Fun and Function

Children may outgrow their tennis shoes and their Barbie dolls, their playhouses and their Tonka trucks, but leading manufacturers in pediatric mobility are making sure they won't outgrow their wheelchairs or scooters — at least not anytime soon.

Manufacturers are responding to the increasing number of children who are diagnosed with special mobility needs at an early age by designing mobility products that will last as a child grows and develops. But as parents come to mobility providers with increasingly younger children in need, this ambitious goal isn't easy to achieve.

“You used to wait until a child was four, five or six years old. Now, if you have the diagnosis, you can start as early as 12 to 18 months,” says Julianna Arva, pediatric product specialist for Permobil, Lebanon, Tenn. “A really strong trend lately [is] the importance of early independent mobility, starting as early as possible.”

Attention to early independent mobility for children drives product development and innovation in today's pediatric mobility market. “It's more and more important to start children out right away on a good piece of equipment. It really makes a difference in their future,” says Jackie Kaufenberg, marketing manager for Altimate Medical, Morton, Minn. Early intervention is the key, she believes.

With this in mind, new pediatric mobility products offer parents more than a standard lightweight wheelchair for their child. “The push is always for improved positioning and lighter weight that's durable,” points out Merv Watkins, president of Torrance, Calif.-based Convad. “Parents need convenience.”

Manufacturers of pediatric mobility products have tried always to balance the needs of the child, who uses the device, with those of the parent or caregiver, who often is charged with transporting it. “There's an effort to merge the developmental needs of the child with the convenience needs of the caregiver. How easily does it fold? How easily can I transport this?” says Sara Oxton, rehab market manager for Minneapolis-based Otto Bock Health Care. “If the caregiver can't use [the device] with some degree of ease, it won't be used, and for us that means the child stays home. We make our products to address what might seem like conflicting needs.”