Adaptive Mobility and Positioning Blog

When we make bathing easier, our clients are healthier. The new Rifton Wave, a thoroughly reimagined bath chair, improves the bathing and showering experience for both the client and the caregiver. Here’s a great resource on the features, benefits and medical necessity of the Rifton Wave- a bath chair that can restore the dignity and yes, even the pleasure in the bathing experience.

Providing activity and mobility interventions for young adults with disabilities after they leave the school system is important, particularly for maintaining quality of life. Unfortunately this outlook is not shared by everyone. A physical therapist working with young adults with developmental disabilities wrote this to me after her efforts to get adaptive equipment for her clients had been...

The Rifton TRAM is a remarkably simple solution for toilet transfers, ensuring safety and dignity for both clients and caregivers. Here are four approaches developed by clinicians in the field to accommodate different body types and impairments. Download the pdf Method 1 For client with good trunk tone and weak lower extremities View Slideshow   Method 2 For clients with moderate weight bearing...

As most of you undoubtedly know, for children with disabilities exercise such as cycling with a special needs tricycle can be therapeutic as well as fun. Cycling may provide a variety of health benefits unavailable through other medical interventions. For example, children with severe mobility limitations may have few, if any, other options for strengthening their cardiovascular system. In fact, cycling...

David Anderson is a senior physical therapist with the New York City public school system. His school obtained a Rifton TRAM to help with toileting a particular student. After some trials, he and the school OT determined the best methods for using the TRAM for this purpose and created a set of instructions for the paraprofessionals working with this student. David shared it with us and we found it so...

Using the Rifton TRAM for toileting can make a huge difference for both students and staff, providing both safety during transfers to the toilet and dignity and privacy for the student. Because students with disabilities have a wide range of needs, there are many ways to use the TRAM for this purpose. Here are some methods we’ve found here at Socorro,  presented as three case studies. (I&rsquo...

Today a colleague sent an email that I found astounding and disturbing. It came from a physical therapist working with young adults with developmental disabilities. Her efforts to get adaptive equipment for them had been frustrated. In her words: “More often than not I’m told that there is no point in introducing/reintroducing the use of standing frames and gait trainers with this age group...

This excerpt was taken from an article written by Douglas Lathrop in Kids on Wheels, a publication now no longer in print, but because I think the ideas are so good I want to pass them on. For your child, the foremost benefit to attending summer camp is, quite simply, having fun. Beyond the fun aspects, spending time at camp can strengthen a child’s sense of independence and ability to socialize with...

Offering an answer to that agonizing question: “Who will look after our child when we are gone?” Parents of a child with disabilities are usually their child’s primary advocates. At each stage of their child’s life they monitor programs and progress, and pursue strategies to accommodate their special healthcare needs. As parents grow older and have to confront the realities of their...

Parents often find that toilet training their child can be a frustrating process. Some children may train quickly and easily, but for many children it can take time. And if a child has special needs, it can be even more difficult. Toilet training can often be stressful, even for children without special needs, but for every child it’s an important milestone. Toilet training increases a child’s...