In August 2025, eight children in Laos received their first adaptive chairs, a milestone made possible through the collaboration between Lao Friends Hospital for Children (LFHC), the Asian Seating Assistance Project (ASAP), and SEEDS-Seating, both organisations from Japan.

Why Adaptive Seating Matters

At LFHC, the Development clinic and community outreach teams see a high number of children with neurodevelopment disabilities such as cerebral palsy. Without adaptive seating, these children are unable to sit independently, severely limiting their ability to interact, eat, play, and learn. Many spend long hours lying on the floor, increasing the risk of contractures and bone deformities. They also experience social isolation, ultimately preventing them from enjoying a full and meaningful quality of life.

Meet Kayeng, one of the first children whose life was transformed by this partnership

**Kayeng and her grandmother before Adaptive Seating**

This is 9-year old Kayeng with her grandmother. Before receiving her adaptive chair, she spent most of the day lying on a wooden bench, using only a pillow to support her neck

**After Adaptive Seating**

Kayeng's custom-fitted adaptive chair transforms her daily life, providing her with comfort and proper positioning while easing the physical strain on her grandmother and caregivers.
Tailored specifically to her needs, the chair enables better digestion, breathing, and social interaction throughout the day

Bridging the Gap and Building Solutions Together

For children with disabilities in Laos, finding an adapted chair tailored for physical disabilities is nearly impossible. There are almost no specialized seating options available in the country, and very few people trained to create them. Most families have no choice but to improvise with whatever they have at home.

That's why, for the past few years, LFHC has been working closely with ASAP and SEED, two organizations committed to changing this reality. Together, the aim is to build a sustainable system where local staff can create affordable, custom solutions for families who need them.

Our partnership has grown through several important milestones:

December 2023 – ASAP's team made their first trip to Laos, bringing adaptive seats and standing frames for children who desperately needed them.
October/November 2024 – Ko and Lah, LFHC's physiotherapist, traveled to Japan for intensive hands-on training in building adaptive plywood seats. They returned equipped to create custom chairs for five children.
June 2025 – SEED's CEO visited Laos to personally fit three more children with adaptive seats tailored to their needs.
August 2025 – Eight children made a life-changing trip to Japan, where experts designed and built personalized seating supports for each child using affordable materials like cardboard and foam.

Feedback from the team

Hear from the team instrumental to the organization of these visits and workshops - Sharon and Lah, our specialist therapists and part of our development team, who made this partnership happen.

“This project with ASAP and SEED is incredibly important for our patients as well as our therapy team here at LFHC. We have many children with disabilities over 2 years of age, who are unable to sit without support and spend much of their time lying on the floor or being held and carried which becomes more difficult as they get older.”
*….. It was fantastic for the team to learn more techniques around assessment and fitting as well as learning how to make the cardboard seats.*

**Sharon Ling, Occupational Therapist and Long-term Volunteer**

“We currently do not have seating supports to give to them until they are old enough (6 or 7) to fit a donated wheelchair. Being able to intervene with seating support earlier makes a huge impact on the quality of life of the children and their families.

For the 8 children who attended the workshop in August we were able to provide cardboard seats with foam seating supports that were customized to each child. It was fantastic for the team to learn more techniques around assessment and fitting as well as learning how to make the cardboard seats. This project is still in the early stages and we are not yet able to provide seats for all the children who need them. However, we are grateful for the continued partnership with ASAP and SEED, and we are hopeful that in the future more children will be able to access these essential assistive devices. “ (Sharon Ling)

I really appreciate the support of ASAP and SEED, because it’s very helpful for the hospital, especially for the patients who received the adaptive device support, as we lacked this equipment previously.
*I also appreciated the training, workshop because it helped me improve my skills and knowledge about adaptive device support, I have more confidence and I can share my experience to my colleagues.*

**Sengdeuane Phoumy (Laa), Physiotherapy Manager**

Looking Ahead

At Lao Friends Hospital for Children, we are working toward a future where every child with a disability in Laos can access the seating support they deserve. Our partnership with ASAP and SEED, combined with our team's growing expertise in assessment and fitting, is laying the foundation to reach more families each year—one child, one custom seat, one transformed life at a time.