Vehicle modification

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Mark

Active member
Joined
Oct 16, 2006
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62
Country
US
State
Arizona
City
Prescott
Has anyone had any experience having a vehicle modified to accommodate severe weakness in the arms and shoulders as well as hands? I've found some websites that mentioned some type of joystick arrangement. No one here in Prescott, Arizona does this type of work or at least I haven't found anyone. I spoke with someone in Phoenix awhile back and they told me their company didn't do this in the liability issue was too much to do with. Not driving has been very difficult to accept and has been particularly burdensome for my wife. I'd appreciate any ideas you might have.

Mark
 
Hi Mark. I've got two websites that do modifications to vehicles but neither of them advertise that type of modification. AL.
 
Thanks

Thanks Al. I'll continue to try to explore this locally but given the size of this town I'm not optimistic.

Mark
 
It is a great question, Mark. Losing the independence that driving allows has got to be tough. My hands are the first to go and I haven't ever heard of anything to address this for driving. Right now I'm OK except for handling the heating/cooling controls but I'm know this issue is coming for me too. The only adaptations to vehicles I've seen are for people who can't use their feet/legs. Did your ALS Clinic or the MDA have any suggestions?

Liz
 
Thanks

Hi Liz:

There is no ALS clinic in my area. The nearest is about two hours away. Similarly for MDA. There are some websites which talk about foot controls or a joystick. However I cannot get any detailed information or find anyone who does this in some of these websites are either in Australia or the United Kingdom. There was one site in the US that had some bracing arrangement that attached to the steering wheel for one-handed driving. I'm going to continue to explore this but the last time I checked was some companies in Phoenix there was nothing available for steering. They felt that the liability issue was too much to deal with.

Mark
 
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