Buy the book: Therapists publish guide

YARMOUTH, Maine - There's a new Bible on seating and mobility.

Therapists and ATPs Michelle Lange and Jean Minkel published a clinical resource guide on seating and mobility in November through SLACK Books, part of the Healio Network, that spans a whopping 440 pages.

“There are a number of assistive technology books on the market, but some of them haven't been updated in awhile and many of them dedicate only one chapter to seating and mobility,” said Lange, OTR/L ABDA ATP/SMS, who practices privately in the Denver area. “There hasn't been a text that has gone into this much depth—and there really is so much to address.”

Lange and Minkel are familiar names to those practicing seating and mobility. Denver-based Lange helps NRRTS select topics and speakers for its more than 30 webinars each year, as well as edits the clinical articles that appear in the group's Directions magazine. She also consults and does education work for Stealth Products and Seating Dynamics, two manufacturers in the market.

While Lange and Minkel authored three of the book's 25 chapters—which address everything from the assessment process to postural support to clinical decision-making—most were authored by other clinicians “who are also passionate about what they do,” some from as far away as Iceland, Lange said.

“Jean and I started the guide by sitting down at a conference and coming up with a table of contents, and the toughest part was identifying an author for each topic,” she said.

But it's that variety of authors and their specialties in different populations—whether it's pediatrics, bariatrics or geriatrics—that are the guide's best selling points, Lange said.

“I work mostly with kids and I'm not that familiar with bariatrics, but when I was editing the chapter by Stephanie Tanguay (of Motion Concepts), I took notes,” she said. “She gave me a different way of looking at optimizing driving. I thought, 'I'm going to use that idea, it's great.'”

Lange envisions a myriad of uses for “Seating and Wheeled Mobility: A Clinical Resource Guide”—for therapists who are just beginning to specialize in seating and mobility, for those who are working with a new population of people with disabilities, and for those looking for better ways to document and support the need for equipment to payers.

“I think this will be one of those books that people keep on their shelves and keep turning back to,” she said.