User Interview

User Interview with Tina

The next interview that was completed for our primary research was with Tina. Tina is an incomplete paraplegic due to an accident when she was 16-17 years old. She has been in the wheelchair for 40 years. 

The interview with Tina provided us with many insightful key points and numerous opportunities:

  • "I had two OT’s down here, yesterday, helping me design a bed cause the bed I’m sleeping on is an airbed and the mattress is too hard and I have to keep getting up every hour so that my side doesn’t hurt me, so its doesn’t start stinging and aching."
  • Tina is looking for a roho mattress like below that she can replace her current mattress with to help with the pain when she sleeps as well as to still maintain stability for her transfer
  • "I always carry a bottle of water on the back of my wheelchair that just comes with me constantly , because if I get thirsty I know when I’m out I wont be able to use, unless its one of those water bubblers that have the cup"
  • " I had the OTs come out because I want my kitchen cupboard lowered, for me to use my sink, to wash the dishes in my sink, if I stretch over and lean into the sink my wheelchair tips cause the sink it too high"
  • "The OT’s were taking pictures of me...trying to lean into the cupboard to get a saucepan out of the cupboard cause they’re corner cupboards...I have lent on the cupboard and they have broke cause I am leaning really hard on the cupboards to pull something out of the inside and that’s broken and I ended up falling out of my wheelchair because of that instance. "
  • When Tina has tried to explain her situation to other people and get some modifications in her kitchen she has been answered with "get an LAC to do your cooking, Why would we need to lower your cupboards? " (LAC are carers, people who are hired by NDIS to help around the house etc)
  • "Now the oven is at 200 degrees and I’m pulling the over door down that is basically sitting on by lap and then I’m trying to reach into an oven that is 200 degrees that Is heavy like a backed spaghetti or something that I got to rest on the door that same door that is sitting on my lap, and lucky I can’t feel how hot it is"
  • "It’s crazy that, what they are knocking back like an oven the opens on the left hands side so that I can get direct access to the oven rather than an oven that has a pull down door "
  • "when Kyle (her sona) was a baby I could lean over and pick him up but now I don’t have the core muscles and balance to bend over pick Lennox is light like a packet or something."
  • "I’ve been in a wheelchair for 40 years now and its hard to break old habits. Eventually when im 80 or 90 I might have to have a powered driver or a smart driver or something but while I can still physically do it myself I’m going to do a manual wheelchair. "
  • "I wasn’t allowed out of the (PA) hospital until like we could make our own beds and cook our own meals, basically do everything"
  • "I don’t sit properly, my posture isn’t right"
  • "back operations I’ve had or the muscles aren’t strong enough to hold me upright"
  • Tina experiences extreme shoulder pain and has had to have numerous surgeries because of it. She also see's a physio therapost twice a week to help with the pain
  • "I also have arthritis in my hands and arms because of pushing a wheelchair for 40years. I’ve also put in weight cause I couldn’t exercise the way I was."
  • "when I left the PA hospital, I was comfortable being around people with wheelchairs, I was safe, in a safe environment and then I came home I was all of sudden in an environment with walking people and I just came from somewhere with just people in wheelchairs, it was scary, it was hard to adjust and all the rest of it. " 
  • Injuries without knowing due to not feeling it. In this instance it started off as a burn; "There was one instance where I had the tap on boiling hot and burnt my foot that far in, say 2cm it has burnt into my foot and I ended up with a massive burn, like on my foot but I couldn’t feel it and I didn’t know until it actually turned into a blood blister and actually busted and than I had this expose wound that they had to than out me in hospital for 6 weeks and put skin grafts and all that on it"
  •  Her sleeping patterns have changed due the naps she takes during the day to help with the pain as she has been sitting in her chair for long periods of time; "one thing I also get, is my leg and feet swell up from sitting in a chair for a long period of time so I got to elevate my legs...Back pain, I get from sitting to long so that I got to lay in the middle of the day, so I end up sleeping in the middle of the day and end up not sleeping right at night."
  • "Bumpy paths It’s hard again"
  • Tina has accidentally cut her feet on the foot plates of her chair due to sharp edges that have not been sanded down. 
Assistive Technology Specific Key Points
  • "I would like to have the oven down, also pantry when you open up the doors instead of having shelves"
  • "I would like to have a pantry that I could reach into that has shelves, or around me."
  • "I have wheelchair that I can wheel in the shower so that when I have a shower, I don’t have to worry about getting my wheelchair that I use every day of the week getting wet. "
  • "I don’t know if you can get a shower (shower chair) that only goes to a certain temperature"
  • "My foot plates on my wheelchair, now I should get someone to file down where the hard bits of plastic are"
  • "I do everything by myself and the only thing I don’t do is wash my hair cause my arms and I can’t get to the back of my head"
The last thing that Tina would like to make known and I think is important to think about when designing is about the disability symbol and how its being used.
  • "You know what I would like to say and this is discriminating against people with a disability but as far as wheelchair car parking goes why does someone, like recently, I just had a carer that was looking after a mentally impaired girl who was 17 or whatever and she used to park in a disabled car park. And I said hang on, even if she was 3 years old of whatever you can get out of a normal car park, you don’t need to park in a disabled, they should discriminate and not call it a disabled park cause anyone with a broken leg or hearing or seeing problem, pace maker in their heart they can all say they are disabled but they can all get out of a normal car park and I cant get out. I need a car park that I can open the door wide enough that my wheelchair can come in. "


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