Mobility Scooter for Blind

[Henrys Cat]

Hi there, not sure if this is the right place to post this or not (if not please can someone point me in the right direction?)

My dad bought a brand new mobility scooter a couple of months ago and it gave him a new lease of life. It took us 3 years to get him to give in and get one and once he had it, of course, he wished he'd had it sooner. He used it for 2 weeks and then went suddenly & totally blind. The company won't take it back as they don't sell second hand items, even though we wanted to part exchange it for a powered wheelchair or similar. Both my brother and myself have fybro so we've had to get a light weight wheelchair that we can get in and out of the car easily. Dad is heavy though so if we could find a way for him to use the mobility scooter while we walked alongside, we could at least reduce the amount that we need to use the wheelchair. The scooter won't go in the car but at least we could get out and about from home for a little way. Does anyone know of a gadget or method whereby we can help with the steering at all? I was wondering about those poles that you sometimes see on the backs of small children's bikes etc and someone else mentioned a voice activated wheelchair. I'm going to contact the manufacturers as well but I thought I'd try here first. Thanks so much in advance!
(If there isn't anything, someone needs to invent one and get themselves on Dragon's Den!!)

[sunnydisposition]

Do you mean you are looking for a powered wheelchair with attendant controls. Many do have controls you can un/attach. They tend to be the heavy type mobility chairs. These chairs can also be go through depending on the local authority. Dad lives in through wheelchair services.

Not recommending you will need to do your research - just an example.

https://store.easylivingmobility.co.uk/ ... gJt6fD_BwE

[Henrys Cat]

We were hoping there was a way he could continue to use his mobility scooter but obviously the issue is that he can't steer it in the right direction now. We've just bought a second hand light weight wheelchair to put in and out of the car and we can only just manage it so I'm not sure we'd be able to keep doing it with a powered one if they're heavy.

[Melly1]

Hi Henry's Cat,

this charity might be able to help with a solution to steering the mobility scooter: https://www.remap.org.uk

Melly1

[sunnydisposition]

Most charities criteria is they will help. Only after a person has been turn down by a Local Authorities wheelchair services. And proof is required that a person has been turn down. I can't find any reference to that on the web site.

So looks very interesting thanks for the link ...

How does Remap work?
When you contact us we will ask you for a few details about what you need, to assess whether we can help you. If some equipment that would help you already exists, we will encourage you to buy that. Our help is for situations where there is nothing commercially available that is suitable.

If we think we can help, a volunteer from your nearest group will visit you to discuss your situation and understand what you need. We like to have an occupational therapist there too. Following that, we will design and make a piece of equipment specifically for you, in a way that meets your needs. Sometimes we will modify existing equipment to make it more suitable for you.

We make no charge for the devices we make and each item is made for an individual person.

Have a look at the projects pages.

[Henrys Cat]

That looks awesome! Thanks so much - I'll get in contact with them. Even if they say there is something already on the market we'd be over the moon!