William Merritt Disabled Living Centre Leeds

The William Merritt Centre is a charity offering impartial advice and professional assessments on a wide range of equipment.

An assessment with our Occupational Therapists will enable you to try equipment to ensure it meets your needs. We do not sell equipment but will provide you with information of local suppliers.

Opening Hours: Monday – Friday: 8:30am – 4:30pm (we are closed on Public Holidays)

To book an assessment or for further information, please contact the centre on 0113 3508989.

ADULTS

We offer professional, individual assessments and advice on a whole range of disability equipment for clients including:
• Scooter and powered wheelchairs
• Stair lifts and through floor lifts
• 3 and 4 wheeled walkers
• Manual wheelchairs
• Wash and dry toilets (e.g. Clos-o-mat and Geberit)
• Bathlifts and Bathing equipment
• Kitchen equipment and gadgets
• Computer access and writing aids
• Electric adjustable profiling beds and bed equipment
These assessments are completely FREE of charge and are carried out by an Occupational Therapist. Our aim is to enable people to “try before you buy” in an impartial environment as we don’t sell any equipment.
Driving and Passenger Access
Our Team of Therapists and Approved Driving Instructors offer a range of driving and passenger assessments including:
• Fitness to Drive
• Vehicle Adaptations
• Passenger Access
• Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles
• Wheelchair/Scooter Stowage
We are a regional service covering the whole of Yorkshire and we are an accredited member of Driving Mobility. We are sorry, but we are unable to offer off road assessments and there maybe a charge for this service depending upon how it is accessed and who by.

Children and Young People

Our Paediatric Occupational Therapists (OT) offer independent and impartial information and advice, carry out assessments of your equipment needs and offer support for children, parents and professionals.

The William Merritt Centre does not sell anything, and local retailers tend not to sell children’s products. However, our Paediatric OT’s can arrange assessments with companies specialising in children’s equipment and details of how to purchase products will then be given to you.

You may need to apply for charitable funding for equipment if statutory funding is not available. The Therapists will be happy to write a report to support an application for the appropriate equipment for your child.
You do not have to be referred by your GP or Health professional.

Individual Assessments

Following a discussion with yourself and/or the referring professional, an appointment will be made for your child at the Centre. A small range of children’s equipment is on permanent display including bathing and toileting, car seats, supportive seating and buggies. We arrange to have additional equipment brought to the Centre for assessments, so we can demonstrate the different sizes available. We have an excellent relationship with a wide range of children’s equipment companies, so we can ensure that we are able to meet the needs of you and your child and give you an informed choice.

Passenger Access

The assessment will consider how your child can get in and out of the vehicle more easily. The Paediatric OT’s will help you to identify an appropriate type of vehicle/wheelchair accessible vehicle and/or transfer equipment. Many families apply for vehicles using the Motability Scheme and our Therapists will be able to advise you, and write a report for you to support this process. In addition, we now provide information and assessments on air travel, and advice for flying with a disabled child or adult. To help you plan your flight, you can try out supportive specialised seating, harnesses and positioning systems. We have a plane fuselage which has been specially built to create a true life situation for flying with disabled children and adults. When calling please ask for “Try b4u Fly”.

Car Seat Clinics

Car seat clinics are held offsite, every 6 weeks. During the clinic your child’s postural needs, and the manual handling issues will be assessed by our Paediatric OT’s. The stability of the chosen car seat, in your vehicle, will then be checked by our Car Safety Consultant.

Trike Clinics

Tricycle clinics are arranged on a regular basis, as the need arises. We hold these offsite in a safe, spacious venue where the children are able to trial the adapted tricycles.

Walker Clinics

The walkers’ clinics are arranged following a request from your child’s physiotherapist, and they will attend with you. Your child will be able to trail a variety of walkers brought in by the children’s equipment companies, for the clinic.

Switches and Technology


Switches for Toys

The Centre has developed an assessment service and lending library for adapted toys and switches for children. Toys such as bubble machines, Nerf guns, soft toys and remote-controlled toys can be adapted with a variety of switches to enable many children with limited movement to operate them. The toys encourage movement, give a learning experience, and teach children about cause and effect, thereby stimulating the child’s development.

Accessible Gaming

We regularly run accessible gaming sessions during school and college holidays. These sessions are open to children, young people, parents, carers and siblings as well as professionals, to have a look at access to games consoles such as the Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii using switches, various controllers and adapters, to play independently or in teams. An initial individual assessment could be required to identify the equipment you may need.

Access to Phones, Tablets and Computers

Here at the Centre we offer assessments with a range of switches, switch interfaces, joysticks and software that can be used to operate phones, tablets, and computers.
There are so many accessibility features built into operating systems now and it’s changing all the time, things are possible now that we never thought would be!

We provide a Changing Place Toilet

Standard accessible toilets do not meet the needs of all people with a disability. People with profound and multiple learning disabilities, as well as people with other physical disabilities such as spinal injuries, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis often need extra equipment and space to allow them to use the toilets safely and comfortably. These needs are met by Changing Places toilets.

Each Changing Places toilet provides:
The right equipment
- a height adjustable adult-sized changing bench
- a tracking hoist system, or mobile hoist if this is not possible.
Enough space
- adequate space in the changing area for the disabled person and up to two carers
- a centrally placed toilet with room either side
- a screen or curtain to allow some privacy.
A safe and clean environment
- wide tear off paper roll to cover the bench
- a large waste bin for disposable pads
- a non-slip floor.

PLEASE NOTE: Changing Places toilets are different to standard accessible toilets (or "disabled toilets") and in our venue are provided in addition to accessible toilets.

Please see http://www.changing-places.org for more information.