Mary Pengelley, RPT, ATP 8/13/09
As a physical therapist with over 25 years of experience with pediatrics, I have found that children with spasticity in their legs face a constant battle with shortened hamstrings and adductor muscles as they grow. This tightness often contributes to orthopedic problems which eventually require surgery to overcome (tendon releases, osteotomies). I feel strongly that every child who has increased tone in their hamstrings and adductors needs to have several hours of stretching daily. Without daily stretching for long periods of time, the tightness almost always increases until surgery is required.
At our charter school, all the students with tight muscles stretch daily for 30 minutes during circle time using custom made long sitters. We also ask families to carryover the long sitting at home daily while the child watches TV, plays with siblings, listens to stories, etc. These custom made long sitters were developed by a father of one of our students, Mr. Ollie Jones, who has a background in engineering, and has made several pieces of adaptive equipment for his daughter. He has worked with us for over a year in building and refining the chairs to be safe, comfortable, easy to adjust and modify, allow for several years of growth, and be useful for a variety of sitting activities. Mr. Jones, as a father of a child with special needs, is very invested in creating quality chairs, that are easy to use and look kid-friendly with various cushion designs and colors.
The photographs show the floor sitter at an angled position, which can be adjusted up or down, depending on how well the child tolerates long sitting. Gradually the angle can be reduced as the child’s range of motion increases. The wedge between the legs can also be adjusted wider as needed. The long sitter also has a mobile base for the chair to be secured onto, to allow the child to be up off the ground, for easier access to caregivers and to allow for interaction with others who are not seated on the ground. The mobile base has a built in cubby which can be used for storage of toys or additional pads. Extra side pads are provided for smaller children, and straps can be modified for various needs of children. The tray is removable and height adjustable to allow the surface to remain level when the seat is angled.
To my knowledge, there is no other chair comparable to the “Wedgster”, Mr. Ollie Jones’ custom made long sitter chair. It has been a great tool for me to use at school with our students, and many of our families have purchased one for use at home. I hope to see a decrease in the amount of surgery our students will require as they grow, using this chair daily to prevent muscle contractures and resulting deformities.
Michael A. Tidwell, MD 10/06/09
To Whom It May Concern:
In my practice as a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon, I care for a wide variety of children with neuromuscular and other physical impairments. The children often require assistive devices for mobility and for therapeutic or even functional seating. Positioning to provide stretch of various muscle groups requires adjustable components on a padded device so that prolonged positioning can be achieved with safety. Always, as these children grow, positioning and seating devices need to be adjustable to account for change in size, change in physical abilities, functional needs and deformities. There exist no economical devices on the market that I know of which similarly meet these needs.
It has been my great fortune to review several devices created by Ollie Jones. He has a personal interest in these devices and has applied his unique skills to create a variety of seating and positioning devices that can be customized for individual patients and there needs. His products can be readily and economically produced in such a way that families can afford to purchase them, can easily implement their use in the home, can be assured as to their efficacy and rely on their safety.
Better yet, Mr. Jones’ products are constructed in a modular pattern allowing adjustment for growth or for changes in needs. Most adaptive devices I find currently available, must be replaced 3 to 4 times as the child grows and matures. The significant expense is often prohibitive. Through the innovation of Mr. Jones this can be accomplished in only 2 sizes (age 3 to 8, then age 8 to 12). Families can economically obtain a device that will last throughout more of his or her growing years and may need replacement only once. Mr. Jones already has plans to create a design that lasts throughout the growing years. I look forward to the opportunity to assist my patients and there families in accessing his products to improve there medical care at home and benefit from the significant therapeutic effects these devices can provide at home.
Adrienne Bergen, PT, ATP 11/02/09
I have worked as a physical therapist and adaptive equipment specialist for over 40 years. During that time, I have seen many people step forward to use their abilities to increase the abilities of others. Parents, grandparents, carpenters, therapists and others worked to create devices that would provide a supplement to the hands on therapy provided during direct therapy sessions. These devices supported the person and/or provided positioning to stretch tight muscles and/or maintain post surgical results once muscles were released. It is wonderful to see the work that Ollie Jones is doing to continue this tradition. His devices are functional, and can be utilized in many different situations. His devices are unique, and in some cases serve a need that has never been served in this way before.
The Wedgster provides an opportunity for long sitting at a traditional chair height. Children who require long term stretching usually do better if they are occupied and part of the natural environment. This chair keeps the child at table height where they can fully participate usually resulting in longer periods of stretching without complaint. The seat portion has an adjustable angle, allowing therapists to slowly introduce a greater stretch as tolerated.
The Legster is a simple device that replaces the wheelchair’s custom seating surface, providing a long sitting platform for prolonged stretch. This simple device can be invaluable for post surgical positioning, especially for children who cannot sit without the full support of their own specialized wheelchair. A simple device offering comfort and freedom for a disabled child as they recover from surgery and after that to maintain the benefit of muscle releases.
I wish Ollie Jones the best of luck as he moves forward, creating niche equipment to meet the needs of this very special population.
Andrea Main, MPT, ATP 2/17/10
I have recently had a chance to use the Wedgster with the clients that I treat in a classroom environment. It seems to have great benefits to all of the clients. Many of the clients that I treat have hamstrings that are so tight that they have difficulty maintaining a long sitting position. The ability to transform this seat into an inclined position allows them to sit for longer periods of time with their legs extended. The clients are able to stretch their hamstrings for longer durations and are comfortable while sitting. I have also found that after clients have had 30 minutes in the Wedgster they are able to ambulate and stand with more ease.
The seat also allows my clients to be interactive in their classrooms. Traditionally, I would place the students in a corner chair on the floor; this limited their ability to be at the same level as their peers and instructors. The ability to place the Wedgster up high really assists the clients in being more interactive in the classroom while still allowing them to stretch their hamstrings.
I have even found that some of the clients are able to maintain an upright head and trunk for longer periods of time than in their own wheelchairs. The Wedgster provides the client a very large base of support by extending the lower extremities and abducting them. Since the Wedgster seat is able to change angles, the client does not have to fight their hamstrings that would normally pull them into a posterior pelvic tilt. Allowing them this solid base of support gives them the ability to have better head and trunk control while sitting.
I feel that the Wedgster does have applications in the home environments as well. It could be used as a high chair to allow the client to sit with their family for dinner and at the same timework to stretch their hamstrings and adductors. It is an easy way for families to carry out home therapy programs without having to sit with their child to stretch.
The Wedgster is used everyday in our classroom environment and has been of benefit to all our clients. I highly recommend the use of the Wedgster chair!
Shubert Chang, C.P.O. 10/08/09
To Whom It May Concern:
Our company, Dynamic Orthopedics, Inc., specializes in treating the pediatric population for their prosthetic and orthotic needs. In so doing, we come in contact with children of varying diagnoses which present with lower extremity tightness especially of the hamstrings and adductors. Although bracing is beneficial, the Wedgster positioning device demonstrates a way to passively stretch the tight musculature and also allow for a comfortable sitting position so that the child can engage in social and interactive communication. I have seen the Wedgster utilized in a special needs school and can see how its use could be used in conjunction with orthotic intervention for a prolonged stretch.
Jean Blank, PT 3/28/11
I’m a pediatric physical therapist. I work in a school setting where we have access to positioning equipment along with teachers and paraprofessionals who are able to position students daily. In spite of this supportive setting, hamstring elongation was always a challenge. Over the years we have experimented with different positioning options. Usually we would end up modifying what we had by using multiple wedges, positioning straps, bolsters, etc. It was difficult to create a strategy that could be easily and consistently reproduced on a day to day basis for effective stretching.
Then a therapist from The Potentials ARC in Palm Beach connected us with Ollie Jones and a grant project for providing Wedgsters to children. We entered one of our students in the grant competition and were delighted when he was chosen to receive a free Wedgster. We started by using the Wedgster at school. Our student tolerated the positioning well. The paraprofessionals found it more easily reproducible and functional with school activities than our previous strategies. The Wedgster worked so well for our student that we ordered two for the classroom, one for this student and one for another student. I recently moved our grant winner’s Wedgster to his home. His family is happy to see that he now has a comfortable and appropriate seating device that not only gives him functional seating at home, but also addresses hamstring elongation.
We are happy to have our Wedgsters and are grateful to Ollie Jones for having the vision and dedication to make it possible for our students.
