Ramps - Switchback

Through the winding tunnels under the University of Saskatchewan, which connect the buildings that vary in age, elevation and repair, a person will encounter many ramps of multiple different characteristics. Some are steep enough that I would not feel safe climbing or descending them independently in a manual or power wheelchair. Others are properly and reasonably gradual, with many ramps falling between those two extremes.

The ramp pictured above is one of the better ramps in the tunnel system underground. The switchback halfway up gives a person an opportunity to rest, regain strength for the next climb, and can be a place to wait for a clear path to the next plateau. This ramp would be one example of one that is too narrow for multiple people at once and when the masses are moving through here it can become intrusive to be the guy in a wheelchair blocking everyone else's way.

Unfortunately, depending on the time of day and year, some of the access points in these tunnels are often closed or locked which necessitates venturing outside to find a suitable detour. Often choosing to take the tunnels is a longer distance than going outside but it can save exposing oneself to the elements. When you hit one of these dead ends, only to have to go outside to find a detour, it results in much wasted time and energy in backtracking. Far from a perfect system when time between classes is short, transportation arrival and departure times have short windows, and when accessible washrooms are less frequent than they should be.

Thoughts: If attendance at a post secondary education institution is in your future minimize those first stressful days by having a good explore to determine the best routes for yourself. Don't be afraid to mention to the appropriate counselor the problem areas that need addressing. It may not be fixed by the time you have completed your stay but, hopefully, you will be making it better for the next person who needs proper access.

Ramps - My Van

After a fairly worry free ownership of a Dodge Grand Caravan, modified to have pneumatic suspension by Van Action, it was good to upgrade to a mass produced product that is the Braun Rampvan. Because they manufacture tens of thousands of these each year, with dealership and repair support in most major centers, it gave me much greater confidence in the ability to have a problem diagnosed and fixed quickly, should one arise. When the pneumatic suspension system on my Grand Caravan developed a leak finding it was incredibly difficult and when it was thought to be found and repaired it was not long before the problem resurfaced.

It was an excessive source of anxiety for me because that van could not be driven without that pneumatic suspension. It functioned by inflating the suspension every time the van was to be used. If the compressor that inflated the suspension were to fail it would be mere minutes before the van would be unsafe to drive. I was never stranded anywhere but with the compressor cutting in every 60 seconds my concerns over it having excessive wear or overheating and failing completely were not without merit. With a Braun Rampvan the rear suspension is compressed each time the user wants to enter or exit the van. If this system were to fail the ramp may be a bit steep but the vehicle would be perfectly drivable.

The ramp on these vans can vary in steepness from a grade of 1:7 to a grade of 1:9, when parked on a flat surface. This depends on the distance the floor is dropped and the style of ramp. In the case of mine, a Toyota Sienna, the floor had to be dropped 12 inches, which resulted in a slightly more gradual incline than in my friend Paul's Honda Odessy which has a 10 inch drop floor, but a different style ramp that is steeper for the first third, then more gradual for the top two thirds. One good push will get you over the steeper bottom half of his ramp then the rest of your climb is easy. The ramp on my van has only a slightly steeper bottom half and requires just a little more than one full push to get over that hump. You cannot always count on being able to, but when the opportunity to park next to a curb or sidewalk comes, take it. Your ramp will be virtually flat.

These differences between vehicles and ramps can be difficult to determine which will work the best based on your physical ability. An authorized dealer should be able to provide you with demonstration models to try. Other technology, such as hill climber brakes, are available to assist in the process. They will be covered in the future and I hope to complete compiling a video we recorded the raw footage for to demonstrate the difficulty of climbing each ramp on each van by two quadriplegics of slightly different levels of neurological function.

If there's one thing I have learned about vehicles it is that necessity truly is the mother of invention. When I had a ramp I needed to be able to climb my determination made it possible in a short amount of time. The same could be said for difficult transfers and many other physical things I needed to be able to accomplish independently. Determination and practice go a long way.

Other adaptations to the vehicle will be covered in future posts.

Source: Authorized adapted vehicle reseller and modifiers.

Sport Cuff

I misplaced my sport cuff many years ago because I always just use a new pair of The Gloves with strong new Velcro as my tool of choice to hold on to any sporting device with a straight handle. When I wear The Gloves I do not diminish my ability to wheel nearly as much as when I tried using the above pictured sport cuff. I also found the sport cuff to limit my wrist function which is so essential to so many sports, especially those such as badminton or icefishing where wrist movement is really essential to the technique. However, for someone who's muscles that control the wrist are paralyzed this cuff makes some sport possible where it would not have been, otherwise.

For sports such as tennis or fishing with a large rod, where the movement involves more control by the larger arm muscle groups, a sport cuff has great advantages. This one was borrowed from my friend, and former model, Paul. Though he and I have virtually the same level of function, there are a few muscles of mine that provide me just a little more function than him. Where every little bit of function counts, especially where wrist flexion and triceps come in, a sport cuff like this can mean the difference between being able to successfully participate in an activity or not being able to.

Source: Occupational therapy product catalogues, online, or custom made.