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Special Needs Stroller comparison guide: Top choices compared here. One of the best gifts a parent can give to a child is independence. These strollers will give your child the freedom to see more things, you can spend more time with your child and bond with them while enjoying the beauty of the nature, and that too during all seasons.
Introduction
When taking care of children (and even adults) with special needs and limited mobility, one needs to plan well and use the right resources, especially when it comes to travelling long distances and transportation as these can pose major challenges.
This is where Adaptive strollers (or Special needs strollers and pushchairs) are of great help.
Whatever be the challenge (child is struggling with motor skills issues, has fatigue or weakness, or is recovering from an accident), using adaptive equipment like special needs stroller is a great way to stimulate activities, be comfortable, interact with other children, and have fun.
These strollers make it easy to transport children (and adults), allowing them to fully explore lot of places such as park, zoo, farms, and more.
Compared to a wheelchair, Special needs strollers are compact, easily foldable and easily transportable.
These customized strollers offer better posture support, positioning and seating and have features that makes it easier travelling in buses (and other means of transportation).
Note: WC19 (ANSI/RESNA) are voluntary standards that specify the requirements that wheelchairs and adaptive strollers should have in order to be approved for transport so that they can be taken on buses and vans.
Tilt-in-space strollers are often used for individuals with special needs or medical conditions, such as limited mobility, poor posture, decreased muscle tone.
In a tilt-in-space stroller, the seat can be tilted back in a synchronized motion which helps redistribute the body weight to reduce pressure on certain points on the body, which helps improve comfort, stability, and mobility during transportation. Depending on the stroller model, the tilt feature can be manually operated or powered.
These strollers and trikes are equipped with adequate safety features, and emphasize on comfort (for the seated passenger) and ease of transport.
Some stroller models may come with tie-downs, which are straps or hooks that are used to attach the stroller frame to secure points in the vehicle, when stored in the boot to prevent sliding around during transport.
These mobility strollers are also available in different variants such as tilt-in-space stroller, wheelchair stroller, bariatric stroller, pediatric stroller, rollator stroller, gait trainer stroller. You may further have variants such as -terrain, bus transit, car seat, hi-low, and umbrella models. Brands include Alvema, Adaptive Star, Baby Jogger, Convaid, Ormesa & Special Tomato.
These strollers offer lot of customization, are durable, come with five point restraint, has support for headrests, has footrests, and more.
Comparison Chart
Here are the best special needs strollers available on the market for parents and care givers.
- Special Tomato EIO for children up to 90 Lb.
- Maclaren Major Elite Stroller (transport chair): max weight up to 110lb, additional accessories can be added for further support
- Baby Jogger Freedom stroller with 16 in.Wheels, Handbrake with parking button, Reclining seat.
- Kool-Stop Stride with Two parking brakes, Retractable sun canopy
Best Special Needs Stroller
Let’s take a look at these strollers in detail.
Maclaren Major Elite Stroller (transport chair)
Maclaren Major Elite Transport Chair (special needs stroller) can take children weighing up to 110lb. The transport chair comes equipped with a 5-point harness, padded seat, and detachable foot rest. The transport chair itself is very light (weighs just 6.7kg), is easy to steer, carry, and fold.
The stroller does not come with a a sun canopy and the seat does not recline, but you can buy several coordinating accessories separately.
Folds to 46″ x 9 3/4″ x 8 1/4″ (117 x 25 x 21 cm) for compact storage.
Please note that the Maclaren Seat Back Height is only 20.5″. If you need a taller Seat Back Height, you may check out the Special Tomato EIO Stroller.
Its recommended that you also consult an expert to ascertain if this product is suitable for your child’s special needs.
Special Tomato EIO Push Chair
The Special Tomato EIO Push Chair weighs only 22 lbs but can carry children up to 90 Lb (or are under 48″ tall), use it for children from infancy through elementary age.
Angle adjustable back rest and leg rest, 5-Point harness with chest strap and shoulder pads, Canopy, Underseat Storage Basket and padded seat & back laterals included.
The stroller works great on all-terrains.
Baby Jogger Advance Mobility Freedom Stroller
The Baby Jogger Advance Mobility Freedom Stroller is a great option for families with children or small adults with special needs/disabilities who want to enjoy the outdoors together.
This stroller is designed to accommodate up to 200 pounds. It features padded reclining seat and adjustable 5-point safety harness. If the passenger experiences lower-body weakness or spasticity, the large footplate with individual foot straps helps provide extra support and stability.
You can use with a 16-inch all-terrain wheel as the front wheel that can easily navigate over gravel, sand, and trails, or you can switch to smaller swivel wheels for city strolling to easily maneuver through crowds and tight spaces.
It comes with ample storage space with a seatback compartment and a basket under the seat. It features a multi-position sun canopy with clear view windows and side ventilation panels allow. The ergonomic handlebar also makes pushing the stroller comfortable for adults of all heights.
For more details on the size and dimensions, you can download the user manual.
Kool-Stop Kool Stride Special Needs Stroller
It features large and easy to push pneumatic wheels (20″ rear wheels, 16″ fixed front wheels), and the wheels are also removable. Its convenient to store and fits into your car trunk easily when folded.
Features such as padded cushions, comfortable seating, height adjustable handle, 5 point harness, huge canopy with side ventilation and top viewing window, all make it a great stroller to meet all of your and your child’s needs.
Special Needs Stroller – Buying Guide
Parents with children with special needs often struggle to find the right gear for transportation. A regular stroller will not provide the necessary comport to a passenger with mobility impairment.
That is why you need a special needs stroller with features such as leg and pelvic positioning, trunk support, reclining tilting seats, head support etc and a load of other features.
If you and your family like to explore the outdoors a lot, you might want to consider buying an all-terrain/jogging special needs stroller.
Parent shares her thoughts
Most professional strollers and pediatric wheel chairs available on the market tend to be extremely expensive.
That is when we decided to look for a commercial stroller, which had the support necessary for a child with special needs, and something that was easy on the pockets.
The next few days we made our son try out various strollers looking for something that adequately supported his low muscle tone and other needs, while being within a reasonable budget.
And believe me, we did find the perfect stroller for our family. And it was affordable too (around $100), and there were a few more strollers that we felt would work well for children with special needs.
So you definitely don’t have to shell out $2,000 to $3,000 on professional adaptive strollers. There are many top-of-the-line commercial strollers that offer similar features to the professional ones, and are priced uch cheaper, something that people can actually afford.
Special Needs Stroller – FAQs
Is special needs stroller covered by insurance?
Lot of parents want to know if a special needs stroller is covered by insurance. It depends on the country/state where you located.
In some countries, certain power-operated vehicles like scooters, walkers, and wheelchairs can be classified as durable medical equipment (DME) which you can claim under medial insurance (for which you will need a letter from your doctor)/ So it’s best to consult with your doctor to check if a stroller is also covered.
Is it possible to rent a special needs stroller?
While you can definitely rent strollers from a lot of places, finding a larger special needs stroller can be a challenge as not everybody is going to offer these strollers.
SIMPLE STROLLER RENTAL offer a SPECIAL TOMATO EIO SPECIAL NEEDS STROLLER that can fit an average 8-year old weighing up to 90 pounds.
Orlando Stroller Rentals offer a Maclaren Major Special Needs Stroller that can accommodate a child (or even an adult) up to 110 pounds.
Kingdom Strollers offer a Liberty Special Needs Stroller that can accommodate up to 100 pounds and 60 inches tall.
Because there’s a huge rush at this park, and because these places have limited number of special strollers, make sure you reserve early.
Lightweight stroller by engineering students for boy with special needs
Johns Hopkins engineering students (JHU) build a customized stroller for Karam Tarazi, a Syrian boy with special needs (Karam suffers from a rare progressive genetic condition).
Budding engineers at JHU designed an alternative to his heavy wheelchair, which now allows the 6-year-old Karam Tarazi and his mother, Dana Ajilikin, to spend warm afternoons among the tulips at Baltimore City’s Sherwood Gardens and enjoying the April sunshine at Angel Park in Perry Hall.
“The new stroller is just wonderful. It is very lightweight, so I can get it in and out of the car easily, and it is very comfortable for Karam—much better than his heavy wheelchair, which was almost impossible for me to manage alone,” Ajlilikan said.
“Dana told me about the difficulty of managing Karam in his heavy wheelchair when she had to take him out alone, and how what they needed was a lightweight stroller that was big enough and sturdy enough for their boy,” said Tyler, a volunteer services manager at V-LINC, a Baltimore nonprofit that matches people who have special challenges caused by disease or disability with volunteers who can design and build custom solutions for them.
Tyler reached out to Niel Leon, a Johns Hopkins senior staff engineer and V-LINC volunteer who set up the project for the students at Johns Hopkins University’s Whiting School of Engineering.
“A commercially available stroller that would meet Karam’s needs would cost more than $1,600. I knew the students were up to the challenge of creating what the family needed for much less,” Leon said.
“Our goal was to design a stroller that would support Karam’s body and frame and hold him in a secure and comfortable position, while also being lightweight enough and foldable, so his mother could manage it on her own,” Fahimi from the project team.
After extensive research, the students purchased an off-the-shelf, heavy-duty umbrella stroller designed to carry children up to 55 pounds, then modified it in several ways. First they extended the head, back, and leg rests to accommodate the child’s long, slender build, and to allow for at least two more years of growth. Next they replaced the original small back wheels with larger lawn mower wheels from a nearby home-improvement store.
“The big challenge was that the brakes had to be on the back wheels for safety, so we took the brakes out of the old wheels and installed them in the new, larger wheels. It was a complicated situation to actually mount those larger wheels on the frame with the brake system, but fortunately, we got help from people in the Whiting School’s manufacturing department,” said Fahimi Hanzaei.
The students had access to $500 for the parts and supplies they needed to create the custom stroller. The eight-member team of engineering students built a stroller that weighs less than 15 pounds, supports the child’s unstable torso, and, best of all, folds up easily.
“We are so grateful. Having the stroller like this is going to make such a big difference to Karam and to us,” said Karam’s mother.
Source: hub.jhu.edu
Daycare uses stroller to restrain child with autism, faces probe
A Smyrna daycare is facing several violations after a state investigator found a child with autism improperly restrained in a stroller while in the classroom.
When the investigator questioned the classroom educator, she said the child could be violent at times and educators used the stroller to restrain him. The investigator “explained that a child shouldn’t be restrained in a piece of equipment for behavior issues.”
A daycare worker reportedly told the program evaluator that “the child is autistic and has outbursts that can become violent to the point where the child throws toys and hits other children. The classroom teachers restrain that child in a stroller during this time.”
The daycare’s director has said that the child’s mother works at the daycare and is okay with the restraints. However, the state says that even if the parent is okay with it, the state finds the tactic to be “inappropriate.”
DHS (Department of Human Services) has found many more violations, including improper adult/child ratios, time-out used excessively in the 3-4-year-old classrooms and uncovered electrical outlets. The daycare has to provide a written plan of supervision to the state “to ensure children receive adequate care at all times.”
Useful Links
Features to consider in an adaptive/special needs stroller
Special needs children and adults need strollers with better features to suit special needs. If you have an active lifestyle and have a special needs child to care for, buying a special needs jogging stroller is a wise choice. Both Baby Jogger Freedom Stroller and Kool-Stop Kool have almost similar features and are equally good. However, you should always buy the stroller that best suits the needs of your child and you.
StrollerBoards is a family managed website with me (Ben) and my wife doing most of the work. We are proud parents of two wonderful kids and love reviewing baby travel gear. We have a firm but friendly “democratic parenting” style and offer several practical solutions backed by extensive research. Our own experience with raising two children prompted us to share our knowledge. Read more.
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