The Gift of Independence & Confidence In The Kitchen

The Gift of Independence & Confidence In The Kitchen – Here’s Carol’s Story

 

Carol Rice: Activist, Teacher, Band Promoter, Author…

Carol is an amazingly vibrant, friendly, and incredible woman from Cork city who caught the eye of our Marketing Co-Ordinator back in October on Facebook.

October is Dwarfism Awareness Month, and each October Carol’s primary focus is to advocate for the Little People Community. How having confidence and independence is so important. For this, Carol shares updates and videos on her social media profiles about her day-to-day life and how she has had to adapt.

‘’What we want to show is that we are as normal as you are but sometimes in life, we need a helping hand or we might have to adapt because we were born into a world that wasn’t built for us.’’

You may have heard Carol on the Ryan Tubridy show on RTE1 or perhaps you have seen her on the Tommy Tiernan show and the Today show with Maura and Daithi.

Little People in Ireland:

There are over three hundred types of dwarfism, the most common being, achondroplasia. This is a disorder of bone growth.

Carol has the rarer pseudo-achondroplasia which does not manifest itself until you are aged between 2 and 4 years old. It is so rare in fact that no doctors in Ireland were able to diagnose Carol with it until 2013.

With pseudo-achondroplasia, you are also born with onset osteoarthritis, which affects her cartilage and leaves Carol with painful swollen joints that can flair up without a moment’s notice.

In 2014 Carol had to have her hips replaced and is now waiting on a knee replacement. ‘’It is more technical than the hips. The amazing James Harty is going to take on the challenge.’’

 

An Activist For People With Disabilities:

Carol has taken on the role of being an activist in Cork because ‘’sometimes you need people in your area that can advocate for you’’.

Everything that Carol focuses on with being an activist for people with disabilities is the use of the correct dialogue (words not to use, derogatory terms) and accessibility for all.

Nearly everything that we would take for granted would be out of reach for Carol (being 4ft 3 inches), other little people in Ireland, and those living with other disabilities. Things such as:

• Getting onto a bus
• Ringing the doorbell
• Washing your hands after using the facilities
• Locking the bathroom door
• The toilet itself is too high to access

With the current Changing Places Facilities Campaign in Ireland, Carol is keen to jump on the bandwagon, be the voice for little people in Ireland.
With the room being larger than other public restrooms Carol is looking for local authorities to provide a step stool or even a lower toilet so that all who need the Changing Places Facilities can have access.

All of Carol’s work is to help those within her community and those to come after her as ‘’the last little person has yet to be born’’.

Adapting To The World:

It can be hard to maintain independence both inside and out of the home. With so much of the world we live in, built for the average-sized. In an interview with Carol, she says ”It can be very hard, I feel I always need to be accompanied” for those times where she may need the helping hand.

Since the age of 4 Carol has been adapting to whatever situation, she finds herself in. Now whenever Carol goes anywhere, she makes sure she has her restricted growth pack in the car. This would consist of:

• Step Stool
• Easy Reacher
• Mini Back Scratcher (extendable)

‘’I bring all of them with me to help me cope’’

Spontaneity can be difficult as Carol prefers to suss it out beforehand to make sure she will be able to use, reach, and access a number of things. Accessibility and independence is crucial.

”The world is evolving” Carols says. In supermarkets, we now have the scan your own shopping but we can’t reach it, the banks are getting rid of staff and moving to machines, again we can’t reach it.

When it comes to parking the car, many of us would not think and would look for an empty spot. Carol tries her best to avoid private parking because it is too difficult to get your ticket and validate it. This is why street parking, especially disabled street parking is so important.

The Kitchen Is The Heart of The Home:

”The kitchen was like hell for me, everything was about climbing” 

Carol lives with her parents who are both average in height and with that leads to an average size kitchen. This meant that Carol would need to climb on chairs to be able to use appliances such as the kettle, toaster, or access the sink. Even to get a glass from the cupboard involved climbing.

While this might sound like a strong workout at home, Carol has to contend with arthritis and the pain that goes with that. This meant that Carol needed to depend on her parents more so ”it was a bit like Mam get me this and Mam get me that”.  This can be frustrating even more as everyone wants to be independent ”and sometimes your Mam may be asleep and you’re dying for a cup of tea”. 

Getting Things More Accessible:

Fortunately, Carol and her family had the house adapted just over a year ago now and things are looking up. No longer does she need to turn the light switches on with a stick, a hurl or even climb to access the cups. But one thing that was still dangerous in the kitchen was making a cup of tea:

”With regards to making tea, it’s so hard for me to lift a kettle. I don’t have the strength in my wrist, I don’t have the physical power that you would have because my arms are short. Making a cup of tea was about protecting my hands, lifting the kettle, and pouring it without burning myself.”

Carol used to use tea towels to hold the kettle when she was pouring the water. Sadly the boiling water would seep through and catch her fingers. This is when she moved onto using silicone gloves that you would buy for taking hot trays out of the oven. ”Even though it wasn’t the most practical thing, it worked”. While these creative methods gave her the independence she wanted, it certainly wasn’t the safest.

Carol making a cup of tea with the average kettle:

 

Carol making tea with her very own Uccello:

 

 ”You just pour, stir and you can enjoy your cuppa”

As you can see, Carol is in love with her Uccello Kettle and how easy it is to use. We were delighted to be able to help Carol at home. Knowing that with our kettle we are able to give her more independence makes our day.

We Irish love our tea and not being able to make it safely and steadily at home is a big no for us here at Uccello Designs. One of our main aims to help people gain more independence at home.

Should you or someone you know benefit from their own Uccello Kettle, please feel free to contact us here or you can buy a Uccello Kettle right here.