Access Community Therapists Presents

Wheelchair Seating and Positioning: Practical Applications

Danielle Rae is at the front of a classroom holding up a diagram, while Lindsay Alford assists. Several people are seated at tables, listening and taking notes. A skeleton model and a projector screen are also visible.

This hands-on, intensive, two-day workshop provides occupational therapists and physiotherapists with foundational seating and mobility assessment skills essential for working with clients across the lifespan and in any care setting. We explore the clinical process from assessment to setup of a new seating system and wheelchair, with real clients and vendor support.

The workshop follows the seating process from assessment through to completion of a wheelchair seating system for an actual client participant with vendor involvement.

After completion, attendees will understand the principles of seating and the roles of the client, therapist, and vendor/technician, be able to perform a complete seating assessment including the supine MAT assessment and sitting simulation, identify targeted outcomes of seating and product parameters for equipment trials, and follow-up on targeted outcomes to determine success of the seating intervention.

Hosted By:

Presented By:

What’s Included

  • Light breakfast, lunch, and refreshments
  • Electronic copies of slides & reference list

Meet Your Presenters

  • Lindsay Alford is a woman with curly brown hair and fair skin. She is wearing a light brown top and two necklaces, one with a gold pendant.

    Lindsay Alford, OT

    Lindsay graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy in 1998. After a year of casual work on various programs at Vancouver General Hospital, she became employed at GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre where she worked for 26 years on the Inpatient and Outpatient Spinal Cord Injury Programs, Seating Services Program, SCI Wound Clinic, Upper Extremity Clinic, and Spasticity Clinic. During this time Lindsay developed expertise in SCI rehabilitation, complex seating and mobility, and pressure injury management and prevention.

    Lindsay worked part-time in a medical-legal and community capacity for 8 years, completing Cost of Future Care assessments and reports, and was qualified as an expert witness in OT in the Supreme Court of BC.

    In 2011, Lindsay joined the Access team, primarily working on the Wound Program, assessing and treating clients with SCI in the Lower Mainland and throughout BC to treat and prevent pressure injuries. Lindsay also works on other contracts, primarily specializing in complex wheelchair seating and mobility with clients with a range of diagnoses throughout the province.

    Lindsay enjoys sharing her passion and expertise by developing and instructing workshops for OTs/PTs on topics of wheelchair seating and mobility and pressure management. She has presented multiple times at seating conferences, has written work published, and is a Clinical Instructor at UBC.
    In 2025 Lindsay moved to Access full time, joined the Management team of the Wound Program and became a Director of Access.

    Lindsay loves gardening, traveling with family and friends, and spending as much time as possible in the forests, mountains, and beaches of BC.

  • Danielle Rae is a woman with wavy brown hair. She is wearing a dark blouse and a thin necklace.

    Danielle Rae, OT

    Danielle graduated from the University of British Columbia’s Master of Occupational Therapy program in 2012 and also holds a Bachelor of Education from Simon Fraser University. During her undergraduate studies, Danielle worked in group homes supporting individuals with developmental disabilities, where her interest in complex wheelchair seating and assistive technology first sparked. She went on to teach high school math and sciences for several years, but ultimately felt called to pursue her passion for seating and mobility. Danielle returned to complete her OT degree and began knocking on the door of Access Community Therapists before she had even graduated, knowing it was here that she would be able to learn and practice seating. After obtaining the recommended experience in long term care, spinal cord injury, spasticity management, wound care, and community rehab, Danielle joined Access is 2016, specializing in complex wheelchair seating and mobility. She serves clients throughout BC and the Yukon, providing direct client care, as well as education and mentorship to referring clinicians. Danielle joined the Seating Management team in 2021 and became a Director of Access in 2023.

    Danielle leverages her background in education and her natural teaching abilities to inspire and equip clinicians in her favourite area of practice: complex seating and mobility. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at UBC where she teaches in the Assistive Technology Seating modules. She develops and delivers seating workshops and oversees the broader education initiatives at Access. Danielle has contributed to a textbook chapter on seating and wheeled mobility, and has presented at multiple conferences including the International Seating Symposium.

    It seems most things in Danielle’s life involve wheels. When not working with wheelchairs, she can be found rolling skating around the Stanley Park Sea Wall with her dog Sadie, staring into a spinning bowl on a pottery wheel, or driving her two daughters to soccer practice.

What People Are Saying About the Workshop

Excellent course! It has helped me be more confident about wheelchair/seating/mat assessments and wheelchair prescription. Excellent resources. Thank you to clients who come in to be assessed, thank you to Lindsay and Danielle, and thank you to the fantastic and knowledgeable vendor representatives and supporting staff! – Burnaby 2024

Great course! Lots of hands on practice and amazing instructors. Would recommend to any OT wanting to get more comfortable with seating. – Burnaby 2024

Thank you so much. You were both wonderful and such excellent teachers. I can’t wait to put my knew knowledge and skills into practice! – Burnaby 2023

I have never taken a continuing education course with real clients, that blew me away, I was so happy and I felt like it made a massive difference.  – Nov 2022

This was a really well done workshop, I appreciated the high level of expertise that both instructors brought – Prince George 2022