What to look for in an Adapted Van (Wheelchair Van)/ Understanding adapted Van Terminology

Navigating the world of purchasing a wheelchair accessible van can be confusing, overwhelming and expensive...haha.  I will attempt to break down some of the terms that people use and some of the things I think are best to look for in purchasing a van.

When a van is modified (changed) to be wheelchair accessible it is called "modified" or  "adapted" or "converted" or "accessible" or "wheelchair accessible".

I am only covering the topic of staying in your wheelchair to travel...there are other options if you are able to get out of your wheelchair and into a vehicle seat.

Minivans typically have ramps and full size vans have lifts.

The 2 most common brands of lifts/ramps are Braun and Ricon.  Braun is typically used in minivans.  Ricon is typically used in commercial applications (like public transportation) and full size vans.

A ramp is at a 45 degree angle coming out the side or rear of the van.  Here is an example of a ramp.

A lift comes out of the van and stops parallel to the ground.  It then lowers to the ground.  The person then gets on the lift and is raised up to the level of the van floor.  Kind of like an elevator.  Here is an example of a lift.

An "in-floor" ramp means that the ramp gets stored in the floor of the van.  The advantage to this is that when the ramp is stowed (put away, ready to drive) it is not blocking ANY of the doorways.  A "fold-out" ramp will block a doorway.  An in-floor ramp is preferred, but probably less common.  I am assuming it costs more. Here is an example of both.

This ramp will block the doorway

They do have Manual Ramps.  They do not use any electricity.  It is best if the wheelchair user always has a companion helping them.  All electric/hydrolic lifts and ramps need repairs and maintenance every few years (2-3 years in my experience).  I have not had a manual lift, but I imagine it would not need NEARLY the maintenance and repairs of electric/hydrolic lifts and ramps.  I have had multiple times that my daughter has been stuck in or out of the van due to an electrical or mechanical failure on our lift.  I have had to use the manual over-ride.  Manual ramps are much cheaper.  Manual Ramps are also much faster.  Lifts and ramps take a while to get into position.  If I had a choice, I would choose a manual ramp over an electrical one.  Manual ramps are much harder to find on used vehicles.  Here is an example.

Manual Ramp

A lift can be solid or a "split-gate".  (remember lifts are on commercial and full size-vans).  A solid lift will block one of the doorways when it is "stowed" (put away, ready to drive).  A split gate will split in 2 when it is stowed so you can still use the doorway.  It is awkward, but still leaves an opening.  If possible I like split-gate better, that way kids or things can still get in and out through the door.  Split-gate are much harder to find.  You can tell that they are split gate because you can see that the lift is split into 2 halves.  Here is an example of both.

Splitgate LIFT parallel to ground

Split-gate LIFT in "stowed" position

Split-Gate LIFT on ground

Solid LIFT blocks doorway

Solid LIFT blocks doorway

Lifts and ramps can be Rear-Entry or Side entry. The advantage to rear-entry is that you can use ANY parking spot, not just ones with the yellow striped lines next to the vehicle.  Another advantage to rear entry is that the wheelchair does not have to turn to face forward once it is inside the vehicle.  A disadvantage to rear entry is that the wheelchair user has to be #1)way in the back of the vehicle, or #2)there can be no other seats (or a lot of missing seats) or #3)the seats have to fold up.  If you choose fold up seats, that makes it difficult for carseats.  And fold-up seats are really rare.  Here are some examples.

Rear-entry Ramp

Side-entry ramp

Rear Entry Ramp with fold-up seats

Side-Entry Lift

Rear-entry lift

When looking at lifts and ramps, look at backup plans.  How do you over-ride the lift to use it manually if there is loss of power or mechanical failure.

Braunability, AMS(Adaptive Mobility Solutions), Entervan, Activan, VMI (Vantage Mobility International) are all systems that companies have designed.  Basically your local adaptive van place goes to these training facilities (Braunability for example) and go to classes to know how to adapt a van correctly.  They then come back to their local adaptive van place and can adapt vans to those standards and can place the label of "Braunability" or "Braun Entervan" on the adapted van.  Things that they learn would be structural safety, best design practices for ease of use for wheelchair users, electrical wiring, how to aesthetically make if look good inside and out.  So if you see any of these terms you know it is a good and safe conversion.  It means the conversion was done by someone who had specific training.

Tie-downs consist of 3 parts.  Anchors (usually 4) in the van.  Tie-down's on the wheelchair itself (usually 4).  Straps that connect the van tie-downs to the wheelchair tie-downs.  All three of these parts are collectively OR individually called tie-downs.  When getting a wheelchair make sure to ask for tie-downs (sometimes called a "transportation option" or "Transportation package".  One popular brand of tie-downs are called Q-straint.  Here are some examples of van tie downs.  Some tie-downs are fixed in 1 location (like the first pic).  Some tie-downs have a track (like pics 2 and 3) and can be adjusted in different locations for different needs. (I prefer the tracks if possible).

Tie-downs can have a housing where the straps are stored.  This would mean they have some type of "retractor".  It might be automatic, semi-automatic or manual. In the first pic below is the semi-automatic retractor.  It is a red button that will pull the excess strap tighter.  In the 2nd pic is a manual tie-down, you have to pull it tighter with your own muscles.

Manual tiedowns are cheapest.  One advantage however to one with a retractor is that it gets the straps all contained and more out of the way.

Semi-automatic Retractor (red button)

Manual tie-downs

If a van comes with hand controls it means the van can be completely driven without your legs or feet.  You can do the brakes and gas and steering all with your arms/hands.

Hand Controls

Hand Controls

There are many configurations of van seating.  Where do you want the wheelchair user to sit inside the van?  Are they the driver?  or front passenger seat?  or rear of van?   or right behind driver?  Window shop at adaptive mobility shops to see different configurations and go look at some vans for sale near you to figure your ideal configuration out.  Here are some examples.

When shopping for adapted vans, consider full-size vans vs mini-vans.  A full size van can be anywhere from 7-15 passenger.  It is larger than a mini-van.  It would be like a Ford e-series (Ford e350 for example) or a Dodge Ram or a Dodge Sprinter or a Mercedes Sprinter or a Nissan NV etc...  Toyota and Honda do not make a full-size van.

Full-Size Van

Mini-van

Advantages to a full-size van are #1) you can fit more people #2) more room around the wheelchair to do the tie-downs #3) more room around each passenger #4) if it has a raised roof you can stand upright inside the van  #5) more cargo space #6) not required to raise the roof or lower the floor like a minivan #7) modifications are often cheaper if you choose not to raise the roof or lower the floor.

Advantages to minivan #1) A lot more on the market (easier to find) (unadapted mini-vans) #2) easier to drive and park and reverse #3) usually have a sliding door on each side, so kids aren't banging cars next to the vehicle with the door and if you block 1 doorway with a ramp, you have a door on the other side.

In order to make a minivan accessible they almost always need to have a lowered floor or a raised roof.  Usually people opt for a lowered floor.  A lowered floor (from the outside of the van) aesthetically looks more like a normal mini-van.  Making the lowered floor or the raised roof is really pricey.

After-market raised roof on full-size van

After-market raised roof on mini-van

Lowered floor on mini-van with rear-entry

Lowered floor on mini-van with side entry
(notice the sliding door and whole side of van is lowered in addition to floor inside)

Lowered Floor

Although full-size vans do not have to have a raised roof or a lowered floor, several full size vans come with a raised roof from the factory such as the Sprinters (Sprinters come in 3 roof heights), Ford Transit (not Transit Connect, they are short in length like a minivan), some newer Dodge Ram's.  The raised roof from the factory is often called a "high top" or "high roof".  The advantage to a raised roof  is being able to stand up inside the van.  If I need to move my child from her wheelchair to a bench to change her, it is much much much better on my back if I can stand up straight rather than carrying her while hunched over.

Sprinter has a raised roof (high top) from the factory

The majority of people I know have bought their adapted vans on ebay.  Yes,  you buy them sight unseen and yes you have to drive or fly to bring them home or pay to have them shipped.  But you have a much bigger selection and can get better prices.  It is also a great way to compare prices of similar vehicles.  Because you cannot look up adapted vehicles on Kelly Blue Book unfortunately.  I personally only look at the "buy-it-now prices".  You may be able to get a van cheaper through the auction, but it is too much for me.

To do an ebay search I will typically
#1) put into the ebay search bar "wheelchair van ramp" or "wheelchair van lift".  If there is a make I want I will add that also.  Such as "Honda wheelchair van ramp".
#2)Once the search comes up I will select "Buy it now".
#3)Then I will select "sort" and choose "Price + Shipping:  Lowest first"

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Here is another blogpost I wrote about how to pay for a modified vehicle.
http://supportedinourtrials.blogspot.com/2016/05/paying-for-wheelchair-modified.html

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What did I miss?  What advice do you have for people looking for an adapted van?  Please like my FB page to see future posts https://www.facebook.com/SupportedInOurTrials/

How I make IEP's better

It starts way before the IEP...For me it starts about 2 months before her IEP is due...

I make appointments to come and observe each of the school therapists individually working with Ellie...the way that they normally do.  This is no small task. Ellie has PT, OT, Speech, Vision, Deaf-Blind Consultant and an Intervenor.

After I observe them, I ask how Ellie is doing on her current goals and allow them to report.  I ask them to tell me Ellie's accomplishments (not short-comings).  I do not go over every goal with each therapist...only the goals that mainly apply to them.

We then discuss whether we want to keep goals the same or get rid of them or alter them or add to them etc...  This is where I typically will make my suggestions of what I want her goals to be.

Something that is really helpful is to think ahead of what you want the child to be able to do in 5 years.  Tell the therapists these 5 year goals.  Then you can figure out the steps to help them get there.

These first meetings take about 2 hours each so I make sure the therapist has that much time set aside.

I feel like these one-on-one meetings are good for us because when we used to try and have all the therapists sit down together...there were too many cooks in the kitchen.  We got really side-tracked and there were just too many opinions and the meetings were super long.

Once we have narrowed down what we want the goals to be, the therapist agrees to write the goals that pertain to their area of expertise and they email them those particular goals to me.  I go over the goals with a fine tooth comb and send back suggestions to that particular therapist.  We email back and forth a few times until we have the goal pretty good.

After I have met with everyone individually, we have what I have termed a "Pre-IEP".

This is a meeting with all of the therapists and the teacher and the parents and the student.  The teacher has compiled a list of all the goals together, numbered them and has a copy for each person.  The school administrator is NOT at this meeting.   I think it is important for the student to be at each meeting...these are their goals.  I think having the student there helps remind people that these goals are for a person...not just goals on paper.

We go over all of the goals so everyone knows all of the goals.  We discuss how different therapists can incorporate other goals into their specialty therapies.  For example if speech has written a  reading goal, we might make suggestions to the OT of how they could incorporate the reading goal with her OT goals.  We make more changes to the IEP.  This is the longest meeting it takes up to 3 hours.

The teacher then takes her marked up copy with all of the changes and the meeting is done.  The teacher makes all of the corrections on the computer.

The teacher sends me home a hard copy a day or 2 later.  I look over it and make any final adjustments and send it back.

Then we have the real IEP.  All therapists and parents and the student and the school administrator are present.  We read through the IEP.  We have virtually no changes.  We sign the IEP.  THis meeting takes less than an hour.

Done.  (For another year).

One thing I have had to come to realize is that the teachers and therapists ARE NOT THE ENEMY!  They are in this profession because they love the kids.  They want to help.  They are not in it for the money or the fame.  Compliment them, praise them, bring them treats (to the IEP also), you want them on your team.  POUR ON THE HONEY...not the Vinegar.  Try to truly listen to what they are saying and try to calmly help them understand what you long term desires are.

One last suggestion.  Sometimes it doesn't hurt to throw them a bone.  Almost every year I will "cave" on something.  Usually it is something small.  I will say, "I don't think she will be able to do this, or this is not my favorite goal" or something. But I add, "I am willing to give it a try for 1 year".  I feel like if I am willing to bend, they are more willing to bend also.  I get 95% of what I want and they are happy because they get what they want also.

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