Has anyone faced challenges with using the oven, and found any assistance that helps?

andrewns

I have mobility issues and have had some help from our local authority to install handles at various places in our house. We have a stand alone cooker and eye level grill that I am almost unable to bend when using the oven. The L.A. cannot help - at least for another year! - and I am reluctant to start buying an eye level oven without truly independent advice. Have any of you good folks had similar challenges and have received such assistance that has made things so much easier for you in the kitchen?

Ross_Alumni

Hello @andrewns and welcome to the community  

Sorry to hear that you are having challenges with accessing and using your oven, I'd be interested to ehar from other members whether they have taken any steps to make their oven, or kitchen in general, easier to use for their specific needs.

It's a shame that the LA can't help you any sooner, have they given a reason as to why it will take so long?

andrewns

Thanks for your concern, Ross. As to why the LA put us 200+ in the queue.....  cost? demand? COVID? ... probably a combination of these and others! 

Ross_Alumni

andrewns said:

Thanks for your concern, Ross. As to why the LA put us 200+ in the queue.....  cost? demand? COVID? ... probably a combination of these and others! 

I see, that must be really frustrating. 

Jules_H

andrewns said:

I have mobility issues and have had some help from our local authority to install handles at various places in our house. We have a stand alone cooker and eye level grill that I am almost unable to bend when using the oven. The L.A. cannot help - at least for another year! - and I am reluctant to start buying an eye level oven without truly independent advice. Have any of you good folks had similar challenges and have received such assistance that has made things so much easier for you in the kitchen?

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Andrewns, I can relate to parts of what you're going through. With my mobility, I can't bend in any direction more than 20°. My kitchen is long but very narrow so opening a standard oven door whether it opens with a side handle or top handle, I either burn the side of my legs or shins to ankles. I then can't bend forward to put anything in or take anything out of the oven.. if I'm taking anything out, I then have both hands in use so can't then manoeuvre my chair to put the item onto a work surface, even if I had the space.  On top of my disabilities, I started losing my eye sight. I can hear the gas on a full flame, but anything less than full and I can't see or hear it... so for my own health I had to get rid of my cooker. I did contact DAF for an electric cooker, so at least I could use the hobs, but got refused. They gave no reason at all, I even contacted the health team at the Welsh Senedd, they contacted DAF who still didn't reply. The Senedd wrote a strongly worded email which DAF then responded to within 24 hours. They still gave no reason as to why I was initially turned down or why they ignored my appeal. That was 10 months ago and I still have no cooker.

I rely on a microwave and microwave meals I get from a company who delivers three times a week. Apparently the table top cookers where the door slides under the cooker itself once open is really expensive, but I did find the RNIB sells table top hobs that come as either one hob or two and plug in, and a microwave combi cooker, grill. As neither my mobility or now my sight allows me to safely use a cooker, I'll have to consider those table top items. A proper oven that fits on the table would be ideal though as I can't imagine the combi from the RNIB allows for baking tins or roasting tins - the description on it doesn't say. So other than those few items, I haven't found anything else either you or I could use, sorry.