Page 13 - Mobility Management, June/July 2020

“Number one, it’s harder to breathe, and number two, it’s also harder for access even for a joystick. I lose function the more that something touches my body and pulls me in one single place. It’s harder for me to use my hand.”
At the same time, she has also fielded clinician suggestions to not install tilt and recline on a patient’s chair — a recommenda- tion she typically rejects because of the importance of “micro- movements” for Duchenne patients.
“If I have tilt and recline on a chair and possibly some anterior [forward] tilt, you can show them how they can make those micromovements themselves,” Rotelli said. “Just bring the back up a little bit, slide their hand forward, and then they can use it.”
Several patients she knows have used tilt and recline to move their heads off their headrests and sit upright as well as to rest their heads back onto the headrest. These seat features mimic muscle control and help with energy conservation, particularly for boys who spend long lengths of time in their chairs to play video games, use their phones and move around independently.
Listen, Trust, Repeat
It’s the quality that makes great ATPs great3: the ability to listen and gather a patient’s history, allowing them to air grievances
with previous seating systems or explain why they are anxious about using a different driving control. Both Romero and Rotelli said it was especially important to hear out Duchenne patients who would benefit from greater independence, but do not want to change what’s already working for them.
“They’ve seen so many people, from hospital visits to clinical rehab to outpatient visits to normal school,” Romero said. “They don’t know you from anything, and so you’re building that confidence and that trust with everyone. You don’t know the experiences they’ve had — I could be the guy coming in with a joystick when the last time they did something with a joystick, they ran into a wall.”
Romero has had better luck convincing families to switch to a
We have to understand during the assessment process: Can they use the joystick to the full capacity? — Gabriel Romero
FUZE T50
Overall chair width of seat plus only 4”.
Full 50° of tilt.
The new Fuze T50n
MobilityMgmt.com
Untitled-1 1
MOBILITY MANAGEMENT | JUNE-JULY 2020 13 6/2/20 10:26 AM
0
n.
s
.
.
n
n
.
Available for 16” to 24” seat widths
Upgrade to a smaller size. pdgmobililty.com/narrow