Lauren
Improving Lauren’s functional abilities
Lauren is an 11 year old girl with global developmental delay. She tends to adopt a posterior pelvic tilt and kyphotic posture whilst seated (see below). When her feet are unsecured, Lauren tends to flex at the hips and knees, and put her feet up on the seat to stabilise her lower body. Lauren’s therapists are concerned that this postural pattern will cause a pressure sore to develop on her sacrum. Subsequently, this did indeed happen a few weeks after the initial assessment.
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Clinical Assessment
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Lauren has full range of movement in her lower limbs.
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On the plinth her kyphosis and posterior pelvic tilt can be straightened into a natural s-shape with minimal effort (right).
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Although she wears a lap strap and her feet are secure, she slides forward on the gel cushion until her pelvis is at the front edge of the well.
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She has a distinct area of reddening on her sacrum.
Approach
The KIT seating system has the exclusive Pelvic Cradle which gives unsurpassed proximal pelvic positioning, and the 3-part backrest can support even the most complex users’ unique needs. Also, leg supports and fully adjustable foot supports maximise overall postural stability.
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Therefore the plan was to;
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Use the Pelvic Cradle in conjunction with a supportive seat cushion, to prevent Lauren’s pelvis from moving forward.
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Set the 3-part back rest up to provide Lauren with shoulder, thoracic and lumbar support (left).
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Secure Lauren’s feet underneath her knees using the foot support, to give stability and increase loading through her feet.
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Outcome
An upright posture was easily achievable using the KIT seating system (right). Her pelvis was maintained in neutral alignment, using the Pelvic Cradle to maintain this improved posture. Pressure mapping showed that loading was moved from her sacrum onto her ITs and femurs, thus distributing the weight and reducing the risk of pressure sores.
Lauren’s therapist noted that ‘Lauren began to exhibit functional dynamic movements without prompting,’ and quickly became accustomed to her new position.
Lauren also began to experiment with other more functional movements (below right).
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