Annie's chair had an elevating seat. She used that feature occasionally early on, but as she weakened could no longer make use of it, i.e., the things elevating the seat allowed her to do before she could no longer do them even if she was elevated. This included such things as elevating her chair at the kitchen sink to use the faucet. As she weakened neither her arms or torso were strong enough to use the faucet even though she was high enough. She got perhaps several months of use of the elevating feature.
Of course PALS progress differently, but I think it's probable that an elevating seat will ultimately prove to be of minimal value. The continual changes that occur with ALS is one of the frustrating things that a PALS or CALS has to deal with, and makes accommodating functional losses much different than other causes of disability which, though severe, are at least stable. In that case one is able to find solutions and make the investment that will serve their needs long term.
The bottom line is that if I had to pay for the elevate feature out-of-pocket, I would probably decline and reserve my funds for other uses. Annie's chair was an Invacare T D X with a Motion Concepts seat.
You might want to do a mental inventory of the things that an elevating seat would allow you to do and then make an evaluation of how much they actually add to your self-sufficiency, and then take your best guess as to how long you'd still be able to do them even if the seat could get you high enough.
Wishing you much grace and peace.
Phil
