Case study: Dual-purpose stairclimber improves daily life for the whole family

Daily life in caring for their young son has become much easier and safer for the Orton family thanks to an AAT S-Max Sella stairclimber.

Arthur was brain damaged as a baby, leaving him non-mobile and non-verbal. As he has grown, the family needed to make changes to their home.

His adaptations manager took a holistic approach, advising that while at the time Arthur’s parents could manage to carry him up and down stairs, that would not be safe nor practical as he grew.

The configuration of the family’s home staircase, with a tight bend at the top requiring a U-turn into Arthur’s bedroom, prompted the manager to prescribe AAT’s S-Max Sella stairclimber, following a joint assessment with AAT of the family and their home.

The battery-powered device features kinematic wheels at the front and back that raise and lower to ascend or descend at a pace set by the carer, an integral seat, and height-adjustable control handles.

To ensure Arthur was comfortable and safe, as he was only six years old at the time, AAT advised fitting the Sella with a booster seat; when he gets bigger, this can be easily removed, enabling the kit to adapt with him and to him.

Arthur’s father, Michael, explained: “She said it was the right technology for us and she was right! We’ve had it two years now: it definitely has been the right tech as far as we’re concerned.

“It means either my wife or I can beetle up and down the stairs with Arthur. And it works as an upstairs wheelchair for us- we get to the top of the stairs, and just keep going into his bedroom, the bathroom or between the two. There’s none of risk we’d face if we had to transfer him from a stairlift into a wheelchair.”