Tag Archives: amputees

Spring has sprung! Is your garden ready?

Do you have limited mobility and enjoy gardening? Or is gardening something you’ve always wanted to try because you love spending time outdoors? Here are some useful tips to help you adapt your garden and/or get around obstacles you may have:

  • Depending on your disability, it might be easier to focus more on raised beds or container growing. Make sure any ground level areas are low maintenance to keep the digging and weeding needed to a minimum.
  • If you use a wheelchair or walking aid, paths in the garden/greenhouse need to be wide enough and with ample turning space.
  • Look for lightweight, ergonomic tools that are designed to be easier to grip. Newer types of prosthetic grips with specific uses have even been developed for amputees. Spring-released tools can help compensate for weak hands. Cordless power tools can also be a big help.
  • Watering is crucial to any successful garden but some watering cans can be awkward to carry, so choose a design you can manage easily. A lightweight plastic watering can with flat sides should be easier to carry and tip than a round can.
  • If you prefer to use a hose, a hose reel should be easier to manage than a standard hose. There are also lightweight expanding, or ‘curly’, hoses which are easier and lighter to pull into position, and they spring back into place.
  • Gardening is great exercise and it’s always satisfying to see the beautiful results of all your hard work. The key is to adapt and learn, but most importantly to get outside and enjoy yourself.

Adaptive Golf

Whether you want to learn the game or hone your skills, there is a golf program for everyone! Many solutions exist for whatever stops you from enjoying the game of golf, from carts to clubs to accessories and specialty devices.

  • Adaptive golf carts now have swivel and extending seats and armrests to play while seated as well as elevating lifts that allow paraplegics and others with limited leg strength to play from a standing position.
  • Adaptive golf clubs can have special grips for those with missing fingers, deformed hands, osteoarthritis or loss of strength. Some are specialized for seated or standing golfers. Some club shafts are bent for seated individuals.
  • Gloves and grip aids include prosthetic golf grip devices, elastic gripping devices and more.
  • Accessories include tee setters and ball retrieval systems to reduce bending. One device even stabilizes your balance.

Search for a golf program for those with disabilities in your area to get tailored instruction from golf instructors certified to teach. For more information, check out national associations like the National Alliance for Accessible Golf, the Disabled Sports USA, and/or the United States Golf Assoc.

The Adaptive Golf Foundation of America has scrambles, classics, opens, championships and tournaments across the country throughout the year.