The Manual Wheelchair Training Guide

People who use wheelchairs for mobility and transportation depend heavily on their wheelchair maneuvering skills to accomplish basic living tasks. The variety of environments people encounter present complex skill and safety challenges to wheelchair users and their helpers. Unfortunately, many people are not properly trained in the safe and efficient use of their wheelchairs, which may result in falls and serious injury to wheelchair users and their assistants. This book was designed to be used by wheelchair users, their families, friends, caregivers, and anyone else who might need comprehensive information about manual wheelchair skills. This manual is also very useful to rehabilitation professionals training wheelchair users in wheelchair mobility skills. The illustrated instructions provide guidance for wheelchair users on how to negotiate indoor environments, obstacles, and outdoor terrain. General hints to prepare for traveling, emergencies, and other situations are also included. In addition, the training guide provides instructions on how to assist someone with a technique and describes the progressions for learning new maneuvers. The principles discussed will help readers learn good riding and assisting habits applicable to any mobility skills they might develop in the future. The skills and information in this guide will hopefully help increase the independence of wheelchair users, decrease the number of wheelchair accidents caused by the lack of education and training, and limit the frustration caused by those receiving or giving assistance. The wheelchair skills and instructions in this book were compiled with the assistance of expert wheelchair users and rehabilitation professionals. These experienced individuals provided input on the wheelchair techniques, text content, and illustrations.