Hand Controls
Keep You
Get evaluated, try before you buy,
research low- and high-tech options
by Alyssa Quintero
Mechanical and electronic hand controls can mean the difference between staying on the road and feeling trapped in your own home.
But while hand controls may sound like the be-all and end-all solution, there’s a long (and often expensive) road ahead. Planning, driver evaluations and training all are required in order to find the right equipment to safely meet your driving needs.
Once driving abilities start to change due to progressing muscle weakness, don’t make the mistake of ignoring it. If you can’t adequately turn the wheel or react as quickly to hit the brake, you’re not only endangering yourself, but also your passengers and everyone else on the road.
And that’s where a Certified Driver Rehabilitation Specialist (CDRS) can make a world of difference. A CDRS can help determine whether you’ll be able to drive with modifications and adaptive equipment.
The first step is to speak with an occupational therapist (OT) about changes in driving ability. An OT also may be able to help locate a CDRS in your area (and many driver rehab specialists also are OTs).
Next, obtain a doctor’s prescription giving medical approval for an initial driver evaluation.
Don’t buy anything until you’ve been evaluated by a CDRS. During the evaluation, drivers have the opportunity to try various kinds of driving equipment in different vehicle settings.
While you may be able to use any of the available hand controls, the CDRS will determine the best system for your abilities, now and in the future.
For example, the CDRS will evaluate whether you can stop the car safely. If not, low- or zero-effort braking controls may be recommended. Or, if you have difficulty maneuvering a traditional steering wheel, the CDRS may recommend a steering control, a smaller steering wheel or reduced-effort steering.
“Drivers need to get to a CDRS,” said Peter Ruprecht of Drive-Master, a hand control manufacturer. “It’ll cost them some money to get evaluated, but they’ll get prescribed correctly, and they’ll be a safer driver. Some states require that it be done through a CDRS. And in the long run, it can save them some money by getting a prescription for the right equipment the first time.”
Mobility Products and Design’s mechanical push/right angle hand control (above) often is used in conjunction with a spinner knob that helps turn the steering wheel. To use the control, the driver pushes forward to brake and down to accelerate.
“You can make some very costly mistakes if you just order a certain driv-
ing system off the Internet,” warns Lori Benner, an OT and CDRS at Penn State’s Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa., and president of the Board of Directors of the Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists (ADED).
Although driving specialists prefer to prescribe — and drivers prefer to buy — the least costly and least technologically advanced system possible, that system still has to be usable a year from now, she notes.
“We can prescribe driving systems where the total vehicle cost can be upwards of $100,000. Certainly, you don’t want to make a $100,000 mistake.”
People with neuromuscular diseases should ask the driver rehab specialist “what kind of experience have you had with someone like me?” Benner advises. “You don’t want to train with someone who isn’t familiar with muscular dystrophy and its progression.”
The CDRS should ensure that driving adaptations will work “on your weak-est days,” and can accommodate progressive weakness, she emphasizes.
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