|
 The
Road to Power Mobility
When Tony was
three and half years old, the PT and OT in the EI program
felt a power chair would be a good option to give him some independence
in his mobility, at least at school. They felt that this was
a reasonable plan because:
- Tony had
a great desire to be independently mobile;
- his cognitive
skills were within the normal range;
- he had a
good idea of his body in space/direction;
- he had some
gross control of his UE’s.
There were
numerous other attitudes and reactions on this topic, however:
- Family
was concerned about getting him any kind of wheelchair- they
felt it meant they had to give up their dream of him
walking.
- Tony’s
original classroom teacher felt that the family was “in
denial” about walking but did not feel powered
mobility was appropriate – believing it could
add to the tension in the family. In contrast, Tony’s
teacher when he was four years old was open to new
possibilities.
- Other team
members (social worker, psychologist,
classroom aide) were
worried that he
could not handle
a power chair
or learn to
use it efficiently. Some questioned his cognitive
abilities. Tony’s
PT felt his functional cognitive abilities were
within the normal range for his age and requested
a motor-free
(or at least motorically
simplified) cognitive evaluation.
- The pediatrician
did not feel he was old enough to use powered
mobility
- Finding
a chair he could learn to get into and out of with some level
of independence was
expected
to be problematic.
- His insurance
has been slow with other purchases and denied requests for
equipment in the
past.
- His physiatrist
was on board and willing to write recommendations for the power
wheelchair.
- Some were
concerned about Tony’s upcoming
transition to a new (public) school. Would this piece of equipment
promote
independence
or turn out to be limiting in that setting?
|
