Exploring The Functional Impact Of Adaptive Seating On The Lives Of Individual Children And Their Families: A Collective Case Study

Purpose: This study examined parent-reported change in the functional performance of four school-aged children with wheeled mobility needs who had used a new adaptive seating system for 6 weeks.Methods: The collective case study involved four mothers whose children, ages 6-9 years, received a new adaptive seating system for a manual wheelchair or stroller. Mothers completed the Family Impact of Assistive Technology Scale for Adaptive Seating (FIATS-AS) at the time their child received a new seating system, and then after 6 weeks of daily use. Other questionnaires, health records, and semi-structured interviews provided additional data about the seating interventions and their functional effects on individual children and their families.Results: The FIATS-AS detected overall functional gain in one family, and both gains and losses in 2-7 dimensions for all families. Functional status and change scores showed consistency with measures of seating intervention satisfaction, global functional change, and home participation. Interview themes also suggested consistency with change scores, but provided a deeper understanding of important factors that influenced adaptive seating outcomes.Conclusion: This study supports the need to explore further the complexity, temporality and meaningfulness of adaptive seating outcomes in individual children and their families.