These Are Not Your Mother's Assistive Devices

1. Caddis Reading Glasses

Caddis Eye Appliances is a business focused on helping older people look good and feel great about their eyewear. The company offers its customers reading glasses in an array of styles and colors and provides readers, blue-blocking lenses, sunglass readers and eyewear accessories that are modern and stylish. This dynamic company refers to itself as an “anti-anti-aging brand” and even states on its website that they are calling out “industries that profit from the fear of getting older.”

Why We Love Them

Not only do Caddis products look great, the company has an incredibly positive approach to aging. Their website says, “Get older. Own it.” Based on Caddis’ offerings, we would add “and look amazing” to that list.

2. Nike FlyEase Shoes

Ubiquitous athletic gear manufacturer Nike is getting in on the adaptive footwear market. Their FlyEase shoe line features sneakers with easy on/off technology that may be useful to people with disabilities or a limited range of motion. The shoe’s design principles state that the shoe should be comfortable to “open, close and feel secure in a shoe using one or no hands” while maintaining professional performance standards. These shoes are used by Paralympic athlete Bebe Vio, who stated, “the shoes are a new kind of technology, not only for adaptive athletes but for everyone's real life.”

Why We Love Them

These aren’t great shoes for old people; they’re just great shoes. And they happen to be convenient and comfortable for people with arthritis in their hands or a limited range of movement.

3. My Third Leg Cane

Fair warning: This is an accessory some might find a bit macabre. But for people with limited mobility and a wicked sense of humor, My Third Leg may help give them a “leg up” on their disability. This unique manufacturer creates mobility canes that are modeled after the bones of a human leg, which the company claims can help some people overcome psychological obstacles to using a cane by drawing attention toward the cane and away from the disability. These fun and functional canes come complete with anatomically correct design, ergonomic grip and even miniature shoes for the “foot” of the cane. 

Why We Love Them

These devices aren’t for everyone, but we love the company’s bold and creative approach to making an assistive device a fashion statement—even if that statement is “Halloween is my favorite holiday.”

4. Lauren’s Hope Medical ID Jewelry

Medical ID bracelets can be incredibly useful devices for people dealing with a chronic illness or a severe allergy. Why not make ones that people would enjoy wearing? Enter Lauren’s Hope, a company that creates a wide variety of customizable accessories that act as both jewelry and a medical ID. The company claims that more than 500,000 people (and growing) use its devices every day. The Lauren’s Hope website states that the original inspiration for its products was a 13-year-old girl named Lauren who refused to wear a medical ID bracelet because “it’s ugly and draws attention to my illness.”

Why We Love Them

We think Lauren (the girl) had a solid point, and we think Lauren’s Hope (the company) addressed the problem beautifully. The products are gorgeous in addition to being functional.

5. Audicus Hearing Aids

While many hearing aid manufacturers are aiming to make their devices smaller and more discrete, Audicus Hearing Aids is going the opposite direction. Their hearing-aid fashion line is designed to act as a bold accessory that enhances your style in addition to helping you hear better. Audicus offers hearing aids in patterns like leopard, polka dot, hologram and pink glitter to complement your couture. Based on the wild patterns and bright color schemes, we would suggest “Hear out loud” as their new product tagline, because these assistive devices definitely make a statement.

Why We Love Them

The company’s press release says that Audicus aims “to reduce the stigma associated with hearing aids and aging [by transforming] traditional hearing aids into beautiful and fun accessories.” Hey, we’re also all about reducing stigmas associated with aging! What’s not to love about that?

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