STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Megan Valente has never let cerebral palsy stop her, but now the busy wife and mother of three wants nothing more than to pack up her kids and drive them somewhere — independently.
That kind of autonomy is hard to come by when you have to rely on another person to lift you out of your wheelchair and place you in the car, take the chair apart, then position your children into their car seats before heading out.
Throw a stroller and baby-care items into the family’s Ford Escape and there’s no room at all for groceries or anything else, said Valente, who is hoping to soon buy a van that is accessible to her motorized wheelchair…