Travelling with a wheelchair
If you’d told me when BJ was little I’d be excited to take delivery of a new wheelchair in the future, I’d have said you were crackers. And yet, here we are today, thrilled to get BJ’s new chair. It’s been a long time coming, given we first signaled it was needed in December 2016. We had an occupational therapy assessment, looked at chairs and
Sponsored Last year I was lucky enough to visit the Sunshine Coast and even though it was a trip without the family, I kept my eye out for information which may be helpful to our Have Wheelchair Will Travel community. I found two great accessible accommodation options, including The Sofitel Noosa and Aggie’s Oasis, but I know from our personal experience, suitable car hire is
When we travel we have a pile of items which come with us ‘just in case’. These are items which are handy if something goes wrong with the wheelchair or help in the event things aren’t quite as we thought they’d be. Yes, it adds to our luggage, but after driving around a city looking for a store which could help with a puncture (on
We’ve found a cheap roll of matting has many uses and has become a great travel friend. When we are at home we have everything set-up and easy to use but it’s amazing when you travel the issues that arise. It’s certainly resulted in us needing to become quick and clever at finding solutions. A couple of trips ago Hubby bought some cheap matting to
There’s a reason I’m particularly excited about our Permobil giveaway. Not only are we happy to have the opportunity to give away around $17,000 worth of equipment to our lovely readers but I’m happy to share the story of the company, Permobil. Permobil is celebrating its 50th anniversary and they have good reason to celebrate. Their products have changed, and continue to change, the lives
Recently I put a call out on our Facebook page asking our community to share a piece of equipment which they felt had transformed or improved their life. I didn’t mind whether it was a small utensil or a large piece of equipment, I was just keen to share ideas. We’ve seen in the past that sharing disability equipment solutions can solve a problem for others which is
There are many challenges when it comes to juggling the needs of a family when one child has additional needs or a disability. One I can relate to is the juggle of having one child in a wheelchair, who is unable to self-propel, and a little one in a pram. With a 7-year age difference between BJ and AJ I used to find this a
We’ve just been introduced to the Loop Lock and it’s something we won’t be travelling without it in future. The strange thing is, I’d have never thought to go out and buy one and yet it makes total sense for us. Sometimes when we travel we’ve been so keen for BJ to access experiences that we’ve taken risks. Ordinarily we are cautious with security but
Sponsored Fighting to keep mobility is something I believe in wholeheartedly; however, I think there needs to be balance in this process. Sometimes resisting using equipment is counterproductive. Although we’ve continued to keep working on BJ’s mobility, we know it takes enormous effort for him to walk, even with assistance. It’s therefore not a practical way for him to get around all the time. I
We’ve always been lucky in having my handy Dad living next door. He built much of BJ’s therapy equipment for us which meant no waiting lists and saved us a fortune. Hubby’s also pretty clever and the two of them have skills that compliment each other, solving many small equipment issues. Despite not using the services of Technical Aid to the Disabled, we’ve always been aware of the great
Sponsored I’ve shared many stories about the fun our family have had since BJ got his own beach wheelchair last year (Here’s one to get you started.) Many of you have expressed a desire to buy one but told me that your budget won’t stretch that far. I’m hoping that the NDIS might make this liberating piece of equipment available to more people but even
We had quite a bit of interest in the way Hubby made games wheelchair accessible for BJ’s party so I thought I’d do a how to blog post so you can make a ramp yourself. This would be great addition for home, for respite houses, day programs, schools and more. It’s a way of making sure games are inclusive and accessible for everyone. Although BJ has recently learnt
In the last 21 years there have been many changes in the area of disability. I’m sure most of you would argue that we need to see greater change and faster but when I thought back over the changes we’ve seen I was impressed. When things aren’t good it is easy to forget how far we have come in recent years. I look forward to
Travelling with off-road wheelchair tyres made a huge difference to our trip to the Northern Territory. They were certainly a good talking point with people admiring the places we could go with the new wheels. The wide tyres coped well on sand, rocky surfaces and gave BJ a smoother ride. Initially I was concerned that the tyres would be hard on house or apartment floors and walls but
Travel often has an unexpected benefit of opening my eyes to ideas for adapted equipment. I’m always on the look out and get excited to see basic toys which can be transformed into accessible play for children with additional needs. So I’ve decided to put together a post on travel inspired adapted games which I thought some of our clever readers could make at home. I
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