STILETTO – a high pointed HEEL on a woman’s shoe or a small dagger.

WHEELS – a medieval instrument of torture or a vehicle for personal mobility.

Boy, do we have to pay, and privately, for any semblance of comfort and style. If comfortable, well-designed, products were available to the mass market, the price would drop dramatically and a lot of very uncomfortable lives would be vastly improved in quality  

…and yet, quality of life seems so low in the priorities of those currently making the decisions in this area! Grrr, it makes me so mad and yet there seems so little anyone of us can do whilst we are all struggling so hard just to cope with our own situations.

But, good news, times, they are a-changin’. I encourage you all to sashay your clicky fingers across to Enabled by Design. See what they are doing and, if you like it, give them your support…and do drop in again on disabledgear.com as you go (see my previous article).

Great things about Enabled by Design:

• one founder, at least, has MS so, has first hand experience of hating the clinical and ugly equipment supplied by the NHS,
• they are looking to try and influence the design process of disability products, and,
• build relationships with the NHS and social services to move a ‘style and function’ agenda forward within the system.
• They are trying to build links with design colleges and product designers to increase availability of stylish assistive products where there are none.
• They have a great forum and site to identify and discuss existing great products.

I really do think that there is hope for a site like Enabled by Design to change things because, let's face it:

• we’re all getting older and more bodies are creakingly non-functional,
• it looks like the country has no money and we will all have to self finance a lot more
• the newly disabled population are part of a consumer generation, used to getting stylish and functional goods and services in every area of their life and not very willing to compromise.

So, join me and swing by Enabled by Design. Let us all help in achieving a future of stylish functionality in disability equipment…

(Sadly, I am still feeling ‘cool’ may be beyond us…!)

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