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Daily Living Aids:
Shower Chair
Hand Rails -
Pressalit Care
Note –
the Pressalite care adjustable system is excellent - particularly suited
to children because they are fully adjustable to accommodate the child
as they grow – we have installed one of their vertically adjustable
handrails next to the toilet.
We also
find the following items (Available from your local chemist) very
useful:
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A urine bottle for
toileting needs particularly when no hoist is available (very
often the case in public places).
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Plastic oral
syringes for administering medication on a daily basis – using
these instead of a spoon means the child is able to administer
his/her own medication without the risk of spilling any.
Walking aids:
Other
than the Walkers detailed above you will also find that a number of
different types of footwear will be discussed and used to assist with
your child’s walking such as:
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AFO's
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(ankle-foot Orthoses)
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DAFO’s
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(Dynamic Ankle Foot Orthoses)
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Piedro boot’s
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It is
also not uncommon for children to go through a number of serial plaster
castings of their legs – this means they will have their legs put in a
plaster cast for a number of weeks but each week it is renewed because
the positioning of the leg is adjusted – it is used to help in providing
stretching of the muscles (hamstrings/tendons). It can be uncomfortable
and tiring for the child because it does mean the legs are being
stretched for a continual period and can also make sleeping difficult,
so be prepared for some upset and a few sleepless nights – but it does
help with the leg stretching and eases walking.
Learning aids:
The
obvious is the computer for those children who don’t have good fine
motor skills and therefore have difficulty holding a pencil/pen – there
learning abilities need not be affected for this reason alone as the use
of a computer will enable them to communicate, learning to spell and
write. A Laptop is ideal for school as it allows the child to sit with
his/her classmates and learn at the same table.
Finding
a table that will accommodate a growing child in a wheelchair is also
very important to aid there learning, at school simple table leg raisers
can be used to raise the height of the table (although this is only
possible/considered once the class children have reached a certain age
and hence size – as it can become difficult to raise the table to
accommodate the wheelchair without placing it above the reach of the
other class children),
We have
found a commercial desk (which we have fitted at home) which is fully
height adjustable being specifically designed for disabled people in the
workplace. This works very well for the growing needs of a child in a
wheelchair and being designed for a work environment it is very well
made and should last us for many years.
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