Adaptive Clothing

Adaptive clothing is clothing designed around the needs and abilities of people with varying degrees of disability, including congenital disabilities, acquired disabilities and temporary disabilities, as well as physical disabilities.

Adaptive clothing is specifically designed for individuals who face challenges when dressing themselves, either because they struggle with manipulating closures like buttons and zippers or because they have limited mobility that hinders self-dressing. Additionally, adaptive clothes are beneficial for caregivers of individuals with dementia as they feature rear-closures that cannot be accessed by those under their care.

Mindy Sheier – Runway of Dreams Foundation – https://www.runwayofdreams.org/our-founder; Angel Westerman, CEO DependableDaughter
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/angel-westerman-02b99727/).

Buck and Buck does provide a comprehensive guide of adaptive clothing (http://www.buckandbuck.com/adaptive-clothing-guide.html), albeit it is mostly about their products, it also has a lot of good general information based on different health conditions.

Disabled-World has information about adaptive clothing and links to manufacturers and size conversion charts (https://www.disabled-world.com/assistivedevices/adaptive-clothing.php).


Silvert’s Adaptive Clothing – on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=adaptive+clothing+for+seniors&crid=226EEB2678RPP&sprefix=adaptive+clothing%2Caps%2C168&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_3_17 to link for affiliate’s program.

The features of adaptive clothing include: flat seams, snaps, velcro, stretchy fabric, roomy design, longer rise in the back, elastic waist, and other features to increase comfort and reduce effort when dressing.

Adaptive clothing adapts to the nature of the disease to help both individuals and their caregivers.

Incontinence

The challenge is reduced bladder control and urgency. Adaptive clothing needs to be easily removed and needs to accommodate incontinence aids discreetly and comfortably.

Alzheimer’s Disease

The challenge is that Individual may disrobe at inappropriate times. To address that adaptive clothing has locking or closures in the back.

Parkinson’s Disease and Arthritis

The challenge is loss of fine motor skills. Adaptive clothing have Velcro or magnetic buttons, instead of traditional closures.

Paraplegia and Quadriplegia

The challenge is inability to bend muscles or move joints. Adaptive clothing have open back eliminating the need to rotate/bend muscles or joints.

Edema

The challenge is swelling of feet and legs makes it difficult to wear conventional footwear or pants. Adaptive Shoes and pants have adjustable sizes and non-restrictive closures.