Good morning/afternoon, or evening.
My name is Malcolm and I reside in the lower part of the South Island of New Zealand in a town called Dunedin. I’ve used power wheelchairs the majority of my life (starting at the age of 6 in 1971). I have cerebral palsy quadriplegia. I find John’s website to be incredibly informative and very interesting, not being affiliated with any wheelchair brand means that John is free to express his opinions and more importantly technical expertise.
In my opinion the wheelchair industry has made great gains in many areas (improvements especially in rehab seating and some driver control input methods), I believe that knowledge is power and more informed we are as a group the better.
It’s amazing the changes are seen in my own personal use of wheelchairs over 40 years:
1. They no longer routinely heat up with the controllers catching on fire (you have to try extremely hard for that to happen).
2. I’m no longer forced to sit on a piece of canvas that stretches over time to touch the battery terminals, because of rehab setting I can now be comfortable.
3. Better mileage,it may not be perfect yet but in the early to mid 1970s it could be atrocious
I look forward to reading more opinions on this board and appreciate what John does
Kind regards,
Malcolm.