Power Chair advice please

[WCmom]

First, I want to thank you guys for help with ordering my son's first manual chair. We love the way it came out and LOVE the brand.

My son has expressed the want for a power chair. He wants to move independently. Currently, he just completely lacks the strength and coordination for self propelling and relies on being pushed. Otherwise, he has to get out of his chair a lot when we are out shopping or at theme parks or zoos, etc or just completely miss what's going on. He eventually tires and misses everything. He tires him out even faster leading to him being completely knocked out half way through the day. We don't have any tilt and really miss that as, when he's tired, He ends up head-to-knees slumped over. When he falls asleep, I have to hold his chair leaning back. He also hates being pushed by other kids at school. He wants to get around on his own.

Ive been browsing around about chairs. I looked at Invacare, Quickie, Permobil and Quantum. I don't like the Invacare power chairs at all. With Quickie, I can't find much. I seem to be down to the Permobil K300, Permobil Koala Miniflex and the Quantum Q600.

I'm not sure which is the best wheel configuration for him. The chair also needs to be able to take a custom seat from Freedom Designs. We would love to have the one feature we miss with our manual, tilt. Height adjustability would be nice. His seating width is only 10". I do not have a modified van but plan to get a ramp or tailgate lift thing. Color options would be nice but not mandatory. Needs to be able to hold bags and feeding pump well/easily. Won't be used in the house at all except parking for charging. Standard front door. Grassy yard and school grounds. Plenty of sidewalks and subtle hills.


Any tips, thoughts, recommendations or warnings? thanks


*btw my son has CP, hypotonia, fatigues easily, aspergers, goes to regular school, can walk but not long/far/much, and is about to be 7yrs old.

[amyk]

http://dragonmobility.com/
would need to be imported from uk, but they have done it to the us before. look at the snapdragon

[grommet]

Run screaming from Invacare. Run.

I have had the best experiences with Quickie though I didn't begin using a chair until I was an adult, age 28. I don't know what it's like being a kid and using a powerchair. You really want something that fits but it also has to be dependable. If it's not running, it doesn't matter what else it can do. You don't need any more stress.

Quickie is very, almost totally reliable - in my experience. Go for reliability first and everytime and then once you have a few brands that have the reputation for running and running, look for features. I'd say talk to other parents with kids using powerchairs and do not put all your trust in seating analysts or anyone associated with a DME. I didn't say don't trust them, just don't give them all your faith.

Good luck, there is lot's of fun to have when you're a kid, I hope he has a ball. Before he has to grow up and be responsible like the rest of us ;-)

[gac3rd]

You might take a look at http://www.wheelchairdriver.com/boar...hilit=lrobbins

Lenny Robbins' daughter Rachele has the predecessor of the Snapdragon, and he has some comments on why he choose to modify her chair rather than purchase a new Dragon. There are a lot of words in the post. If you scroll down, you can see some pictures. The Dragon comments are a couple of posts before the pictures. I am sure Lenny would respond to a PM if you feel he can be helpful.

[jakeyboy1]

I know you mentioned you didn't like Invacare...... However, I sell a lot of Invacare TDXspree's. They are great little chairs for kids. You can get a manual or power tilt on them. Also, the chair comes standard with a seat elevator.
http://www.invacare.com/cgi-bin/imhq...EE&catOID=null

[amyk]

just a tip for his manual chair - does he have antitippers on his chair? set them as high as they go, and the chair should remain steady in the tilted position. you may need to shift the cog (move the camber bar forwards to make the chair more tippy)` to get the balance right. you want the antitippers slightly above the tipping point - result will be that if you flip him backwards (or he might be able to do it himself) the chair will stay tilted while he sleeps. it works. i got on chinese tv having a nap during beijing 2008. god knows what they said about me!

[gac3rd]

Originally Posted by grommet

Run screaming from Invacare. Run.
;-)

There is no manufacturer who has not had quality problems. Including Sunrise. Permobil seems to rank consistently the best, then Invacare and Sunrise, and then Pride at the bottom. But on any given day, any one of them can produce a poor model, or a terrible individual chair.

You might check the USA Tech Guide for any chair of interest. Unfortunately very few ratings on chairs for children.

[grommet]

Your premise is most likely true but my Invacare TDX-SP has been such a nightmare and even if I could somehow understand why they put in such awful motors (both have failed) what about the armrest pads? They began crumbling within two weeks. Seriously, in the first two weeks. All my Quickie stuff was tough and worked forever. Didn't always agree with the design - the caster flutter on the S626 was bad and never did get solved but the components were all first rate to my eye. It seems to me that Invacare went cheap on my TDX-SP.

I will say though that is has the best suspension on any chair I've used, really impressive. And the mid-wheel drive gives it a great turning radius. Makes a big difference. Yeah, maybe all the makers can have good and bad chairs but I am prejudiced by my good and bad experiences with Quickie and Invacare. Oh to add, my first powerchair, an Everest & Jennings Lancer, had the best controller and motors I've ever used. Amazing, think left and go left exactly that amount. Totally quiet motors too.

Well now I'm rambling. Guess I've got a lot to say about powerchairs ;-) Whatever anyone gets, I hope it works out.

[chasmengr]

Originally Posted by amyk

just a tip for his manual chair - does he have antitippers on his chair? set them as high as they go, and the chair should remain steady in the tilted position. you may need to shift the cog (move the camber bar forwards to make the chair more tippy)` to get the balance right. you want the antitippers slightly above the tipping point - result will be that if you flip him backwards (or he might be able to do it himself) the chair will stay tilted while he sleeps. it works. i got on chinese tv having a nap during beijing 2008. god knows what they said about me!

This works great! When I have a fatigue episode away from home I just find an empty space against a wall, back up to it, tip back on my antitippers so my shoulders and head are against the wall, and power nap. It's actually quite comfortable. It usually takes me 2-3 tips and distance-from-wall adjustments to get comfy, but then it works

[WCmom]

i don't know how to adjust ANY of that on his manual chair. Currently, we tip him on his tippers for resting when there's a tad bit of extra weight on the back to keep him there. It's difficult to push him like that, though

Ive been torn on what wheel drive to get. I'm thinking against FWD because I think he'll forget about all the chair that is behind him and cut corners short alot.

CWD says it's the most natural to those that can walk since your are turning under you but are unstable at high speeds, soft dirt and can be top heavy.

RWD seems like it would be most like his manual chair which he's used to turning by "aiming" his feet in that direction KWIM? He knows to turn he needs to turn the front end of the chair that way. I would think that that would mean RWD would be the quickest for him to get.

Thing is, not alot of manuf. make RWDs anymore. Our DME tends away from Quickie for power chairs. He said they have to do a lot of repairs on them. He's pointing us towards Permobil.