Wheelchair Journey

Being that every person who uses a wheelchair is different, I'd like to be clear that these issues reflect my own perspective. If others have a different opinion or a different need, I'd love to hear about them.

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note: This page is a work in progress. I plan to keep adding more issues over time.

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In this section, I talk about some of the things I do or would like to do that could be easier. I hope to be as practical as possible and I may not articulate or address all considerations as I speak. Please bear with me. The following is an attempt to list a few of these things:

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Functions and objectionable issues

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When do limitations to some of the activities we'd like to do become an objectionable issue and what exactly can be done about these issues? While this is a fair question, each activity in the daily lives of a wheelchair user is carefully weighed in ways that an "able-bodied" person doesn't have to. The activities are the issue! While we may spend only a fraction of our daily lives doing a particular activity, the fact that we did the activity, adds a whole new level of enjoyment to our life. For one brief moment in time, we can be turned on, tuned in, and living life to the fullest. We can be like every person on the planet. We can blend and seamlessly become un-noticed as a disabled person by our own accord.

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What are some of the obvious issues we might like to overcome?

• rough ground, curbs, thresholds, inclines

• narrow doors

• cabinet, desk and counter-top heights

• weight of a chair

• accessibility

• space

What are some of the less obvious issues we might like to overcome?

• Transferring from the chair I have to the bed I have (see transfer gap below).

• Going faster like a bicycle.

• Traversing lawns and rough ground with less fanfare.

• Using the vehicle I have to go where I want to go and do what I want to do.

• The "transfer gap". The transfer gap is the distance between a wheelchair seat and the place a user wants to transfer to such as a bed, car seat, toilet, etc. Some people don't transfer as well as others. If they don't make the jump, they fall to the ground. Some people use a transfer board but that means more stuff to haul around.

• Loading a manual wheelchair - I've had a wide variety of vehicles (cars and chairs) over the years. My first car after my fall in 1979, was a new Camaro. Why? Because it had a wide door that allowed enough space between the door jamb and the back of the seat where I could fold my old E&J, pull it in behind the driver's seat, pull my legs in, and slide the seat back. I was the king of cool. Nowadays, I have a rigid chair, a full-size van, and a Ford Fiesta. The van is mainly for traveling and has a lift I built using a hoist made for pickup trucks but it's too expensive to use as an everyday car.
  Here's the issue: If I'm using the Fiesta by myself, I take the cushion off, take the wheels off, fold the back down, lay the driver's seat back, and do the best I can to pull the awkward carcass of my rigid chair over my body to the other seat where it rides like a big dog that doesn't know where to sit. If I'm not using this car by myself, my wife loads the chair on a bike rack which isn't always easy for her. What if a rigid or folding chair could easily separate one more time so there was no big carcass to load? And what if the components could be stowed flatter to save space and fit into more vehicles of any kind? It can be done.

• Having a conversation - What am I doing at an event where many people are standing around me having conversations? I'm often staring at crotches and butts instead of speaking to someone without them bending or kneeling in awkward ways. What if I could instantly be six to nine inches taller and join the party? It can be done with a very small mechanism.

• Let's go to the park! - There's a state park a couple hours from our house that is beautiful and supposed to be accessible. I guess that's true but the trails aren't paved. They're bumpy or muddy and the park isn't flat. So if the four of us go, we'll have to allow time so I can negotiate the terrain unless I stay in the car and you guys go on the trails. The problem for me is, that I don't have an off-road chair to make it easier because they're expensive, and loading four or five of us in a four-door sedan along with the chair and the ice chest is going to be tight. What if my everyday chair could be stowed in a small, compact space along with an off-road attachment or a handcycle attachment and put it on the bike rack? It is possible. If we had the money, another option would be to buy a bigger vehicle or take two cars.

• Let's talk about hand-cycling - Hand-cycles allow people to roll faster and arguably easier than pushing a long distance. I have an absolutely beautiful hand-cycle made by Bob Hall of Hall's Wheels that I've owned and ridden for about 35 years. It's minimalistic, lightweight, low center of gravity, has 21 speeds, and high-pressure tires. For several years before I bought it, I had a handcycle attachment that clamped to the front of my old E&J that I rode back and forth across campus at UCD. The whole rig must have weighed 70 pounds or more but I was young and it still traveled fast enough. The nice thing about it was that I could ride to class or wherever take it off, put it in the bike rack, go inside, come out later, and ride away just like most people do with a bicycle. I can't do that with the one I have now where I have to transfer out of my regular chair to ride so I'm not the one going to the store for a quart of milk. I'm aware that there are plenty of after-market attachables nowadays but they're usually bulky and expensive when they should be minimalistic, lightweight, and cheaper. What if it was possible to have an ultra-light, handcycle attachment that was made specifically for the chair with a single-point attachment that was easier to handle and stowed easily on a bike rack with other bikes? I say the use of handcycles would increase dramatically. And again, it's possible.

• One chair, one function, one product line - Each type of wheelchair or attachment is often very expensive. To engage in a variety of activities as we might like to do, it could be a bit much to have several chairs sitting around. With everyday chairs, how do we choose when so many of the wheelchair companies offer quite a few models to choose from? Even if we buy the best chair a company has to offer, will it adapt to a wide range of real needs and activities for us or do we adapt to the chair? Is it possible to make a chair that is much more adaptable without compromising quality? Yes.