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Aug. 9th, 2018 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckThe OT has some very expensive suggestions for things that might help me and a couple of things that she'd like me to do but admits may not be feasible. I think there are also some things that I do that she wants me to stop but that I have sound reasons for doing. She just doesn't comprehend those reasons as valid.
She wants me to stop reading paper books and get a stand with a swing arm that can hold tablet (and get a tablet) and only read what I can get that way. There are so many huge issues with doing that that I couldn't even start to explain them to her. First, no spending money for books. Period. None. Second, I need to be able to read a book out of order with ease*. Third, most of what I actually want to read isn't available from the library except on paper. I'm not reading things that are interchangeable.
I looked at stands for holding actual books two years ago, and there was nothing, more nothing, and horrifically expensive things that didn't look like they'd actually work. Basically, the stands I saw were only good for books that would stay open on their own and not rated for anything weighing more than a tablet would. There were also options for things that I couldn't physically move and that were too expensive. Scott looked at the options and said that we couldn't make any of them work as an intersection of what I need and what I want.
*This is an anxiety issue. I can't handle being trapped by the narrative. I need to be able to skip around constantly. Some books don't require it, but most books do (I can name about four authors I'm usually good with not skipping around. Only four-- Jayne Ann Krentz in her various pseudonyms, Nancy Atherton, Donna Andrews, and Kerry Greenwood (mysteries only not the historicals)). I can only really handle audiobooks if I'm giving them about half my attention. Even then, I'm prone to stopping and never going back (this happens with movies and TV shows, too). I do the same thing with long fics. I don't, sadly, care much for short stories. They dump me out after so very little time, and then I have to spend another hour finding something else that will work.
The OT also wants me to get into a good ergonomic posture and not fidget or shift position while I'm working. My habit is to change position every 5-10 minutes as my previous position becomes too painful. Ergonomic correctness doesn't change that. There are certain times when I grit my teeth and stay still (generally while in public or doing things that need longer), but it's not an acceptable state of affairs for all day, every day.
I agree with her that I need better support than I get in the three places where I sit and work. I'm just not sure how feasible her suggestions are. I need support in different places than any of the commercial things she suggested provide-- That is, I need something behind my head and shoulder blades when I sit. Nobody builds couches that do that; they all slope back at the point where I need them to come forward, and they don't go high enough for even an illusion of head/neck support. The best she had was to measure the space and get a foam wedge purpose cut for it and then cover it ourselves.
I don't have the skills to cover something. I just don't.
For using my laptop in bed, she suggested a very expensive set of foam wedges that looked very, very uncomfortable to me and not at all as if they'd make using my laptop possible. Also, they only work in one configuration, so I wouldn't have the option of shifting position. Looking at the advertising materials, I'm also at a loss to figure out how one gets into position and then back out again.
There's also the problem that I have issues with a lot of textures and allergies to some fabrics (I can't use microfiber/microfleece blankets for sleeping because, even if I wash them weekly, by about three months out, they're holding onto things that make my sinuses freak). The covers on this set are spot clean only, so given the way the last 2-3 years have gone, they'd spend three weeks out of every twelve in quarantine in the basement. She found a set with washable covers for twice the price, but I can't find them right now. I'd still be stuck with whatever fabric they used. I really need cotton of some sort with the option for washing every week or two.
Also, all of these things are covered in white or, at darkest, tan fabric. Why would you do that and make it spot clean only? Anything that might go in the bed has to have coverings that can be machine washed hot and dried on high heat. If they can't be, they're going to spend weeks at a time unusable.
I just don't want to spend $$$ on things that won't actually do anything helpful and that will also need more money and a lot of work to be adapted so that they're not harmful and not otherwise wasted.
Conflicting accommodation needs for the win!
She wants me to stop reading paper books and get a stand with a swing arm that can hold tablet (and get a tablet) and only read what I can get that way. There are so many huge issues with doing that that I couldn't even start to explain them to her. First, no spending money for books. Period. None. Second, I need to be able to read a book out of order with ease*. Third, most of what I actually want to read isn't available from the library except on paper. I'm not reading things that are interchangeable.
I looked at stands for holding actual books two years ago, and there was nothing, more nothing, and horrifically expensive things that didn't look like they'd actually work. Basically, the stands I saw were only good for books that would stay open on their own and not rated for anything weighing more than a tablet would. There were also options for things that I couldn't physically move and that were too expensive. Scott looked at the options and said that we couldn't make any of them work as an intersection of what I need and what I want.
*This is an anxiety issue. I can't handle being trapped by the narrative. I need to be able to skip around constantly. Some books don't require it, but most books do (I can name about four authors I'm usually good with not skipping around. Only four-- Jayne Ann Krentz in her various pseudonyms, Nancy Atherton, Donna Andrews, and Kerry Greenwood (mysteries only not the historicals)). I can only really handle audiobooks if I'm giving them about half my attention. Even then, I'm prone to stopping and never going back (this happens with movies and TV shows, too). I do the same thing with long fics. I don't, sadly, care much for short stories. They dump me out after so very little time, and then I have to spend another hour finding something else that will work.
The OT also wants me to get into a good ergonomic posture and not fidget or shift position while I'm working. My habit is to change position every 5-10 minutes as my previous position becomes too painful. Ergonomic correctness doesn't change that. There are certain times when I grit my teeth and stay still (generally while in public or doing things that need longer), but it's not an acceptable state of affairs for all day, every day.
I agree with her that I need better support than I get in the three places where I sit and work. I'm just not sure how feasible her suggestions are. I need support in different places than any of the commercial things she suggested provide-- That is, I need something behind my head and shoulder blades when I sit. Nobody builds couches that do that; they all slope back at the point where I need them to come forward, and they don't go high enough for even an illusion of head/neck support. The best she had was to measure the space and get a foam wedge purpose cut for it and then cover it ourselves.
I don't have the skills to cover something. I just don't.
For using my laptop in bed, she suggested a very expensive set of foam wedges that looked very, very uncomfortable to me and not at all as if they'd make using my laptop possible. Also, they only work in one configuration, so I wouldn't have the option of shifting position. Looking at the advertising materials, I'm also at a loss to figure out how one gets into position and then back out again.
There's also the problem that I have issues with a lot of textures and allergies to some fabrics (I can't use microfiber/microfleece blankets for sleeping because, even if I wash them weekly, by about three months out, they're holding onto things that make my sinuses freak). The covers on this set are spot clean only, so given the way the last 2-3 years have gone, they'd spend three weeks out of every twelve in quarantine in the basement. She found a set with washable covers for twice the price, but I can't find them right now. I'd still be stuck with whatever fabric they used. I really need cotton of some sort with the option for washing every week or two.
Also, all of these things are covered in white or, at darkest, tan fabric. Why would you do that and make it spot clean only? Anything that might go in the bed has to have coverings that can be machine washed hot and dried on high heat. If they can't be, they're going to spend weeks at a time unusable.
I just don't want to spend $$$ on things that won't actually do anything helpful and that will also need more money and a lot of work to be adapted so that they're not harmful and not otherwise wasted.
Conflicting accommodation needs for the win!
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Date: 2018-08-10 05:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-08-10 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-08-12 09:25 am (UTC)