Neuro Note -- Mileja Soneji


            I watched a TedTalk, "Simple hacks for life with Parkinson’s”, that a woman from India named Mileha Soneji gave about small ways to make life easier for clients with Parkinson’s. She has an uncle who she explains used to be the life of the party at big family gatherings, but after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, he preferred to hide out at those gatherings because he couldn’t play with the children like he used to. Mileha Soneji is a very talented designer, so she decided to come up with some simple solutions to help deal with some of the symptoms that were affecting her uncle the most.
            First, Soneji decided to tackle how her uncle could drink from a normal looking cup without spilling his drink everywhere because of his tremors. He had stopped drinking coffee and tea in public because he was embarrassed every time he spilled his drink. Her solution was to create a cup with an upside down handle and a slightly curved lip that made spills much less common. She wanted to create a product that wasn’t obviously a “Parkinson’s patient” product. This cup looks like a very normal, cool cup, and her uncle does not feel called out on his condition when he uses it. Next, she thought about how difficult it is for her uncle to walk on a flat surface, so she asked him to show her how he walks up and down stairs because in India, it is very uncommon to find escalators and elevators. To her surprise, her uncle could walk up and down stairs with incredible ease because of the fluid, continuous motion of walking on stairs. To simulate this type of fluidity, Soneji created a print with a staircase illusion, and she has put in around her uncle’s house in a secure way so that he can move around his house with ease.
            I chose this Ted Talk because the title sounds intriguing especially as a future occupational therapist. I am always drawn to articles that advertise “Simple life hacks” to make life go more smoothly, and as someone who may work with clients who have Parkinson’s, I found the title intriguing. My biggest take-away from this learning experience is that Mileha Soneji focused on making relatively small modifications to make her uncle’s life with Parkinson’s Disease easier and more manageable, and her focus was to help him blend into society. She didn’t want to give him some type of device that would label him as a “Parkinson’s patient”. These modifications allow her uncle to integrate into society. I really enjoyed this Ted Talk because Soneji embraces a lot of qualities and ideals that are similar to the ideals of occupational therapists. She is a designer, but she is trying to help her uncle with the daily tasks that are affected by Parkinson’s disease the most.




Sonja, M. Use Empathy and Observation to Find Simple Solutions. (2018, March 20).
       Retrieved from https://www.improvisedlife.com/2018/03/20/use-empathy-and-observation-to
       find-simple-solutions-mileha-soneji/

Soneji, M. Simple hacks for life with Parkinson's. Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/mileha_soneji_simple_hacks_for_life_with_parkinson_s?langua

e=en

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