Videos

The Dynamic Seating Spring Option

Rifton Activity Chair Video 4

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It’s healthy to move when sitting, and some children – for example those with ASD – feel a special need for calming and repetitive motion such as rocking or extending against a backrest. Children with physical challenges may also benefit from the movement opportunities offered by dynamic seating. That’s why one of the best features of the Rifton Activity Chair is its dynamic spring option, explained in depth in this short video. A transcript is provided below for viewers with hearing disabilities.

Watch more videos in this series:

Introduction | Rifton Activity Chair Video 1
Seat Angle Adjustments | Rifton Activity Chair Video 2
Seat Height Adjustments | Rifton Activity Chair Video 3
Spring Option | Rifton Activity Chair Video 4
Footboard Positioning Adjustments | Rifton Activity Chair Video 5
Backrest Height & Seat Depth Adjustments | Rifton Activity Chair Video 6
Pelvic Positioning 1 | Rifton Activity Chair Video 7
Pelvic Positioning 2 | Rifton Activity Chair Video 8
Trunk, Arm & Head Positioning 1 | Rifton Activity Chair Video 9
Trunk, Arm & Head Positioning 2 | Rifton Activity Chair Video 10
Leg & Feet Positioning | Rifton Activity Chair Video 11
Range of Measurement | Rifton Activity Chair Video 12
Attaching the Seat to the Base | Rifton Activity Chair Video 13

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Transcript

[00:00:03.06] Caption: Dynamic Spring R840 Standard Base Back and seat spring optional

[00:00:11.15] Sam Durgin: Now I’d like to demonstrate the dynamic spring feature that we provide especially on the standard base chair. Some children need the ability to move when they’re sitting. They extend against the backrest, or some are repetitive rockers. Some, maybe with ASD, need to do some self-stimming of rocking gently against the backrest. We have provided a feature for that. If I turn this white handle, I now am enabling a compression spring, which gives me a full 10 degrees of flexion that the child can bounce against. Again, to lock it off, I simply rotate the handle the other way, and now it’s back to a fixed-backrest. Now this dynamic feature does take about 10 degrees of your adjustment stroke in the backrest. So now, when I tilt this all the way forward, I get about 5 degrees forward, 10 degrees back.

[00:01:11.25] Caption: Note: Back spring option uses 10° of the 20° backrest angle adjustment for motion.

[00:01:16.24] Sam Durgin: We have a similar feature below the seat. I’ll raise this up so you can see what I’m doing. If I rotate this handle, I’m activating a compression spring below the seat. Now we have 10 degrees of bounce below the seat. This is very effective when you enable both springs to be compressed. We were working with one little girl, named Christina, and she loved to rock in her chair, and she had a very gradual, soothing rhythm when she was able to flex both the backrest and the seat. This was very effective. So that’s something you will be able to adjust. You can lock out the backrest or lock out the seat, or enable both.

[00:02:09.00] Caption: R850 Hi/Lo Base, Back spring option only

[00:02:13.00] Sam Durgin: We offer the same dynamic spring feature behind the backrest on the Hi/Lo base option chair. And again that is this white handle on the backrest cylinder: I can turn this to lock it or turn it this way to unlock it to enable the ten degrees of bounce. This is good for children with extensor tone that may thrust against the backrest, to enable that backrest to move with the child. For safety reasons we have decided that we don’t want to offer the dynamic spring feature below the seat. The reason for that is that it opens up too many pinch points that may occur while dynamically bouncing with the Hi/Lo base option.

[00:02:58.00] Caption: Rifton Activity Chair, 800.571.8198, www.rifton.com ©2010 Rifton