3 Types of Products That Make Life Easier for People With Low Dexterity
Key takeaways:
Carden Wyckoff has a rare form of muscular dystrophy. It causes weakness in the face, shoulders, and abdomen, but can eventually affect the whole body.
Carden has low dexterity and trouble with fine motor skills. This makes it difficult to perform everyday tasks. She has trouble using items such as child-safe bottles and dresses with small zippers.
Carden has found a variety of items that make it easier for her to live independently. They range from specially designed nail care products to easy-open packaging.
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Carden Wyckoff began to experience weakness in her face and hands when she was just a small child.
At age 9, she got a diagnosis. She found out that she has a rare form of muscular dystrophy — facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) — as the result of a genetic mutation.
By the time she was in college, she had trouble taking notes by hand. Now, at 31, Carden uses a wheelchair and has very limited strength and dexterity in her hands.
These challenges haven’t stopped the Atlanta resident from living a vibrant, busy life. She works as a principal accessibility support engineer at Salesforce and is also a disability advocate, fighting for better access for her community. She is also a keen traveler.
While Carden’s condition doesn't stop her from enjoying life, it does sometimes stop her from using basic household items. She spoke to GoodRx Health about what everyday activities create the biggest problems for her and three types of products she uses to help with her low dexterity.
1. Easy-open packaging
When Carden goes to the supermarket, she chooses products based on quality and price. But she also has to think about what items she can open.
“Low dexterity makes gripping and grasping and pulling difficult for me,” Carden says. “So in the last 5 years, I've really started to think about the physical items that I buy as a consumer. If I am comparing two brands side by side and I notice that one bottle or one box is going to be easier for me to open, I am going to choose that.”
Paper is easier to tear than tough plastic packaging. She also prefers small bottles and jars that she can fit into her mouth and use her teeth to open. Sometimes, making these choices means paying more for everyday items.
“This is also where the financial burden comes onto disabled people,” Carden says. “So we have the orange plastic Tide box that has 90 pods in it versus a smaller option that's in just a Ziploc plastic bag-type thing. Same thing with the Cascade dishwasher tabs — if they're coming in a plastic Ziploc-type bag, I'm going to buy that over the mass-quantity one. But it's a lot more expensive to get the smaller package.”
Carden says she hopes that companies are starting to take people with disabilities into account when designing their packages.
“I think we really are on the cusp of seeing products starting to really take disability seriously,” she says. “I know Advil, for example, they have an arthritis-designed cap, and it is really easy to open. If I can't find it in the store, I'll order it on Amazon, because I know I can independently open it.”
She adds, jokingly, “I live alone, so it’s not like I can be, like, ‘Hey, cat, can you open this for me?’”
Still, Carden thinks there is a lot of room for improvement. “We really need the [big brands] to all get on board and start to create products for people with low dexterity,” she says. “Not only does it enhance the user experience, but you’re increasing your market reach. You’re getting more money. You’re allowing end users to feel a sense of independence and confidence. You end up being more innovative because of it.”
2. Fashion without finicky snaps and zippers
At 5-foot-11, Carden always had a hard time finding stylish clothes that fit her 36-inch inseam. Now that she uses a wheelchair and has less dexterity in her hands, finding fashionable items that work for her is even more difficult. She particularly struggles with snaps on pants and small zippers on dresses.
“I used to wear jeans all the time, but they just take way too long to put on. It’s just inefficient,” she notes. “So I wear a lot more pull-on-type clothes. But I also don’t want to look like I am a million years old, and they’re baggy and not cute.”
So far, she’s found some success buying from ASOS’s tall line, though the options are more limited than she’d like. Still, she sees the fashion industry becoming more aware of people who have disabilities and a sense of style.
“We’re starting to see a little bit in the industry around adaptive fashion and clothing,” she says. “Brands like Target have started something, as well as Tommy Hilfiger. They’re growing those lines.”
3. Items designed for people with low dexterity
At a conference showcasing assistive technology for people with disabilities, Carden recently saw some new products she’s excited to get her hands on. CVS showcased accessible nail care tools for those with low dexterity, for example.
“As a girl, I’m, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I do my nails all the time,’” she says, holding up a set of tweezers with a wide, padded grip. “It’s really, really difficult for me to be able to use tweezers because of how narrow they are. And so, they’ve designed these in a way which allows me to keep it in place in my hand. It’s just really, really easy and simple to use.”
At the conference, Sony and Microsoft were also displaying new adaptive controllers for gamers with low dexterity. While Carden was excited to get a look at these innovative products, she’s impatient to see them in stores.
“An expo is a great start, but it really needs to be on the shelves, front and center with the rest of the items,” she says “So if you have a set of tweezers, or whatever, they should be directly adjacent to the non-adaptive one. It shouldn’t be: As a disabled user, I have to go and search for it somewhere or know about it.”
Carden urges companies to spend money on marketing, so they can get the word out about new products for disabled users. But her final message to people making and designing products is even simpler.
“Man, make mouthwash easier to open,” she jokes, before making a more serious point. “If you are a company and you are creating products for people, and you’re leaving out the disability community, you’re losing millions of dollars, maybe billions every year.”
And, she says, you’re also missing out on an opportunity to help millions of people live more independently.
Frequently asked questions
To increase dexterity, do exercises that focus on maintaining range of motion, strength, and coordination in the hands and fingers. Adaptive tools and assistive technology can also help if you have a condition, such as muscular dystrophy, that impairs your motor skills.
A dexterity kit is a set of tools, exercises, and activities designed to improve fine motor skills. The kits often include items like therapy putty, grip strengtheners, stress balls, finger exercisers, and puzzles.
The bottom line
Items designed for people with impaired motor skills can help them live independently. These products range from specially designed nail care items to packaging that is easy to open.
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