Scooting To The Next Step
Michael is 7 years old and is struggling with some distance walking and weary legs. We are thinking a scooter is the next step. We want to keep him out of the wheelchair as long as we can, but his limitations on movement is problematic.
We have waited about as long as we can without making his life miserable by staying inside or home. We would like to take him places and do things again but the smallest of efforts is becoming terribly difficult.
We live in California. Any suggestions on which kind to consider purchasing would be very helpful. One he can drive himself is preferable. I like having the resource of PPMD before I just start searching.
Cathie Bullis
We have waited about as long as we can without making his life miserable by staying inside or home. We would like to take him places and do things again but the smallest of efforts is becoming terribly difficult.
We live in California. Any suggestions on which kind to consider purchasing would be very helpful. One he can drive himself is preferable. I like having the resource of PPMD before I just start searching.
Cathie Bullis
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Joshua's mom on
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Joshua is 6 and we just got him a stroller. It kind of looks like a wheelchair, but it folds up like an umbrella stroller and holds up to 110+ lbs.
Naomi
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Permalink Reply by Karen Barnett on
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Cathie,
We got an electric scooter for our son just a few months after he turned 7 for the same reasons. A stroller was just too babyish for him at his age. He loves the scooter and this year just started using it at school for the long distance he had to walk from the bus drop off to his class. It's really great for going anywhere that requires him to walk a lot where as before it was a stuggle. He has the Elite Go Go traveler. I have a picture of him on it on "My Page". It cost $1200 and was paid for by our MDA funds. We choose this one because it was one of the smallest ones made.
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Permalink Reply by Lori Ware on
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Cathie,
We did the same and Karen Barnett and Daniel. We got Seph a Scooter. He loves it. We have flown with it and had no real problems. The seat is an adult seat and to have it customized would have cost more than the scooter, so when he goes a long way, we had our PT sculpt (spelling??) out a firm foam that is an insert that is fit to his back and legs. It really works perfectly!
good luck!
Lori
Karen Barnett said:Cathie,
We got an electric scooter for our son just a few months after he turned 7 for the same reasons. A stroller was just too babyish for him at his age. He loves the scooter and this year just started using it at school for the long distance he had to walk from the bus drop off to his class. It's really great for going anywhere that requires him to walk a lot where as before it was a stuggle. He has the Elite Go Go traveler. I have a picture of him on it on "My Page". It cost $1200 and was paid for by our MDA funds. We choose this one because it was one of the smallest ones made.
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Permalink Reply by jenn on
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my oldest son with duchenne is 10.5 years and has had his pride mobility GOGO for 5 years. it has been wonderful, and we have had to put no work into it until recently. the PT at cinci children's did recently suggest that we have a support made to keep austins legs from drifting outward, i guess scooters encourage the legs to drift apart, also we had to have the DME order a special seat for the scooter with extra cushion and arm rests, around here ( vermont) you can get them for under $1000.
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Permalink Reply by Bains on
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We are also planning to get one for my son. He saw it in our last visit to Cincinnati and said that look cooler!!!
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Permalink Reply by Laurie Paschal on
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Sam gets his scooter today. It's also a GOGO. We did have a special pediatric seat made for him. I haven't seen it yet, so can't give too many comments on it, but I'll be sure to post pictures. We started with going through the MDA. They will give you $2000 towards a durable medical purchase every 3 years. I believe our total price with the special seat brought us to around $2600. Although we ended up not using the MDA funds because our insurance paid for the whole thing. Now, in most cases, it's not recommended to have your insurance pay, but we have some special circumstances that makes it OK...ie. a fabulous employer who is self insured and pays for anything Sam needs. The vendor we used was the one through the MDA. They're out of network with our insurance, but we still got it covered as in-network at 100%.
Anyhow...long story short, contact your local MDA office. First see if they have one in their loaner closet. If not, they can get a PO sent to their vendor for you. You'll also need to get a prescription for it from your doc.
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Permalink Reply by cheryl cliff on
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Our son, Alexander, still "walks" but uses a scooter for long distances or when ever he feels the need, providing more choices for his limited world. Are you in contact with your local MDA rep? I'm not really an MDA fan however they have these wonderful "storage closets" around in places. These storage closets are full of equipment nobody ever uses. Thats how we got our scooter. There was no $$ involved and only a simple paper to sign saying we take responsibility for maintaining the thing. It's small, by Merit (no longer being made) and it works quite well. It's still "owned" by MDA but was never used when we got it. We are in the process of obtaining a second scooter for Alexander for all terrain outings and in case one has a breakdown. MDA said they will help us purchase the 2ond one while we keep using the 1st one for as long as we want. Can't beat that!!
BTW-we are in Cal too.
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Permalink Reply by Cathie Bullis on
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Thank you all so much for your response. We will now proceed looking from the suggestions I have received. Cathie
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Permalink Reply by Ana Vaish on
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Hi Laurie,
My son Ryan is 6 and will turn 7 in July. We also got a GoGo scooter for him. Where did you get the pediatric seat from?
Laurie Paschal said:Sam gets his scooter today. It's also a GOGO. We did have a special pediatric seat made for him. I haven't seen it yet, so can't give too many comments on it, but I'll be sure to post pictures. We started with going through the MDA. They will give you $2000 towards a durable medical purchase every 3 years. I believe our total price with the special seat brought us to around $2600. Although we ended up not using the MDA funds because our insurance paid for the whole thing. Now, in most cases, it's not recommended to have your insurance pay, but we have some special circumstances that makes it OK...ie. a fabulous employer who is self insured and pays for anything Sam needs. The vendor we used was the one through the MDA. They're out of network with our insurance, but we still got it covered as in-network at 100%.
Anyhow...long story short, contact your local MDA office. First see if they have one in their loaner closet. If not, they can get a PO sent to their vendor for you. You'll also need to get a prescription for it from your doc.
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Ana,
Our vendor had it made for him. I think he went straight to Pride to have it made. It was the first time they've ever done one. I'll take pictures of ours for you when I get home today.
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We were measured and ready for Pride to make our pediatric seat and then they priced it for us! It was going to cost us $1500 JUST for the seat!!!! MDA paid for the scooter, and would have gone the full $2000, but we would have been out the rest...over $1,000 for a seat, so we just went with a customized seat insert made by our PT and then covered in cute fabric for when he is doing LONG rides, for short rides, he just sits in the big seat and does fine...but it offeres him no support!
Laurie you are so fortunate in the situation you are in that you were able to have it all paid for.
Lori
Laurie Paschal said:Ana,
Our vendor had it made for him. I think he went straight to Pride to have it made. It was the first time they've ever done one. I'll take pictures of ours for you when I get home today.
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Permalink Reply by Danelle Dickerson on
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We got our son a GoGo Elite about 6 months ago with a pediatric seat. We told them upfront that we had $2,000 to spend (MDA). Surprisingly, the total was $2,000. We're guessing that the company we were working with let the remainder go without payment. The pediatric seat was the first that they had made. We do have one issue with the seat, it's extremely heavy. They need to rethink what they make the seat out of because it weighs more than the adult seat. Also, their isn't much cushy padding, but maybe that's for the best? Other than that, the scooter is great. It has really built his confidence. We were actually given another adult scooter after the owner had passed away that we use as well. That one stays at school for the long trek down the hallways, the way out to recess and music, etc. Even though the seat is bigger, he does fine with it. The GoGo breaks down "easily," so that stays in the van for trips to the mall, etc. We recently took it to Florida and were super glad we had it. Our son is 6, but he is a great driver. The other kids at school are jealous that he gets to use it, and obviously he loves that. It makes him feel cool. One reminder for everyone is that there is an unwritten rule with insurance companies that they will only pay for any kind of chair every 5 years. If you are close to needing a power chair, you may not want your insurance to pay for a scooter.
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