Additional Needs

It’s wheely hot outside!

Posted by Brittney Baumgartner on 8th August 2019 Additional Needs, Advice & Support, Disabilities

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Here in Texas, everybody knows that the summer months can be absolutely brutal with heat. Sure it might not be as bad as Arizona, but it is no joke.

One of the biggest struggles my son faces during the summer heat, is keeping cool and finding activities to do while in his wheelchair.

He loves the outdoors and everything it entails (minus the bugs) and is always begging me to take him out.

We are a household that allows screen time, so it is always nice when he wants to break free from that, but c’mon... we are talking 105 degrees Fahrenheit sometimes!

Let me paint the picture real quick to give you an idea, but his pediatric wheelchair is almost all metal, and more than 70% of it is black.

Leave that baby in the sun too long, and you could actually risk some burns.

We try to limit the activities he can do while not in his wheelchair, just because the floor gets hot as well and crawling is his preferred choice of travel.

But lo and behold, (drumroll) we have found the solution! There are these things throughout the city here called splash pads.

They are turned on by the city during certain time periods and ring similar to back in the days when kids would play around in the water from an old broken fire hydrant.

This is much safer, lol, and designed just for this purpose. It allows Oliver to still manoeuvre around in his wheelchair without the risk of getting stepped on or burning himself on the floor, and although in the long run it might not be the smartest, he can stay cool and wet in his chair.

He has been able to roll around and meet some pretty cool kids at the splash pad, and best of all... it is free!

We do not let his wheelchair sit wet and try to dry it off immediately in the sun or with a towel, so I don’t have any negative things to report about it getting wet.

If you have any ideas or tips you would love to share about keeping cool during the summer, with or without a wheelchair, let us know below in the comments!