More Tricks
Because of David's propensity for being tricky, we had to have the controls to his new power chair moved to the back of the chair so he couldn't be "in control". Even at that, he can reach behind his head and press the buttons and move the joy stick. The other day he ran into the china cabinet! Hopefully the novelty will wear off soon!
There is quite a learning curve with the power chair! We've put plenty of dents and gashes into door frames, walls and doors! We are very slowly getting the hang of using it. He loves using it on the school bus and at school. Although they were a little leery at first, the staff at school is getting used to maneuvering it too. One of the great things about this chair is the ability to tilt it so that he can reposition himself which will help his posture and make sitting in a chair all day more comfortable. The real trick is figuring out how we are going to transport it in our van. Many people with a power chair get a conversion van. At this point we haven't decided what to do. We don't really want to have our van converted since it is quite old. Portable metal ramps are pretty heavy and bulky. If that's the only choice, I won't be taking David many places. At this point, we are still using his old chair when we take him anywhere in the van.
I plan to make a few appointments with friends who have power chairs so we can see how they transport their chairs.
The stander is a whole new ball game! We've never used one before. It helps him stand in place fully supported to strengthen and stretch his muscles. I'll try to take a picture of him soon and put it up on the blog. He seems to enjoy standing in it and playing his game boy with the support of a big tray. Although cumbersome, I'm sure we will get it down to a system like everything else.
Now we need to really get working on getting David a new speech devise!
Thanks for following!
Until next time!
Dayna
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