Chailey Heritage School

Mobility provided by powered wheelchairs is often the only real opportunity children have to travel large distances under their own control but children are seated. Mobile standers enable the young person to have periods whilst standing but then the child loses a major part of their autonomy and freedom becoming totally reliant on people pushing them around.  

The creation of a specially developed ‘clip on’ power module restores the child’s personal control of mobility and provides them with a new opportunity to drive whilst in a standing position. The power module has initially been designed to partner the Active Design standers that are in current use around the school.The young people at Chailey use a range of control systems.  The power module can operate with switch controls in the same way as a standard power wheelchair. Some require assistive driving support to help them with their personal mobility.   

The development of a purpose made power base is underway. The power base has been optimized for young drivers. The base unit has a small foot print and low centre of gravity and has been designed to incorporate track guidance or SCAD assistive driver support systems if required. Driving can be fun but there is the technical challenge of developing an agile system to match skilful drivers. Perhaps in time we can make more machines so that young people can take part  in sporting activities.