Can You Spot the Difference?
It’s really strange to me that the general population does not seem to be aware that there are different kinds of wheelchairs. Not just that there’s a difference between manual and power, but that some are ugly.
My mom told me one day about seeing a man using a wheelchair at the ashram. I said, “Was it a sexy wheelchair?” She looked at me blankly, then said she had no idea. Most people don’t seem to think of wheelchairs as sexy or not sexy. Yet, if I ask a paraplegic friend a question like that, he or she knows *exactly* what I’m talking about.
I was watching a TV show I just discovered called Lie To Me. They had one episode where there’s a character who uses a wheelchair. He’s introduced during a wheelchair basketball game and everyone is using sports chairs. It was believable and well done, so I felt encouraged that the show was getting it right. In the next scene, he’s in the main character’s office in an ugly hospital style chair. Supposedly he has been a paraplegic for SIXTEEN years.
Do you know what I mean by hospital style chair? It’s those temporary chairs that get used to transport a pregnant woman in labor, or get used to shuttle older people around the airport. They are for temporary use. They’re not supportive enough for every day use for years. They also don’t maneuver as well and make movement a lot more difficult.
Technology in wheelchairs has come a long way. Modern chairs are sleek and streamlined, and many look like pieces of art. They are designed according to purposes: maybe to get the most torque or the best turning radius, or rugged styled to climb mountains, or aerodynamic to sail across a basketball court.
I quickly see the difference in styles of wheelchairs. People who use them definitely do. But do people with no experience in disability really not see it? Do all wheelchairs look exactly alike?
Can you see the difference?
On the left we have ugly chairs. They serve a purpose, but they aren’t sexy. On the right we have gorgeous chairs. They are night and day different to me, but apparently look exactly alike to many others. Is this a form of “racial” blindness?
Click picture to make it larger. The images come from:
http://www.sportaid.com/invacare-ivc-tracer-ex2-wheelchair.html
http://wheelchairassistance.com/manual-wheelchair/
http://www.miamiwheelchairrentals.com/manual-wheelchairs.html
http://www.newdisability.com/colourswheelchairs.htm
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Definitely a difference – not just in sport wheelchairs vs. “regular” ones, but in all kinds of wheelchairs.
One of my dearest friend’s husbands had MS. She got a sleek, light, easily foldable wheelchair that she could manage with one hand, for when she had to transport him somewhere. It was a far cry from the big clunky 30+ lb. monster my ex had to care for his father.
Then there’s motorized wheelchairs vs. scooters.
The racing wheelchairs, like they use in the LA marathon, are quite beautiful (as are the hot men and women who race in them.)
Absolutely! I love your description of the clunky one as a monster. So true.
Oh Definitely I can spot the difference The top left looks like the one that I lugged around, loading in and out of my trunk when I was transporting my mom back and forth to the doctors. And the bottom left looks just like the one my 87 year old dad lugs around for my stepmom. And yes, he gets it in and out of his explorer himself. Which reminds me, I need to find some sort of basket to hang on the handles, so it will be easier for them when grocery shopping. Here are a couple of links of Jesse’s, Which I just realized you follow! Hope you have an awesome day! K_Einsel
http://www.liferollson.org/site/pp.asp?c=egLLKTNJE&b=79268
https://twitter.com/#!/LifeRollsOn
It seems like you have to be part of that world to see these differences, even though they are huge! So weird to me. I love Life Rolls On! You know, the main character of my novel is a paraplegic surfer. Well, unfortunately in the book he has stopped surfing, but I’m writing a short story about him where he’ll be doing it more. My friend volunteered at one of the events recently and I wanted to too, but then my mom ended up coming to visit that weekend and it didn’t work out.
The hospital ones are very uncomfortable to sit in for long periods of time if you have any feeling. Plus they are clunkier to maneuver.
My brother had spinal cancer and failed disc fusion in his back. He spent a year and half in wheelchairs before he died.
I don’t know as much about them as someone who lives with them every day but I do know there are different styles, comfort levels, maneuverability. An no, he didn’t have a sexy one back in 1996. 🙂 LOL.
He had his street chair, his house chair—Street was faster, narrower and more easly moved about. The house chair was more comfort. Not as fast but worked better for him and the kids.
T
Plus he could fold the street chair and move it one armed into the back of vehicle.
He always wanted to try a basketball chair to play with his son but died before we could work it out.
T
Wheelchairs have gotten a lot sleeker and sexier since 1996! 🙂
The hospital ones are definitely uncomfortable if you have feeling, and if you don’t they are dangerous because you can develop skin sores if you’re not using a good cushion!
Oh, that’s too bad. I used to help out at a wheelchair basketball team. It’s an amazing sport and a lot of fun to watch. I’ve seen fathers and sons enjoy it together and it’s always heart-warming to see that.
Great post. It’s interesting how so many films (and people) don’t “get” the difference.
One film that got it right was “Saved!” You can definitely tell they had some consultants on hand for the movie and sure enough, in the credits they had a wheelchair consultant (an incomplete quad who went to high school with me and is on the Canadian murderball team).
The only beef I have is with power chairs. I don’t use one but I’ve never seen a “sexy” power chair.
I didn’t think to look at the credits on Saved! You’re right, it was a movie where the wheelchair user was very believable.
I’ve had friends excuse the crappy wheelchairs used in movies and tv with things like “Oh, the budget is low.” 🙁 Not a good enough excuse, if you ask me.
I agree that I haven’t yet seen a sexy power chair, but hopefully they will be moving more in that direction. Sometimes people do their own mods on them that can be really cool.
btw, I’ve been creating lists of movies and books and shows, etc. that have characters with physical disabilities, I’d love for you to let me know any you notice I’m missing! https://ruthmadison.com/top-ten-lists/
Do you only do top 10 lists? At first I thought it was a list of all movies with characters with physical disabilities.
I’ve been focusing on top ten because otherwise they would never get finished! However, I do have one page where I’m trying to gather every movie with any physical disability, not making comments about them or anything, just a pure list. That one has a lot more work to be done on it, but here’s my start: http://www.squidoo.com/disability-life-media
Some of my lists, since I’ve broken them down by gender and disability, have only five movies on them. I’ve also had trouble because some movies are so terrible and I don’t want to include them in a “top” list.
disabilitymovies.com does a good job of gathering quite a list.
This is an important point and I have written to many film, studios and media to plead with them to please let me educate them, or get a seating specialist to do so, as when ‘wardrobe’ spends $4000+ on dressing one character but another main character is in a hospital transfer chair instead of a Lasher, Ti-lite (who have para’s and quads as customer service reps), or Colours, it is like dressing someone from a charity shop and wondering why they look like crap in the film/TV show.
Friday night lights has genuine representation of quad males, and the chairs are correct also (though not all the tweaks I have seen in guys, who like to take the scissor brakes off entirely).
A wheelchair is a part of you, more than your yoga outfit or your shoes, it, and the way you bling it, is a reflection of who you are. I have bike shop movement sensor displays on my tire pressure and spokes (they light up when wheeling at night from the push). Lasher even offers to custom cut your footplate with your name. What is tragic is seeing someone who doesn’t even have like, and A4, the most basic of the manual rigid frame chairs, which cost about $250 as they are so common. A studio can’t pay $250. Then there is how they are balanced, if there are tip bars, and the rest which say so much about the person. Most chairs have the axle far, far backward and these people couldn’t balance on the back wheel if life depended, even when they have a cut down chair.
Excellent post, covering many topics I wanted to bring up myself.
Yes! It iritates me so much that they’re willing to spend money on so many aspects of the set or the wardrobe or any number of other details, but they don’t care at all about getting that part accurate.
I’ve only seen Friday Night Lights a couple of times, but I was impressed by what I saw. The main quad character seemed very believable.
I totally agree that the chair becomes a part of you and the personal expression that comes through with it is wonderful. It stuns me that many people don’t seem to see that. I think one of the best giveaways that a disabled character is not being played by a real wheelchair user is the stiff relationship the person has with the chair. It isn’t fluid, it isn’t natural.
I’ve been considering offering my “expertise” to movie productions about this. I live in Vancouver, which is a pretty big hub in the movie industry, and used to do background work (so I’m somewhat familiar with what happens on a movie set); I don’t know if there would be a lot or any interest in my services though. It feels like when it comes to portraying characters in wheelchairs, movie productions like to think they’re doing things “correctly” without outside help.
It’s a great idea, but yeah, I really don’t think they care. They think they’re doing “good enough” and it’s only us fringe crazy people that care that they have a ridiculously impossible to believe wheelchair.
Ouch. Okay. This reminds me of places I’ve been to that have accessibility problems. Every time I spot a big problem and need to confront them, their excuse is, “It’s good enough. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Umm, excuse me? You’re telling a wheelchair user that he knows nothing about whether something is accessible or not?
Anyways. End rant.
Feel free to continue ranting! I’m with you 🙂 Unfortunately, we are probably both preaching to the choir!
Nice topic I am in a electric wheelchair (or power chair) and I really hate the hospital crap, but what I’m sick of most is the gray car seat powerchair with the red bottom. I could rant on and on tell I get so tired I’ll have to stop and continue typing later. (almost) Every time I see an other person in a powerchair its one of those, and 75% of the time it’s some senior. Were the F#&@! did all the people I was on the small yellow school bus with etc. from before college go?! Will at least I have a sexy pimped out powerchair Wich sticks out from the croud of crap and there is no competition from anyone for many miles and so I get around to adding more stuff to my powerchair when I get around to it plus I’m happy with what I’ve done with it so far plus I was given like 101 color options and so my chair is not red, or any common color choice. Ladies could go with pink if they wanted etc. and that’s how the chair comes. I don’t care to have a competition with any one, plus I haven’t seen anyone else with a powerchair like mine for a while, which isn’t pimped, oh and it has tilt and recline and elevate… and some stand you up etc. and all without the car seat look. It matters to me, not just that I pimped my ride, but that my powerchair is made will for outdoors and inside. Having better color choices and pimping it is not as important as having a great powerchair and as someone who is several physically handicapped with many conditions you usually can’t use the car seat deal anyhow. I also have a wheelchair which is a little older, that can perform much better then a hospital one. It’s a Quickie. I use the powerchair much more or I would of got a newer one, but it’s fine and like I said it performs will. Way better then a brand new hospital style wheelchair, 🙂 I think depending on the situation of someone who maybe can’t walk will, some senior who uses a hospital wheelchair all the time for example, should get a better wheelchair if maybe a used Quickie, just make sure it folds… and that it’s the right size. Depending on how new it is, it will be much lighter too. If you can’t get an ultra lightweight go with lightwehaight, oh and if it doesnt come with a cushion, don’t get just any cushion from some medical supply store or whatever :-! OK? Wheelchair cushions are made for people who sit a lot. I’ve seen some old farts use a pillow, an egg carton pad etc., and you can guess they were all in hospital wheelchairs, get the real deal. Will I can also tell you that its going to be confusing seeing someone in a better wheelchair who isn’t a paraplegic or wasn’t born physically handicapped or something like that just so long as there is a line… and keep the low end hospital wheelchairs, car seat powerchair etc. away from the complex rehab high end stuff, we don’t want some half baked hoveround with a special needs type headrest type crap to creap up and crappafy equipment the people need! Baby boomers can sometimes screw the system up when they become somewhat in need of a wheelchair and I for one don’t want to see a crappy remake of something like a Quickie or TiLite! That would be like putting a injured person who doesn’t have a permanent or real need for a wheelchair instead of giving them a cane, it would be like putting them in a powerchair that can move up and down steps instead of having them wait for an elevator which will soon be there. LOL will you get the point I think it would also be crazy if they put a teenage in a hoveround granny powerchair, with a harness etc. OMG that would be nuts! 🙂
Oh, I know what you mean about those ugly scooter things. Yuck. And they seem to be extremely popular with people in the ghetto parts of Baltimore. You know, I found a bumper sticker online that said “Wheelchairs are sexy” and I thought, How Perfect! But it had a picture on it, and it was a picture of one of those gray and red scooters. Whoever made that bumper sticker didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. There is nothing sexy about those things at all.
Scooters and power chairs are not the same thing, but yea I’ve seen some ugly scooters too.
So those red and gray things are actual power chairs? I always think of them as scooters just because they’re in the same class in my mind.