Page 6 - Mobility Management, September/October 2021

ATP Series
How the Language that CRT Uses Impacts Policy & Funding
By Laurie Watanabe
Language evolves. This year, Merriam-Webster added long hauler (someone experiencing long-term effects while recovering from an illness, such as COVID-19); and BIPOC (acronym for Black, Indigenous and People of Color) to its dictionary.
Language within Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) and the disability community evolves, too. Some changes win nearly universal approval: wheelchair-bound and confined to a wheelchair are inaccurate and inappropriate, period. But other changes provoke a range of opinions. For example, who are the people who use seating and wheelchairs? Industry professionals usually call them clients, a clinical term. More broadly, they’re consumers.
But riders is gaining momentum. The term still implies people, but adds the details of motion and movement. It’s a richer term. And riders has a positive connotation, since people ride bicycles, motorcycles, subways, roller coasters, etc., for transportation, enjoyment... maybe a little of both.
In contrast, imprecise language can make discussions less accurate or exact. When policy is then based on imprecise or misunderstood terminology, access to CRT can be endangered.
6 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2021 | MOBILITY MANAGEMENT
Here are three common CRT terms that have caused tech- nology, coverage, or funding issues.
Headrest vs. Head Positioning
Gabriel Romero, Stealth Products’ VP of Sales & Marketing, is a vocal believer in the importance of head positioning for people who use wheelchairs. He recalled a colleague alerting a clinician: “I’m going to warn you about Gabe. He’s going to say everybody starts with the pelvis. But Gabe says you’ve got to look at the head. The head can dictate what the pelvis is doing.”
Romero chuckled good naturedly at the memory. “I’m not saying the pelvis isn’t important,” he said. “What I’m saying is if I’m sitting perfectly aligned, gravity is going to start to become my enemy. If I don’t have a place that I can position my head, guess what’s going to happen. Even able-bodied people will put a hand out so their head can be supported by their hand.”
Romero’s point: A head that’s not supported will cause a positioning chain reaction. “You’ll start to see spinal scoliosis,” he said. “You’ll start to see pelvis rotation. All this starts to happen
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