill of the disabled person in using
it and the conditions in which he will have to use it.
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