Aids to Independence: A Guide to Products for the Disabled and the Elderly

Robin V.H. Bellamy was an editor and bibliographer in Vancouver.

Irene Crawford has previously published articles about the elderly, and her book The Senior Side of Life (Wiley) came out in 1979. This present volume she hopes will help the disabled and those who care for them to make informed choices about the many products that can increase a disabled person’s independence and hence his happiness and sense of self-worth.

Aids to Independence conforms to Self-Counsel’s stringent format, having no index and relying on a reasonably detailed table of contents for access to the various subjects discussed. The main types of aids included here are those for mobility, personal hygiene, and communication, with the amount of information about each item ranging from slight to extensive. The explanations are not hard to understand, particularly when black-and-white photographs of some items accompany the text.

As well as the publisher’s set format, Crawford’s own lay status means that the depth and scope of the book are somewhat limited, making the publication most useful as a starting guide for laymen rather than as a source of information for health care professionals. Within this limitation, Aids to independence still has weaknesses. Names of specific aids are difficult to pick out of the text’s continuous narrative, despite being highlighted by bold type. And the logic behind the chapter divisions is unclear; why, for example, are the sections on wheelchairs and walking aids not part of the chapter entitled “Mobility Aids”? Wendy M. Davis’s Aids to Make You Able (3rd ed. by General Publishing, 1981) is much more clearly laid out and, because it is spiral-bound, is physically more convenient to read from: both of these qualities are especially significant in books intended for use by the disabled themselves. However, Crawford’s book complements Davis’s in terms of having some different content, such as more information about wheelchairs and communications technology.

As Crawford points out, equipment for the disabled is big business, and the uninformed are all too likely to buy products unsuited to the very specific needs of the individual for whose use they are intended. Aids to Independence will be welcomed for the guidance it provides.