Abilities

I’m currently taking law classes in a paralegal program and it leads to some very interesting things to ponder and discuss.  My class this semester is on Tort law and last night we talked about assault and battery.

Battery is when you physically touch someone in an unwanted way  (i.e., hit him), but assault is when you make someone afraid that you will soon touch them in an unwanted way (i.e., threats, telling someone that you are about to hit him).  In order for it to legally be assault, the person being threatened has to believe that there will be imminent harm.  Part of that  condition is that the person who puts you into apprehension has to be capable of committing the act they are threatening.

The teacher literally said, “For example, a paraplegic could not get up out of a wheelchair and beat you up.”

I immediately said, “Yes he could, I saw it on YouTube.”  My classmates laughed, but I was serious.

You Tube–paraplegic stops robbery

Don’t underestimate people is the moral of this story.

There is nothing a person who uses a wheelchair can’t do.  It might take a lot longer or take more creativity, but I have yet to hear of anything that a person in a wheelchair can’t figure out how to do.

Thanks to Larry Skopnik  for giving us all someone we can point to who proves the point that a person in a wheelchair is limited by a lot less than what most people assume.

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