Covers for a powered wheelchair head-array system.

This article was acceptedfOr publication November 15, 1997 T echnological advances in powered wheelchairs and in augmentative and alternative communication devices often result in improved mobility and communication (Mollica, Perschl, Demascso, Phalangas, & Lytton, 1996). Thus, occupational therapists and speech therapists increasingly are attempting to meet the specific needs of clients by obtaining funds for such expensive equipment (Brown-Herman, Peterson, Taylor, & Stoecklin, 1996). This article describes an efficient and inexpensive way to protect one type of costly equipment from rainwater damage. It was developed for a 54-yearold woman with cerebral palsy, athetoid quadriplegia type, who uses a 4-year-old Action Arrow l powered wheelchair. It has a three-piece head-array and head-support system, which allows the client to control the direction of movement of the power wheelchair with her head as described below. It also provides head support. She spends almost the entire day in this wheelchair. The client originated the idea of placing a flat green button switch on the distal upright support pole of the right armrest. She activates the switch by hitting it with the ulnar side of her fisted right hand. Hitting the green switch allows her to adjust the wheelchair speed and to power the chair either forward or backward. An Invacare®2 power control box with lights allows the client to see whether the power is on or off; on high or low; and engaged in Drive A or Drive B, the faster of the two drives. The middle, midline component of the three-piece head-array system allows the client to move the chair forward or backward, depending on which direction has been engaged by hitting the green switch. In either the forward or backward direction, making contact with the right side of the head array moves the chair to the right, and contacting the left side moves it to the lefr. When her head is out of contact with the system for more than 10 sec, the wheelchair power goes off and must be reactivated by hitting the green switch again. The head array is covered with black vinyl, with seams on the tops and bottoms of all three modules. The client, who lives in Seattle where it frequently rains, was experiencing water leakage into the seams of the head array, causing it to short our. She is active in the community and frequently goes outdoors when it can rain unexpectedly, but she stated that it is not always practical to take a raincoat or plastic cover with her. Thus, she requested head-array covers that could be applied for pro-