As a team we have completed several different tasks using only one arm. We chose these tasks because they are simple everyday tasks that everyone needs to accomplish. By completing these tasks, we gained empathy for our customer and experienced what it is really like living as an amputee. Below are pictures and videos of the different tasks.
Task 1: Making a bed
Janie: There was no difficulty in getting the sheets to put on the bed. However, putting the fitted sheet on the bed was very difficult. It took much longer than expected, but the regular sheet and blankets were much easier to put on the bed.
Colin: Making my bed was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I didn’t go as far to put on a fitted sheet like Janie, however, I thought that performing an everyday task like simply waking up and making your bed would be interesting. It was a lot of walking back and forth to get the comforter flat and it still didn’t come out as flat as I normally would have it with two hands. All in all, it was a rather normal task just a little messier.
Alex: Putting sheets onto the bed took slightly longer than normal, but wasn’t as frustrating as I would’ve suspected. The only time I got frustrated was when I was going to tuck in the last corner, and the first corner I tucked came undone.
Task 2: Hanging Clothes
Janie: This task was much easier than I thought it would be because I used a surface to put the shirt on before hanging. It would be more difficult if the hanger did not have places for the shirt to catch on and stay on the hanger.
Task 3: Doing Makeup
Janie: This task was difficult because I normally use my other hand to hold coverup, mascara, or the lid to a lipstick. I had to improvise and use my mouth to hold the bottles, which made it harder to do my makeup. It would be easier if something could hold the objects.
Task 4: Getting Dressed
(pictures omitted for obvious reasons)
Colin: Getting dressed was a challenge, especially putting on pants. It was hard to keep the pants legs straight and not get everything bunched up when trying to put them on. Shirts were a little easier, but awkward in comparison to doing it with two hands. I decided to put my head in first and then arm which was a lot different than how I would normally go about putting on a shirt. Socks were just as hard because usually I pull them up with two hands, but it was similar to slipping on a shoe with one hand (just a lot tighter). Overall, the tasks weren’t overtly hard just really awkward and uncomfortable in comparison to the norm.
Task 5: Folding Clothes
Colin: Folding clothes was the hardest task I had. It took me approximately a minute per article of clothing and I struggled most of the time. I noticed that you really can’t fold clothes as well with only one hand. It takes a lot of flipping and negotiating the clothing to get it “folded” and even then its still going to be wrinkled. It was rather frustrating and definitely not easy. Shirts, pants, and even towels were difficult which is the majority of the average laundry.
Darren: Out of all the tasks I performed i feel folding clothes was the least challenging and most normal. I timed myself folding a couple of shirts using my left hand then both hand together and the times I finished with were nearly identical. Nothing felt like a burden except for occasionally having to smooth out the wrinkles in the shirts.
Task 6: Hanging Clothes (Left Hand)
Darren: Hanging clothes for me was difficult to do even with my dominant hand, aside for the task being a lot slower, holding the hanger and being able to get it through the actual shirt was a huge challenge. I found myself wanting to use my second hand most of the time. After laying the shirt down instead of holding it, I was able to accomplish hanging ONE shirt in 2 minutes after meticulously working through the process.
Task 7: Tying Shoes
Darren: Tying my shoes was one of the most difficult things I found myself doing. Starting off the process was normal and fairly easy, however, when it came to holding one loop and trying to twist it around I encounter failure most of the time. The times I was able to lace my shoes completely I was disappointed they were sliding off my feet since I wasn’t able to tie them tight enough because of not having good handle on the strings.
Alex: I found tying a shoe to be extremely difficult without having to use your teeth to pull it tight. I found this method to be disgusting also, which I’m sure everyone would be grossed out to have to put their shoelaces in their mouth.
Task 8: Folding A Towel
Justin: Folding a towel was a difficult task to accomplish as I had to maneuver my stub against my body to try and precisely fold my towel. I had first tried to used my mouth as anchor while using my other hand to fold it perfectly. It took approximately a minute to finish and was very gratifying although it was not a perfect fold.
Task 10: Tying shoes (left hand)
Justin: Tying my shoes was easier than I had thought as I was able to make a loop then use my mouth to finish it off. After completing one loop I was able to double knot it with one hand. It had only taken me a little under a minute to finish it off. Although the knot was a little to the side it did the job efficiently.
Task 11: Retrieving an Item from the Top Shelf
Alex: Getting an item down from a high shelf proved to be dangerous depending on the situation. I tried grabbing a larger item, but without a second hand to stabilize the box, I had to use my head to catch the box and then contort my body to position it so I could carry it across the room. The box hitting my head hurt a little and I’m sure this presents a risk of injury.
Task 12: Folding and Hanging Jeans
Justin: This task wasn’t too hard as I was easily able to grab my jeans off the drying rack and fold it symmetrically on my bed. From there I grabbed a hanger and slide it on from the bottom. The hardest part was making sure it was hung evenly. Overall I would say it was the easiest task I performed because it required minimal effort.