Time To Bring Style To Neuropathy Accessories

Today's post from mashable.com (see link below) talks about something that should have been thought about long before now and really reinforces the fact that people who need walking aids are supplied the bog-standard canes etc without any thought as to how they look. Hopefully, this lady's campaign is a huge success and leads to 'style' being brought into all aspects of medical accessories. It's bad enough having to use a walking stick to help neuropathy patients get through their day without them being so ugly and basic that they just reinforce someone's disability. Great idea - now bring on the finance and the backers!!
 

Disabled woman petitions J.Crew to design stylish canes
By Hayley Wilbur5 days ago

Liz Jackson, a 33-year-old woman diagnosed with idiopathic neuropathy in 2012, has been petitioning J.Crew to sell walking canes.

Jackson originally started a blog, The Girl With the Purple Cane, about her life in order to keep in touch with friends and family. She quickly became an advocate for disabled people.

See also: Paralyzed designer creates jeans for women in wheelchairs

“Idiopathic means without known cause, and Neuropathy describes the weakness I experience in my extremities, my eyes and throughout my body,” Jackson explains to Mashable. “My body acts in many ways like a body that has Multiple Sclerosis, the only difference is that my immune system attacks my peripheral nerves instead of my brain and spine.”

Image: Liz Jackson

Jackson didn’t want to let her disease stifle her fashion. She noticed that the her cane was the only part of her outfit that didn’t fit.

“I am drawn to thoughtful, creative and approachable products,” she says. “The cane I got in the hospital was none of these things. When you wake up to a new body, you go through a process where you adapt, you try to pick up the pieces. And it was so odd, I looked like myself in every way, but when I would walk, it looked funny. And my cane did not match my insides or the outsides I had so carefully constructed.”

Image: Liz Jackson

One particular shopping experience led Jackson to specifically begin asking J.Crew to make canes. She didn't understand why the brand made fashionable eyeglasses but not other assistive devices.

“I then was looking at a display of their women’s t-shirts and I realized how perfectly my purple cane fit among this colorful display. And it struck me, wouldn’t it be amazing if J. Crew made a seasonal cane?,” she says.

 
The petition currently has over 2,000 supporters and Jackson has received varied responses from the clothing brand. In February, the company told the New Yorker that they respected what she was doing. She then a phone conversation with the company where she received the response “not right now.”

“Lack of choice only disables us further.

Why should the person with the impairment have to look harder? Search farther? Adapt? Why should the person with the impairment have to look harder? Search farther? Adapt? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?,” she asks.

Jackson has found alternatives to the typical medical cane that she got at the hospital — enter the name of her blog “The Girl With The Purple Cane.” When Jackson first saw a Sabi purple cane, she had to have it.

“Nobody could have guessed how that simple cane impacted the trajectory of my life,” she says. “Instead of getting asked 'what’s wrong' I started to get complimented ‘nice cane’. Children wanted to play with it. Adults remembered me by it. It became a source of pride. It helped me craft a new and empowered identity.”

Her other cane was created by Top & Derby, a company that strives to makes customizable versions.

Image: Liz Jackson

Because of a lack of communication, Jackson has started to move on from J. Crew and onto other companies that have previous experience with disability outreach. She recently wrote a public letter to her old boss Ellen DeGeneres (she was one of her production assistants) to ask for help creating inclusive fashion, starting with her ED by Ellen brand.

Jackson isn't the only advocate for disability-friendly fashion. Clothing brand Alter Ur Ego, which makes jeans for people who use wheelchairs, recently reached its goal of $20,000 on Kickstarter.

Jackson hopes to see other brands making canes but also inclusive pieces such as adaptable garments, assistive tech and mobility devices.

“Society has long been taught to look away. Don’t stare, it’s rude. But times have changed. People with disabilities are now asking to be seen. And it’s only a matter of time before we become marketable consumers.”

http://mashable.com/2015/08/26/jcrew-petition-inclusive-fashion/