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.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Macayla's Wheelchair

We have a new wheelchair for Macayla by Ormesa. It is a company in Italy and we have been very pleased with it. We have their New Bug system and it has many options that Macayla's Zippie does not. There are definite pros and cons to both chairs, but we have been more satisfied with the Ormesa overall. It has options that are helpful for everyday life. It has a visor, a full rain cover that protects the chair and rider. It has a thermal cover for Macayla that goes in the seat first and then when she sits in the chair it can zip up around her. The chair tilts and reclines, is easy to break down, is crash tested and transportable. 
The Zippie by Quickie offers great support for Macayla as she looses trunk support and control. But our model would only tilt and not recline. For those new to the wheelchair market, tilt is when the whole seat (bottom and back) tilt back. Recline is when only the back of the seat leans back. Having tilt and recline is very helpful for comfort, decompressing feeding tubes, and diaper changing. 
The Zippie can be broken down and transported in a car. It is also crash tested and can be used for transport in vans and busses. The Zippie has more parts to disassemble for transport in a car than the Ormesa. But we have successfully fit both chairs (in their disassembled state) in the back of our Camary station wagon. The Ormesa is easier and quicker to assemble and disassemble in this case. Both chairs transport easily in our van and both have places to hook tie downs. The Zippie has the option for the EZ lock system and the Ormesa does not to my knowledge. The EZ lock is nice, expensive, but nice. You simply roll the chair into the floor mounted lock and the chair is in place and ready for transport. 

2 comments:

Not quite a Homestead....... said...

Is it still working good for you? I am looing at the Ormesa New Bug for my daughter? Which base (s) do you have?

Sue

Jeff said...

Yes, it is working great. We have been able to accommodate the seat to different situations as well. With extra mounting rails, it can be attached to other flat surfaces such as our bike trailer for her. We got the size 4 so we could only get the regular base for it. The jogging base was only for sizes 1-3. I put a post on this blog about the bike trailer. It has been the best chair for us.