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Your Therapy Source, Inc.
Your online resource for school based therapy and special
needs publications for professional, home and school use.
Your online resource for school based therapy and special
needs publications for professional, home and school use.
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| Success Stories |
Disclaimer: These pages are not intended to provide medical advice or physician/therapist instruction.
Information provided should not be used for diagnostic or training purposes. Consult a physician or therapist
regarding specific diagnoses or medical advice.
Information provided should not be used for diagnostic or training purposes. Consult a physician or therapist
regarding specific diagnoses or medical advice.
| Independent Motorized Wheelchair Use |
Successful Child in this story: A 9 year old boy with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy,
spastic quadriplegia.
Submitted by: Pediatric PT from New York State
Concerns or Problems: This boy was unable to manually propel a wheelchair for
functional use in the school. It was very difficult to determine the best point of access for
this young boy to drive a motorized wheelchair due to poor motor control of the upper
extremities.
Intervention(s): The sales representative from the wheelchair company and the
therapists brainstormed the best point of access. Since this boy had the best control in
midline, a horizontal bar was created to swing over on top of the boy's lap to hold the
joystick to drive the chair. After several trials periods though it was determined that the
joystick would drop frequently onto the boy's lap (due to increase in pressure on the bar
from the boy's upper extremity tone). To accommodate this issue, the boy had to drive
the chair with the tray on and then the horizontal bar flipped over on top of the tray with
the joystick in midline.
Success Story: After weeks of training, the boy was independent in driving the
motorized wheelchair with the midline joystick!
spastic quadriplegia.
Submitted by: Pediatric PT from New York State
Concerns or Problems: This boy was unable to manually propel a wheelchair for
functional use in the school. It was very difficult to determine the best point of access for
this young boy to drive a motorized wheelchair due to poor motor control of the upper
extremities.
Intervention(s): The sales representative from the wheelchair company and the
therapists brainstormed the best point of access. Since this boy had the best control in
midline, a horizontal bar was created to swing over on top of the boy's lap to hold the
joystick to drive the chair. After several trials periods though it was determined that the
joystick would drop frequently onto the boy's lap (due to increase in pressure on the bar
from the boy's upper extremity tone). To accommodate this issue, the boy had to drive
the chair with the tray on and then the horizontal bar flipped over on top of the tray with
the joystick in midline.
Success Story: After weeks of training, the boy was independent in driving the
motorized wheelchair with the midline joystick!