The first steps
It’s been a while since I checked in here. A lot has happened. A brief synopsis is the following. Ronan is about to get his first power chair in the next couple of months. We had to move house to be in a more suitable residence for the arrival of the power chair and the house we bought has a lot of work to be done to it to be ready. I changed jobs so have had less spare time and we are living in a building site for the last six. months and the next six months … it has been busy.
Ronan has done amazingly well thanks to a huge effort by him and all the wonderful people that help him day in and day out … and his brothers! He was earmarked to get a full body cast, but given he is developing and positioning himself so well his doctors don’t think he needs it anymore. Amazing news!
I have been working on a little project that I think will make a big difference in the long run for Ronan.
We have been worried that when he gets his new power chair he will be very sedentary. I’m trying to figure out a really good frame for him so that he can propel himself when he is in the house. I designed a really simple walker and built it out of pvc piping and carpet for the seating (things that we had around the house with the build going on). I also got some castor wheels from Lidl. It looks like the below picture, with Ronan in it.

He is quite comfortable in it and he is at the same height as his brothers. The construction is really lightweight so can be transported easily. It is strong too, Ronan and his brothers have been stress testing it. He can’t quite propel himself yet, but we can wheel him between rooms and so can the boys so that he is always in the thick of it.
I would love to get this to a stage where he can wriggle himself around the house. I think I need to do a few things to make this better. If you have ideas, leave them in the comments section.
- Get better wheels, probably bigger diameter and more freely rotating. Send me a note if you know where I could source these.
- I am debating whether I should include a small motor to assist on movement. I was thinking a small stepper motor on a pressure switch, if you have ideas on the type of relatively high torque, low rpm and lightweight motor to use, let me know.
- Ronan has really good control of his feet when he is in this position. I would love to make some games for him to push buttons, know things over etc etc so that he can use the position to his advantage more and work out his legs.
- We have been trying to source items to help to train Ronan’s legs… like little resistance cycling setups for kids. Any suggestions, let me know.
