ADLs: Activities of Daily Living

     The term activities of daily living, or ADLs, refers to the basic tasks of everday life, such as  eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, and transferring.  When people are unable to perform these activities, they need help in order to cope, either from human beings, or mechanical devices.
         Measuring the Activities of Daily Living:  A Comparison Across National Surveys
         Joshua M. Wiener, and Raymond J. Hanley, The Brookings Institution; Robert Clark, and Joan F. Van Nostrand, U.S. Department of Education 
     I was paralyzed.  EAT. FEED YOURSELF WITH FOOD THAT HAD BEEN PREPARED FOR YOU. VOLUNTARY BLADDER AND BOWEL CONTROL OR ABILITY TO MAINTAIN A  REASONABLE LEVEL OF PERSONAL HYGIENE.  BATHE (TUB, SHOWER, OR SPONGE.)  TRANSFER FROM BED TO CHAIR.
     I was paralyzed.  These words screamed out--pierced my eardrums.  Though still able to perform these tasks with some adaptive devices, the day I could not perform any of these skills came into focus.  Though not imminent, a potent image nonetheless.
     Breathe in....breathe out...breathe in....breathe out...
     Stark are the activities of daily living on paper before my eyes--they were then, they remain so.  Before assessing these activities, my pierced ears must be muffled.  My jangled nerves quieted. My tight stomach calm.
     Eat.  Feed yourself with food that had been prepared for you.  Voluntary bladder and bowel control  or ability to maintain a reasonable level of personal hygiene.  Bathe (tub, shower, or sponge.)  Transfer from bed to chair.
     A scale.  Rate myself.  Simple.  Or so it seemed.  Straightforward.  Or so it seemed.
     1.  I can perform this activity regularly.  2.  I can perform this activity with the use of equipment or adaptive device.  3.  I cannot perform this activity.
     The activities of daily living are the province of a child to learn.  I am an adult.  Diminishment is the province of senior citizens to accept.  It is a realistic expectation that senior citizens should need equipment or adaptive devices.  It is within reason to watch someone else confront diminishment.  Senior citizens learn that they "cannot perform this activity."  Or so it seems.  Yet, I am not a senior citizen.  I am 51.
     Were these my only choices?  Could I take an essay test?  A multiple choice test of a life lived proving false the truths set before me to live.  Yet, those were my choices.