#adaptive devices

Hey,

[disclaimer that we don't currently have amputee mods]

it would depend on how high the amputation is, generally higher=more factors to consider there are.

Going from the bottom, a character might need shoe inserts if they're missing a part of their foot and not wearing a prosthetic, which can affect what kinds of shoes they can wear in the first place. If they have a prosthetic foot, some weirdly-shaped or really inflexible shoes can be harder to put on. If they're a BKA or AKA then they would probably be able to wear most kinds of pants since the amputated leg is smaller, so even with the prosthetic on it usually matches the other leg in size. Really slim ones could be a potential issue though. For a hemipelvectomy or a hip disarticulation where the prosthetic goes around the hips the pants would need to be wider to accommodate the prosthetic.

There are also ways to adapt pants for prosthetic users by sewing zippers on the side to allow the person to adjust their prosthesis (add socks, etc.) throughout their day without having to actually take off their pants.

Sorry for the late answer,

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RIP my earring choice. At least I have cool earplugs now!

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In canon I don’t think we’ve seen obvious evidence of other things, but I wouldn’t use that to dismiss or discard headcanons. 

It’s likely anything he had with him in Kerberos would have been taken by the empire if it was obvious and on the exterior of his body, but, that’d need not be the case considering that he hails from a “near future” Earth with advanced technology- I could easily see a canon-compliant Shiro having a pacemaker or an advanced cochlear implant that’s designed to just sit in/on the skull.

Something like hearing aids that can be very small and difficult to notice I could see any of the paladins having especially with the “technology getting more compact and efficient”- I kicked around an idea a while ago with Keith having hearing aids and the rest of the team not realizing until they get fried on a mission and need repairs.

Other than that, I know @notllorstel has headcanons of Coran having a prosthetic leg though I’m not sure if Llors came up with them? And that’s some stuff that I’ve been able to really get behind. We arguably saw parts of his legs, but, only on his child and younger selves.

Of course- that all is basically just focusing on canon compliant verse/what hasn’t been explicitly ruled out by canon. Diverging from canon, you could include anything. My concept of a “mundane AU Shiro” is I think it’s very important to maintain the missing arm/prosthetic, albeit a more conventional one given modern earth technology- personal headcanon is usually he got into a car accident but that could easily have left him with other injuries besides a missing arm.

I mean, as far as assistive devices in a mundane AU I could imagine Shiro with phone apps to help him manage things related to PTSD- I’ve seen a couple of people reimagine Black as an ESA or therapy animal which I’m rather fond of since it sort of reflects how in canon both of them are kind of moving forwards with the other’s help.

Again toward a more canon-compliant verse I swear there was a fic I ran into suggesting Shiro was having trouble remembering to eat (the premise being his missing year had kind of messed with his ability to tell when he was hungry) and Pidge making him a device that basically monitored blood sugar and warned him if he got too low, so there’s a lot of potential there.

And since I’m the biggest fan ever of Lion-paladin brain symbiosis, that could be a really interesting avenue to explore, there- Lions being in tune with their paladins and their psychological landscapes and helping them with various concerns. Imagine Lance who’s stuck somewhere without headphones and can’t sleep and Blue running him through quiet, peaceful memories of hers, of some ancient shore with the soothing rush of the sea.

the character in question is a super-powerful cleric and sort of,, magical engineer?? he uses divine magic to fuel inventions that mirror modern tech even though the world the story is set in is ancient-greece-inspired. he’s also a high ranking politician and the architecture of most government buildings is not designed with accessibility in mind (lots and lots of stairs). my thought was that he could probably outfit his leg braces with a mechanism that lets him hook himself to a railing and sort of hover up a-la the chair lifts some people get put in their stairwells. i’d establish that its use is limited to places where he has a railing to hook onto (so like, he can’t just free float everywhere and regular hills would still be an issue), that he still needs his cane for balance whilst he’s using the mechanism, that building, fixing, and recharging the mechanism is pretty complicated and labor intensive, and that he still needs his braces & cane for everyday life.

my question is basically is this too overpowered of a technology?? would it be verging on magic powers making a character with a disability “less disabled”?? he builds a lot of other things (heating plates, alarm clocks, motorized ceiling fans, etc) for his own convenience that are unrelated to his disability so i thought it was in line with his character, but if other people with chronic pain feel like it’s sketchy i’ll probably scrap it

Hello, and thanks for your question!

I think this sounds like a very creative use of adaptive technology. As he can only use it in specific circumstances and relies on other mobility devices on a daily basis, I wouldn't consider the existence of this technology to be erasing the character's disability. I don't think it's inappropriate for a character with chronic pain to try to minimize the amount of time they spend struggling within their environment, and would consider this a realistic use of their available accommodations.

Other folks with chronic pain are welcome to chime in!

Hi there, thanks for your question!

I'm not a medieval clothing expert by any means, but I'll give this a shot. I'll try to keep my advice as vague as possible to suit various settings, since "medieval" is pretty broad and doesn't specify locale.

I don't personally wear modern adaptive clothing so I can't fully speak to how you might adapt modern techniques to a medieval setting, but I can give you a general idea of which medieval clothes might be easiest for her to wear. Also, since this is fantasy, you can fudge the details however you like to make it work for your character even if it's not fully "historically accurate."

My immediate thought for this character would be button hooks. They're Victorian in origin so quite a bit later than medieval, but I see no reason why they shouldn't exist in a medieval fantasy setting as they're not too complex and all the elements to create one would presumably still be present in this society. They're long, thin metal rods with a hook at the end that are used to pull buttons through closures without needing to use your fingers and are especially useful for clothing with very small and/or a large number of buttons. Different versions of them are still used in the modern day as assistive devices to help with getting dressed, particularly for people with arthritis.

Depending on your setting, and particularly if your characters are wearing some version of a corset, supportive kirtle, or stays under their external clothing layers, it might already be common practice for characters who need bust support to have assistance in getting dressed and doing their laces up, so that would take some of the pressure off of this character to get dressed by herself. I'd also expect this character to prefer clothing with front closures or laces that are easier to reach, rather than clothing that is done up at the back or side. Depending on the nature of her curse, she might wear a supportive garment anyway even if she doesn't need bust support, as corsets/kirtles/stays can actually alleviate some chronic pain, especially for people with scoliosis or other skeletal/spinal differences.

She might have clothing made specifically for her or seek out clothing cut similarly to a shift, so just a large unfitted tunic or dress that can be slipped on over the head and doesn't have any elaborate laces or buttons (in most cases). It would be loose and baggy on her by design, but it would alleviate the dressing struggles associated with achieving a tighter and more fitted silhouette. Basically, I'd think anything with uncomplicated square or rectangular cuts sewn together--anything wide enough to go over her shoulders and fall straight down her body without tapering. Belts would come in handy to secure and support any external garments that she couldn't lace up herself and to give her silhouette some shape if she'd like. Also--pins! Pinning clothing in place has real historical precedent so if she wanted to pin something up on her body rather than tie it, especially pinning different layers of clothing together to hold them in place, she could absolutely do so without necessarily standing out.

I hope this was at least a little bit helpful! If you'd like, you're more than welcome to offer a follow-up with more specifics on a time period and location that you're drawing from so we can offer input on specific garments. Other disabled people (especially those who wear adaptive clothing) & people with more historical costuming knowledge than me are absolutely encouraged to chime in!

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