Lanyard

You've already seen this lanyard in my post regarding door bumpers to assist in pressing remote buttons. These little well tied loops of rope or cord can be so helpful in so many other ways. Keeping keys attached to something easy to grab a hold of, and easy on the teeth for those times you need to hold on to them with your mouth, is a big deal because the alternative is dropping them. For many quadriplegics, or any wheelchair users for that matter, picking things off the floor can be very difficult. Especially if you already have something on your lap or are in the middle of a snow-covered parking lot.

A lanyard can be homemade, bought cheaply from any discount store, and be almost any length you need to fit your intended purpose. As attractive as the Solomon bar weave is on the upper part of this lanyard, it is the diamond knot that I am most grateful to be able to tie successfully. That knot makes for not just a loop to hold onto but a nicely sized ball of cord to incorporate into a zipper pull, making the challenge of operating a zipper a little bit easier. Here are my thoughts on zippers. While the white part of the cord is illuminated by a camera flash, the green part is because of the glow-in-the-dark material used to make this lanyard. It's a little more expensive than standard paracord but for those times I wanted to be able to find my keys in the dark I'm glad I chose it for this keychain.

The reason I like paracord so much is that when used to secure keys, as shown in the door bumpers post linked to above, is that it is quite easy to detach the keys for those times when you need to separate your vehicle keys from your house keys, such as when leaving a vehicle for service. I prefer this over the quick clasp lanyards that you can purchase in stores because often those clasps are spring-loaded and pivot which makes operating them very difficult, and a danger to a person's lip should you choose to use your teeth and have the clasp snap shut.

In the future we will take a look at other lanyards of the smaller size used to keep smooth and difficult cell phones closer to us and less likely to be dropped on the floor if they slip out of our hands. Because I did not want to be tied down by a lanyard hanging off my phone I chose a very rubbery case and the larger design of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for my current phone, which I talk about in the post regarding touch screens and styluses.

Source: Webbed lanyards - Department or DollarStores
Paracord and Premade Paracord Lanyards - EBay and Etsy

Shoelaces

When your dexterity is limited tying anything is difficult. I have had my experience with weaving different knots, bracelets, lanyards and keychains using paracord but that is so much different than tying shoes. With paracord I typically have plenty of extra slack to work with, the knot or lanyard is in front of me at the ideal height on a desk or table, and they are typically knots tied tight enough that they will never come undone.

Shoelaces do not have the slack, are not in an ideal position to work on when they're on your floppy and uncooperative feet, and are knotted with the intention of being easily untied for removal or re-tying to snug them up.

Why do we need our shoes tied tight? Because often leg spasms can kick our foot right out of the shoe, properly fitting and tied shoes can assist in reducing foot drop caused by a tightening Achilles tendon, and it can help reduce edema. For these reasons I prefer footwear with a fairly high rise to them. However, hightop sneakers are more of an 80s to mid-90s thing. Hiking boots are usually what I go for when the long search for the right new footwear, that won't bother my feet or cause pressure sores, begins.

I have been fortunate enough to have someone available on a regular enough basis to tie my shoes when they need it. I do not suffer from edema like many people do, and because my feet are well stretched out each day I do not fear foot drop. Because of this I simply slip my shoes on and off each day but have not actively sought out a reliable method for independently tying shoes.

If you have a solution for this I would very much welcome your feedback!

Next week we will look at Velcro which goes far, far beyond a method of securing shoes in its usefulness and helpfulness in strengthening our independence.

Solution: Other than practice and patience, I have none that I can recommend as reliable and adequate.