Wardrobe Function

Who wears the pants?

Ying does!

Or rather, she does now.

Our awesome OT recently made Ying this elastic adaptive device. Now with a minimal amount of help, she can put her own shorts on. Woohoo!

We clip the suspender clips to the back of Ying’s shorts or bloomies (her legs are too short for actual  pants). Then we loop the elastic around the upstairs railing (any sturdy post, such as the legs of a dresser that won’t tip over, would work) and Ying slides her feet into her short’s leg holes. She then scoots forward on her bottom. As she “walks” forward, the elastic pulls her shorts up and into place.

A few notes about this. Ying can close the suspender clips with her feet, but she needs me to open them once the shorts are pulled up. Also, the third time is the charm. Ying tried two other dressing techniques that were only kind of meh. Initially she tried shimmying into her shorts using Dycem and her body weight as resistance. It was somewhat effective, but she could not get her shorts all the way up. Then she tried using a hook to pull up her shorts, but she still needed a fair amount of help to get the shorts all the way up. This is, by far, the best solution. Although she’s done it with several different shorts now, we’ve found it’s easiest when her shorts have an elastic waist and elastic leg holes or are fairly roomy.

Additional wardrobe info:

Ying is always hot (our arms and legs are our radiators, so people with limb differences tend to “run hot.”) and she hates to have her limbs restricted in any way. Because of this, she wears sleeveless tops/dresses and shorts, regardless of the season.  In cooler weather, we’ve just layered by adding Babylegs and sleeveless, hooded puffy vests. She also has a few cardigans she wears too. Thankfully my sister sews and has been able to modify the sweaters to either flutter or cap sleeves. 

But if you (or your sister) can’t sew, all hope is not lost. At Christmas, a sweet friend sent Ying a dress that she rolled the sleeves on, tying them off with ribbon. Not only does this look adorable, but it’s an easy no-sew sleeve fix.  How lucky am I to know such clever people?