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Adaptive Equipment for Special Needs

Adaptive equipment is any modification that helps children or adults with special needs to be more independent. Adaptive equipment can be as simple as replacing buttons on a shirt with Velcro strips or as complicated as fitting an adult for a wheelchair or scooter. No matter how complicated, thoughtful use of adaptive equipment enables people with disabilities to communicate, travel, succeed in school and live more independently.

  1. Mobility and Transportation

    • Individuals with disabilities often have challenges in the areas of mobility and transportation that can be helped with specialized adaptive equipment. Scooters, wheelchairs, braces and walkers may be the most common types of adaptive equipment but they are far from the only types. Children with disabilities sometimes use adaptive strollers or car seats that can accommodate their needs for additional physical support. In the area of transportation, many children or adults who use wheelchairs also use a van or lift that can accommodate these chairs.

    Communication

    • Children and adults with disabilities often have trouble communicating their wants and needs, and there is a wide range of adaptive equipment designed to help them. This equipment can be as simple as a book of pictures or photographs that people can point to to show that they are hungry or thirsty, or as complicated as a communication device that translates typed text to speech. Many types of adaptive communication equipment fall somewhere between these two examples but all enable people with communication difficulties to have their wants and needs met more effectively.

    Activities of Daily Living

    • Many types of adaptive equipment have been designed to help people with disabilities manage activities of daily living. Activities of daily living are things that most people do without thinking such as eating, taking a shower or using the restroom. Adaptive equipment that is useful for activities of daily living includes non-skid bowls, raised toilet seats and shower seats. These types of equipment help people with handicaps or disabilities to be more independent in their daily lives.

    Education

    • Many types of adaptive equipment have been designed specifically for the school environment. These may include desks that can accommodate a wheelchair, pencils with grips that are easier to hold, or areas of a classroom or school that are calm and quiet for a student who has trouble focusing. Much of the adaptive equipment described above is also useful in school settings. For example, a student can use a communication device to participate with her classmates or a stander or specialized chair to assure that she is seated safely.

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