Yesterday Bobby told me there was a news article I would be very interested in. I was, but not in a great way.
The Federal Communications Commission has requested that every phone provider submit proposals detailing how they would move all customers to wireless phones (ie, do away with landlines). Carbon Hill, AL (where my aunt lives and my Granny Rea lived the last 20 years of her life) was chosen as one of the two cities in the US where this will be tested to see what kind of problems businesses and the government can expect to encounter. I wish they had moved it 25 miles south to the community of Curry where cell reception is so HORRIBLE that many people refuse to give up their landlines or else drive into town to call anyone because the few signal towers don't have enough strength to reach all the valleys. Not only that, but high speed internet simply does not exist there for anyone without cable. That's one of the reasons Bobby somewhat enjoys visiting my parents...you're almost totally disconnecting.
But for us, this means an even larger problem looms: cell phones are not handicap friendly. In the beginning, they were. But ever since we had to turn in his dinosaur of a phone because they no longer make batteries for them, we've had a nightmare of a time finding a cell phone that is very user friendly for him.
His old phone was wide enough that it would stay in place in his hand without slipping out (much like a land line phone will), and the buttons were large enough that his thumb that has no working muscles could press without pressure. Now? I hot glued an elastic strip on the back of a phone (which hasn't helped any as it's more likely to be dropped as he attempts to get in place...which means no way to pick it up and no way to call anyone), but the buttons are so small and require pressure that even if he can manage to press it against something to help push a button, it's more likely going to push more than one button. We tried three different stores when searching for this the phone he has now, was flat out told at two places: "We're sorry, but there's nothing available like that" (large buttons that has no case or flip), and finally ended up buying a disposable phone at Target. It's not great, and he's only used it once in several years (and we cheered that he managed to make a call on it after several non-working attempts). We've kept our land line and not gone to smart phones because it works for him. He can usually manage to pick up and hold the receiver. He can push all the buttons on the phones to make a call. If we have to do away with that and go to a cell phone, what happens when he (or I) need help? He was laughing this morning that he'll just have to leave me in the floor and drive somewhere to get help, of it it's him in need of help, he'll just be stuck until I get back home. That's not funny to me. As much as part of me would love to have a smart phone, the price is simply not justifiable for us. I can't rationalize paying double or triple what we pay now for a phone that's not 100% usable for both of us. (I'm also not crazy about the gps tracking and lack of security in cell phones.)
Either way, it's coming. It's really just another hurdle, and like my father-in-law told me when I was learning to care for Bobby, sometimes it's a matter of thinking how to best solve the problem instead of focusing on the fact there is a problem. He came up with some very creative solutions to things that worked well (and for a lot less money than things the medical field provides). I know this will be one of those things that we'll one day look back and laugh at, but at the moment, it's not funny at all.
The Federal Communications Commission has requested that every phone provider submit proposals detailing how they would move all customers to wireless phones (ie, do away with landlines). Carbon Hill, AL (where my aunt lives and my Granny Rea lived the last 20 years of her life) was chosen as one of the two cities in the US where this will be tested to see what kind of problems businesses and the government can expect to encounter. I wish they had moved it 25 miles south to the community of Curry where cell reception is so HORRIBLE that many people refuse to give up their landlines or else drive into town to call anyone because the few signal towers don't have enough strength to reach all the valleys. Not only that, but high speed internet simply does not exist there for anyone without cable. That's one of the reasons Bobby somewhat enjoys visiting my parents...you're almost totally disconnecting.
But for us, this means an even larger problem looms: cell phones are not handicap friendly. In the beginning, they were. But ever since we had to turn in his dinosaur of a phone because they no longer make batteries for them, we've had a nightmare of a time finding a cell phone that is very user friendly for him.
Either way, it's coming. It's really just another hurdle, and like my father-in-law told me when I was learning to care for Bobby, sometimes it's a matter of thinking how to best solve the problem instead of focusing on the fact there is a problem. He came up with some very creative solutions to things that worked well (and for a lot less money than things the medical field provides). I know this will be one of those things that we'll one day look back and laugh at, but at the moment, it's not funny at all.
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