One-Handed backpacks – Your Survival Kit

This is from a  project that we did at Walter Reed to provide the injured service members with a “survival kit” of one-handed gadgets and helpful materials (books and inspirational calendar).  You may want to use this list or adapt it for your own unique client populations.

  • One-handed dental flossers
  • Washmits
  • One-handed nail clippers
  • Hands-free can openers
  • Electric toothbrushes
  • Electric razor
  • One-handed cutting boards
  • Knorks (an eating utensil that combines a fork and a knife)
  • Locklaces (shoe laces that are secured with a plastic slide lock so they don’t need to be tied),
  • Dr. Grip(tm) pen
  • Automatic letter opener (battery powered)
  • A calendar with art painted by the Mouth and Foot Artists. The calendars are a
    reminder that tasks, even as intricate as painting, can be accomplished in nontraditional ways!
  • A Zip-tie (a neck tie that is pre-tied and has a hidden zipper that adjusts to fit around different neck sizes)
  • Each backpack may also (optionally) include two books

  • One-Handed in a Two-Handed World by Tommye K. Mayor
  • Blood Brothers: Among  Soldiers of Ward 57 by Michael Weisskopf. He wrote the book after losing his arm, below the elbow, in Iraq while on assignment for Time Magazine, and subsequently going through Walter Reed Army Medical Center for his rehabilitation.
  • 2 thoughts on “One-Handed backpacks – Your Survival Kit”

    1. What a fabulous idea! Thanks for sharing. I’ve recommended/provided many of these items individually to patients and my spouse.

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