Re: Re: from the original author of the question about the chair

[Guest guest]

Be it a Rifton Chair, Trap Trap chair or a cube chair with a tray, many children

NEED the confines of a chair (not with a seat belt) in order to focus on an

activity they might never choose to engage in.

I am an OT and who works with Early Intervention. Probably 90% of the students

can be engaged in activities on the floor or in a play center.

Others, benefit from sitting in a chair while being presented with toys and

gaining skills with toys they would never choose on their own. I start with as

few as 5 minutes (sometimes with favored toys) and try to increase to 15

minutes, incorporating novel toys. As they learn new play skills, a chair

becomes unnecessary for most.

Janis DiCorleto

" I understood the reference at the CASANA

> workshop about the chair as a possible helpful tool for

> therapeutic use... from that I gathered that the chair is

> sometimes used for an active or distracted client. "

>

> Either you misunderstood or that's just horrible that a

> professional that should know better would recommend this

> chair as " a helpful tool... for active or distracted

> clients "

>

> Even outside of the story from Tricia I posted -as from

> this letter:

>

> " The district was directed to stop using the Rifton

> chair with the belt, tray or any other type of restricting

> device, unless adaptive seating is needed pursuant to the

> child's individualized education program (IEP) because

> the child needs postural or stabilizing support due to an

> orthopedic impairment. The Rifton chair with a belt, tray or

> any type of restraining device must not be used for cuing,

> providing a secure area, reminder to sit, or in general, for

> behavioral management or sensory integration purposes. The

> manufacter's website explicitly states that Rifton

> equipment is not intended to be used as a behavioral

> restraint. This is true for diagnostic situations as well as

> day-to-day classroom activities. "

> http://dpi.wi.gov/sped/complaints/com07075-att.html

>

>

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