Mobility aid facts for kids
A mobility aid is a special device that helps people move around more easily. These tools are designed for individuals who might have trouble walking or moving on their own. They help people gain more freedom to go where they want.
There are many types of mobility aids. Some, like canes or crutches, help people walk better. Others, like wheelchairs or scooters, are for longer trips or when someone cannot walk easily. For people who cannot see well, a white cane or a guide dog can be very helpful. There are also aids that help people move inside buildings or go up and down stairs.
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Walking Aids: Helping You Move
Walking aids include assistive canes (also called walking sticks), crutches, and walkers. These devices help people walk upright. They do this by giving more stability, reducing how much weight goes through the legs, and helping to create movement.
- Better Balance: Walking aids add extra points of contact with the ground. This gives more support and helps you keep your balance.
- Less Leg Strain: By using your arms and the aid, less pressure is put on your legs. This is helpful if your legs are weak or hurt.
- Making Movement: These aids can help your body move forward. They can act like extra muscles or joints for your back, hips, or legs.
Canes: Simple Support
A cane or walking stick is a very simple walking aid. You hold it in your hand, and it touches the ground. Canes help support some of your weight. The amount of weight a cane can support depends on your hands and wrists.
Crutches: More Support
A crutch also touches the ground through a long stick. But it has two places where it connects to your arm: at your hand and either below your elbow or under your armpit. This design allows crutches to support much more weight than a cane.
Combined Aids: Canes and Crutches
Some mobility aids combine features of canes and crutches. For example, forearm crutches have a handle for your hand and a band that goes around your forearm. This gives you the support of a cane but with extra help from your forearm. This design improves balance and takes some pressure off your wrist.
Walkers: The Most Stable
A walker (sometimes called a Zimmer frame) is the most stable walking aid. It is a metal frame that stands on its own. It usually has three or more points that touch the ground. You place it in front of you and hold onto it as you move.
Some walkers have rubber tips, like crutches. Others have wheels and are called rollators. Many wheeled walkers also have a seat so you can rest. They might also have a basket to carry your things.
Walker Cane Hybrid: A New Option
A special walker cane hybrid was created in 2012. It helps fill the gap between a cane and a full walker. This hybrid has two legs, which gives side-to-side support that a single cane does not. You can use it with both hands in front of you, similar to a walker. It offers more support than a cane. You can also adjust it to use with one or two hands, and it can even help you climb stairs. However, it is not meant to replace a traditional walker, which has four legs and offers support from all sides.
Gait Trainers: For Extra Help
A gait trainer is another device that helps with walking. It gives more support than a standard walker. Gait trainers often help with bearing weight and keeping balance. They have special parts that attach to the frame to help you practice walking by supporting your body and keeping it in the right position.
Seated Walking Scooter: Moving While Resting
The Walk Aid Scooter is for people who have good balance but need to take weight off their feet, knees, or hips. This two-wheeled scooter has a seat and handlebars, like a bicycle. You push it with one or both feet, similar to a balance bicycle. This scooter gives more support than a cane. It is also lighter and easier to move than a wheelchair.
Wheelchairs and Scooters: Sitting and Moving
Wheelchairs and mobility scooters let you move around while sitting. They are wheeled devices that take the place of walking. Wheelchairs can be pushed by the user or by another person. They can also be electric, which are called "powerchairs." Mobility scooters are always electric.
Wheelchairs and scooters are often suggested for people who have significant trouble moving or balancing. Special health professionals can help decide which device is best and safest for you.
Stairlifts and Other Devices: Going Up and Down
A stairlift is a machine that lifts people and wheelchairs up and down stairs. Sometimes, special lifts are built in other places to help people with disabilities. For example, some bus stops in Curitiba, Brazil, have lifts to help wheelchair users get onto the bus platform (shown above). A wheelchair lift is made to carry both the person and their wheelchair. These lifts can go through the floor or along a staircase.
Other Mobility Helpers
Mobility aids can also include adaptive technology like sling lifts. These devices help move people between beds and chairs. There are also lift chairs that help you stand up from a sitting position. Some people find Knee scooters helpful for getting around when they have a leg injury.
Related pages
Images for kids
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A person using a wheelchair entering a bus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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A girl using a pair of underarm crutches
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A shopping trolley
See also
In Spanish: Ayuda a la movilidad para niños
