3 Custom Parts For Your Child's Wheelchair
Do you have a child who was recently prescribed to use a wheelchair, either temporarily or permanently? If so, you and your child may be feeling nervous about the child's ability to control the chair. Your child also may have some anxiety about social situations and how his or her friends will react to the chair. The good news is that you and your child may be able to customize the chair to make it safer and more comfortable for your child. Here are three optional wheelchair parts consider for your child's new chair:
Grade aids. If your child's chair is hand-operated, they may have some difficulty controlling, especially when going up ramps and other uphill slopes. When they release their hands from the wheels, the wheels will start to roll backwards. That means your child will have to work quickly to keep the chair going uphill. That may be too big of a task for your child to handle.
Instead, add grade aids to the chair's wheels. Before going up an incline, the child can flip the aids on. The grade aid then prevents the wheels from rolling backwards. That allows the child to comfortably take their hands off the wheels without fear of the chair going back down the slope.
Custom brake grips. Going downhill can also be a challenge for children in wheelchairs. Your child may think they have the slope under control and then find themselves moving at a very high rate of speed. The chair will likely have a brake. However, in a frantic situation, your child may have a hard time finding it.
Instead, customize the chair with oversized brake grips. These grips are much larger than the standard grips. They can also come in bright colors or custom designs. That makes it easy for the child to find the grips in an emergency situation.
Custom chair covers. The seat is the one area of the chair that your child may be able to completely customize. Use that area to allow your child to express their creativity and interests. There are plenty of stores online that sell custom covers in a variety of colors and designs. Your child may be able to mix-and-match colors, or even get covers featuring their favorite superheroes or movie characters. That may help your child feel a little more comfortable showing the chair off to their friends.
For more information, contact a dealer that sells wheelchair parts like Southwest Medical & Rehab. They can help you find other accessories to make the chair safer and more appealing.
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