Fundraising
Are aids for exercise and sports granted in Denmark?
It must be deeply frustrating for users and citizens to experience how differently the municipalities administer the legislation for aids and assistance for additional expenses"!
"As a retailer of both traditional walking aids and more leisure activity-oriented aids, we experience great variation from municipality to municipality when it comes to aids and, for that matter, companions and transport arrangements for the leisure and health area. There is also a big difference between whether it is a child under or over 12. It is just as if the kind of intense activity that a running bike provides and that young people enjoy is "unacceptable" in some municipalities or with some case managers, while play equipment better can be done. It is not with the majority, but still sad when an automatic rejection is given! Sad, because young and adult wheelchair users in particular need to get exercise without overloading the joints and muscles. For many wheelchair users and people with major disabilities, it is difficult to find a suitable form of exercise that is also social and experiential. Maintenance physiotherapy does not cover the same need. Once they have diabetes 2, too high a cholesterol level, contracture and osteoarthritis, yes, it is actually a bit late and doubly difficult to change the saddle"!
"However, when a running cycle is approved, emphasis is often placed on: free play and movement, participation in identity-forming leisure activities with peers with disabilities, being physically active with family/friends, independent mobility in the immediate area, health-preserving/benefiting activity, making the person more self-reliant ”.
"Of course, the degree of disability, life situation and assistive device portfolio have an impact on what is granted, but still we experience big differences. Some can get both manual and electric wheelchairs as well as walkers and jogging bikes or bicycles. Others have to make do with a wheelchair and stand or rollator depending on their level of function. But in the last case, those aids will not alleviate their need for exercise and fitness through aerobic dynamic work with large muscle groups. My point is simply that all age groups across the country must be ensured equal access to fitness-promoting and health-preserving/beneficial exercise and sports with aids, accompaniment and transport”.
"It is difficult to describe what happens, but a good walking aid can boost both physical, mental and language development. The children start to walk around the whole kindergarten and even want to go to the playground. Slightly older children hide from father and mother and do not want to come inside. Young people and adults raise their physical radius of action from 500 m to several kilometers. A jogging trip around a lake or out in the forest is suddenly an everyday activity. It's something that gives you confidence - that you know - I can do it"!
"Some spastics speak very little and are difficult to understand. Many refrain from talking to them and this gives the spastic less opportunity to practice talking and communicating. Through sports and play, you can strengthen your other ways of communication, facial expressions and body language. Just having to be followed on a walk, running around the same hall or rolling balls to each other embodies communication and consideration. That's why I always encourage play, exercise and sports".
"If you are not so good at speaking and written language, it is even more important to build up self-confidence and skills where you have potential, so that the mental and physical "surplus" can also be used when you have to practice speaking, read and write. The fact that they have difficulty learning it should not make us spare them the challenge, but rather make an effort to inspire them and help them to the most suitable tools".
"When I come out for a test, I immediately try to get a direct communication going with the user, regardless of age. I do this by making eye contact and body contact, shaking hands, telling them my name and that I am visiting so they can try one of my walkers called Cavalier. This also applies if it is a blind multi-handicapped person. They may not understand everything, but it helps create a trusting situation. Only if the person is very insecure around strangers, I hold back”. So says Connie Hansen, who sells mobility aids; the running bike Petra and the strollers Cavalier and Cavalier FF.
"I think it is important that the user feels that they are seen and heard and feel that their opinion is important. What they can express with facial expressions, body language and individual sounds and words is just as valid as what can be said in long sentences. Sometimes I actually don't manage to greet the other participants nearly as nicely and formally at the test, but I hope they forgive me for that".
"Perhaps it is a little easier for me to get a "dialogue" going with the user, because I myself am a wheelchair user and am physically at almost the same eye level and know many of the feelings, e.g. to feel exposed, different or unable to do what one would like.”
A test, where parts have to be changed along the way, can easily take 1-1½ hours and that is a long time, especially for children and young people. As a disabled person, it's hideous when 3-5 people stand and just look at you, while you're in an assistive device you don't feel comfortable with and don't know if you like it. Therefore, we should preferably "play" our way through the test together, while at the same time finding the best placement of the minimal but necessary support".
"A test should be a bit cozy and fun, so if there is a ball in the room, can I roll it to the users and ask if we should play ball?"
It also gives me the opportunity to assess the user's resources more broadly, e.g. cognitive abilities”.
"Not infrequently there is a need for more needs to be met than just walking. Maybe the handlebars should be removable to get to the tabletop. Or the handlebar must be replaceable with a transport case for toys or a plate for a talking machine. These may not be unique solutions for standing aids, but for walking aids it is a bit special that both the talking machine, Doll Lise and photo album can be brought around the playground. It is very motivating for the user that the walker "gives them the slightest hint" and independence-strengthening to be able to walk around and talk to others about, for example, the things in the checkout. Here at the Rehab Fair in May in Fredericia, we will show on stand A-1282 some of the new solutions that make the Cavalier in particular more than just a walking aid".
"In my spare time, I am involved in Race Running and the Athletics Committee under the Danish Handicap Sports Association, where in the coming years we will strengthen the activities for children and young people, among other things, through collaboration with after-school children at centers and special schools on short courses with athletics and other outdoor sports. The courses must end with a small meeting with other SFOs from the same region. The aim is to motivate exercise, outdoor play and participation in sports already from childhood and adolescence".
"There is a lot going on around Race Running on road bikes; our week-long Race Runners Camp & CUP 14-21. July draws more and more participants, there are more rallies and weekend camps especially for children, Race Running at Atletion in Århus is now a department under Lavia Århus and Ålborg Handicap Idræt also starts an offer for Race Running in these weeks. At our stand we have lots of leaflets about athletics and Race Runnig for anyone interested".
"For me, mobility and communication are equally important and actually two cubits out of a piece of general health and personal development", concludes Connie Hansen.