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Play with your difference! We are an orthopedic studio unique in the world. Specialized in orthopedic devices customization, we let each disabled person express their true self with style. From "ready-made" designs from our catalogs to customized creations, we offer 3 different levels of customization. For every style and every age, at once affordable, inspired and of quality. Facilitating access to the design of orthopedic devices is our desire. As a true mediator between the patient and the orthoprothetist, we intervene in the design and the printing of the design, the orthoprothetist in the application of this design on the device & the patient in the expression of his personality. A collaborative work that together we play with differences. More than an orthopedic design studio, U-exist is a new way of looking at disability, an actor of evolution who defends a right for each disabled person : Rebuild himself, express his individuality, his creativity and his emotions. Surrounded by cold and impersonal orthopedic devices, Simon Colin, graduate in orthopedic wanted to change esthetics in the handical world ! Strong by his artistic environment and his love to tatoo univers, he asked himself : Why not personalize orthopedic devices... as tatoo ? That's how U-exist was born. If you want to know more : - info@u-exist.com - www.u-exist.com - Facebook & Instagram : @uexist

עליי היי, שמי אלכס, אם תבדקו את המדיה החברתית שלי, תראו 'נושמת מהצוואר' בביו שלי ויש לכך סיבה, שהיא לא לבלבל אנשים. קיבלתי כל כך הרבה שאלות על מה מדובר. במובן מסוים, זו הייתה המטרה שלי - שיותר אנשים יהיו מודעים. About Me Hi, My name is Alex, If you check out my social media, you will see ‘neck breather’ in my bio and it is there for a reason. That reason is not just to confuse people, which trust me it has, I’ve received so many messages asking me what I’m going on about. In a way, this was my goal, the more people who know what it means the better. נושמת מהצוואר? למה הכוונה? כשנולדתי קרסו דרכי הנשימה שלי, וכתוצאה מכך איני מסוגלת לנשום דרך הפה או האף. אז עברתי ניתוח שבמהלכו ביצעו לי חתך בקנה הנשימה על מנת שנשימתי תמשיך להיות סדירה. זה רק חלק אחד של המוגבלות שלי, יש לי גם עקמת ועברתי ניתוח לאיחוי חוליות עמוד השדרה כשהייתי בת 6. בנוסף, קשה לי לשמוע ואני משתמשת בכיסא גלגלים מחוץ לבית. What is a Neckbreather? What does it mean I hear you ask? When I was born my airway collapsed, as a result I am unable to breathe through my mouth or nose. So I have a tracheostomy. This is just one part of my disability, I also have scoliosis and had a spinal fusion when I was 6 years old. In addition, I am hard of hearing and a wheelchair user outside of the house. חשיבותם של חיים נורמליים למרות הבעיות הרפואיות שלי, תמיד עבדתי קשה כדי לחיות חיים מוצלחים. אני ברת מזל שיש לי חברים ובני משפחה שתומכים בי ומנסה לנהל חיים נורמליים ככל האפשר. בשנה שעברה סיימתי תואר במשפטים בבית הספר למשפטים של דרבי ואני כרגע בהתמחות. אני מקווה יום אחד להיות עורכת דין בתחום העבודה או המשפחה. מלבד לימודי המשפטים, החיים שלי די נורמליים. אני מעריצה גדולה של מועדון הכדורגל דרבי קאונטי, לי ולאבא שלי יש מנוי שנתי ולעתים קרובות אנו הולכים למשחקים ביחד. בנוסף, אני חובבת בעלי חיים גדולה. אם לא אהיה מסוגלת לעבוד בתחום המשפט בעתיד, אשמח לעבוד עם בעלי חיים ו / או בזכויות בעלי חיים. The importance of living a normal a life Despite my medical problems, I have always worked hard to have a successful life. I am lucky enough to have friends and family who support me in trying to lead a normal a life as possible. Last year I graduated from Derby Law School with a 2:1 Law Degree and I am currently studying the Legal Practice Course. I hope to one day practice as a solicitor in either employment or family law. Outside of law, my life is fairly normal. I am a big Derby County fan, myself and my Dad are season ticket holders and often go to away matches together. In addition, I am a big animal lover, if I was unable to work in the legal profession one day, I would love to work with animals and/or in animal rights. כיצד אני עוזרת לאחרים? לאחרונה התחלתי בלוג כדי לשתף את הסיפור שלי. זה משהו שרציתי לעשות כבר זמן מה, אבל פשוט לא היה לי את הביטחון. במהלך השנים האחרונות פגשתי כמה אנשים מדהימים באינטרנט שיש להם מוגבלות דומה לשלי וקריאת הסיפורים שלהם עזרה לי. גם אם נגרום רק לעוד אדם אחד להבין שאנו בעלי המוגבלות מסוגלים לחיות חיים מלאים - זה שווה הכל. How I help others I have recently started my own blog to share my story. This is something I have been wanting to do for a while now, but I’ve just never had the confidence to do so. Over the past few years I have met some amazing people online who have similar disabilities to myself and reading their stories has helped me. If I can help just one person realise even us disabled folks can nail life, then it will be worth it.

החיים שלי עם עקמת שמי שרה, אני בת 34 וגרה בבריטניה. עקמת היא סיבוב של עמוד השדרה. נולדתי איתה. למשך זמן מה, כשהייתי בבית הספר, לבשתי מחוך שמאוחר יותר לא הייתי צריכה עוד. לפני שנים אמר לי רופא שיהיה מסוכן מדי בשבילי לעבור ניתוח אז לא עברתי. אני נמוכה לגילי בשל העקמת. אני יכולה ללכת אבל כשאני יוצאת אני משתמשת בכיסא גלגלים (כזה שמישהו דוחף אותי בו) כי אני מתעייפת מהליכה. יש לי בדיקות תפקודי ריאות כל 4 או 8 חודשים (תלוי אם התוצאות שלי טובות). הפגישה הבאה שלי היא בחודש דצמבר כי התוצאות שלי באפריל היו טובות. אני גרה לבדי ומתמודדת טוב מאוד, אבל יש לי מטפלים יומיים בשבוע למשך 4 שעות. יש לי בלוג בפייסבוק בשם "לראות את האדם, לא רק את המוגבלות". My life with scoliosis My name is Sarah and I am 34 years old. I live in the UK. Scoliosis is a curve of the spine. I was born with it. I wore a corset brace for a while, when I was at school. After a while I didn't need to wear it anymore. Years ago a doctor said it would be too dangerous for me to have surgery so I didn't have it. I am short in stature for my age because of Scoliosis. I can walk but when I go out I use a wheelchair (one that someone pushes me in) because I get tired from walking. I have lung function appointments every 4 or 8 months (depends if my results are good). My next appointment is in December because my results at my appointment in April were good. I live on my own and cope quite well, but I have carers two days a week for 4 hours each day. I have a Facebook disability blog called "See the person, not just the condition/disability." https://www.facebook.com/mescoliosisdisability/. My Instagram is @sarahsscoliosisjourneyblog I also have a blog https://sarahandscoliosis.blogspot.com and my Twitter is @blogsarahj

Defying the odds When I went to my ultrasound to find out what I was having, I found out that my baby had an enlarged kidney. I was told that I could abort him until I was up to 4 months pregnant, according to State Law, if my child was found to have any kind of abnormalities. I refused to terminate my pregnancy based on the fact that he was going to have challenges, which at that point, no one was even 100% sure of. As Joshua developed, I was told that he would never make it out of the delivery room and I was setting myself up for disappointment. I believed that, as long as my baby fought for himself, that I would do the same. He was born, not premature, but on time, by C-section. Joshua is my inspiration and motivation When Joshua was born, it was discovered that he had End stage renal disease. His kidneys were failing and due to them being enlarged, they did not allow his lungs to develop in utero. Yes, my baby was on an oscillator and ventilator when he was small. I was also told that he would never breathe on his own. There were a couple times that the doctors told me I could take him off his breathing machine and end his misery, as they described it. I went through a lot of mental abuse, from doctors and nurses as well. My baby though, he was a fighter. Despite the punctured lung right after birth, he persisted. He was able to advance from the oscillator fast, then the ventilator took a little while, but he was breathing on his own by the time he was 2 months. Joshua continues to defy the odds everyday. I learned and performed peritoneal dialysis on my son until he received his kidney transplant just before his 3rd birthday. He is unable to walk YET, due to a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy, but WE know he will do it. We just celebrated 4 years post transplant and he is doing Great!! His favorite line is "I can do ANYTHING" and he is absolutely right. He loves basketball and horseback riding. In his own time, he will do it ALL!! I am forever grateful for the miracle that God blessed me with. He is my biggest inspiration and my motivation.

What is Cerebral Palsy? Cerebral Palsy can cause people to be in a wheelchair because they can't walk. Cerebral Palsy is mostly caused by lack of oxygen to the brain at birth, but there are other effects too (ie: speech impairment, lack of motor skills and paralysis). What is Scoliosis? Scoliosis is very common in many people these days, but not many people know what Scoliosis is! You can get Scoliosis at anytime of your life. It mainly happens during your puberty growth spurt. But what is Scoliosis? Well the explanation is simple, Scoliosis is an abnormal curvature of the human spine. You can get Scoliosis by having a disability such as Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, or even by having terrible posture. However, Scoliosis is mainly cause by Cerebral Palsy & Muscular Dystrophy. Scoliosis results in A LOT of back pain. My Story: Living with Cerebral Palsy & Scoliosis My name is Melanie Lethbridge. I am a constant fighter of Cerebral Palsy and Scoliosis. I was diagnosed with a mild case of Cerebral Palsy at the age of 8-9 months. I was diagnosed with Scoliosis at the age of 10. Living with Cerebral Palsy & Scoliosis together can be quite challenging. I did not have a choice to take Cerebral Palsy or Scoliosis. It has stopped me from living life like a normal person. Although I can walk and talk, I missed out on lots of activities such as, skating, bike riding, snow boarding, etc. Scoliosis has limited me as well. I am not aloud on a trampoline in case I hurt my back, I can't sit on normal chairs in school anymore. I have to sit on a chair that shows the world that I have a mild disability. When life throws you curve balls, throw the ball back! My Scoliosis curve was about a 6 degree angle when I had it checked, which made it a mild case. My Cerebral Palsy is mild too. It only effects the left side of my body. When I walk, my left foot drags behind me sometimes and I don't have the motor skills in my left hand that everyone else has. I am sometimes slow but that's my Cerebral Palsy body working. Having a mild case of Cerebral Palsy means not knowing if you will wake up the next day paralyzed. Sometimes your legs with feel numb like jello, and you think "well, this is it. I'm done living life." However, in most mild cases you get the feeling of paralysis but it doesn't actually happen. I go to bed sometimes not knowing if I'm going to be me in the morning, and I feel terrified. Sometimes I do not even want to get out of bed because of the pain and fear. Even with Scoliosis, your back pain can go from low one day to high the next. You always have back pain no matter what position you're in. I learned to live with it. Having these disabilities didn't stop me from achieving certain goals, I wanted to be a valedictorian and I got it. I wanted to volunteer and I do it. This story was to explain how life throws curve balls, but you take the ball and throw it back. ~ Life is what you make it Lets make it rock - Miley Cyrus

המנגיומה משפיעה על צד שמאל של השפתיים והלשון שלי שלום עולם יפה שלי! שמי דונובן וורן ונולדתי עם המנגיומה (גידול שפיר של כלי דם) בצד שמאל של השפתיים והלשון. לא יצא לי לראות עוד מישהו במצב כזה. לפעמים זה מטריד אותי כשאני מרגיש שאין שם אף אחד אחר כמוני. לפעמים אני לא יוצא החוצה במשך שבועות כי אני לא מרגיש בנוח סביב אנשים, אבל עכשיו כל מה שאני רוצה לעשות זה להראות מי אני ולמה אני מסוגל. אני משיקגו, אילינוי ויש פה הרבה אלימות ובריונות. אני מקווה ששיתוף הסיפור שלי יגרום לאחרים להיות אסירי תודה על מה שיש להם ויעודד אותם לא לדאוג מה אין להם. אלוהים לא עושה טעויות. איבדתי כמעט כל חבר שגדלתי איתו כי רציתי להראות לעולם שאתה לא צריך חברים כדי להיות מאושר כל עוד אתה מאושר עם עצמך, זה כל מה שחשוב. אני אוהב את כולם ושאלוהים יברך את העולם היפה הזה. מקווה לשמוע מכם, וגם אם לא, אני עדיין אוהב את כולכם! Hemangioma effects the left side of my lip and tongue Hello my beautiful world! My name is Donovan Warren and I was born with Hemangioma on the left side of my lip and tongue. I have yet to see anyone with this condition. Sometimes it bothers me when I feel like there's no one else like me out there. Sometimes I don't go outside for weeks because I am uncomfortable being around people, but now all I want to do is show who I am and what I'm capable of. I'm from Chicago, IL and there's a lot of violence and bullying out here. Hopefully sharing my story will show others to be grateful with what they have and to encourage them not to worry about what they don't have. God doesn't make mistakes. I lost almost every friend I grew up with because I wanted to show the world that you don't need friends to be happy as long as you are happy with yourself, that's all that matters. I love everyone and god bless this beautiful world. I hope to hear from you guys. If not, I want to still say I love you all!

Cerebral palsy Doesn't Define Me My name is Eboni P Jones. I’m 35 years old and I have Cerebral Palsy. I was born 3 months premature and the doctors told my mom that I was going to need 24 hour care and that I was going to be a vegetable. However, God had alternative plans for me. I’m now a mother, wife, authoress, and an inspirational speaker. I’m on a mission to change the way people look at the disabled word and for people to realize that our disabilities are part of us, but they don’t define us. That is why I put on the 1st annual "My Disability is Fashion" show to spread awareness about different disabilities.

Life is a BEAutiful Struggle with Genu Recurvatum I am Bea Manlulo (@beamanlulo), 28 years old, a handicapped traveler from the Philippines. I was born with a case called Genu Recurvatum, a deformity in the knee joint, so that my knee bends backwards. In this deformity, excessive extension occurs in the tibiofemoral joint. Genu recurvatum is also called knee hyperextension and back knee. This deformity is more common in women and people with familial ligamentous laxity. I am in a wheelchair, it's not who I am, it's just how I get around. celebrating my disability everyday Many people think that living with a disability is one of the worst things in the world, and for some people with disabilities, this may be true, it can be really tough sometimes. I am one of the lucky ones who celebrates my disability everyday, as I love my life just how it is. I wouldn't change it even if medically I ever had the chance to. I am truly blessed for the experiences I've had - all of them! Without all of the downs, I would've never experienced all of the ups! Isn't life amazing how it always has to be in balance? We are all capable of amazing things in our lives, if you can see it, if you can believe it, you can achieve it! BEAutifully different I have to prove people wrong, to show them I could do things they didn't think I could do. I see each day as a chance to prove my worth by merely being myself, believing in myself, and being able to inspire as many people as I can. I always remind myself that it's okay not to be perfect and that I was created to be exactly who I am now - strong yet gentle, sensitive yet loving, stubborn yet forgiving, fearless yet God-fearing, disabled yet complete. That makes me BEAutifully different. I am God's creation, designed according to His plan for me. Life is a gift and I am blessed. loving the feeling of possibility I want to show the world that I do amazing things not because and in spite of my disability, but because I have the ability and willpower to actually do it. I never give up because I always find a reason to keep trying. Nothing beats the feeling when people know me or see me for my abilities. No disability or dictionary out there is capable of clearly defining who I am as a person. My ability is stronger than my disability. My disability has opened my eyes to see my true abilities. Disability means possibility. I feel as everything is possible - I definitely love the feeling of possibility! Living to Inspire God is my foundation and the ceiling of the unlimited hope I have. He created me, but also allowed me to have pain in life just like anyone else. He took my broken pieces and made it complete in the life of others. Once you choose hope, everything's possible. I don't live to impress, but I live to inspire. How others see me isn't important, it's how I see myself that means everything. Don't let the difficulties of life stop you, keep on walking speaking, moving or rolling your own way and show this world what you can do! I want to live not just survive because life is a BEAutiful struggle.

Pushing through the pain with Beals syndrome I push through the pain of living with congenital contractural arachnodactyly (Beals syndrome), severe Scoliosis, and Clubfeet. Congenital contractural arachnodactyly (Beals syndrome) is an extremely rare genetic disorder that is identified by certain joints such as my fingers, elbows, knees, and hips. It is often compared to or known as the brother/sister to Marfan syndrome (MS) but one difference that sets them apart is the crumpled top of my left ear. However, just like MS, I have very abnormally long and skinny fingers and toes. I have severe Scoliosis that is so bad that my spine sticks out. That's a hump on the right side of my back. I have club feet so I walk inward (pigeon-toed). I used to have to deal with my ribs dislocating and my hips becoming unaligned. My ribs used to dislocate every 6-8 days. When my ribs did move they would start to push into my lungs, neck, and under my shoulder blades causing some pinching of my nerves when they shifted. This can be quite painful and makes it difficult for me to breathe. Thankfully I had an amazing physical therapist, Mr. Kevin Muldowney, author of “Living Life to the Fullest with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome,” created a custom plan he made just for me. He not only let me make a video of his treatment for future reference but he did hands-on training with my fiancé Juan Quiles. So, that way he will know how to help me which has helped me thrive tremendously. It has been a blessing to get back to being able to do everyday things that some people who are able-bodied might take for granted such as getting out of bed, taking a shower, light cleaning, cooking, and visiting family members. Even though Juan tends to be my caregiver it’s a great feeling to have the option to do things around the house and not always be limited. A brighter day with Beals syndrome Nevertheless, none of these obstacles have ever stopped me from living my best life! I have amazing children who have been birthed, fostered, and I am now blessed with stepchildren. As I mentioned, I have the devoted love of my life Juan. We have the most loving blended family anyone could hope for. We do family videos on TikTok, karen.and.juan (Quiles Family). Moreover, I have my family members, friends, wonderful parents, several brothers, a sister, and sister in law who have all been wonderful. I also have tons of other people who grew up in our household who are family to me. They all love and support me with whatever my goals are. I walk in faith because I am a child of my lord and savior Jesus Christ. I am an advocate for people with my disabilities, a public figure on Instagram, and a disabled model. I'm extremely grateful I got to graduate from Fisher College in Boston with a couple of degrees in “General Studies” and “Medical Billing & Coding.” I also have been spreading awareness about my rare disease and about what it is like to have to wear Ankle-Foot Orthoses (AFOs, leg braces). I remember not liking to wear them or having to go to physical therapy (PT) as a child. I wanted to go play outside like the rest of the children in my neighborhood but my mom would explain to me why I needed to do PT first. Now that I'm older I understand more of what my mom was trying to tell me and I wish there were children’s books out there that had a character that looked like me and wore AFOs. I think it would have been easier for me to understand as a child if I had something visual to look at which included people like me. Giving children what I didn't have My daughter Arianna has clubfeet just like I do. She has been wearing AFOs for some time now. When she was a toddler she would complain about why she had to wear them and why she had to go to physical therapy. Sound familiar? When I started to recognize myself in her eyes I decided I needed to break the mold then and there. I told my then five-year-old daughter that wearing leg braces didn’t have to be a bad thing. She could think of it as something magical. She could call her leg braces (AFOs) her “Magic Boots” and with them and her imagination she could go on adventures anywhere. All she had to do was stomp three times and say “Away we go” then her new adventure would begin. My daughter loved going on different adventures with her “Magic Boots.” As time went on she would tell the stories to other children at PT and they loved to go on adventures with her as well. As she got older my daughter didn’t need the stories anymore because she became old enough to understand why she needed to go to PT or why she needed to wear her leg braces (AFOs). A family friend started to publish his children’s books and recommended that I should try again and make my stories into a book series. Arianna (now twenty) suggested that I do it as well. She said they helped her and her friends a lot. So, that is what I did. I published my book series, of course, naming my main character after my daughter Arianna. The first book was published in October of 2017 “Arianna’s Magic Boots Vol 1.” Where she goes on a jungle adventure. The second book was published in March 2018 “Arianna’s Magic Boots, Vol 2. “Underwater Sea Adventure.” Where she goes on an underwater sea adventure to meet some mermaid friends. Last year in December 2022, I turned my first book into a coloring book. You can find both of my first two books and coloring book available at https://www.amazon.com/Ariannas-Magic-Boots-Karen-Gasperini/dp/1978054297 Picture guide Picture of me (1988) wearing my leg braces with my little brother Isaiah, Picture of the character Arianna walking down the stairs with her AFOs, Picture of me (1983) sitting in my ducky on Christmas morning, Picture of my two children’s books with Arianna’s AFOs, Picture of Arianna Age 5 (2007) with her pal Pearl, Picture of Arianna and her mermaid friends from Vol 2, Picture of Arianna Magic Boots Coloring book, Picture of Arianna (2022), Picture of me holding my books when they won honorable mention with 'Story Monster," Picture of me with a sign "Always believe in yourself," Picture of me graduating day, Picture of me with fiance' Juan Quiles. Me modeling glasses, me sitting outside

גישה היא הכל בחיים שמי איאן מלסייבסקי ואני משותק מן החזה ומטה. ב-3 ביוני 2016, סבלתי מפגיעה טראומטית בצוואר / חוט השדרה במבחנים לנבחרת ההיאבקות הצעירה של אוניברסיטת אקרון; ניסיתי להגיע לייצג את ארה"ב בבורז', צרפת. שלא כמו הרוב, אני מנסה להסתכל על המצב שלי לא כמו אסון, אלא כמסע והזדמנות בשבילי לגדול מבחינה אינטלקטואלית ורגשית, ובתקווה להעצים אנשים אחרים בדרך. למרות שפגיעה זו אולי מפריעה לי מבחינה פיזית, היא פתחה אותי לדברים שמעולם לא חשבתי שהם אפשריים. כן, אולי לא אוכל להיות הבחור הקשוח על משטח ההיאבקות, אבל אני יכול להיות האדם שמשנה את חייהם של אחרים. עד כמה שזה נשמע קלישאתי, אני מאמין שהגישה היא הכל בחיים, ויש לנו את הבחירה האם לרחם על עצמנו או לנצל את ההזדמנויות שלנו. בשנה הבאה אהיה באוניברסיטת מיאמי שבה אני מתכנן ללמוד מדעי המוח ומקווה להגיע לבית הספר לרפואה! attitude is everything in life My name is Ian Malesiewski and I am paralyzed from the chest down. On June 3, 2016, I suffered a traumatic neck/spinal cord injury while wrestling in the Cadet World Team Trials at the University of Akron; I was trying to earn a spot to represent the United States of America in Bourges, France. Unlike most, I try to look at my circumstance not as a catastrophe, but more as a journey and chance for me to grow intellectually and emotionally, and hopefully empower other people along the way.​ Although this injury may have hindered me physically, it has opened me up to things I never thought were possible. Yes, I might not be able to be the tough guy on the wrestling mat anymore, but I can be the MAN that changes other people’s lives. As cliché as it sounds, I believe attitude is everything in life, and we have the choice to either feel sorry for ourselves or make the most of our opportunities. Next year I will be attending the University of Miami where I plan to study neuroscience and hopefully attend med school!

To start, what is a “skill toy”? A skill or Flow toy is a form of “object manipulation” that comes in many forms but more commonly in the way of Yoyos, pen spinning, and those flaming (or non flaming) balls on string (poi) that you see at festivals. The idea is so manipulate an often simple object to make it look fancy and give the illusion of much more, or of magic. How can they help? Other then looking cool or being a great conversation starter, skill toys also help to improve a lot more of yourself. I’m no doctor, so I won’t go super fancy into it. The most noticeable advantages found are: - muscle training and build up - increased dexterity - eases anxiety and depression - relationship building as apart of the associated communities. To extend on the first two points, the repetitive movements required to perform the tricks are actually exercising the muscles and joints connected. While your not going to become a body builder, this training/exercising is actually really great for people with associated conditions with that area, and have be known to help promote healing and blood circulation in those areas. Can they really help... This is personal for me both as a maker of skill toys but as a user too.. I have anxiety and depression issues, along with a mild Autism and OCD, wich when they all “come to the party” can be an unpleasant experience for me. I’m also a chronic fidgeter and was looking for something new to occupy my fingers, that when I seen mention of a thing called “begleri” which I thought looked cool but probably too hard for me to learn. That’s when I read a post in a EDC (every day carry) forum that said it helped with his carple tunnel in his wrist, so with the starts of it myself I gave it a try.... obviously I wasn’t very good to start off but within a few days I had noticed that it had in fact help release the pain! It’s been almost 2 years now and I’m happy to say that I don’t get those pains anymore thanks the the build up of muscles (and added finger dexterity), but if I don’t “sling” my begleri or use my knuckle roller for longer then 1-2 days I notice the pain does start to comeback. What would you suggest? Sounds good, but I’m not good at that kind of thing There are a lot of different skill toys out there, and I have tried learning a few and am making slow progress. What I do suggest is two toys that have helped me Knuckle Rollers & Begleri These two have an easy learning curve, especially the roller which you can almost master in a few days. They are also small/discreet enough to be carried with you every day and can be used where ever you are, to have fun or even something like waste time waiting for a cab. What is a “knuckle Roller”? A knuckle roller is similar to what a lot of people do with their pens, drum sticks or even coins, it’s simply passing the roller from finger to finger. This up and down the hand is referred to as a trick called a “ladder” and can easily be learned in 5-10 mins, and when learned is one of the best ways to promote muscles/ dexterity training aswell as blood flow. Once you have master that there are a bunch of other cool tricks you can learn to then branch of intro the skill toy side of them. Generally a roller is about 60mm long with wide points at each end for weight and a tapering fun curve in the centre to allow fo easy finger placement. There are a few companies making them now, and you can find more information on them in the closed Facebook community “knuckle rollers” were you can find a community of people. The two companies that were the first to realise them was myself with the “Braindeef - TWZTD” and Matt with his “Aroundsquare - Knuckle bone (kbone)” What is ”Begleri”? Starting it’s life out centuries ago in Greece as “komboloi” a worry bead similar to the rosary beads, the eventual turned into a straight bitnif cord with bead on it. It then eventually became a new thing in its own called “begleri” were you would have 2 or more beads on a string, ussaly made from stones but also made from wood. Over the years in Greece they have been given to school kids to promote learning, and even Doctors prescribing them for different reasons including as a way to quit smoking. In modern days they have become a skill toy that I have grown to love, and is hands down the nicest community of people you will ever meet. They do take more time to learn some of the tricks, but you can master the basics of the grips, rebounds, slips/passes and wraps in an hour to a week. To learn my first tick I learnt “around the world” and had the basics of it worked out in half an hour, but didn’t master the tick till a few days later. While it is a slower process then the knuckle roller, it is one that once you have the basic ticks learned you can make mix them up to make some great “flows” To find out more information go join the closed Facebook group “begleri enthusiasts hangout” (BEH for short) were you meet great people and find an endless supply of helpful tips in the files section. As for makers, there is an ever growing list of people out there but I myself design/make/sell them through my Etsy shop “Braindeef Studio” also most noticeable for almost single handily making the begleri what they are today, Matt’s company Aroundsquare has a bunch of cool items. What to know more? Please explore the groups mentioned and have a look into possibly you next hobby/ love. If you have more questions, please fine hesitate to reach out to me via my shop accounts, as I’m always working :) @Braindeef on Facebook and Instagram Email: shop@braindeef.com Shamless shop plug: BraindeefStudio.etsy.com Thanks for reading this all the way through, it really means a lot. Happy slinging - Travis

The story behind Giftgowns Giftgowns was inspired by founder, Jackie Moss’, personal experience. A few years ago, she ended up in the hospital. Once she was better and able to reflect on the experience, she noticed three things. When you’re in the hospital, you need to be cheered up and be surrounded by things that make you smile. Everyone wants to buy you presents, but there aren’t many options out there. And finally, you have to wear the blue hospital gown for a short period of time and then you’re allowed to get back into pajamas, but they’re not functional for hospital use. Giftgowns aims to solve these problems by having uplifting and humorous gowns that are sure to bring smiles to patients. They make a perfect and useable gift. Most importantly, Giftgowns have been designed specifically for patient use, with snaps along the arms for IV access/breastfeeding, and snaps along the back for privacy. Giftgowns have a variety of sizes (from kids xs- adult 3xl) and designs to help patients feel like themselves again during recovering. You can even customize your own Giftgown with a favourite photo, graphic, saying, or all of the above! Patients are loving their Giftgowns: "I received so many compliments on my gown and people couldn't believe that it was an actual hospital gown with snaps making it accessible for IVs and things like that."-Tamara Lopez, Ontario "Thank you @giftgowns for the cutest and coziest hospital gown!"-Samantha Jo Johansen, New York "I may be old, but when I'm hospitalized I want to feel good and look good. Yea, Giftgowns!"- Grant, Ontario "This hospital gown brought a big smile to my mom's face. She loved the pockets, fit, and how it wasn't instituitional like."-Lianne Wilson, British Colombia Shop all of our styles at www.giftgowns.com !