Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Fitting a Grid Wheelchair Back for a Child with Kyphotic Back

Grid wheelchair back with cover removed and squares removed to accommodate laterals.

Fitting a grid wheelchair back is very difficult and should be done by a trained professional.  Don't try this at home.  Do remember, grid wheelchair seat backs are to accommodate spinal issues (kyphosis) they do are not recommended for correction.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Grid Wheelchair Seat Back: Positioning for Kyphotic Special Needs Kids with Low Trunk Tone

What is a Grid Seat Back for a Wheelchair?

A grid seat back is a seat back for a wheelchair made of a grid of 2"x 2"x 2" squares of Sun memory foam that can be altered to accommodate for trunk deformities and to assist weight distribution on the seat back to prevent skin breakdown.
Grid wheelchair back without cover.  Foam was removed on sides to allow for laterals to be adjusted.


Why a Grid Seat Back for a Wheelchair?

Friday, May 20, 2011

Michigan Medicaid Comes to an Agreement- Vendors Working to Put Things Back on Track

On February 1, 2011, Wright & Filippis, along with several other Michigan medical equipment providers decided to not participate with the Michigan Medicaid and Children’s Special Healthcare Services (CSHCS) Programs for the provision of complex rehab products.  There were policy changes at Medicaid that prompted us to make this difficult and unprecedented decision.  Since that decision, we have been meeting with representatives from Michigan Medicaid in hopes of resolving these issues.  After 3 months of these negotiations, we can again participate with Michigan Medicaid and Children’s Special Healthcare Services for the provision of rehabilitation and mobility/seating equipment, effective immediately.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Special Needs Children: Developmentally Disabled: Small victories




I work with severely multiply impaired children ages 3-6.   Like many of us in this field I came into special education with a lot of big ideas. I was going to change their world. Very quickly I realized that it would not happen over night. And I would need to embrace the small victories to keep from feeling like a failure. Soon after I realized that would be enough for me.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Michigan Medicaid Reaches an Agreement with Wright and Flippis

Good news!!  We just heard Wright and Flippis just worked out a deal with Michigan Medicaid and will now start servicing Medicaid clients!!


It has been a couple of months since Wright and Flippis and Carelinc quit taking Michigan Medicaid because Medicaid was paying just above cost for equipment.  Equipment being wheelchairs, bath chairs, standers, etc.  'Cost' being the actual price vendors such as Wright and Flippis could purchase equipment.



Special Needs Therapeutic Handicap Horseback Riding for Berrien, Cass and Van Buren Counties

 Therapeutic Equestrian Center's Therapeutic Handicap Horseback Riding is in Full Swing!!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Special Needs Kids: Behavioral Difficulties

This paper was first printed in 'Community Living' and is a great example of Gill Levy's 'down to earth' writing. Gill is respected as one of the leading authorities and has many years experience of working with visual loss and multiple disability. Thank you to Gill for this paper.

David and the glasses
We all had a soft spot for David's rather scatty mother. 'I do me best, you know', she would say, 'but I was never the brightest at school. Couldn't concentrate for long. But I've all the time in the world for my son'. Everyone agreed that he was 'a handful', but 'could be so loving and affectionate at times'.

She would never allow him to sleep away from home. 'If I can't cope with him, you lot won't, with all them other disabled ones around', she would say. He would occasionally 'trash the environment', tearing soft furnishings and curtains, and kick tables and chairs over. And he would slap his face if one to one support was not available. As he got older, taller and stronger - with a growing spurt after he left school - he 'presented services with even more of a challenge'.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Special Needs: History of Autism

This is an interesting history of autism I found on the AARP website of all places...

In 1943, the American physician Leo Kanner published his seminal paper, in which he described 11 children who were socially isolated, with "autistic disturbances of affective contact," impaired communication, and behavioral inflexibility. He coined the term "infantile autism" and discussed the causes in terms of biological processes, although at that time, most scientific attention was focused on analytical theories of the disorder. Kanner's paper did not initially receive much scientific credit, and children with autistic symptoms continued to be incorrectly diagnosed with childhood schizophrenia. His choice of the term "autism" may have created some confusion, because the word was first used to describe a mental state of fantastical, self-centered thought processes, similar to the symptoms of schizophrenia.

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