What I learned from being in a wheelchair!

[eek40]

I had surgery on my ankle on Sept the 4th and had to use a wheelchair to attend an event that weekend. I am amazed at how people treat people in wheelchairs, and I hope that I never did this to anyone! First off, nobody will move to get out of your way, even when you have a foot all propped up and ask nicely. People bump into you and dont even stop to say opps or sorry. One lady even used the wheelchair as her personal resting spot, leaning on the chair, even letting her daughter push on the back of it rocking me back and forth and into the wall in front of me, as if no one was in the chair at all. When I turned around and asked her to please ask the child to stop and for her to please move she looked at me and said "well this doesnt bother you!" I said it did and to please move away from the wheelchair and find a better place to rest herself, and she acted as if I was nuts. Now many people went out of their way to help me out, and where very kind, but overall I was amazed at how people react to wheelchair bound people. I will always remember these lessons for the future thats for sure.
Aimee

 

[GeekChic]

Thank you for your post! I am not in a chair all the time (I have a forearm crutch) but for long distance walking like in WDW I have to have one. If only all able-bodied people had to spend one day in a wheelchair...the world might be a lot less thoughtless toward folks with challenges...thank you for your post. I wish everybody could read it and learn from it!

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for sharing. I think it would be nice if everyone had to have a disability for a day - there would be a lot more compassion and understanding in the world.

A few years ago my DH hurt his ankle and had to use a wheelchair and crutches for a week or so. He thought he knew what it was like because our DD uses a wheelchair. Well, he got his eyes opened a lot more. It was interesting hearing about his experiences. Most of his eperience being with our DD was at WDW and he didn't really believe some of the things that happened when she and out were out in the "regular world". he believes now.

 

[gabbygrennell]

last week we were there... my mom although not disabled, cannot stand/walk for long periods of time
so she was wheeled around!!

We too experienced rudeness from many people... and just as i experienced with my dd in the stroller, people would cut right in front of you, then stop..... and of course you would immediately stop so as not to run into them... but man oh man...

and the one that really irked me.... we got to the parade route early to find a spot in the shade... everyone has the same opportunity... some simply choose to wait until 2 mins to start of parade, and expect to get a front row view.....

mom did not want to sit in the area set aside for wheelchairs, as it was directly in the sun... so we found a spot and parked her right up by the rope. The kids were standing on one side of her etc... almost parde time, people start swarming in... and we are getting dirty looks from people as though she has no right to be in the front... part way through the parade, a child behind us started whining she could not see the parade.... dont know why she was on her dads shoulders.... and the mom said to her hubby, well if there werent adults parked right up front, all the kids could see!!

i about came unglued... and reminded myself,... this is the happiest place on earth.... (or is it?) let it go....

So, should my mom be penalized, because a, she cant stand long? b, we got there early enough to get a good spot? what do people want?

ok, nuff ranting...sorry
gabby

 

[Janet2k]

During the past few weeks in my wheelchair, I can barely count the number of cars that do not stop for anyone in a wheelchair who also happens to be in a marked crosswalk. Traveling in my own neighborhood is frightening. I hope I don't have to use a crosswalk while I am in my wheelchair at Walt Disney World.

 

[theladyjess]

I can't agree more with all these posts!!! I used a WC/ECV for the first time while on vacation in CA. When we were at the zoo, I got a better look at people's butt than I did at the animals. People gave me dirty looks if I tried to inch my way up to the glass and ingored my repeated "excuse me"s.

I hope to God that I have never treated anyone the way I was. In the future I'll be even more observant than I have been in the past. At least I was able to make light of the situation with two other ladies as we had an ECV race up a hill at California Adventure.

 

[eek40]

I have really learned a lot in the past 2 weeks about how it feels to have a physical disablity. I normally use my crutches for everything but certain events require way to much walking and I have to rely on a wheelchair. What amazes me so much is that people seem to think anyone in a wheelchair is mentally impaired along with the physical. Also keep in mind that I have a HUGE black cast on my leg that has metal hardware on it, hard to miss this! I rarely ever loose my cool, I never yell at people. I totally lost it while at Disney On Ice at our State Fair. First we had front row seats, and I was actually sitting in the seat when this occured. At the end of the show the kids all come up to the railing and can shake hands with the performers. While I was sitting there this man came barrelling down towards the front with his child, trying to barge in so his child could see. In the process he stepped on my foot(the broken, surgery repaired one!) I screamed in pain then let him have it, he just stared at me like I was the one in the way. I WAS IN MY SEAT...I didnt even have my foot in front of me, it was almost under the chair(a protection thing I think). He just stared and then said, " My child deserves to see the characters!" I couldnt believe it, so I yelled, I deserve not to be stepped on while sitting in my seat! He just walked away swearing at me. Its just really sad. As I have said before, many people are very helpful, but so far I have been dismayed....oh and accused of trying to steal a bottle of pop from our local gas station! Only because I placed it in my pocket so I could walk to the front of the store to pay for it. And the person that accused me of it didnt offer to take it to the counter for me. One little boy was very curious as to why I was in the wheelchair and his Mom was trying to shoo him away, and I said no its ok, hes asking a perfectly reasonable question. What this has done for me is made me much more aware of how I hope to treat people with any kind of disablity in the future!
Aimee

 

[Figaro]

Hi, eek40!

I'm sorry you were treated so badly when you were in pain. One of the reasons we bought a timeshare in Puerto Vallarta was because of the way the Mexican people were about the wheelchair. No one was angry or upset. They offered to help if they could and were so friendly and pleasant that my spouse and I looked at each other the second day there and said we hadn't even realized that we always felt slightly on edge whenever we were out and about with the wheelchair until the feeling went away.

What I think happens with wheelchairs and ECV's is that people are used to the "heads" being over the "feet." Which is why people don't usually run into strangers in crowds...we unconsciously compensate for the most part. When a person is sitting, their feet are out in front of their heads, but people who are walking still unconsciously assume that where the head is, the feet are under. Add in the crowds at WDW, and it is surprising that more walking into wheelchairs/ECV's doesn't happen.

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by Figaro

What I think happens with wheelchairs and ECV's is that people are used to the "heads" being over the "feet." Which is why people don't usually run into strangers in crowds...we unconsciously compensate for the most part. When a person is sitting, their feet are out in front of their heads, but people who are walking still unconsciously assume that where the head is, the feet are under. Add in the crowds at WDW, and it is surprising that more walking into wheelchairs/ECV's doesn't happen.

I think you really hit on something there.
It also might be true from the viewpoint of the person who is using a wheelchair or ecv. They have a mental awareness of themselves taking up a certain amount of space. For someone who uses a wheelchair frequently or all time (like my DD), the mental picture might correspond really well with the actual space they take up. I am frequently surprised at how accurately DD can figure where she will fit and where she won't. She often insists she will fit in places that I think are too tight (and guess who is right).
But someone who uses one infrequently or has never used one at all will unconsciously be expecting to not take up much more room than their feet below their head.