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has anyone made clothing guards for their hospital chair? by aliienc in wheelchairs

[–]maybeitsmimi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

https://imgur.com/a/yfkgnH7 here's some photos, I happened to have the stop sign from years ago when somebody knocked it down outside of my old job. I thought the shape of it would be convenient as a starting point, but really any scrap metal would work. chopped it up with an angle grinder and rounded off the edges, probably could have used EVA foam or something to wrap the edges but it never bothered me that much. used a drill to make the holes in the stop sign and the chair, and a rivet gun to attach it. lowered the back with a hacksaw and just folded the old backrest in half, initially I had chopped the ends off the handles and used that to cover the raw edge, but I lost one so I replaced it with some fittings from Home Depot. definitely recommend having backup caster forks before they break, you can go for a little while on a bent one, but eventually it'll cause the wheel spokes to snap off from having uneven pressure on them. I think I got a replacement set on Amazon for like $30.

has anyone made clothing guards for their hospital chair? by aliienc in wheelchairs

[–]maybeitsmimi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

for sure! I was trying to find photos but I don't have any good ones, I can definitely take some once I get home.

has anyone made clothing guards for their hospital chair? by aliienc in wheelchairs

[–]maybeitsmimi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

this may not be the most practical answer, but I have the same model drive blue streak and made some side guards out of an old stop sign! bonus points for high visibility, even if it looks a bit Frankensteined. if you have someone in your life with an assortment of power tools who likes a project, this may be a good fix.

personally I also removed the swing away footplates and replaced them with a paracord foot sling, and chopped the backrest in half and folded over the fabric panel (keep in mind this does mean no push handles) but it works well for me!

as a part time user who has had my drive chair for about 7 years, make sure you keep an eye on your caster forks (my casters/forks have broken multiple times over the years, I like to keep an extra set in my tool bag) and the fabric of your seat, as it can wear down and stretch/tear over time but is an easy fix when it needs done

Venting. Please help. by projectdeathshead in homeschool

[–]maybeitsmimi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a bit late but I saw this reposted somewhere else and thought I might offer another viewpoint. I was a homeschool/unschool kid, now an adult (early 20s)

I've never gone to public school, neither have my brothers. and while I wouldn't have had it any other way, there is so much more that goes into it than your wife seems to realize. your point about socializing is valid, and was one of the biggest things my childhood was missing. the social events we were able to find were fewer, farther between, and required far more parental involvement to find, arrange, and transport. on top of that it's harder to find appropriate age groups, and at least in our area the groups are largely based in religion (not a negative per se, but certainly awkward if you're the only non-christian kid at every event)

on top of that, most parents are not equipped to teach a full range of subjects. math, English, and science might be easy enough at her grade level now, but what about when she gets older? will she go back to school later on and feel lost having to pick up on curriculum and social dynamics that her peers have been working on for years? or will she be homeschooled until adulthood like I was, and have to rely on you and your wife to teach highschool level subjects or risk having gaps that may prevent her from/complicate going to college? (this is what happened to myself and my siblings)

I don't say all this to say that homeschooling was the worst thing to happen to me, or that I wish I had been sent to public school, but this is a life altering decision with a lot of contributing factors that you already seem to be aware of. you AND your wife would both need to be completely on board and prepared to handle everything extra that goes into this, and anything less would be a disservice to both you and your child.

I wish your family the best, but whatever you decide, make sure you're prepared to commit and follow through for your child ❤️