Thursday, April 18, 2013

Power Chair

Yesterday we took William for his first Power Chair Evaluation at Shriners Hospital for Children in Chicago, IL. All things considered, William did ok.

Our appointment time was at 10 am, so William's day started out earlier than normal so that we could complete his air way clearance routine (breathing treatment, 20 minutes of his smart vest & cough assist) and run a feeding. William is not a fan of getting up early and with a little over an hour of travel, by the time we got there William was ready for a short nap. We answered some questions about William's abilities and then moved him into a Power Chair.  He started crying immediately after we placed him in the chair.  Initially we made the mistake of taking William off the vent to try out the chair. Although respiratory wise he was fine, he was upset that we changed his environment so dramatically so we gave him the vent back. He calmed down, but was still not happy about being in a new chair, in a new environment with new people around. During the evaluation he showed interest in the control buttons and even pushed the joy stick a few times on his own. We did a short lap in the hall way of Shriners and then headed back to the room to discuss the next steps.  Once parked, William fell asleep in the Power Chair.

Next we are going to get a Power Chair brought to our house to borrow and use to practice with William. We are confident that William will be able to learn to use a Power Chair! Stay tuned for practice videos.

William learning to use a Power Chair
William in a using Power Chair for the first time


2 comments:

  1. As a parent of a disabled child, I understand the everyday struggles we go through in order to ensure that our children are properly taken care of. My wife and I are currently browsing some powerchairs for our son and we're trying to figure out which ones would work best for him. What type of chair does your son have?

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  2. Thanks for commenting ! Power Wheelchair Power Wheelchair .

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