Page 12 - Mobility Management, May 2019

ATP Series
Alternative Driving Controls & ALS Clients
Driving Controls & Equipment That Can Adapt to Changing Needs By Leila McNeill
Imagine going to the gas station and putting gas in your vehicle while knowing you’re never going to be able to refuel again. Would you drive your car differently?
This is how Gabriel Romero, VP of Sales & Marketing at Stealth Products, explains alternative driving controls for power wheelchairs, just as they had been explained to him 20 years ago. The answer, of course, is yes, we would drive differently. We would likely be careful not to punch the gas too hard when taking off from a red light and to drive below the speed limit. We would do all we could to conserve the remaining fuel and to make it last as long as possible.
The same principle goes for clients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS progresses, often quickly, diminishing clients’ abilities to walk, carry out activities of daily living, swallow and, eventually, breathe independently. Because of disease progression, clients with ALS have bodies that are running on limited fuel and must operate their power chairs in a
12 MAY2019|MOBILITYMANAGEMENT
way that conserves as much of their remaining fuel as possible. Just as the name implies, alternative driving controls offer ALS clients different ways to drive their power chairs and can adapt to clients’ changing needs, ultimately decreasing their fatigue and potentially increasing the longevity of their independent mobility.
Why Alternative Drive Controls for ALS?
Since ALS typically progresses swiftly, the time period in
which ALS clients can operate a standard joystick is, with some exceptions, quite brief. Because of this progression, Lisa Rotelli, Director of Adaptive Switch Laboratories, said that getting clients set up with alternative driving controls that can evolve alongside their needs is “imperatively crucial.”
“Within a year’s time,” Rotelli said, “a patient can have several access changes, or different abilities to use their technologies, driving, seating and access to their communication, computer and phone. From the start we need to recommend a system that
MobilityMgmt.com
MOTOR NEURONS: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/JXFZSY