Important Things To Remember When Living With A Wheelchair User

The majority of people take their abilities for granted – being able to walk, run, jump, or simply go up the curb. But such simple tasks can be outright impossible for many wheelchair users, and we must be mindful of that.

Especially when living with someone that uses a wheelchair, we must be considerate of all the aforementioned activities, and even more. This is, of course, very doable and doesn’t require much effort once a routine is established, but there are still some things we should be reminded of ever-so-often, or that we should learn if we are new to such a situation. 

Step by Step

The first thing that comes to anyone’s mind in this situation is how to manage stairs. We take them for granted, sometimes even jumping several at a time if we’re in a hurry, and tend to not even notice them in public places, unless it’s a long flight of stairs. Though if you’re going on wheels… You need to have someone who can help you. 

It’s basic manners, really. If you see someone struggling, you should offer to help them. And when sharing a living space with a wheelchair user, you ought to be used to helping them get over doorsteps and up the stairs. If, for whatever reason, you don’t have an appropriate lift inside your home and you have to take the steps to get up remember this:

It is usually more pleasant to carry someone in your arms or on your back up and downstairs, and then their chair, instead of risking tumbling over with a much heavier weight, all at once. 

Getting Around

Transportation is another burning issue, but one that has many solutions to it. Cars can easily be adapted to meet these needs, with specialists such as Brook Miller being able to provide vehicle adaptations to accept a wheelchair safely, and even give instructions on how to properly use it. Private transportation is, of course, the most popular option and by far the most comfortable, especially if you don’t forget to carry the disabled sticker to help you with parking.

Public transportation is another thing, and its problems are far more difficult to overcome. People who are in a hurry and don’t pay attention to anyone below them, huge gaps between sidewalks and bus doors, and metro stations without proper lifts. To help with at least a bit of this, make sure to accompany them whenever you can, as a helping hand can mean more than just pushing them around.

How to Get Some Exercise?

People with all healthy limbs, even when they can, rarely do any vigorous physical activity for the sake of their own health. And so they get lazy and weak, and many gain a few extra pounds too. Well, this same problem is present for wheelchair users too, except that their options for physical exercise are very limited, especially if they don’t have anyone to practice with them. 

It is very easy to find a list of sports adapted to wheelchair users, but a bit harder to find sports clubs that actually accept disabled members. As cardio exercises are a bit harder to do when you can’t move around fast, strength and endurance exercises are a valid alternative.

And sure, we see great feats of strength performed by wheelchair users, only using their upper body strength. Though a very active sport, such as table tennis, is invaluable, and you can also try competing against them even if you have both healthy legs. 

The Gearworks

While covering this topic, we mustn’t overlook the key piece of technology here – the wheelchair itself. A very fine invention it is, and it should be handled with care, and inspected regularly. Though most owners will know how to do this themselves, sometimes, such as with seniors or the very disabled, they need some help with that. 

You should be able to know how to take it apart, oil the moving parts, tighten the unmovable parts, and put it all together again. This can be done rather quickly and usually only requires a few wrench keys and a screwdriver. On the other hand, if looking for a new wheelchair, neither of you should be doing this alone as both will be either sitting in it or pushing it from time to time, so you should agree on what model is best. 

Though let’s be honest, the wheelchair user has the last word here as they’re the ones who are spending most of their waking hours in it.

Social Life Isn’t a Chore

More people than ever before have anxiety, and the social pressure we feel to “fit in” is growing year after year, driven by mass media and echoed by society. And while it is sometimes hard for acne-covered teenagers to look their part, disabled people, especially young ones, have it much harder. 

Wheelchair users fall into this group, and we see from recent studies how a very large number of factors influence the social life of the physically disabled. Most developed countries have, luckily, developed successful mechanisms of helping such youth in school and the job market, but it is their family and friends who they look up to the most. 

Being there for them is more than just physically moving them around, it is making them feel accepted and as a normal member of society, who just happens to have to be in a wheelchair. They are not a burden anymore than someone else can be. 

It is important, therefore, that we accept them for who they are, and remember how it doesn’t take much to help them, but that it means a lot to them. We can only guess when will the general public start thinking about the disabled as equal, and when will public spaces be planned accordingly, though in the meantime we can take a small step in the general direction we hope everyone will follow.