http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=18769009&l=19bad3c519&id=857320617
This is the chair we are using now. She is very, very low to the ground. I can see where it would be nice for her to be able to get into it, but we are a while away from that I think. However, at this point, she is only in the chair for 30 minutes at a time, for around 2 hours or so a day. She can not tolerate it much longer, and I don't know if it is because she isn't comfy, or because she is just bored. Anyway, there is also no way she can sleep in it, and we can't keep her in the sun too long either (we live in Texas).
Thank you for your very detailed list, it is just what I needed!
Oh, you mentioned special needs strollers. I have seen a few, I think one was called Liberty, is that what you have?
That's a nice chair.
I work in a specialized acute care hospital, where we get older adolescent and adult patients for ventilator weaning, who are often in comas. One of our big programs is brain injury rehab. In the beginning, 30 minutes up in a wheelchair is a lot. It’s very tiring to be upright like that and people have to work up to longer periods. So, your DD is doing well with being up 2 hours a day. That’s a good start.
It’s hard to tell with kids if they are just bored being in one position, or tired , or uncomfortable or just want to move. The wheelchairs also tend to hold them up much straighter than they would be if sitting in a chair (I know I would protest if I had to sit so straight in a chair all day as my DD sits in her wheelchair).
This is my DD last fall in her manual wheelchair when we visited the Fairies at MK.
You can see she is sitting pretty straight up, similar to your DD in the link you posted. Even when she was little, her wheelchair back was set pretty straight up and down. You would not think someone could sleep sitting that straight, but it didn’t really stop her once she was used to the chair.
When she was little and got too tired to sit, we usually just stopped for a while and held her while she slept.
My DD is a young adult, so children's wheelchairs have changed a lot since she got her first one. At that time, even the children's wheelchairs had large tires and she sat pretty high. Now most of the children's wheelchairs sit much lower to the ground, to put them more at the level of peers.
One big advantage of the low seat is that many kids will learn to get in and out of their wheelchair with a little assistance. The stroller handles let the parents push it with little difficulty.
I'm typing on my iPad, so I need to post this and then come back with some links (don't want to lose what I already typed).
AdaptiveMall has a very good website where you can see lots of different types of special needs strollers. They don't do insurance, as far as I know, and its better in most cases to deal with local people, including therapists who can do the fitting and advice.
But, you can get a good idea of features and what different types of special needs stroller exist here:
http://www.adaptivemall.com/allstrolpus.html
When my daughter was little,
the major company making children’s wheelchairs was Sunrise Medical. They still make very nice chairs - in fact all of my DD’s manual wheelchairs have been by Sunrise.
Invacare is also one of the big companies and make a couple of styles of pediatric wheelchairs.
Colours makes really beautiful and well thought out wheelchairs and has a nice line of children’s wheelchairs. They are a newer company (at least in the US).
mickeymaker2003 said:
I would also see about your insurance coverage. The insurance may only cover one mobility device. If you choose a stroller and you decide to get a wheelchair before she has outgrown the stroller, they may deny coverage for the wheelchair.
That is a very good point that I had forgotten about. One of our considerations in choosing a stroller was that we were concerned that if DD wanted to be more mobile by herself and we wanted to get a wheelchair, it would be hard to get funding.
We really wanted the option for her to be able to propel it herself if that was at all possible.
Since she is still fairly young, you could consider getting a wheelchair using the insurance and see if you can find a regular stroller (or used special needs one) to pay out of pocket for so you have more flexibility.
I know people do sell them sometimes on eBay or Craig’s list, so it might be possible to get a stroller later on without having to pay the regular retail price.
And, with ‘regular’ strollers going up to 45-50 pounds, she may fit in one for quite a while.
At WDW, there shouldn't be a problem with tagging any of these with a stroller as a wheelchair tag and you would have full access to the park with it. If a cast member questions it, once you show them the tag (that you get from guest relations) you should be allowed to continue with whatever option you are using.
There is more information about that in post #6 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread about Guest Assistance Cards. That thread is near the top of this board or you can follow the link in my signature to get there.
pixie dust for continued recovery.
