Wheelchair Breakdowns

Wheelchair breakdowns are very disrupting to children and their families.  When a specialized wheelchair breaks many children do not have a back up, making it difficult for positioning, comfort and most importantly a mode of transportation.  Pediatric therapists are frequently called upon to help with quick fixes of wheelchairs. 

Recent research in the American Journal of Physical Medicine Rehabilitation found that about 53% of wheelchair users with spinal cord injury experienced a wheelchair breakdown requiring repair per 6 month period. Previously the rate was about 45% from 2004-2006. In addition, the number of adverse consequences was more than twice as high during the 2006-2011 period than the 2004-2006 period. Power wheelchairs had more problems than manual wheelchairs. Another interesting point was that individuals whose wheelchairs were funded by Medicare or Medicaid had higher rates of breakdowns and consequences, compared to those covered by private insurance or other sources.

Do you find that wheelchairs are breaking down more often than they used to?  Do you find that routine maintenance helps to decrease wheelchair breakdowns?

Reference: Wheelchair breakdowns becoming more common. Retrieved from the web on 5/10/12 at http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-wheelchair-breakdowns-common.html

Walking and Social Interactions

Infant Behavior and Development published interesting research on walking and social interactions. Research has already indicated that crawling is a motor as well as a cognitive milestone. In this study there were three experiments and the results were the following:

1. social and exploratory behaviors were the same in crawling infants whether crawling or in a baby walker
   
2. independently walking infants spent significantly more time interacting with toys and mothers, made more vocalizations and directed gestures than age matched, crawling peers in a baby walker
3. when infants progress from crawling to walking increased interaction with mothers and more sophisticated social interactions were observed (even when controlled for age)
   

The researchers concluded that there is a developmental progression that links social interactions with developmental milestones in locomotor skills. You can read the full study here.

For non ambulatory young children, this may be appropriate to reference when justifying a need for powered mobility or mobile standing frames.

Reference: Melissa W. Clearfield Learning to walk changes infants’ social interactions. Infant Behavior and Development Volume 34, Issue 1, February 2011, Pages 15-25