Michelle L. Lange, OTR/L, ABDA, ATP/SMS
I see a lot of clients for head positioning in their wheelchair seating system. This requires a thorough seating assessment, as well as providing the best product. Even if I choose what I believe to be the very best head support for a client, I find that maintaining the position of that support is a challenge. I continually find that the hardware has moved, often resulting in a sub-optimal head position for the client.
Michelle L. Lange, OTR/L, ABDA, ATP/SMS
The Dynamic Head Support Hardware absorbs client forces and then returns the client to an upright and neutral head position. The purpose of this dynamic component is to protect the client from harm, prevent the mounting hardware from breaking, and to reduce overall extension tone. This hardware can be used with nearly any head pad to best meet an individual’s needs. Continue reading
This blog was originally posted in February 2018. We are posting this update with some new information and recommendations!
Seating Dynamics Dynamic Footrests can move in up to 3 directions. First, the footrests can telescope, allowing movement downward. Second, the footrests can elevate, allowing the knee to extend and the foot to move forward. Third, the footplate can move into plantar and dorsi flexion, allowing ankle movement.
Seating Dynamics Dynamic Rocker Back interface (DRBi) provides movement in response to client forces. These forces are stored and then return the client to a neutral starting position. This Dynamic Back has many clinical applications, but first it must be correctly mounted to a wheelchair base. Continue reading
Michelle L. Lange, OTR/L, ABDA, ATP/SMS
This blog is the third in a series on determining the optimal resistance when using dynamic components. The first blog in this series addressed determining resistance in the Dynamic Rocker Back Interface (DRBi) and the second blog addressed finding the optimal resistance when using Dynamic Footrests. In this final blog, we shall turn to the Dynamic Head Support Hardware.
Michelle L. Lange, OTR/L, ABDA, ATP/SMS
The Dynamic Rocker Back Interface (DRBi) moves in response to client force as two elastomers are compressed. The energy stored in the elastomers helps the client to return to an upright starting position. These elastomers can be switched to change the level of resistance.
Michelle L. Lange, OTR/L, ABDA, ATP/SMS
Robert is a Dynamic Seating old-timer. This 27 year old man has been using Dynamic Seating for about 10 years now. I had the privilege of speaking with Robert’s parents, Jeffrey and Mary Elizabeth, on the phone recently.
Jill Sparacio, OTR/L, ATP/SMS, ABDA
Clearly, Something Was Different
Some basic items need to be routinely checked when using dynamic wheelchair components. Usually the idea of routine “maintenance” worries me, however what I found can be easily checked.
This is the story of J and the flattened elastomers. J is a young man with an incredibly strong extensor tone pattern that usually initiates in his hips. He uses a Seating Dynamics Dynamic Rocker Back to absorb these forces. He resides in a long term care facility and has multiple caregivers who have known him for many years.
I was receiving complaints from his caregivers that he “just doesn’t look right in his wheelchair anymore”. When passing him, I also noticed that he was no longer sitting on his seat. Instead, his feet were firmly planted on his footplates, with hips extended and his buttocks lifted off of the seat. His arching/extension pattern had returned. At times, the staff were unable to get his feet on his footplates due to this extension. Others commented that he sat much better if his feet were left hanging off the front edge of his footplates. Observation revealed a more exaggerated, compromised posture with his hips far forward on his seat.
Bottom line, something was different.