28 replies to this topic

[DellFan]

Hi,

I didn't know where to post this so forgive me if it is in the wrong section. I am 16 and have started to go out more with my friends in my manual chair. One problem, I get stuck going up and down curbs, I want to learn how to do it by myself. I recently had Frog Leg casters and spoke wheels put on and the Frog Legs allow me to not get stuck so easy. The other problem is I have anti-tippers on my chair and my therapist will not allow me to take them off. Is there a way to get up/down curbs while anti-tippers are still on?

Thanks!

[MrBump]

does your therapist go out with ya ?

just take them off mate.

[JesseB]

Would be a whole lot easyer without your anti-tippers. Though going up takes some practice. Just go quick, wheelie, and when your front wheels get up lean forward and use the momentum to get you the rest of the way up. Checkout youtube, few vids on there that could help you get an idea.

[Ratticis]

Sounds like you need a theropist who isn't so controling and listens to what YOU want. They should be helping you work towards your goals, not determining them for you. Take em off and practice! Start with smaller curbs and work up, just have someone around for when/if you fall on your ass. Just remember momentem is one of the most important things!

[Fluid Matrix]

Yeah, yer gonna have to lose the anti-tippers if you want to conquer curbs.

Now, going down curbs is pretty simple. I roll up to the curb, pop a wheelie and and just go down. Going up is obviously a bit more difficult. Short curbs you should just be able to roll up and over pretty slowly. Taller curbs will require some speed and a well-timed wheelie. Once your front wheels clear, lean a little forward and let the momentum take you over.

Luckily, curbs was one of the things we worked on in out-patient therapy. They can be very daunting, but once you master them you'll wonder why you ever worried about them in the first place.

[simplepeachyme]

i agree with the rest. take them off. i find that quite strange that your therapist won't let you take them off. in rehab, i had to take wheelchair skills class and my PTs were the ones who encouraged me to learn all these chair skills and take off my tippers. it is possible to go off curbs with your tippers but from what ive seen, if the curb is high enough and the technique is poor, tippers won't stop you from bailing. going up a standard curb at least 6-8" is extremely hard to do with tippers.

the easiest way to learn is by going off really itty bitty steps...like driveway lips..but trying to wheelie off it and then progress from there. get someone to spot you from behind by putting a belt/strap on your axle and letting them hold it vertically behind you so if you fall backwards, you lean on the strap which is better than them actually holding your chair or push handles because they can throw your balance off or might not react fast enough to catch you.

here are a bunch of videos of all types of chair skills. take a gander. watch the LEVEL CHANGES, ASCENT & DECENT videos.
wheelchair skills

[Smileyblue]

Ratticis, as an over-protective mother myself, I have to tell u its not the "ass" we're worried about them falling on.. That part has padding..

Dellfan, I do agree with the posts about making this work FOR u, however u need to make sure ur safe, first n foremost.. Ask yr therapist if there is a specific reason y u/yr chair is prone to tipping, n find out if she/he is just being overly cautious.. If u do take them off, make sure u have someone stand behind u while u practice the wheelies, to catch u when u over-balance, n wear a helmet just incase.. Dont try them alone untill u're sure u've got it down to a tee..

Have fun.. ;-)

[Travelling Blackbird]

Anti-tippers are generally at such an angle that they'll make it very difficult to get the right lift to get onto a curb or up a step. I doubt there's a way to manage it with them on.

I see you have CP; perhaps there's something in the specifics of your condition that your therapist knows and we don't that makes him/her unwilling to give you the go-ahead to remove the anti-tippers? Sit down with him/her and talk about it. Say what you want to achieve, and ask for a real argument as to why you can't do that. Try to convince him/her you can do it. Make an informed decision.

Sometimes the medical professionals are wrong, sometimes they're right. Get all the opinions, get all the facts.

[Avocado Baby]

Hi,

Have you learned to back wheel balance?

[allis53ca]

you can do this w/o getting it trouble from ure ot....push the button on ure tip sticks and rotate 180 degrees to up posit....technically you haven't removed them....practice your curb bumps with a spotter and on curbs w/grass landing pad, as you will prob go over a few times learning...ure ot works for YOU...you don't work for her

[DellFan]

I have not learned to back wheel balance, I like don't go to therapy. She is basically there to order mywheelchair. I don't even know what back wheel balance means and I really would like to learn how to do this, I need my independence.

[Travelling Blackbird]

How's your grip and your upper arm coordination and strength? With CP it can vary greatly.

[DellFan]

Mt upper body is barely affected.

[Ratticis]

How long have you been at this? At first I was a little worried about wheelies, now I can do them like nothing and hold it for as long as I want. It takes practice and time, but never say never!

[DellFan]

Not long, I needmore practice

[gordonr]

You have to learn to stay up on your back wheels as long as you want without moving, and moving in every way.

When you really have this mastered you will be able to do things like dancing rock'n'roll, holding the girl with one hand and controlling your chair, on two wheels with the other. That might sound extreme, but it is within easy reach of a young person such as yourself.

Anti-tippers are for grandma. What you will want is to take them off, and move the axles forward so that you hardly need any strentgh at all to move up onto two wheels.

The curb move is as people have already described. To go down, you balance on two wheels near the edge, and then as you go slowly over you hold onto the rims to slow down your fall. If you do this right, you will come off very high curbs very gently. I know beginniers just fall off with a crash, but that is not required. Coming up is also as described, take a bit of speed, lift up the front end, then lean forward, and with the momentum and balance just right, you put the torque in the wheels, and the tire will grip the curb, and you will climb it.

You will climb curbs at the very limit, where you feel like you are balanced virtually motionless poised between success and failure, and then you will succeed in getting over that last hump, climbing the damn thing.

What is the limit? THe limit is the pitch of your chair beyond which you lose control and fall backwards.

Anything less is technically possible.

Good Luck.

Gordon

[Wheelsonfire]

Gordon is correct, the axle position, this when being measured for a chair is known as the center of gravity.(some chairs have a fixed center of gravity and set during fabrication)
(Mr know it all here use to also rep for a chair company)

Personally, I hit a step at speed, up the front, motion brings the rear (with strength of course).
To dismount, same again, hit it at speed, by the time I land all 4 wheels hit the ground......Not for the faint-hearted.....

Happy motoring

[Travelling Blackbird]

DellFan, on May 22 2010, 08:30 PM, said:

Mt upper body is barely affected.

If that's true and you do have upper body strength and coordination, then practice. Take the anti-tippers off, and practice being on two wheels. Practice on the grass, practice in a carpeted room with pillows behind you if you're nervous, but practice. Gordon and John have given good advice regarding the wheelchair itself and the speed and so on.

Your therapist, since he or she doesn't actually work with you, is probably just being over-cautious to avoid being sued if you do tip over.

[DellFan]

Thank you so much everyone! I will continue to work on it with the techniques you guys have explained to me.

[Ratticis]

When I finally got my own chair the first thing I did was pull the anti tippers off. A few days later at my sisters place I forgot about that and went to lean back on them, sitting in a reclined position. Worst backflip ever. Cement is hard, especially on the skull. Lesson learned. Next the seatbelt came off.

[DellFan]

Ratticis, on May 23 2010, 06:52 PM, said:

When I finally got my own chair the first thing I did was pull the anti tippers off. A few days later at my sisters place I forgot about that and went to lean back on them, sitting in a reclined position. Worst backflip ever. Cement is hard, especially on the skull. Lesson learned. Next the seatbelt came off.

Oh that's brutal, just brutal. I was at a wheelchair store like a month ago and I wanted to try a TiLite. My chair is fairly high backed (Quickie 2) and I didn't realize there wer no anti-tippers, feel out and smashed my head on ceramic tile. Felt like an idiot more than anything

[Sneaky G Wizard]

Hi guys,

I am working on an engineering project and wondered if you thought designing something to assist getting up and down curbs would be a worthwhile idea?

[greybeard]

Sneaky G Wizard, on 27 January 2012 - 02:07 AM, said:

Hi guys,

I am working on an engineering project and wondered if you thought designing something to assist getting up and down curbs would be a worthwhile idea?

Kerb cuts?

[richo]

problem is you dont land on your ass,you land on ya head.ELECTRIC

[Wicky]

DellFan, on 22 May 2010 - 08:54 PM, said:

Not long, I needmore practice

I have 21 years of being in a wheelchair, and jumping curbs can be fun once you learn how to do it, but it can backfire on you, especially if you are not looking where you, such as what is at the curb where you are jumping, like a pole, the highest curb i have ever jumped was about 5 inches but trust me you dont want to do those unless you have mastered jumping curbs. anyway the only was to get better at wheelies is to take those tippers off and go for it, but fair warning, i sure i have given myself more than one concussion, and almost knocked myself out once. so be careful

[Danimal_1985]

Lose the anti-tippers! When I was in the hospital my therapist made me keep them on so I just flipped them upside down so I could still pop wheelies lol! Once you figure out how to balance on two wheels you'll be fine. When I first got in the chair I would go down curbs backwards. I would pretty much lay forward on my legs and grab way low on the wheels and back off slowly, but that got old quick so I just started popping wheelies off them. It takes a bit of finness to get it right, you basically want your rear tires to impact a fraction of a second before your casters do. Going up takes a lot of timing and a lot of practice. You need speed to make it up, right before you are going to hit the curb pop a wheelie so your casters clear the curb, then you kind of rock your body forward while driving the rear wheels over the curb. It takes a while to master it, but as long as you aren't afraid of a few wipe outs and can laugh at yourself it's actually a fun time.

[HowiRolldotcom]

What's up DellFan? I was injured at the exact same age, 16. The best advise I can give is this: You're going to be in the wheelchair, but, YOU decide how independent you are (or aren't) aside from the wheelchair. Meaning, the more you learn to do the less disabled you are, period. I can't stress enough how functionally important it'll be for you to master the wheelie, and then, be able to master popping up and down street curbs. You can't do either of those things with anti-tipper bars on. In fact, attempting curbs with the ant-tipper bars can be more dangerous than safe. First, master the wheelie, which will allow you to feel more confident with your weight balance. Once you're a wheelie master, you can then charge up the curb. You don't necessarily need to master the wheelie to pop UP a curb, but it's a good idea to have a solid wheelie before bumping DOWN a curb. Also, when first learning ALWAYS practice curbs with an able-bodied spotter. Once you feel confident hopping up and down curbs independently, you will absolutely feel less disabled.

I posted a blog last year explaining how to perform a wheelie (at least my subjective opinion). There are 3 parts. Part 3 includes a video. Hope this helps DellFan. Yes, you will fall while learning. But in the end, it's all worth it. PM me if you have any questions.

Part 1: http://www.howiroll....o/wheeliepart1/
Part 2: http://www.howiroll....o/wheeliepart2/
Part 3: http://www.howiroll....o/wheeliepart3/

[ajl338]

take the anti-tips off. if you look any anyone who can do anything in a chair they dont have anti-tips on. Anti-tips are great for anyone with severe spasms where they are likely to kick themselves out the back. Other than that, not needed. I suspect you also have back wheels where the axel isnt under your bum, it needs to be.
Get a big bean bag or the sofa or something soft and make sure it is behind you, then just start flicking the front wheels off the floor until the point where you can balance on the back wheels. Until you can do this confidently there is no point in trying anything harder.

Once you can balance everything else is easy. |Its then all about timing, to get up a kerb its push, push and tip. You will fall out lots of times ad i still do occasionally but its good, can do steps, kerbs, escalators etc no problem

[edlee]

You guys ARE aware that the original post by DellFan is over two years old,,, right???

The premise is the same, tho. Personally,, I keep my tippers on. I have them set so that I can lean back and balance,, then go a little more and rest on them. It's like I'm in a recliner when I do it near a wall so I can rest my head. It also places them high enough for me to hop curbs up to 4 inches with out problems.

I'd probably remove them if not for the recliner feature.
ed