Activities of
Daily Living

By popular request we now have created a positioning checklist for the Rifton Activity chair. Therapists know how tough it can be to remember each client’s specific support prompts and settings, especially with an adaptive chair that is used between multiple clients.

The human body is designed to move. Movement is vital in keeping the body’s systems healthy and functioning. Without movement, function is lost, muscles weaken and skin is at risk of breaking down. Conditions such as cerebral palsy may limit an individual’s ability to initiate purposeful, spontaneous movement and so impede muscle strengthening and growth. Such people must be presented with...

Therapists, teachers and parents are well aware that children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities can face more challenges (and pose more challenges) than the average child. This can be particularly true during mealtimes. Feeding problems commonly associated with disability include dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), and gastro-intestinal reflux (spitting up frequently) as well as oral...

To understand why dynamic seating is important we first need to understand what it is. The word “dynamic” is used to describe the presence of movement, as opposed to “static” – the absence of movement. Dynamic seating provides the support needed to remain safely positioned yet have the ability to move in all planes necessary to accomplish activities of daily living, which, as...

Feeding children with oral-motor disability is often challenging, and positioning a child for this task is the key to success. The chair that we like to use for feeding in our clinic is the Rifton Activity Chair. Using the Rifton Hi-Lo Activity Chair is a useful tool in therapy with patients who have feeding and/or swallowing difficulties.  Most of my clientele have some type of neurological...

An ICF-based Approach Contributed by Petros Stamatiadis, PT Adaptive seating is essential for children with neurological or neuromuscular disorders such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and meningomyelocele . Because they are prone to developing scoliosis and other musculoskeletal deformities, children with severe motor disorders need special needs seating equipment to help with positioning and...

Children with an autism spectrum disorder find it difficult to focus. And when a child’s autism manifests in combination with profound intellectual disability or with a developmental syndrome with physical limitations the difficulties with social interaction and attention to task are compounded. For the special education teacher, having children with autism in the classroom is challenging. The...

Adaptive seating is a big part of pediatric and school-based therapy. Active sitting chairs, through providing unique features and prompts, support postures that enable. With this in mind, the following post series will be dedicated to exploring the concepts and benefits of adaptive seating. The first post – Active Sitting for Task Participation: The Role of Adaptive Chairs – is introductory...

Adaptive seating is a big part of pediatric and school-based therapy. Active sitting chairs, through providing unique features and prompts, support postures that enable. With this in mind, the following post series will be dedicated to exploring the concepts and benefits of adaptive seating. The first post – Active Sitting for Task Participation: The Role of Adaptive Chairs – is introductory...

Adaptive seating is a big part of pediatric and school-based therapy. Active sitting chairs, through providing unique features and prompts, support postures that enable. With this in mind, the following post series will be dedicated to exploring the concepts and benefits of adaptive seating. This first post – Active Sitting for Task Participation: The Role of Adaptive Chairs – is introductory...