Wheelchair help please

[Phoenix4725]

Ds whelchair from wheelchair clinic is very heavy and cumbersome for him to push himself and for me to lift the dam thing.So am hinking of getting a lightweight one ,He needs a high backres but othe rthan that no other support .Any pointers in right direction please

[Phoenix4725]

Also lol new keyboard me thinks withiut sticky keys

[carrieonly]

The disabled living foundation living made easy website has a good list of children's wheelchairs and suppliers.

[HairyMaclary]

I've just spent ages looking in to this. DS is 4.5 and has spastic diplegia CP. His current wheelchair is an Invacare action 3 and he has the skills but not the strength to move it. After intensive research and getting 3 reps out we have decided not to go for one at the moment for complex reasons. Mostly due to his low trunk tone, increasing motivation for walking independently and the fact that when he self propels any distance or speed he seems to be using the wrong muscles to do it.

However the best wheelchair by far was the RGK M2 kids, can come in chrome or the lighter titanium and was great. Can be easily customised and his back would be not problem. We looked at the R82 Cheetah and the Otto Bock Bravo Racer, the Cheetah was not suitable and the Bravo Racer was not as good as the M2.

I would definitely get reps out to get a quote, we had charity funding lined up for the full cost (approx £2500). However do get your Ot and Physio to have a look, we bypassed WCS as they didn't want to know as they only issues DS's chair in April of this year, but we did get the Ot and physio to see him in 2 of the chairs. It was really very clear that it will probably be something we need in the medium term but at the moment his needs were best served with working on the active sitting and independent walking. He can self propel and it's something he will pick up easily if walking turns out to be too difficult for distances. It still means we need to lift it in and out of the car and push when we go out for the day however, but we can cope with that!

[Phoenix4725]

thank you now to win the lottery

[Nat1H]

We got our wheelchair (bravo racer) from Cerebra. They were by far the quickest of any of the charities we applied to, and the easiest - didn't ask all the invasive questions the others did!
You need to get an assessment first - I would bypass wheelchair services and ask you OT and physio to come to the assessment. Good luck!