Welcome!

My hope is that there will be some resources here for families with special needs. Instead of reinventing the wheel, I have included resources that point to other resources. The posts here are simply reporting some of the things we have tried to make our daughter's experience more comfortable and productive. Please add any experience you have to help us and others help our children.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Van For Sale!

We have our handicap van for sale! Hopefully, our price will be fair and helpful to another family and helpful for ours as well. (It's amazing what others are charging for handicap vans of similar age and mileage.)
This is a 2000 Dodge Ram Van 1500. -- 113000 miles -- It has a Zephyr conversion package (high top and running boards. The higher top really was helpful when we needed to work on Macayla and stand next to her) -- Braun wheelchair lift and additional seating provided by a jump seat that folds out of the way (see pictures below) -- Power windows, Power locks, CD/Cassette, Cruise, Tilt, Rear Air, Alloy wheels, hitch receiver, power seat, wheelchair anchor system, and more!
For those who are local to our area, the van can be seen at Hayes Auto Sales on Clemson Blvd. in Anderson. Next to or really behind Office Depot. They will be glad to show you the van and let you drive it. They are selling it for us and that means you can do a trade in if necessary.

Their hours are
M-F 9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Sat. 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Sunday closed.

They are located @ 3415 Clemson Blvd. Anderson, SC
864-226-2472

Asking $10, 500






This control box is connected by an expanding cord. It can be used by the person on the lift or an assistant to operate the lift while standing outside. It moves the lift up and down and folds and unfolds the lift.


There are lights on both sides of the lift and they are very bright and helpful at night.


This switch is out where the person on the wheelchair can operate it once they roll up on the lift. (If they are able. The whole system can be operated by the special friend or their assistant.)


For the lift to clear on the way down, the rear bumper was removed. However, we still have said bumper incase someone wants to convert his back to a standard van.



These help keep the doors open while operating the lift.



There are controls on the inside of the van that control the lift. They are the yellow, orange and red switches on the right side of the lift. See below.




We opted to install the lift in the rear so that our daughter and son could sit side by side. It also helped when she was not doing well and we had to take her somewhere. One of us could drive while the other or a nurse could sit next to her. It also helped with parking. It never fails that a person will park their little compact in the last handicap van spot. With the lift in the rear, we could park in normal spaces and still unload.


These are the Sure-Lok hooks for the wheelchair. There are four of them and the red switch releases it so you can pull more of the blue strap out and hook to the chair. The knob on the side ratchets the strap tighter. Once all four points are hooked on, the chair does not move. If you forget to tighten one, it will self-adjust as you ride down the road and tighten some of the way for you. There is also a seatbelt system for the person in the wheelchair if it is needed.


We had a jump seat installed and it has come in handy. Usually it stays folded up like this and out of the way. Once we pushed our daughter into place, we could lower this down and provide extra seating...

The seat folds down like this, then...


...the back folds up and two people can sit here! It has seat belts also.







3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is this lift for children only? Will it work for an adult? Also, I was wondering if you have any info on the Anderson Disabilities Board.

Jeff said...

The lift is for anyone. In fact it would lift me and my daughter and her chair at the same time and I'm over 200 lbs. She was 80 lbs. and her chair was 50 lbs.

We have worked with Anderson's Board of Disabilities and Special Needs. They helped administer certain parts of Macayla's Medicaid coverage. She had the waiver that paid for certain equipment. This lift was part of that. It is hard to get on the waiver and there is a waiting list. Overall, they have been helpful, but Medicaid is a government-run program, so expect plenty of red tape and bureaucracy. It's not as frustrating when you know it's going to be like that. The folks we have worked with have been very nice and helpful.

Anonymous said...

Jeff-
It was nice to meet you all outside the movie theater. I have been spreading word on the van.

Is the van still available?

Have someone looking for their father who lives in Fairplay.

Thanks

Sandy
Touch the Future
sandy.hanebrink@touchthefuture.us