Teaching vital daily life skills - Ironing
Many people will tell you that ironing is one of their least favourite chores, and many tips and tricks have been shared on how to manage washing so that ironing is not needed.
Unfortunately, ironing is something that cannot be completely ignored. One of the skills of daily living that we teach people with visual impairment is to iron. This is a skill that people who lose their vision as an adult already know how to do. What would be taught is how to use the iron safely and how to use your senses to assist you.
Our student Orientation and Mobility Practitioners learnt about ironing this week. They were taught the adaptive techniques and then had to practice then while wearing a blindfold. Their facilitator provided instructions. Then they took turns teaching each other how to iron different items.
Step 1 – The iron is marked with tactile bumps to assist the person to set the iron to the correct temperature.
Step 2 – They would use their sense of hearing to pour water into the reservoir of a steam iron. They can hear when the it is full, and can also feel the water at the top with their finger. They will practice this activity on an ironing board and a table, as clients use different surfaces to iron on.
Step 3 – Having smoothed out the item to iron, the iron is tested and steam button in pressed. At this point they are using their sense of smell to determine if the iron is too hot. You may not have noticed that smell when using your eyes.
Step 4 – The item is ironed in a pattern from right to left, each time moving the iron up so that it progresses up the item.
Step 5 – The hand on the left is keping track of the progress up the item. The client is feeling how smooth the item is and if they can feel creases and folds.
Step 6 – They then iron the item in the opposite pattern vertically until they are satisfied that the item is smooth.
Particular attention is paid to safe placement of the iron, keeping the other hand clear of the iron and standing the iron up in a safe position when not in use.