Irwin M. Siegel, M.D.
Patricia Casey, M.S., OTR/L

Published as an educational service of the Muscular Dystrophy Association - USA
Research and Program Services Department.

© 1996, 2005 by the Muscular Dystrophy Association

Updated 03/07

	Preface
	1-19: Dressing		53-61: Sleeping or Resting
	20-25: Communicating		62-68: Grooming
	26-36: Sitting,Transferring and Mobility		69-73: Toileting
	37-50: Recreating		74-90: Eating
	51-52: Housekeeping		91-101: Exercising and Managing Contractures
	Resources

PREFACE

This little booklet was written to assist patients with neuromuscular disease in handling their tasks of daily living.  All the hints it contains have been field-tested and proven useful.  Most were suggested by patients or their families.  Only a few have been gleaned from the literature.  In this sense, the pamphlet, like the Heloise books, is truly a do-it-yourself owner’s manual.  Usually, “Help-With-Ease” hints don’t require any special tools or equipment.  Most of the gadgets described can be easily made with materials at hand in the ordinary household or purchased at a grocery, hardware or fabric store or ordered from readily available self-help catalogs.

We hope these hints will help you and your caregivers tend to your daily tasks of eating, grooming, dressing, sitting, transferring, communicating, getting around, using the toilet, working, recreating, traveling, shopping and sleeping.

Dr. Irwin M. Siegel co-directs several Chicago-area MDA clinics. He is the author of The Clinical Management of Muscle Disease, Muscle and Its Diseases, and The Clinical I, a collection of vignettes and essays.

Patricia Casey is an occupational therapist serving four Chicago clinics. She is also active in local ALS clinical programs and drug studies. Ms. Casey has published numerous scientific articles on the role of occupational therapy in the management of neuromuscular diseases.