
Could Hand Controls Help You?
Are you experiencing tingling in your feet?
Tingling or numbness in your feet could be a sign of sensation loss. Sensation changes in our feet can happen for lots of different reasons. From diabetes to neuropathy to spinal cord injuries, sensation loss in your feet can impact safe driving.
We rely on sensation while driving to:
- Know where our feet are when they are under the dash
- Find and press on the brake pedal
- Regulate pressure for the gas pedal
Drivers with diminished sensation are at a higher risk for:
- Hitting the wrong pedal
- Slipping off of the brake
- Having difficulty stopping or controlling the car.
Sensation changes can lead to increased crash and safety risk.
A driver rehabilitation specialist (DRS) can help by teaching drivers to use hand controls. Hand controls allow the driver to use one hand to control the brake & gas, while the other hand steers.
There are different types of hand controls. Your driver rehab specialists help to select the best type and then provides training. The number of training sessions ranges based on the driver. Training teaches the client to drive with his/her hands and in Pennsylvania, helps to prepare the driver for the DMV driver test. Once the driver passes the test, an updated license is issued.
From there, your driver rehabilitation specialist writes a prescription for the equipment and special equipment vendors complete the installation. We have several of these vendors in the Harrisburg, Hershey, and Allentown area.
Listen as this driver talks about her experience with Adaptive Mobility:
Meet Susie!
Susie Touchinsky, OTR/L, SCDCM, CDRS, is an established expert in both occupational therapy and driver rehabilitation. She has been an OT for more than 20 years and brings expertise and a love for helping others in her speeches and trainings.
Contact Adaptive Mobility Services
Learn More With Our OT Driver Rehabilitation Specialist Courses
Try Our Free OT DRS Courses:
- OTs Role With Driving
- GRID: Generalist Resource to Integrate Driving
- Readiness to Drive: IADL Checklist
- FREE 6 Driving Resources for the OT
- 5-Steps Our Clients Use to Start Their Own Highly-Paid OT Driver Rehab Business
- Driving Risk Screening Tools
- BCAT Brief Cognitive Assessment Test System Overview
- BCAT Part 2: CBS 8 & 15-for-Me
Become the best OT Driver Rehabilitation Specialist you can be by being a life long learner.