The Chill Out Chair

 I have mentioned in the past the plethora of chairs that we have for Lu in an effort for her to be: comfortable, upright, or laying down, not falling over,  able to sit on the floor, etc.  A chair also needs to either have a built in way for her to not fall out (ie. straps or a harness), or she needs to be able to sink down into it. It is just extremely hard to find the right seat for her. Her big bean bag chair is great for laying down and napping, but not great for letting her sit upright and engage with the world around her. Her wheelchair is better for times like that, but if she doesn't have her braces on and her feet strapped into the foot plates, then she slides down in her seat. Sometimes she likes to sit on the chaise, but she falls over to the side a lot.  And, when Lucy falls over, slides down, wants to sit up, or lay down, or has any other way she might want to alter her seating position, she just simply cannot. She just can't move her body like that. Therefore, I spend A LOT of time all day long repositioning her. Sliding her up, propping her up, sitting her back up, helping her lay down, it never ends. She doesn't even move herself much in her sleep anymore. Every night before I go to bed I turn her over so she isn't laying on one side, in the same position all night.

So, in what feels like a never-ending search for the "best" chair for Lu to relax comfortably, but still be upright, I discovered the "Chill Out Chair" made by a company called Freedom Concepts, last year. That's right, I have been longing for this chair for Lu for over a year. While it is considered a "special needs" item, it is not necessarily a piece of "durable medical equipment", and therefore it is not covered by insurance, and because it is a "special needs" chair, it has a very high price tag, because that is always the case. Hence, the year of coveting it, but not ever buying it.  

But, with the help of a hoagie sale spearheaded by our family and participated in by many more family members, friends, and acquaintances, we were finally able to buy Lu her very own Chill Out Chair!  And, I contacted the representative for PA and he had a few demo chairs that he offered to sell me for $500 less than a brand new one! I was ecstatic! So, for anyone else out there who also struggles daily to find a better position for their child or loved one (they come in sizes for everyone), I highly recommend a Chill Out Chair. I recommend you contact your state's rep and see if there are any demo chairs available, if you don't mind that. The cover on ours is actually antibacterial and completely machine washable, plus it matches our living room which was pretty lucky! So it's perfect! And if a person would prefer to buy a new one, they come in dozens of different fabrics and colors so they can fit right in with the furniture you already have. 

I don't know if in the pictures you can see what is so special about this chair, but it has a v-shape design that Lu sits down into and the entire thing is made of very high quality furniture foam. So, she sinks down into it enough that she won't fall out, and the foam is like a hug to her, which besides helping her sink in more, it is also like a hug for her, which helps her body stay still. 

And she can even nap in it!

So, I am clearly very excited about finally being able to get this for Lucy. She now has a safe and comfortable seat for relaxing, learning, watching tv, napping, whatever she wants or needs to do! As usual, we couldn't have done it without the never-ending support and love of our family and friends. 

Here is a link to the Chill Out Chair website for anyone interested in checking them out:

http://chill-outchair.com