"strollers" for older children

[ohMom]

i'm considering purchasing a stroller for my DD, age 7 1/2, weighing around 70 lbs. She has JRA and tires easily and her ankles are her most affected joint. dilemma -- finding a stroller that doesn't look 'babyish' and get DD's approval; is easy to fold up and keep handy in the van on standby; is durable, etc.

anyone have a recommendation? i have this site here bookmarked but i don't know what else is out there

TIA

 

[SueM in MN]

I can't post links easily from work, but try going to adaptivemall.com and then do a search for "Special Needs Strollers". You will find good information about all sorts of brands.
The "big" brands are Convaid, Maclaren and Baby Jogger. They are basically larger size versions of the strollers you are used to seeing.
You should be able to get insurance to reimburse you for it as durable medical equipment. You need a prescription from your doctor for the equipment and he/she will need to document the need for it, but that should not be too hard.

 

[lalapodip]

We purchased a Maclaren from adaptivemall.com for my 9 year old autistic son....he'll get another year out of it. He likes it very much - he seems very comfortable in it. It is pretty lightweight and folds up nicely - I do usually keep it in the back of our minivan. Unfortunately, we don't qualify for a prescription, so we had to pay for it, but honestly, it was worth the money, for the peace of mind.

 

[ohMom]

i don't know why i didn't think about a Rx for a stroller! thank you! our rheumy was happy to give us one, they mailed it today. I emailed our insurance and he said he needed her CPT code to see if our plan would cover it. so i guess we're in the process now. thanks for the website, I think it has several that will meet her needs. Now the big ????? of what will our ins cover, if any??!!

 

[Mike Bartenhagen]

We have a Convaid stroller for my son Broc. He has infantile spasms and although he walks he dosen't walk that well and he is 2 and 1/2 with a cognative level of about 9 to 12 months which means we need to keep him contained in many situations. We had ours ordered through the therapy department at the local hospital. They had a sales rep from one of the local medical supply places come in and he told us about the different types and he recomended this brand for our son and it has worked out very well. I think it cost about 1600.00 and our insurance covered almost all of it although we had a different deductible for durable medical equipment so we did have to pay some. You mentioned that your husband was worried about what it looked like so you may want to be aware that these do look somewhat like a wheelchair and in fact ours actually has a label that says "wheelchair". I'll have to be honest, it kind of bothered me at first to think that we had a wheelchair for my son but it is not that big of a deal now. You might also want to know that most insurance compays will only cover a wheelchair every three years so make sure it is something that will work for a while.

Mike

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by Mike Bartenhagen
We had ours ordered through the therapy department at the local hospital. They had a sales rep from one of the local medical supply places come in and he told us about the different types and he recomended this brand for our son and it has worked out very well.

Good point about the therapy department.
You can get an order from your doctor to have a "wheelchair assessment" done by OT or PT. If you are working with a school therapist, they can often do the assement without getting a prescription (or they will handle that themselves). If you do work thru the hospital find out ahead of time whether they will provide the sales rep with samples or whether you will have to check with your insurance what comapny they use and then arrange to have a rep from that company there for your visit. Not a good situation to get there for you assessment and not have anyone there with equipement to show you.

 

[saymama]

we just got our convaid to go to disney world. It was a huge lifesaver. We got a script from the dr for the eval for it, and then when the therapist signed off on it for the salesman, he measured for the chair and then faxed that to the dr and the dr wrote a new script for that particular chair. We too had outgrown the weight limitations of regular wheelchairs. I am now thinking of trying to get one for my older autistic son as we tried Disney without one and he was miserable. We had to rent a stroller for him, but then we had to carry him back out of the park and to the hotel.

 

[Mish]

Thanks everyone on this board. My son (5 1/2) has Legg Perthes (a hip condition) and is supposed to have no Physical Activity until further notice. If we go on long walks or the mall he is supposed to be in a stroller. I have been using his stroller which he is to heavy for he weight almost 60 lbs. I really cant afford the prices of the ones he can use. So after reading this post I called my insurance company and said with a doctors prescription they will cover the cost of the Convaid stroller. Just waiting for the prescription in the mail. Thanks again.