2 ?s

[mykidsintow]

First, I was wondering where I may be able to find an umbrella that would clip onto my daughters power wheelchair? I need something to keep her shaded in our June trip since she has such a hard time with her body temp. I have been looking online, but I am not searching correctly or something. Anyone?

Typhoon Lagoon is my next question. We have never been and I have avoided the water parks because I wasn't sure what to do with my daughters power chair while we were in the water. I am worried about someone messing with it, etc. I am guessing I can leave it by the chairs with towels. I don't want it getting soaked. She *loves* the water and pools so we will be going in June. Should I take a stroller instead? She wouldn't like that, but she would survive. Would that be safer to leave? Anyone with experience? Maybe I am worried about nothing....

Thanks

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I don't know if I have ever noticed people coming into TL with power chairs. I very often see wheelchairs and ECVs. One thing to consider is that other than the walkways there is lots of sand, and you would have to drive it over the sand to get to where most of the beach chairs are.

And as far as a clamping umbrella, check with your DME supplier, they might have them in stock or can recommend a source.

 

[mykidsintow]

Eww.... if we have to go through sand I will just take a stroller for that day. Thanks for the heads up!

I checked with DME, they didn't have anything.

 

[angelbearmom]

Have you tried something like you can get to clip on lawn chairs? I think they have golf umbrellas that clip on too. The problem with that type is that they're really big and can block the view although that might not be a problem with her moving the chair herself. I find it hard to have an umbrella on my child's chair as I can't see who is in front of me. They also make smaller umbrellas that go on a stroller that might help a bit with shade but not take up so much room in crowded areas.

 

[SueM in MN]

Have you tried something like you can get to clip on lawn chairs? I think they have golf umbrellas that clip on too. The problem with that type is that they're really big and can block the view although that might not be a problem with her moving the chair herself. I find it hard to have an umbrella on my child's chair as I can't see who is in front of me. They also make smaller umbrellas that go on a stroller that might help a bit with shade but not take up so much room in crowded areas.

I would try the ones made for strollers.
The lawn chair ones are often very large, but you might be able to find a smaller one for a child's lawn chair.

We did try an umbrella on our DD's wheelchair a few times, but found it was difficult to push the wheelchair with it in place (it got in the way of pushing) and just was generally more bother to us than it was worth. If you do find one, I would suggest trying it out on a couple of walks at home first to see how you like it and if it actually can be adjusted to block the sun.

 

[pumpkinboy]

We have bought several red "Radio Flyer" brand umbrella's with clamps that attach to DS's wheelchair. I think we got the first one at Toys 'R Us or Target and subsequent ones through Amazon.com. They work well, and they're red. However the clamps are not very durable, and we've had them break on a pretty regular basis. I believe this type of umbrella was designed to clip on to a red Radio Flyer wagon, but it works fine on DS's wheelchair handle.

I imagine there are others you can get through specialized catalog companies like Flaghouse or Enabling Devices, but I suspect these would be more exensive than our cheapie Radio Flyer umbrella. Then again, they might also be more durable and better suited to being clamped to a wheelchair.

As for your second question, I can't help you there as we've never taken DS to the waterparks.

Good luck!

 

[of2dbeach]

instead of a big umbrella what about those umbrella hats people wear ? maybe it wont offer her much protection but it wouldnt hang over her wheelchair and get in the way either.. ??

 

[mykidsintow]

I googled wheelchair umbrella and found some. Julia was here looking with me she said "NO! It has to be pink! I want a pink umbrella!"

Girls!

 

[of2dbeach]

Ok I will also for a Pink Umbrella.. maybe we can find one with a Disney princess or something?? i like looking up things anyways so I take this as a challenge let me know if you find one though

 

[SueM in MN]

I googled wheelchair umbrella and found some. Julia was here looking with me she said "NO! It has to be pink! I want a pink umbrella!"

Girls!

Looking at her picture, I can see that she needs a pink umbrella!

 

[of2dbeach]

First, I was wondering where I may be able to find an umbrella that would clip onto my daughters power wheelchair? I need something to keep her shaded in our June trip since she has such a hard time with her body temp. I have been looking online, but I am not searching correctly or something. Anyone?

Typhoon Lagoon is my next question. We have never been and I have avoided the water parks because I wasn't sure what to do with my daughters power chair while we were in the water. I am worried about someone messing with it, etc. I am guessing I can leave it by the chairs with towels. I don't want it getting soaked. She *loves* the water and pools so we will be going in June. Should I take a stroller instead? She wouldn't like that, but she would survive. Would that be safer to leave? Anyone with experience? Maybe I am worried about nothing....

Thanks

i found this link. not sure if they have pink or not and it seemed kinda pricy but might cover her better and it looked like you could see over it better then you would be able to with an umbrella.. Will still look for a pink one
http://www.edmond-wheelchair.com/wheelchair_canopy.htm

 

[DisneyWheeler]

Hi....I've used a wheelchair canopy from Diestco on my power wheelchair and it worked great for shading from the sun. Not sure who carries them. But, you can ask your DME dealer about them. The only "downside" to them is that they can be pretty tricky to use if there's a headrest attached to the seating system. I had to sell mine after I got my headrest because the bracket was poking the fabric to the point of I was afraid it might tear. It did work really good for me, for the time being. I loved it.

Samantha

 

[mykidsintow]

Oh thanks! I am going to check into this further! I had planned to look at Walmart/Target/ToysRUs this weekend for something for a beach chair or camping chair that may attach. I figured that I could possibly take fabric paint to it and make it flowers to please the princess.

I don't really need to see over it. Typically she is beside or behind me (I walk in front if she needs help cutting through the crowds). I don't really ever control her chair at all unless its getting it into a funky place and usually she does this much better than we can unless it requires backing up. She doesn't back up well. We tried putting a mirror on her chair, but she went around hitting things because she was too busy looking at *herself*. Hopefully when she is older.... maybe say 23-45yrs old?

I was never a girly girl, but man oh man do I have a girly girl!

Oh and her chair doesn't have a headrest on it. Well we have one, but we took it off, I keep it up with many other options the chair has.

Thanks again!

 

[my3princes]

I made one for my son's wheelchair. I modified a canopy that was attached to a lawn chair.

I even sewed a raincover for it

This is one that is on my other son's chair. I made that one too. It is just a matter of figuring out a design that fits the chair.

Deb

 

[mykidsintow]

Wow that is creative! Something to consider. I would need the metal off something tho... Hmmm....

I will have to think on that.....

 

[bex271]

My3princes,
I wanted to ask you how you modified the canopy. My son has a zippie too and that looks great.

becca

 

[my3princes]

I picked up a lawn chair at BJ's Wholesale club with an attached canopy. All the metal parts were part of the chair's canopy. I used a Dremel too to cut the rivets That attached the canopy to the chair. There were 4 of them. The canopy frame was wider than Ds's Zippy so I went to Home Depot for supplies. I got some nylon spacers (they were sold in the area with the bulk nuts and bolts) as well as some long screws, washers and wing nuts. You'll need to figure out length of screws etc based on how much space you need to cover. I'm sure different canopy's will require different things. I figured out where I wanted to mount it on the chair and drilled 2 whole on each upright. From there it was washer, canopy upright, spacers, through chair upright, washer wingnut. Obviously the screw fits through it all. Hopefully that all makes sense. I can look to see if I have better photos somewhere. I haven't put it together since we made it as our trip isn't for another month.

 

[my3princes]

I think you can see the 4 screw spacer assemblies in this shot. They are the white things. I used wing nuts to make it easier to disassemble when we need to.

 

[mykidsintow]

I am thinking anything like that I would find would be way too wide. Whatever I attach will have to attach to her chair because her chair has hydrolics. It lifts up to counter height and goes down to the floor. So in order for her to still use her hydrolics to see things it would have to attach to the actual seat and not the base of the chair. However, her seat is only 9 inches wide (Julia is pretty tiny). The back of the seat is 11.5 inches at the widest part. The metal bars are only 7 inches apart on the back.

I am thinking maybe I should go for some type princess umbrella and go to Lowes and get some clamps to attach it to her chair. Maybe Monday since it will be pretty here I will go try that. She would like the umbrella better. Hopefully it would be high enough to catch attention of people that would otherwise just walk right in front of her. I could easily detach it for fireworks and times I don't want to block someone elses view.

 

[of2dbeach]

i found a clip on umbrella at cvs of all places. it was 40 inches and had a clip for a lawn chair BUT it did say it could be used for a wheelchair Dollar tree here had some princess stick ons for the walls. wondering if that would work on the umbrella? ... how do I find things for others when I am actualy looking for something for me ?? not complaining but i wanted a stroller fan GRRR.. oh well maybe she didnt need it anyways ??
your DD sure is a pretty princess !!