Two year old Arlo likes going on walks, playing with his blocks and reading books. He is a happy little boy and enjoys watching cars in the street. His mum Lauren explains what led her to get in touch with our Innovation Centre for help.
“Arlo has a condition called RTD type 3 which affects the nerves in his body causing profound deafness, muscle weakness and breathing problems. Arlo had to rebuild his muscles back and regained the ability to sit and roll. He is nonverbal and knows some signs. Arlo is on life support meaning he requires ventilation via tracheostomy. He is attached to a machine most of the time. This was not easy as Arlo’s walking frame didn’t have anything to attach the ventilator onto meaning I had to hold the vent while trying to hold everything else.
My son needed something making for the back of his walker to attach his vent so I that I didn’t have to carry it. That’s why I got in touch with Cerebra. The communication was brilliant and the Innovation Centre team were very helpful. They were able to make a box to fit on the back of his walker and allow him to walk by himself”.
Ross Head from the Cerebra Innovation Centre explains “Cerebra Innovation Centre helped get Arlo active by developing a small attachment for his ventilator so that he could carry it on his Kaye Walker. The attachment is small and light weight and a fun and sporty design to match Arlo’s enthusiasm!
Designer David said “it was fun to work with Arlo and Lauren to get Arlo up to speed. His desire to get around inspired me to design this tiny adaption, in the hope it would make a big difference to his mobility and social wellbeing. It is so nice to work with parents who push us to develop more inventive solutions to help their children do what other kids do!”
Gemma told us “Arlo can now walk independently with his vent attached and doesn’t have to rely on me to always be by his side around the house. It’s made a big difference and helped my boy loads”.
