In the disability world, finding safe, comfortable seating can feel like a part-time job. Sophia’s brain has difficulty communicating with her muscles, and this causes all kinds of conditions like hypotonia, dystonia, and hypertonia. Sophia’s muscles can be fully contracted all at once and not able to relax, or she can have the opposite problem where her muscles feel so weak that even holding her head or body upright is a challenge. Sometimes she has both of these problems at once, but in different parts of her body. For this reason, her wheelchair has to be designed and customized exactly to her body’s needs. 

Sophia’s car seat is medical grade, but unfortunately, it’s not designed just for her. Sometimes it works great, but other times it’s not what her body needs. You can see in these photos an example of her car seat working well for her, and another time when her body was exhausted and stuck in extension with all of her muscles flexed. Her face was flushed and her blood pressure high because she wasn’t able to relax her body.

This is another reason why being able to transport Sophia in her wheelchair would be such a benefit. It’s adaptable and designed to prevent uncomfortable extensions like that, and it supports her when she’s feeling weak as well.