College and wheelchairs or scooters.

[baratron]

I have a rather difficult decision to make. It's whether I'm going back to College next term (at the start of May) or in September. Yes, because of the way that college fees work, I only have the choice of going back at the start of a term. I can't go back in the middle of a term, or over the long summer that is a break for undergraduates but part of the normal routine for postgrads. Gods damnit.

The argument is as follows: I'm not going to be better enough to do very much in May; but waiting until September is plain stupid. I'll get frustrated and behind. Really, I want to go back in June or July, but that isn't an option. Bah.

So I have to figure out getting some extra support from my Disabled Student's Allowance. The Disability Office at College reckons I shouldn't need to have a "top-up" Needs Assessment, I should simply need "some hefty medical evidence", but that still requires effort on my part. And I'm not exactly sure what I need in order to manage at College. Things that might be suggested are:
* a Personal Assistant to help with a manual wheelchair
* taxis all the way from home to College
* an electric wheelchair/scooter

I can't use a manual wheelchair without help because London pavements are absolutely terrible. I simply don't have the strength to push myself around, except indoors. So it's get help with a manual wheelchair, or get an electric wheelchair.

I don't know. I'm pretty uncertain about getting a random stranger as a PA, because I have enough problems using my Library Assistant funding. I feel too guilty and uncomfortable having someone I don't know sitting in the library with me waiting for me to need a book. Oh sure, they're being paid to be there, but it makes me anxious. I think I'd feel triply anxious if the person I didn't know was pushing my wheelchair - sometimes I get panicky when Richard apparently launches me into a stream of traffic. I really don't want a stranger doing that, and then sitting around while I do work for me to need help with moving myself again.

There is the option of asking someone I know to be my PA, but the DSA payment would only appear on proof that the person is paying tax and National Insurance. It would probably mean doing a Tax Return, which is sufficiently stressful as to provide a serious disincentive.

I'd much prefer to get an electric wheelchair or scooter so I can get myself around. Even if I have to pay for it myself. But there's a lot of things I don't know. The principal ones, which are technically Google-able except that I am totally out of spoons for today are:

1) Can you rent a scooter by the day, or is it always by the week?

2) Can you take scooters into London taxis? Are their ramps strong enough?

3) If I have to pay for it myself, would it be cheaper to buy a scooter from eBay rather than renting one?

4) How much life does a typical scooter battery have on it, and how do you go about charging scooter batteries?

5) Are you allowed to take electric scooters into academic reference libraries? (British Library and UCL Science Library being the main ones - and this will probably need an email to the Disability Liaison person rather than being found online).

This is all hurting my head.

Also, are there any livejournal (or dreamwidth) communities for people with disabilities/chronic health conditions other than chronic_health, malingerers and sicklygoth, all of which are dead? I can see why it happens - people run out of spoons so stop posting, but it's rather eurgh when you need advice. Really, I want some sort of UK-focused community, since at least half the questions above are very locality-specific.

Comments

[erik]

I can help at least with 4(b): All the scooters I've seen here in the US have the charging circuitry onboard, and a mains plug. You could plug it in more or less anywhere you've stopped for a while, assuming there was an outlet.

[brooksmoses]

This news article suggests that the newer London taxis can take electric wheelchairs, but in practice actually getting a taxi when you're in a wheelchair can be problematic:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7294746.stm

(The relevant quote about the electric wheelchairs: "As Ms Bashall uses a large electric wheelchair, we're on the look-out for one of the newer, wider TX cabs." 4th paragraph.)

The suitability of the TX4 for electric wheelchairs is confirmed here: http://www.worldcarfans.com/10610195939/new-british-built-tx4-taxi-world-launch

[brooksmoses]

In partial answers to question 4, I found a site with a range of scooters and some data on them, and:

* Scooters tend to have ranges of about 16-20 miles, with some as low as 11 and some as high as 38. (That's 25-32km typical, 18km low, 60 high)

* Typical top speed of a scooter is somewhere between 4 and 7 miles per hour (6 to 11 km/hour).

* Batteries take 8-16 hours for a full recharge.

* Batteries typically need to be replaced after a year or so.

[brooksmoses]

Here's a list of scooter rental places in London -- as it says, few of them advertise rates. Someone with extrovert spoons and located in the UK (or able to easily call there) could call and ask:
http://www.disabledinfo.co.uk/dis/81-hire-of-powered-wheelchairs-and-scooters-in-london.asp

The two places that advertise rates are listed at 35 pounds/week. However, that seems to be a long-term rate (or else outdated), as the actual rates for the one with a website are 50 pounds for one week, 150 pounds for 4 weeks, or 200 pounds for 6 weeks: http://www.independent-living.co.uk/hire_products.php?category=Mobility (They also mention ranges of 8 to 20 miles, so apparently the ones I was looking at earlier didn't cover the whole range.)

Meanwhile, this list is all-UK, and at least a couple of the ones outside London mention daily hire, so it seems likely that one of the places that serves London would also be able to do that:
http://disabled-help.webeden.co.uk/wheelchair-hire/4514808964

[brooksmoses]

Also, here are the relevant websites for the disability access for the two libraries you mentioned (both are reasonably wheelchair-friendly, no mention of scooters), with contact information for their disability liasons:

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Library/disabil.shtml (matthew.reynolds@ucl.ac.uk)

http://www.bl.uk/whatson/planyourvisit/disabled/ (visitor-services@bl.uk)

[thekumquat.livejournal.com]

www.wheelfreedom.com are based next to Battersea Park station and very helpful at getting you the right size wheelchair and can deliver.

Re other questions - the libraries it would be a 'can you physically fit a scooter', so I'm pretty sure the BL would be OK.

A scooter user at BiCon simply needed somewhere to park the scooter next to a plug socket, but not sure if that's always the case for scooters.

May I suggest www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbouch for the BBC Ouch! messageboards where uk people have loads of relevant expertise?

[barakta]

Based on what we offer at work We could probably store a chair for you if you just wanted it on campus.... We also were able to help ppl link in with building staff for charging it, storage while in lectures or if only needed it outside or you could charge it in a classroom (they may require it to be PAT tested but should be able to test it for you).

The ones we've just had to get rid of (can't lend to studes cos of insurance) were quiter BULKY but you can get smaller ones and they just have a small car battery sized brick which we kept in the front basket and just plugged the XLR type connector into the cable and then standard wall plug.

I think they have 2-5hrs continuous battery and this will deteriorate over time but can have batteries replaced.

I think you'd do well to think about how it would actually be useful. So something like identifying each possible route and whether you'd walk or scooter, where you'd need permission (or just FDI) to charge it.

You could look for manuals online for scooters before ebay looking, and also try some out at local places. I also recommend BBC ouch as good place of ppl who have done this before.

I'll probably come back to you with more. I might email you if it's not something I can stick on LJ.