Special Needs Child Car Seat Clinic

stick2000

Hi

Has anyone had any experience with a special needs child car seat clinic?

We've got the details for one run by the regional driving assessment centre in Birmingham and am currently waiting for someone to call me back so I can book my daughter in for an assessment.

Our DD is now over the weight limit for her car seat and the next stage up doesn't have any harness. They just secure with the 3 point seat belt - this would not be suitable for DD due to her mobility problems.

The details on the letter just state that the child has an assessment and then a report is written with recommendations - is the car seat then provided or do we have to fund this? I haven't got a problem with the latter, apart from I know special needs car seats can be very expensive, so it may be that we have to approach somewhere for some help.

My concern with this is timescale, given DD is now over the weight limit on her current car seat, does anyone have any experience on how long it all takes?

Thanks in advance!

tronlegacy

Can't advise you,sorry, I have never heard of these clinics.
Our car seat was given to us through social services OT department.That was probably about 10 years ago now and we have now come to the point where our son is almost at the weight limit.
We are having difficulty in finding a car seat for anyone over 36 kg and are considering a mouldable one or a wheelchair accessible car, as I lift my son in and out of car but he is getting a bit heavy.
If you need to fund the car seat yourself,you could try the family fund for a grant as they are very expensive.

Richie-from-the-Boro

stick2000 wrote: »

Hi

Has anyone had any experience with a special needs child car seat clinic?

We've got the details for one run by the regional driving assessment centre in Birmingham and am currently waiting for someone to call me back so I can book my daughter in for an assessment.

Our DD is now over the weight limit for her car seat and the next stage up doesn't have any harness. They just secure with the 3 point seat belt - this would not be suitable for DD due to her mobility problems.

The details on the letter just state that the child has an assessment and then a report is written with recommendations - is the car seat then provided or do we have to fund this? I haven't got a problem with the latter, apart from I know special needs car seats can be very expensive, so it may be that we have to approach somewhere for some help.

My concern with this is timescale, given DD is now over the weight limit on her current car seat, does anyone have any experience on how long it all takes?

Thanks in advance!

100% of every child at some point is "over the weight limit for his/her car seat". whether or not you get help with the cost of the seat and indeed the assessment [self referral fee is subsidised by the DfT] depends of whether or not the child is already in receipt of HRMDLA.

Best of luck.

kingfisherblue

I had a Family Fund grant for my son's special needs car seat and two covers - it didn't come with a cover at all. I think it was about £300 altogether.

The seat was made by Britax and had a five point harness to stop him escaping. That was about 10 or 11 years ago, and he can now sit in an ordinary seat belt quite safely. It looked a bit like the top one on this link, but I can't remember the exact details.

https://www.google.co.uk/#q=britax+special+needs+car+seat&hl=en&tbo=u&source=univ&tbm=shop&sa=X&ei=q7ABUfHKHfKa0QWT5ICYDw&sqi=2&ved=0CFIQsxg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.41524429,d.d2k&fp=683782c9a6b3589f&biw=1120&bih=595

The seat we had was decided after an assessment by Wigan Council, who had an assessment centre for car seats, including seats for children with special needs. Our local authiority doesn't have such a centre. Even though we are not from Wigan, the council loaned us a seat intil the Family Fund could provide one for us, which they did on a much quicker basis than other grants. This was because it was needed urgently for safety reasons.