In the excerpt “Man from the South”, if the American sailor boy had lost his little finger in the bet it would have changed his day to day life more than he thought it would. As a sailor, I know that he would need to have exceptional grip strength and fine motor control and losing his finger would have affected that. Sailors would need to be able to pull on ropes, steer boats, shoot guns, and pick up heavy objects that all rely heavily on hand and finger strength and movement.
Compared to the sailor, the wife of the man in the story looked like she had been through and lost in a few of the man’s bets. She only had one finger and her thumb remaining on her hand. This could cause difficulty with her occupations of cleaning (using a broom), cooking (taking a dish out of the oven), fixing her hair (using a brush and hair dryer), putting on makeup (holding powder and a makeup brush), picking up an object (a box from the ground), and many more.
A major occupation that was most likely affected for the wife when she lost her fingers could be driving her car that the man tried to use in the bet. It would be hard for her to control the steering wheel with her left hand, that has just one finger and her thumb, if her right hand needed to turn on the blinker or if the car was a stick shift and she had to change gears. Something that could help her with driving the car could be a knob (adaptive equipment) attached to the steering wheel to make it easier for her to grasp to give her more control of the car. She would need eduction on how to effectively and safely use the knob, and she should practice using it before actually steering the car with it. This could help to increase her independence and safety while on the road.
Hey Zoie! I really like your examples you gave in regards to the wife. I agree, that driving and having to use different controls would be a difficult task with only 2 fingers. I like the idea of a knob for her to use as adaptive equipment! Well done!
ReplyDeleteZoie, I like how you imagined some of the tasks that would be difficult for the wife during a typical day, like holding her makeup, preparing meals, and other activities involving the dexterity of both hands. I wonder how much her forearm and remaining parts of her hand could compensate or manage? That is something I would like to look further into. Great job!
ReplyDeleteZoie, I think you really thought out the occupations that would be affected for both the sailor and the wife. I liked being able to read your blog and see some things that would change that I did not originally see. I agree that it would be very difficult for the sailor to be able to complete his duties on his ship like pulling ropes and being able to steer the boat.
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