Page 15 - Mobility Management, July/August 2022

able to be in their wheelchair the entire day, but they don’t have to. And if they want to go sit on the floor or in a beanbag chair or in something else, then they can choose to do that.
“I really want to see more of us saying, ‘What are the other kids doing? Let’s make sure that this child [in the wheelchair] also has the same or similar opportunities.’ If your wheelchair has a high seat-to-floor height, give that child an opportunity to get lower, to be able to play at the station that the other kids are playing at, the baby doll station or whatever it is. That’s really important. It is, I think, on us manufacturers to create better options, to be more nimble getting into those areas and getting to the various heights easily within the device. And it’s a challenge for us to build on for other kids as well as they get bigger.”
Morgan remembered a mobility evaluation with a young girl: “We were doing trials with power, and she was moving it fine, but she wasn’t intentionally going places. And we said, ‘Oh, there’s a library book. We need to take this back to the library. Can you show me where the library is?’ And that little girl just went right out the door and drove all the way to the library. It was amazing, and everybody was just jaws on the ground: ‘We would’ve never prescribed power for this kid because it wasn’t really intentional, and I didn’t feel like it was purposeful.’
“Yet when you give them a purpose, then they go. When you’re just saying, ‘Drive and stop and drive and stop,’ that’s
not motivating. Finding that type of motivation is a lot easier in school. School is a very natural environment for a child. So it’s a really great place to work on skills and mobility and independent mobility training in the school system, if they’re open to that.”
There is, Morgan acknowledged, a duality of classroom goals. “My outpatient therapy goals can be very strength related in a functional way, increased range of motion, improved strength, etc.,” she said. “I think of parents of boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. They said, ‘You therapists need to stretch their heel cords and hamstrings and hip flexors once a week, once a day, whatever.’ The school therapist said, ‘My goals need to be educational. How is stretching their heel cords educational?’
“So this is where something like standing can come into play. You can get creative with how you’re doing the stretches for that child as they’re participating in an educational activity. There’s a lot of creativity needed, even more so with the school-based therapist than in the outpatient setting, because you have to think, ‘How can I achieve that medical outcome that the family wants or the child needs, but also make it educationally based and academically based?” m
MobilityMgmt.com
Untitled-4 1
MOBILITY MANAGEMENT | JULY-AUGUST 2022 15 8/1/22 3:42 PM
PROFORM www.precisioncomfortusa.com
HEAD SUPPORT
EZClampTM Bracket Single-latch system for quick release. Requires minimal dexterity.
Screw-less design.
10-INCH Triple foam padding
- 6” Hardware stem
- Full range of adjustability
- 2 Removable hardware options: midline or multi-axis
- Steeless steel gear system for secure positioning
239-772-0579
with EZClampTM Bracket
A division of Merits Health Products, Inc.
NEW