I had an interesting talk with my father the other day. It wasn’t the usual mundane conversation of what’s on the breakfast menu or who is going to win the footie on Saturday. It was more like a stock take on our journey together.

During the conversation I realised how important Kiwi ingenuity was in my early years. As dad reminded me my parents bought me a tricycle but it was soon made clear it needed adapting. My balance wasn’t the best and my feet kept falling off the pedals, but one of our neighbours came to our rescue. He made a metal back rest and uncovered some bicycle clips to secure my feet. Our neighbour also made an indoor swing hooked to the top of the door frame between the kitchen and dining room. I was able to keep an eye on mum cooking the dinner and swing to the dining room to see the finished product.

We couldn’t remember where the “Walk-Easy” came from but that contraption enabled me to propel my way around our property. The apparatus even helped me indulge in a little cricket, when in the twilight of past summer’s days, the neighbourhood invaded our front lawn, to smack the ball for a four or six.

The Kiwi ingenuity didn’t always involve equipment as Dad and I invented a game that could loosely be described as Soccer. I would crawl madly around the lounge floor shooting for goal which was underneath Dad’s favourite long legged chair. His goal was to slam the ball into the big yellow door at the back of the lounge.

Way back then, we considered it a bit of fun but it certainly help build my strength up and till this day I’m still able to transfer myself from bed, to wheelchair, to shower chair etc.

Tailor-made equipment and spur of the moment games are so crucial for a disabled child’s development . The tricycle, swing, walk-easy and our version of football all helped me become a strong determined lad, ready to face the world.
I’m sure many of our readers would have a similar tale on how a customised piece of equipment or a quirky activity played a vital role in their development.

Drop me a line sometime I would love to hear about your experiences.

(NB ---Dad (pictured) is now 90 years old and he has his own contraption -a walker. He says he is too young to use it but he does find it useful every now and then.

Ross Flood rflood@cpsociety.org.nz