This Monday morning Angie drove the power chair for us! Both her physical and occupational therapists were with her, as was the wheelchair tech. Tom and I were the observers. She was so excited with all the attention. After getting her situated on a bean bag like support in the demo chair model, she was ready to drive. Since she has practiced this before in a huge open room, she knew what to do, but she had never tried to go down a series of rather narrow hallways. She started off down the straight hallway from her cottage with her PT right behind her. Sometimes she got too close to the wall and needed a little help to get back on course. When she came to a corner she started a turn too soon, but all in all, she did a fantastic job. One thing I noticed was if her PT would say “when you get up to the next corner…turn right,” she would start to turn right away. She would hear “turn” and start clicking, so she listens more to the verbal cue than her own sense of observation. She has never had to determine where she is in space. She has never had the opportunity to develop “special” intelligence. The wheelchair tech, Vince, mentioned how amazed he was that she understood how to control the chair in less than an hour of training, so he is positive that Angie has the ability to fine-tune her driving skills. He also explained to us the chair was programmed to be driven in a large open space. What I now realize is that not only does she need to learn to drive but she also needs to become sensitive to the objects around her.
Why should we pursue getting the power chair? This is the million-dollar question, well, the thousand-dollar question. The obvious answer is that Angie would love to be able to decide where she wants to go instead of always depending on someone else. My first negative argument is that she’s happy now and she has never been able to make this decision, so it’s a lot of money to invest in giving her a little bit of freedom. I know she would think it’s fun, but she has the ability to find fun in just about everything. So, at first, my inclination is to say that Angie has a great place to live and work and she’s got a good life. She’s very happy and I’m more than happy with her living situation.
The aspect that’s not so obvious is about potential. I understand that brains are always changing and building new pathways. I know that she has significant amounts of dead or damaged brain cells, but what if she can get excited about this opportunity and possibly build new and different pathways? Sometimes when we change one thing, other unexpected things start changing too. I have no idea, but what if? Could giving her freedom to decide where she wants to go with limits build a certain amount of confidence? Could learning to drive build her self-esteem in a new way? Certainly, learning to “talk” changed her life and gave her heaps of opportunities. That skill allowed her to become a member of a conversation group where everyone uses an augmentative communication device. That also gave her the feeling of being important because a couple of years ago she was the “speaker” at the annual golf classic fundraiser, Help Drive Us Home. And, it allowed her to say “I love you Mom.”
The value of unknown benefits is very hard to measure. Until we discover what is possible for Angie, we can’t know for certain if the benefits of the powerchair are worth the expense of refitting and maintaining her manual chair. Other people who use powerchairs gain a sense of self-determination. They love the independence they have. I just interviewed one of the aides who regularly works with two ladies who use power chairs. She shared details of their daily routine and discussed the dependability of the chairs (as long as someone charges them every night) and the amazing technology that helps them navigate their environment. In addition, she told me they receive regular maintenance and have never broken down over the eight years she has been working at St. Joseph Home. Everything she told me has encouraged me to find a way to make a power chair happen for Angie. When I figure out how to say yes, Angela will have five years to master driving and getting used to paying attention to the obstacles that surround her.
She really is an amazing woman with potential and today’s power chairs, complete with amazing technology, can offer her a new life. They are programmable and have a GPS with route memory, which will help her drive without running into walls. Certainly, she’ll think it’s fun. In addition, I know she’ll love the attention when she shows everybody that she can drive. And she’ll probably need to wear a GPS tracker so people can find her in St. Joseph Home.