Hi new friends! I see you all being super nice in the comments and trying to be as supportive as possible, which is so lovely and great, thank you! I would however like to draw your attention to something real quick that I keep seeing in the comments, just while I’ve got you here.
The phrase “wheelchair bound” is something a lot of disabled people are actually not too keen on and are pushing back against, as it’s not a very nice way to phrase the words “this disabled person uses a wheelchair”.
If you are an able bodied person, I could see how perhaps that one time you
spent on crutches or in a wheelchair because you hurt yourself, was not a
pleasant or positive experience. But for many in the disabled community, a wheelchair is an important mobility aid which helps a lot of people to move from place to place with greater ease and freedom.It is a tool that helps us. Owning a wheelchair for many people is felt to be liberating, as it gives them autonomy and the ability to move around, sometimes even unassisted.
It is a positive thing, and should be framed as such.We are not “bound” to our walking canes, they are a mobility aid that provides us with greater stability on our feet and can help alleviate pain. They are super useful tools. Implying that we are “bound” to such devices, implies that they are limiting, when they are in fact the opposite.
To put it in terms more of you might understand:
I wear glasses. I cannot see without them, not wearing my glasses is a hindrance. I lose my balance and suffer from headaches. I cannot work easily without my glasses, and nor can I do the things I enjoy like reading or going to see movies.
Putting my glasses on enables me to see, it lets me not fall over and avoid severe headaches. I am able to work better, and enjoy the things I like when I wear them.
So am I bound to them? Am I caged in by my frames? Does my quality of life seem worse to you because I am wearing them? Of course not, that would be silly! Right?
It’s a small thing. But small things make up the whole, and the language we use about mobility devices and other kinds of aids is important in how we frame disability, and how disabled people are regarded and ultimately treated by society as a whole.
Which I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, is actually not that great at the moment.
This isn’t intended as a scold, or a slap on the wrist. It is intended to let you know that while your support and sentiment are entirely welcome! It would be beneficial to us if you modified your language to reflect a more positive outlook that didn’t imply disabled people are prisoners of the things that actually help to give them a better quality of life. Thank you 🙂
Please note: this is not the same as when able bodied people say things like “can’t is a four letter word” or treat the word “disabled” like it’s a slur. It’s not. Disabled is a perfectly valid and correct term which many of us would rather you use than trying to call us things like “differently abled” or hilariously “can-abled” which I lose my mind laughing every time I see it, because it just sounds like “cannibal” in my head. Please just say the word disabled. It’s not the bad, horrible thing you’ve been taught to think it means. And neither are mobility aids.