Wheelchair users get to learn valuable skills
Children and adult wheelchair users learned a variety of new skills at free wheelchair skills training held in Hamilton recently.
More than 20 wheelchair users attended Seating To Go’s Wheelchair Skills Training groups; an initiative designed to encourage wheelchair users of all ages to become more confident in the community.
Attendees learned a range of new skills, including how to manoeuvre around tight corners, get up and down ramps and steps, and how to pull and hold wheelies.
Alongside therapists, technicians and volunteer spotters, experienced wheelchair users were employed to run the sessions, sharing their own experience and knowledge with attendees and teaching them helpful tips and tricks.
‘‘It’s fantastic to have such a great team of wheelchair skills mentors working for us,’’ said Seating To Go’s general manager Debbie Wilson.
‘‘They’re really inspiring and we’ve received a lot of positive feedback from both our adult attendees and the parents of children about just how much they get out of the shared experience.
‘‘Most wheelchair users already possess a basic skill set
‘‘Having the opportunity to learn from our mentors has been really valuable.’’
which enables them get around their homes but our communities are pretty varied in terms of access, so having the opportunity to learn from our mentors has been really valuable.’’
Seating To Go launched Wheelchair Skills Training in 2014 and with some assistance from the Ministry of Health, they’ve run training groups in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Lakes regions.
For the recent training groups in Hamilton, Seating To Go approached Forlongs in Frankton in the hope of finding a venue suitable for the workshops.
Because of the space donated by Forlongs, Seating To Go’s recent wheelchair skills training groups in Hamilton have had the largest number of attendees.