How Apple Watch Improved My Life With Cerebral Palsy (Part 2)

About a month ago I wrote a piece about my Apple Watch and its new accessibility features. Since then I’ve become addicted to it, wearing it every day, tracking my physical and occupational therapy sessions and using my watch to hold myself accountable for my at-home programs. All are so important for helping me cope with cerebral palsy.

As you probably already know from reading this column, actually doing the at-home routine is a new thing for me. I am writing this piece today because I fully believe I would not have committed to actually doing my home care as part of my self-care program, if not for my smart watch.

I’ve taken some screenshots from my iPhone to show you what I mean.

This is what it looks like when you complete all things/rings over the course of your day. The pink ring is how many calories you burn. When you set up your Apple Watch it will use the information that you’ve put into both your Health app and the Activity app.

This will help you set some goals for yourself. The green ring is your recommended 30 minutes of daily exercise, and the blue ring is a recommend daily goal of “standing” (or rolling if you are a wheelchair user) for 12 hours.

Your watch gently vibrates or “taps” your wrist when you’re halfway to completing your goal, when you’ve completed a goal, or it can send you a friendly reminder to keep working toward your goals.

At the right is a screenshot of my month of March. You can get a clear picture of how active I was day to day, but you also can see what I need to work on. (Hint: Consistent exercise?) It depends on you what goals you set with the information you have.

But perhaps the most important part (and one of my favorite features of the Apple Watch Activity app) is the achievements. Whenever you complete a ring, log a workout, do something new, or beat an old goal, your Apple Watch will send you a cute little badge like in the screenshot to the left. Inside the activity app, you can see all of your stats and achievements and, yes, you can send them to your friends!

I know that smart watches are expensive, no matter what brand you have. But I also know that devices like Fitbit are becoming more and more popular and embraced by the disabled community. I used two or three different Fitbit products before getting an Apple Watch, but the Apple Watch has clearly become my favorite because of the compatibility of the watch with all of my other devices.

Staying fit and healthy is important no matter who you are. In today’s society I know there is a ton of pressure to exercise, and do more, and be more. But I believe that everyone should be able to start where they are, with what they have, at their own pace.

Over the course of the past month, I have increased my daily move goal by 10 calories every week, and I often beat that. I’ve decreased my physical therapy by one day a week and I will complete occupational therapy soon. Despite cerebral palsy, I feel like I am moving better and I want to be more active now than ever before.

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Note: Cerebral Palsy News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Cerebral Palsy News Today, or its parent company, BioNews Services, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to cerebral palsy.