Category: Everyday Life

The public pool in my city doesn’t have a visible pool lift to accommodate wheelchair users. Apparently you have to call in advance to arrange that the lift be brought (from wherever it is) to the pool that day. I find myself wondering if this is accessible enough or not.

Equal access is a tricky thing. Is it equal access if you have to jump through a hoop in order to gain access? Ideally, equal access means that I should be able to spontaneously access something, without planning, any time I want to. That’s how it is for able-bodied people after all. If an able-bodied person wanted to go swimming at the public pool RIGHT NOW, they could. However, if I wanted to go swimming RIGHT NOW, I couldn’t. I’d have to call first and make sure they got the pool lift there in time.

This same scenario pops up all over the place. Accessible taxis often have to be scheduled in advance. Airport shuttles, same thing. Want accessible concert tickets? Sorry, you can’t buy those online, you have to call the box office.

Is it acceptable to have to wait or go through other avenues to secure accessibility? If you’re willing to surrender spontaneity, then yes. But who wants to do that?

An argument could be made that it costs too much to provide citywide access to pools and therefore since there’s not a huge demand for it, the scheduling solution works best.

However, I have a problem with assuming that there’s not a huge demand for something that disabled people might use. This is like a store owner who says, “I don’t have a lot of disabled customers, why should I put in a ramp?” when his store is up a flight of stairs. Of course the store owner doesn’t see a lot of disabled customers — they can’t get in the store!

Obviously, having immediate access to accessible tools like a pool lift is an optimal situation. But secondary to its usefulness, these tools advertise to the general public that, “Hey, this place is accessible! Tell your friends and family!” Then perhaps more people show up and use the device. Otherwise the presumption is that there’s no lift, and no means of easily getting a wheelchair user into the pool, and therefore not accessible even though it might be (with a phone call).

I was brainstorming a list of some of the things that can hold a person back. The first thing that came to mind was FEAR. In fact a few of the other things that came to mind like “worrying about embarrassment” and “worrying about falling” are really just the same — fear.

I find myself wrapped up in fear sometimes without even thinking. Whenever my mind wanders down that road filled with “What if?” questions, inevitably the questions revolve around fear. “What if there is no ramp?” “What if I get stuck?” and so on.

Asking those questions are important…ONCE. Being prepared is a great thing. But if you have created your methods for being prepared, then it’s a waste of time asking those fearful questions ever again. Usually those questions end up becoming an excuse not to do something.

It’s a great thing to ask different types of “What if?” questions — questions like, “What if I go and have a great time?” “What if I meet someone new and exciting?” “What if I learn something awesome?”

Those questions always seem to have different answers…which is why I love them!

There are times when I feel stuck. I could be physically overwhelmed or mentally blocked.

Take for example getting out of bed. When I am traveling and the hotel bed is a little too mushy, I can easily get stuck while trying to get in or out. Normally I can remedy this myself by using momentum and repeated attempts to get where I need to go. But when help is readily available, I notice that the assistance I need is usually quite minimal. Sometimes it’s as easy as a quick pull one direction or another and the movement is completed.

I have noticed this to be true on so many occasions. For example, if I am transferring from one seat to another, a slight push or pull in the right direction makes a transfer very easy. Without it I might struggle for ten minutes trying to get over the gap.

When my wheelchair gets stuck going up a small step, sometimes it just takes a quick bump against the back of my chair to get me past the hurdle. This saves me time trying to attack the step or find another route.

There are also times when I am working and can’t seem to get myself going mentally. I waste time surfing the internet or by procrastinating. I find that if I can just commit myself to working for five or ten minutes, I can usually jumpstart my entire day.

Whenever I find myself in a situation that seems too difficult or impossible or too much work, I have to recall all those instances where a little nudge in the right direction made everything start moving again — times when a small push or a pull or a tug or a bump made all the difference and was just what I needed.

Yesterday I wrote about some lifesaving technologies I appreciate that we already have access to. Today I thought I’d ponder some “dream” technologies which are either coming down the pipe or could be wonderful to have around.

1. Batteries that last for weeks and weeks

While I am very glad my chair can make it through the day without needing a charge, it would be wonderful to have batteries that last for weeks. Not only would this make traveling a bit easier, but on days when I play wheelchair tennis I would know for sure that I wouldn’t run out of juice before the day is up. It would also be great to have mobile devices and laptops that didn’t require a charge every day either!

2. Practical exoskeletons

Various groups around the world are working on exoskeletons that provide the wearer with tremendous strength and abilities. But right now they’re clunky and slow and I would never wear one even if it meant I could walk again. Unless it’s something I can put on and take off myself and allows me to walk with a normal pace, I won’t really consider integrating an exoskeleton into my life. The prospects, however, are amazing to think about.

3. Artificial muscles

Even more exciting than the idea of exoskeletons is the notion of artificial muscles. Whether they’d be implanted or leverage nano-technology to build them inside the body, I’d definitely sign up for something like that!

4. Super portable ramps

I would love to have a ramp attached to my wheelchair that could deploy on its own. I’d even settle for super thin and lightweight ramps that just attached to my chair and someone else could deploy. It’s great being able to tow my ramps around with me in my car but it would be really nice if I always had it on my chair.

5. A really easy and cheap way to get in and out of a pool or spa

Pool lifts are expensive and clunky. I wish there was a device, or a magical spell, that could take me from my chair into the water and back in the blink of an eye!

6. A device to lift me up from the floor

Sometimes it’s nice to sit on the floor or in the grass. A super portable device that could scoop me up and put me in my chair would be great to have around.

7. A cheaper way to modify vehicles for accessible driving.

I don’t know what could be done to make this possible but it would be nice if there was some way a wheelchair and a vehicle could be unified so that it’s as easy to get into a car as it is for someone without a chair. Again, this could be magical spell territory, but the idea is exciting.

What is on your technology wish list?