ATU643 – No Limbits Clothing with Erica Cole

Hi, this is Erica Cole. I’m the founder and CEO of No Limbits, and this is your Assistive Technology Update.

Hello and welcome to your Assistive Technology Update, a weekly dose of information that keeps you up to date on the latest developments in the field of technology designed to assist individuals with disabilities and special needs. I’m your host, Josh Anderson with the INDATA Project at Easterseals Crossroads in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. Welcome to episode 643 of Assistive Technology Update. It is scheduled to be released on September 22nd, 2023. On today’s show, we are super excited to welcome Erica Cole from No Limbits clothing like to talk about their adaptive clothing lines and how they can assist individuals with disabilities and not just independence in dressing and kind of other needs, but also in looking good while doing it. We also welcome back Amy Barry from BridgingApps with an app worth mentioning, and of course, we thank every single one of you for listening. Don’t forget you can always reach out to us anytime that you like.

You can call our listener line at (317) 721-7124. Send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org or check us out on Twitter or X or whatever it is at INDATA Project. As you’re looking and thinking about perhaps reaching out to us, I do have a couple of questions for you listeners. This show is coming out on September 22nd, and as of this week, the new iPhones and some other Apple devices have been released as well as iOS 17. Now around here, we do get excited when the new Apple operating system comes out just because of all the great new accessibility features that they build in. So listeners, I do have a question for you. Do you have a favorite new accessibility feature in iOS 17? If you do, please give us a call or shoot us an email and let us know what that is and why. And again, that’s tech@eastersealscrossroads.org for email or call our listener line at (317) 721-7124.

I’m sure we’ll discuss all those new features here in the coming weeks and months, but I always just like to get your opinions and see what it is that you thinks cool, usable, or just really helps with the accessibility of I devices. Also, we only have one more Friday in September and then we will be into October. October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

So in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we will have special themed shows including folks from state agencies that help individuals with disabilities find employment, also from different places that have outreach in order to help individuals with disabilities find and maintain meaningful employment and gain new skills and probably some surprises and other things. But just know in October we will be looking at disability employment because that is, well pretty much kind of where I came from and what I do on a daily basis when I’m not sitting here with you, but also just to let you know some of the great programs, great things out there that can assist individuals with disabilities beyond just assistive technology. But don’t worry, we’ll still talk about plenty of assistive technology during October as well, but enough about what’s coming up, let’s go ahead and get on with the show.

If you love Assistive Technology and podcasts, then you should check out our sister shows Assistive Technology Frequently Asked Questions and Accessibility Minute. Accessibility Minute is a one-minute-long podcast that just gives you a little bit of information about something AT based. Assistive Technology Frequently Asked Questions or ATFQ is a question and answer show. You can find those shows wherever you find your podcasts. Listeners, up next, we are very excited to welcome back Amy Barry from BridgingApps to the show with an app worth mentioning. Take it away, Amy.

This is Amy Barry with BridgingApps and this is an app worth mentioning. This week’s featured app is called CanPlan. CanPlan by the University of Victoria makes task analysis simple, fun and engaging. This app allows parents, therapists, and teachers to easily and visually break down and schedule tasks. The app promotes independence and builds confidence by helping people with cognitive challenges complete tasks successfully. Virtually any activity can be broken into a sequence of easy to follow steps illustrated by photos and reinforced with optional text and audio. Scheduling and reminder features ensure each tasks get done on time.

For any given task, a user initially goes through the activity with a support person or family member. Together they take photos of each step in the task, adding text or audio as needed. The task is then filed under a customizable set of categories, which would include areas such as food prep, household chores, shopping, transportation, exercise, workplace tasks and so on. This app is a great benefit to individuals with special needs. In particular, the app is an excellent choice for teaching and scheduling tasks to those with autism, head injury, ADHD and learning disability. CanPlan is currently available for iOS devices and is free to download with optional in-app purchases. For more information on this app and others like it, visit bridgingapps.org.

Listeners, we talk a lot about different technologies on this show and how they can increase access to the world for individuals with disabilities, help remove stigma and make an inaccessible world a little more accessible. But it’s pretty hard to access the world if you’re not feeling comfortable or wearing clothing and a lot of clothing straight from the rack is not fully accessible or may need to be modified or worn in a way that makes it uncomfortable or well just doesn’t look right on the individual. Well, our guest today is Erica Cole from No Limbits clothing. She’s here to tell us about her solution to this seem to be ever present issue. Erica, welcome to the show.

Thank you so much for having me.

I am really excited to get into talking about this, but before we get into talking about the clothing, can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself?

Yeah, my name is Erica. I am the founder of No Limbits. I’m also an amputee. I lost my leg in 2018. I’m a left below knee amputee and I’m also integrated, fun fact. So I’m really familiar with Easterseals, have used a lot of their resources and excited to talk to you today.

Awesome. We thank you so much for coming on the show and telling us all about No Limbits clothing. Can you tell us where the idea came from?

Yeah, so actually from my own experience. My first prosthetics since it was a traumatic amputation was massive. I couldn’t get anything over the top. I was 22 years old. I was wearing sweatpants that were three sizes too large all the time because I couldn’t get anything to get over the top. It was just really a struggle every morning to get dressed and I had been sewing since I was pretty young, so I started altering my own clothing and I was really involved in the amputee community also.

So I started altering clothes for other people and kind of long story short, it snowballed into what is now a solution for not just amputees because I found that as we were building and growing, it wasn’t just amputees that were struggling with clothing, it was kind of people with disabilities across the board for a really wide range of reasons. So grew it into now a ready to wear brand and that’s kind of how everything got started. I was studying chemistry at the time, so I was not expecting to have a clothing company as a career, but really happy I’m here and wouldn’t imagine myself doing anything else now.

It’s amazing the way life takes us sometimes. I never thought I’d be hosting a podcast so, but yet here we both are talking to each other. So I really want to kind of get into talking about all the different offerings that you all offer. Could you start by kind of telling us about the Unlimbited Pants because this is kind of how it all started, is that correct?

Absolutely. So the Unlimbited Pant was the first thing, it was the solution to my problem. So they’ve got zippers hidden on the inseam. They look just like any other pair of jeans from the bottom hem of the pant to about halfway up the thigh. And so that makes it easier to get dressed while wearing. Originally we were like, these are the pants for amputees. And then one thing that’s so great about this adaptive community is we found that they’re very vocal about what we want and need. Right. So we were having people with lymphedema reach out and say, oh, these are really great for me, or people with knee braces, things like that. So we call them the Unlimbited Pants for anybody with lower limb difference. So the zipper makes it easier to dress with any of those assistive devices like prosthetics, AFOs, braces, things like that.

And then a lot of amputees need to change their prosthetic socks or liners throughout the day and that was my experience. So I was going to the bathroom and completely undressing a few times a day to make these changes. So the zipper makes it easier to just do that like right at your desk or wherever you are pretty modestly. And then we also reinforced key areas where prosthetics and braces and things were wearing through. So they’ve got little patches kind of around the knee on the inside. You can’t really see them from the outside, but they just stand up better to those braces and things that can wear through your clothes really quickly.

No, and they definitely can, and I’m glad you brought up the kind of changing the socks part. No one ever thinks about that, but I know it can lead to some pretty serious sores and just discomfort if you don’t do that just from having friends and acquaintances over the course of my life with different kind of amputations or different kinds of limb needs. I know that’s always been something that they’ve complained about and things. So I’m glad you’re giving them an option besides like you said, the way oversized sweatpants that maybe during Covid and all the Zoom meetings was okay, but going out in the world maybe not quite so much so.

Definitely, definitely.

And I know it all started there, but I know you’ve moved on and kind of have some different ones, and this is actually how I learned about this when someone kind of told me about them, but you have adaptive wheelchair pants. Can you tell us about those?

Yes. So our wheelchair pants are our most technical product that we’ve developed. I’m super, super proud of them and we designed them with a ton of wheelchair users and a lot of occupational therapists also because we were finding when people in wheelchairs are taught to dress, often there’s a changing table involved or you do that on your bed. And so we wanted to lean into how are folks being taught to dress and then how can we make that process easier? And then mix that in with clothing has been designed for the standing body since clothing was developed. If you go to fashion school, you’re designing on standing forms. So we had to even go back to the drawing board of how do people’s bodies change when they’re in wheelchairs? How would that fit different when you’re in a seated position all the time? So our wheelchair pants are low rise in the front, but high rise in the back.

So you have that back coverage, but it’s not digging into your belly. I don’t know if you’ve had a pair of jeans that you’ve worn that you get red lines across your tummy after you’re sitting in them for a while. So where we’re like, that’s no good in someone who seated all the time. So designed the shape around that. They’ve got side zippers from the waist to about halfway down the thigh on both sides. And so that front completely folds down. So this does two things. One, it’s easier to dress when you’re laying down and you’re rolling and getting your pants on that way. And two, it completely opens up so people can do their own catheter changes without leaving the chair and you have access to everything that you need access to. It’s even got catheter loops on the inside to hold that in place if that’s your experience.

So it’s got reinforced belt loops, you can really tug on those things. And then we took the pockets from the back because back pockets can cause bedsores even in wheelchair users. And we put zippered five pockets on the front so you can still have phone, wallet, keys, but in a place that’s much more accessible than those waist pockets don’t do a ton when you’re seated. And those back pockets definitely don’t do anything when you’re seated. So moved those and it’s a cool design, it looks cool, but it’s also super functional. So I’m really excited. As you can tell, I’m really excited about these wheelchair pants. We put a lot of, it took a year and a half to get these just right and I’m really proud of how they turned out.

Well, I think it shows. I think it shows that you were actually taking user input as well as OT input and everything else. And like I said, this is how I kind of found out about your products was somebody just telling me about them and just, I wish I could remember exactly their words or even kind of tell you who they were, but it was just, I’m glad I can finally wear something that’s usable that doesn’t make me look like I’m 90 years old. They basically said, I feel like everything adaptive is for someone who’s aging and I’m not aging or I’m not aging, I’m not older, I’m younger, I still want to actually look kind of decent, but to wear kind of off the rack every day jeans, pants, any things like that.

They mentioned all the things that you mentioned especially and the pockets, they just love the pockets. They said, I try to keep things in my pockets. They fall out or they’re just impossible to get, or they dig in the entire day and just being able to have them easy access, not have to carry something else to carry all my stuff in is a great, great adaptation.

Exactly. And honestly, a lot of feedback that we get too is folks who are aging are like, I don’t want to look like I’m wearing,

Exactly.

Sweatpants all the time either.

Yeah. Yep.

It’s like everybody wants to look cute and fashionable and everybody needs a good pair of jeans too. I think that was, when we started we were like, what garment are we going to start? My experience was pants and I wanted jeans and I was like, I wonder if other people feel the same way. And jeans, everybody just needs a good pair of jeans. Jeans can do a lot for a person.

Oh, for sure.

It’s good. Yeah.

Well, and I mean I wish, and this is completely off subject, but I wish just fashion wise that everything that looked good standing up felt good sitting down too because I feel like that’s something that’s kind of went away, that everything seems to pinch and move and be uncomfortable once you get in a sitting position or it doesn’t look good in any other, that’s kind of beside the point.

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

And then you offer some other things and just in kind of researching, I found some really cool stuff, that you have sensory friendly offerings. Now what are those?

Yes. So we just launched our sensory friendly collection. I keep saying this is my favorite collection and then people are like, you’ve said that four times.

It’s all allowed to be your favorite. That’s perfectly fine.

But the sensory collection was designed for anybody with sensory processing disorders and that’s commonly found in people with ADHD or autism, but it can’t exist on its own and it’s when somebody has any sensory input, it doesn’t have to be touch that is causing irritation, overwhelm, distraction, even sometimes pain. So we designed our sensory collection to be seamless, tag less, comfortable, moisture wicking, thermal regulating. It’s all designed so that if someone has textural sensory input that is distracting to them, we are not adding that in their clothing. And then one thing I’m particularly excited about is our women’s sensory friendly tanks because they can be used as a bra substitute and that’s huge for not just people with sensory processing disorder, but across the board bras are pretty challenging for people with disabilities for a wide variety of reasons. People struggle with bras for different reasons, but almost every adaptive category struggles with them.

So we’re like, okay, instead of designing an adaptive bra, let’s design something that can be used in place of that. And then it turned out to be a really great sensory friendly garment also. So if you wear it underneath something that’s not necessarily sensory friendly, it can make that garment more tolerable or more sensory friendly over the top, or you can wear it on its own. It’s just a really great item to add to the collection that you don’t have to change your entire wardrobe to be sensory friendly, to kind of have this sensory friendly base layer and that can help. And then it’s our first kids product too, so we added some t-shirts in kids sizes, which is really exciting. And originally it was thought that people grew out of sensory processing disorder, which is just not the case. So there are very limited options in adults. So we’re really focused on as we’re moving forward, growing the assortment in our sensory friendly collection because it’s had some phenomenal feedback, so I’m really excited about that.

Nice. And I’m glad you brought up kind of the things that can even be used in different ways. I think that’s really great. And I’ve worked with folks with disabilities where because of injury or just the nature of the disability, yeah, putting on and off the bra has become a horrible pain and just not kind of easy to do. And you’re right, there’s not a lot of, there’s contraptions, there’s gizmos, there’s other things out there that are supposed to make it easier, but it’d be a lot easier if it was just easier. So I’m glad that you did think about that and that you can use something for different purposes and use one thing for that. So that’s really, really cool.

Thank you. I like it a lot. I don’t have sensory issues, but I do wear that tank almost every day. It’s just a good tank top for anybody if I can be so bold.

And you definitely can. Again, Erica, you also have some items there for your able-bodied allies, for individuals who maybe don’t need the adaptive clothing, but do kind of want to help spread the good word and stuff. Can you tell us about some of your clothing for allies and what’s available in those?

Absolutely. Our most popular shirt by far is our disability is not a bad word shirt. Just need to spread that word. And I know your space is very familiar with this, but I get asked a lot, what’s the correct terminology? While everyone self-identifies, and that’s obviously super important, the community is very embracing of the word disability. And so we wanted to be able to spread that message. Another shirt that we have that I’m particularly fond of is actually for people with disabilities and allies, but it says more than your inspo and it’s got kind of some different characters on it. And it was coming from this frustration from the No Limbits team is made of a few people that have disabilities also.

So it’s coming from our frustration of just being in the grocery store and people being like, you’re so inspiring. It’s like I’m not inspiring because an amputee in a grocery store. It was kind of coming from like, we are so much more than the disability that we have that can be visual or invisible. And so it’s just a little kind of sassy comeback. We are more than somebody’s inspiration. So those are two of my favorites from that ally collection.

When I saw that one on there, that was always one of my favorites. It’s always hard because we’re part of a nonprofit and there’s fundraisers out there and things, but I’ve always appreciate that my team, at least in clinical assistive technology, whenever they ask for success stories, we’ll happily tell it, but when they want to talk to the person or videotape them or anything, it’s like, ah, we’re going to have to talk to them for a while first. Because yeah, you’re people. It’s an individual just like everybody else just happens to have a disability. But yeah, they’re a success story. Yeah, they did all this, but they did it all on their own. And we’ve maybe helped a little bit, but people are more than just yeah, inspiration to be kind of carted out and oh wow, look at that. So when I saw that shirt,

Yeah.

I really, really liked it because yeah, you’re right. You’re right. I’ve seen some studies done and things like that on how people treat individuals with disabilities and yeah, just what is it? The you’re so brave kind of thing, and it’s like, yeah.

Yeah. It’s kind of condescending though.

It really is.

Like can we, yeah. Yeah.

It really is. And I don’t think, what was the thing? I mean, I’m from Indiana, not quite the South, but what was the thing? Oh, bless your heart, I think was the thing people used to always say.

Yes.

When I was younger and as I got older I was like, ah, it’s so condescending. People probably don’t realize it. But no, I think it’s awesome that you do kind of have that because I think people need to kind of think of that as well when they’re interacting with folks. And like you said, as far as the right word and things like that, listeners, if you ever do worry about that ask is usually about the best way to do it because I think folks would rather kind of let you know how they’d prefer to be referred to or just refer to them as Erica or as somebody like that as opposed to an individual with a disability can be even easier. Erica, I got completely off subject there and I’m sorry about that, but something I always really, really like to ask my guests, and I’m sure that you probably have quite a few of these. Can you tell me a story about someone’s experience with your clothes and just how it’s kind of just maybe opened up the world of fashion or just made life a little bit easier for them?

Yeah, the messages that we get that are my favorite, I have two that stick out and they just absolutely made my day. One was a gentleman, he’d been an amputee for a long time and he sent us a message. He was like, I tried your pants. These are the first jeans I’ve been able to wear in 20 years. He’s like I never thought I would be able to wear jeans again. And that was just, I was like, okay, this is bullseye in terms of our mission. I was like, when I really knew, okay, this is having an impact and making a difference. The other thing, pretty early on, we had three colors for a minute. It was another gentleman and I saw an order come through for seven pairs of pants. They were all the same size and there were two of each color and three of one color.

So you had seven pairs of pants. And I saw this order go through and I called him, I was like, I thought it was a mistake. I was like, I saw you put this order through. Did you order too many? I’m happy to change that order for you. And he’s like, no, I got seven because there’s one for every day of the week, and this is all I’m wearing. And I was like, that was just such a cool conversation to have. And I just really loved speaking with that gentleman because he was like, these are my everyday wearing it. Why would I wear any other pants? Yeah. So those are my kind of two stories that stand out. But we get messages all the time and it’s really fulfilling and it makes me really happy when I know that there is this evidence of our mission being fulfilled. It’s really special to me.

Oh, yeah. I mean, especially with him just nonchalantly well, yeah, of course I brought seven pairs of pants. There’s seven days in the week. Why?

Yeah, exactly. Like it was an obvious thing. And I was like, oh, okay, great.

And you’re right. That does just give you the feeling you’re doing something right at that point, if people like them enough that they’re the only pair of pants they want to wear and are buying seven pairs to make sure they have a pair for every day of the week. That’s absolutely great. Well, if our listeners want to find out more or even purchase some of the items for themselves, what’s the best way for them to do that?

Absolutely. You can find us on our website. It’s no-limbits.com, but Limbits is spelled L-I-M-B-I-T-S just because I’m an amputee and I had to make it a little bit fun.

Exactly. And definitely keep it away from the pack so that people can find those different kinds of options. We’ll put a link to that down in the show notes so that people can easily go and find it. Well, Erica, thank you so much for A, first creating clothing that can really and truly just make people feel, I don’t know, more comfortable, I guess is really kind of the excuse for clothing anyway, feel a little fashionable, feel a little bit more comfortable. And then thanks again for coming on the show today and telling us all about it.

Thank you so much for having me. It was really great speaking with you Josh.

Do you have a question about assistive technology? Do you have a suggestion for someone we should interview on an Assistive Technology Update? If so, call our listener line at (317) 721-7124. Send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org or shoot us a note on Twitter at INDATA Project. Our captions and transcripts for the show are sponsored by the Indiana Telephone Relay Access Corporation or inTRAC. You can find out more about inTRAC at relayindiana.com. A special thanks to Nicole Prieto for scheduling our amazing guests and making a mess of my schedule. Today’s show was produced, edited, hosted, and fraught over by yours truly. The opinions expressed by our guests are their own and may or may not reflect those of the INDATA Project. Easterseals Crossroads, our supporting partners or this host. This was your Assistive Technology Update, and I’m Josh Anderson with the INDATA Project at Easterseals Crossroads in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. We look forward to seeing you next time. Bye-bye.