Dining With Dignity

Following Jason Statts's recovery, I've become aware of the many challenges that a spinal cord injury patient must endure. Standing and walking, being athletic, playing music, driving a car - those are the concerns we think of first, but most patients with some upper body paralysis have much more to work through. Jason has been learning to feed himself post-incident, a huge challenge as he regains mobility in his wrists and fingers, made more difficult by the desire to eat in public, with dignity. Grasping a fork, knife, and spoon takes some practice for people with full mobility - just look back at your childhood photos if you don't remember - but for those with impaired motor function, it's a major undertaking.

Jason's wife, Lyra, learned of a special (and beautiful) set of utensils available to help people with impaired motor movement, not just those with spinal cord injuries, but also Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's, etc. Created by a company, Dining With Dignity, attached rings allow people to pick food up off the plate without having a firm grasp on the stem of the utensil. Inventor, Robert Bayton, came up with the idea during his own recovery from a major car accident. Because of Robert's efforts, anyone needing a little assistance holding a fork, knife, or spoon can now dine with dignity.


As my interest in assistive technology grows, I become more aware of these fantastic inventions and am happy to share these with the user experience community. Robert Bayton is helping to keep eating an experience we can take for granted. For more information about Robert Bayton's invention, please visit Dining With Dignity.

All images courtesy Robert Bayton.

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Statts HIMSELF
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