Choosing a Wheelchair: A Guide for Optimal Independence

by Gary Karp

The wheelchair is a liberator, not a prison. With the right wheelchair, quality of life increases dramatically. Even people with severe disabilities can have a considerable degree of independence and activity. However, choosing the wrong chair can indeed be tantamount to "confinement."People selecting a chair for the first time can be distracted by emotions of loss or anger, overwhelmed with the amount that there is to learn and the number of features to consider, and unsure of their part in the selection process. Experienced chair users might know features on their present chair that don't work well, but are probably not aware of all the fast-changing choices in technology, features, or manufacturers. Choosing a A Guide for Optimal Independence , a companion title to Life on Wheels guides you through the selection process to help you identify the chair that can provide you with optimal independence.Contents

140 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Cyndi]

I was lucky and, even though I discovered this terrific book after getting my wheelchair many years ago, almost everything was correct (the store I ended up at turned out to be really good). I've met Karp in person too and he's awesome. The book walks you through the various options for both power chairs and manual ones.

If you're buying a wheelchair for yourself or someone else, go into the store with as much knowledge as possible. The book is so helpful. If you have a chance also to try things out in person, that is invaluable, but do it after educating yourself on what's out there.

Yes this edition is from 1998 and will be out of date for some things but the basic options haven't changed. The reason it has low stars on Goodreads are because one person says it's out of date for reimbursement issues (true) and another gave it one star for being on a high shelf in a bookstore (because this clearly is the author's fault).

As much as I'd love to see an updated version, the book (forgive the pun) stands. People don't realize what choices they need to make and what an enormous difference each choice can have on how liberating the chair they get is. If you need a wheelchair, you don't just want something you can afford (or that your insurance will pay for) that fits you properly, you need something you can get in and out of your home and/or in and out of your car, with easy setup and breakdown if required for storage. You need a chair you can maneuver on your own. A chair that will work for the distances you go (either battery life or ease of pushing). A chair that will keep your body from aching and having long term problems because you're positioned wrong.

This is the book that will allow you to educate yourself on what these choices are. Combine this knowledge with a good salesperson and you're likely to get the perfect chair on the first try.

I recommend Karp's book to people all the time, despite it being 26 years old. I just recommended it today and realized I'd never written a review. So here it is, a review of one book I plan never to get rid of, even though I no longer need my chair.

[Critical Hysteria]

A very cruel person put this on a very high shelf.

[Stephanie]

Good general information for those buying a chair, but woefully outdated in terms of products and reimbursement.