Light Switches

Cindy and her husband made a lot of changes to their house after her heart attack. Door knobs with levers, a stair lift, handrails in the bathroom. But they also wanted to preserve the elegant and natural look of their home wherever possible. For example, they have lamps that they wanted to keep but enable Cindy to use, and lamp switch extensions allowed that. Cindy first saw them in a catalog, marketed for people with limited hand dexterity. She says she is queen of catalogs, always has been, but now has added to her repertoire some catalogs with gizmos and adaptive equipment. Her favorites include “Whatever Works” and “The Wright Stuff,” but here are other catalogs she looks at a lot too. “There is a surprising number of adaptive items in catalogs that aren’t even official rehab catalogs,” she said—like the mass-market floor lamps they’ve collected that are designed to be activated by foot.