Easter Seals Disability Services

What is the Assistive Technology Equipment Loan Library?

The Assistive Technology Loan Library loans specialized pieces of equipment to families with children with special needs.  Examples of equipment that will be available for loan include home therapy equipment, car seats, strollers and medical needs equipment.  Parents, therapists, schools, medical personnel, and social service agencies have access to this program. Equipment is available for an initial six-week loan, and can be renewed if no other family has requested it.

Why is this program needed?

One of the greatest needs cited by parents of children with special needs is access to assistive technology equipment.  Parents often have difficulty obtaining many of the items needed for their child’s therapy; items are either too expensive, or insurance approval takes a very long time.  Access to equipment for home therapy programs can help reduce the length of the therapeutic process, making room for more children to receive therapy who might otherwise have to wait.  Additionally, parents can become more actively involved in their child’s prescribed therapies.  This program will also help parents and therapists test whether specific equipment will fit a child’s needs before the family makes an expensive equipment purchase.  Children outgrow their equipment quickly.  An equipment loan program allows a single piece of equipment to be used by multiple children, as opposed to parents spending money on equipment that will be obsolete within a matter of months.  Children’s needs for assistive technology and medical equipment, at each stage of their development, will be met in a more timely manner.

How can I access equipment from the Loan Library?

There are a number of ways to access the loan library equipment.  You can go through your child’s therapist, service provider, or school, or directly through Easter Seals.  Some types of equipment are to be used only under the direction of an occupational or physical therapist.  Equipment that is not for use with therapy programs, such as strollers for special needs children, and aids to the primary caregiver, such as shower seats and wheelchair ramps, can be checked out directly without referral by a service provider.  Contact Easter Seals for help in determining the most appropriate way to check out the Loan Library’s equipment for your child’s or family’s specific needs.

What type of equipment is available?

 The following is just a sampling of the types of equipment that is available:  tri-standers, therapy balls, creepster/crawlers, disc o’sits, movin’ sits, rocker boards, balance boards, soft balance beams, scooter boards, weighted lap pads, body socks, car seats for special needs children, car beds for premature infants, all terrain strollers for special needs children, walkers, rock arounds, trampolines, kickstand backpacks, sit n’ spins, and many other items.  We will continue to try and add to our inventory as funding becomes available through grants and donations to this program. Click here to view our full list of our equipment inventory.  The list will be updated as new equipment is added to our inventory.  If you would like to know if a piece of equipment is in stock, or if checked-out, when it is due back, please call (916) 679-3286.    

How can you help?

Easter Seals Superior California wants this program to be available to our families for many years to come!  Initially, this program was made available to the community with grants from First 5 of Sacramento and the State Council on Developmental Disabilities.  In order to sustain this wonderful program as these grants expire we need your help.  Easter Seals can accept donations to support the program.  Donated equipment can also be accepted if it meets appropriate criteria.  Click here for information on making a donation to our Loan Library.

This program funded by grants from: