The variety of powered chairs today is exciting. To help you determine which is right for you, look at your physical, functional and activities of daily living skills. Other considerations include your environment, transportation, and how much technology you can tolerate.

Let’s begin by looking at physical considerations. These have to do with how you function. Obviously, your diagnosis tells you a great deal about what kind of physical function you have. For example, if you have C-7 tetraplegia, you know that you have arm, but not hand, function. This tells you how you can access the chair. A person with C-7 tetraplegia can usually use a joystick as the input device, but the top of the joystick may need to be modified to accommodate for the person’s lack of grip. I’ve seen some very creative joystick handles to make gripping easier, including tennis balls, golf balls and bicycle handle grips. There are also commercially available tops for joysticks to assist with this.

Functional and ADL skills are very important to consider. Parts of the wheelchair can actually make these skills more difficult if not addressed. For example, if you require a certain seat height from the floor to independently transfer, and your new chair varies from that height, you may not be able to transfer anymore. Think through how you accomplish tasks throughout the day to ensure you will still be able to do them with the new powered wheelchair.

Consider the environment the chair will be driven in. Will it be used primarily indoors or outdoors? Are you a college student who has to traverse many miles per day, or someone who travels an office building? Unless you are primarily indoors, the very lowest level (and priced) powered chairs are not appropriate. These chairs are essentially reinforced manual bases with low power motors and batteries. If you plan on really roughing it outdoors, you will probably need a high level powered wheelchair with more powerful motors. When the wheelchair is made for heavier duty use the frame is also more heavy duty.

How the chair is transported is also important. If this is a first powered chair, you will need some type of accessible transport unless you have ready access to public transportation. If you plan on obtaining a modified van, it is a good idea to wait until you have the chair to ensure it will fit into and inside the van. If you already have a powered wheelchair, make sure you have investigated whether or not the new chair will fit and can be tied down in your existing tie-down system.

Lastly, obtain measurements on the front end so they can be compared to your environments. These measurements include overall width, overall length, turning radius and seat height from the floor. I have had more than one client who was not able to get his powered wheelchair through a doorway or make a turn down the hall into a bedroom, or who was unable to get under their desk at work. A little investigation on the front end can save a lot of aggravation once you have your new powered wheelchair.