consider this: wheelchairs should be free

Consider this: if you need it to live it should be affordable

consider this: if you need it to live, it should be free

I'd love my next wheelchair to be free, but that's not a realistic expectation to have. Even if we could do that, it would likely come with a lot of consequences to the user.

That said, I don't think it would be unreasonable for us to fight for these things to be affordable, especially because these companies and our insurance are notorious for inflating the shit out of prices for chairs and everything on them and using the word luxury pretty liberally when you need something to function. I think it's ridiculous DME companies can not only have such a monopoly on equipment production, but also be given free reign to financially exploit disabled people in so many different ways. Especially given that poverty is rampent in the disabled community.

Those of us receiving benefits don't even get a living wage as it is, add having to pay out of pocket for some or all of a wheelchair and you might find yourself having to decide between using inadequate equipment for longer, (often leading to worsening medical problems in the long run) going without a necessary feature on the new chair that you'll have to use for 5+ years before insurance will cover a new one or going without some other necessity. You may even find yourself skipping meals or neglecting yourself or your needs in some other way.

Hell, even those who can work often can't escape poverty either, thanks to workplace discrimination and the many other ways we are punished for trying.

I ended up having to go on SSI to stay alive because when I got a PT job, they threatened to take my Medicaid, which would have literally killed me. The job I had treated me like shit.I tried to find a Full-time job, but many places don't want to hire disabled people, Full-time and some managers have even told me this when I was looking for work. There's so much more I can say about the impact of that and the lack of services we sorely need on my life, but that's another post for another day.

I think another thing we desperately need as people who rely on mobility aides to function is to advocate for the right to repair our own equipment. We should be able to go online and easily locate tutorials, schematics, etc. People should be allowed to put tutorials for how to deal with certain problems without fear of being sued, but sadly this is not the case. A lot of people who I've seen trying are being threatened with lawsuits right now.

I do most of my repairs and tune ups on my own, but most of the mentioned resources are difficult, if not impossible to find. This leaves a lot of people, who would be otherwise willing and able to repair or tune up their chairs limited or without that option entirely.

Instead they're forced to call a tech, give them the chair and be without one for weeks or months, be charged hundreds or thousands of dollars for even simple repairs and then get it back. A lot of the time, when you do get it back, the problem isn't even solved and/or you end up with a new problem and have to start the process again. Oh, and good luck getting insurance to help with any of that... if you decide to do that, you'll likely be ignored or left in broken equipment limbo for much longer.

TL;DR I doubt we'd be able to get equipment for free but we should definitely be pushing for it to be much more affordable. I think we should also be pushing for the right and resources to repair our own equipment without fear!!

Disabled or not, please share this, it's important and I want to spark a discussion.

Overheard while wheeling through a crowd, from someone who ricocheted off the side of my chair:

“She didn’t stop!”

No I did not. Abled people do not have right of way over people in wheelchairs. We do not have to stop for you. Get the hell out of my way or get run over.

People who expect us to stop also shows physics needs to be taught a lot more. To coast you need to build speed. A downhill patch is a great low energy way for me to gain momentum enough to do a long coast. I am not a bike which has breaks I can hit. My hands and feet are my breaks. If I pick a clear path and you walk in front of me group blocking the path hanging out and talking and ignoring my horn and excuse me it’s not my fault if I run you over. I don’t even make an attempt to slow down or stop unless it will cause me injury or it’s a small child (though I’m definitely not being nice with their parents) or an animal. If you are a healthy adult and decide you and your true love must not stop holding hands and block the entire sidewalk, if I squish your toes it’s your own fault for being self absorbed. I give warning horn and shout. If you still don’t move and it’s between slam my feet down and risk a dislocation or grab the wheels while doing this and rip a finger nail off because you ignored every attempt to prevent it. It’s not a bike or a car. Wheel locks are not the same as breaks. I risk injury trying to break hard and you are not worth injuring myself over.

I have a power chair and a manual chair. I run into this kind of problem all the time. I try pretty hard to give people the chance to respect me, but if they don't move I do run through them because once I've given you ample chance to let me get by so, it's not my problem anymore. If I run you down, I was more than polite and gave you more than enough time. If you ignore my attempt to get your attention, or think I'm going to stop for you because where you're going is so much more important than where I'm going! Or if you need to block the only path I can use because you want to talk to your friend or something like that, you're going to get what's coming to you. I'm not here to cater to able-bodied people and I'm tired of them complaining when I don't. I have places I need to be too, and they are just as important as where you need to go. Maybe if you don't want to get run over by a fucking wheelchair, have a little bit of respect for the person in it. Or... Just do what you always do, give me a dirty look when I finally get tired of your shit and run through you and then bitch about how it's my fault that your stupid ass got run over..

Your best sarcastic responses to "why are you in a wheelchair" go go go

“Because of the fight I had with the person who asked me why I used crutches”

“I saved an old lady from getting hit by a bus” “really?” “Yeah and then after that I tripped and fell over while running away from an explosion” “really?” “Yeah and then when my para regiment had to deploy over Dunkirk…”

Always pay your gambling debts.

Because regular ones are harder to move.

“Why are you wearing jeans?”

Not a wheelchair user, but when coworkers started asking about my leg brace I told them “oh yeah it got crushed in an accident”

“oh my god what kind of accident? a car crash?”

“no your mum fell on it”

Ha

“Boneitis.”

Just for the satisfaction for when they google it later.

“Intravascular hematology syndrome”

(blood in my veins)

“Chronic cranio-skeletal retention”

(skull and bones in my body, like all the time)

While wearing shorts and clearly having both my legs: “polar bear ate my legs.”

Delivered deadpan serious: “I have no bones.”

my name is crip an wen i feel u stop an stare an judge my weel i look your eye direct with myne theres nuffin wrong

- with me im fyne

related:

“It’s memitis. I memed too dankly, kind sir. It was over 9000 and I -“

*looks sad* *whispers*

”- I accidentally the whole thing.“

“Life”

“Oh. I guess that happens-”

“I got carried away playing that board game and when I started loosing I called on a demon”

“What?”

“And made a demon deal to win every board game I will ever play”

“Uuummmmm……”

“But it backfired on me and now I use a wheelchair.”

“Uhh…”

Mermaid

I come up with so much shit on the spot, it’s hard to pinpoint one thing.

There’s always the “I don’t feel like walking” one when I feel too lazy to come up with something else. I have to come up with a lot of shit because I have ignorant people come up to me all the time and tell me how they wish they were in a wheelchair because they think mine’s cool. Being an atheist and thinking about praying that your wheelchair doesn’t die you get home is not cool, assholes.

"I got into a fight, you should see the other guy."

Why Am I In a Wheelchair? It's Really None of Your Damn Business

The following excerpt is taken from an actual conversation I had with a random stranger who sat down next to me and my wife at a local Seattle bar.

Yes, this was an actual conversation I had. At a bar. With a complete stranger. The sad thing is, this shit happens to me all the time: on the bus, waiting for the crosswalk to change, you name it. People feel that have some inalienable right to my medical history in order to have their morbid curiosity satisfied.

Most of the time, I don’t outright refuse to answer questions. For me, it’s less about being polite and more about not coming off as one of those “angry cripples” who “needs Jesus”, “thicker skin”, or to “be stronger than that”. Apparently, if you get mad at someone for asking wildly inappropriate questions about why you’re in a wheelchair, you’re just mad about being in a wheelchair.

Let me be blunt here, random stranger on the bus or at the bar: you asking me about my personal medical history, or acting like my appearing in public is some goddamn miracle worthy of a stupid grin or you stopping and telling me how “inspiring” I am is some ableist fucking bullshit and needs to stop. Every time you come up to me and start asking personal questions or treating me like I’m special for having the audacity to do the same things you do every goddamn day just reminds me how uncomfortable my very existence makes you. You literally have no idea how to handle the fact that I’m in your space so you awkwardly blurt out “Does your penis work okay?!” in an attempt to make conversation.

And for the record, I have as much right to be angry about your invasion of my privacy as anyone else without being told that I need to “have thicker skin” or that I’m “stronger than that”. Fuck you. I’m strong enough to stand my ground and tell you where to step off and I think that’s plenty strong enough.

Here’s my thing, I don’t mind you guys asking questions because it makes you more comfortable with my disability. I’ll answer them and I won’t be an ass about it, but if you’re doing it this way, you’re doing it wrong and you need to back up. I get that you’re curious and uncomfortable, but making a stranger even more uncomfortable does not make it any better.  Especially because, in a way, I already have to accommodate you, when it’s obvious that you’re very uncomfortable with my presence and you’re speaking to me in that slow, childish tone. The least you can do is not invade my privacy more than the NSA does on an average day.

God loves everybody! Unless of course your a woman, crippled, had a pre-existing condition, don’t worship him, are gay…

God really doesn’t like me then…

Is there a source to this quote? I’m not a religious sort but I’ve read a version of the bible and I can’t say I recall this quote. It might’ve just not have been in the version I read though, I don’t know.

Hey, @unpopularly-opinionated, here it is from the NIV.

Leviticus 21 Leviticus 21:18-22New International Version (NIV) 18 No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; 19 no man with a crippled foot or hand, 20 or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. 21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. 22 He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food; :18-22 New International Version (NIV)

Biblegateway.com is a helpful source.

Hey, Christians: I have physical and visual disabilities, how should I take this?

Grecian beachy style

That’s a pretty great color for a wheelchair to, I want my next power chair to be that color!

I feel this is an accurate representation of @klubbhead

No, I don’t have long hair

No one has ever said that to me in dms, but that’s probably because I already can’t walk. XD