Ever since I was little, my chair has been many things to me.  I was brought up to understand that my disability wasn’t going to get in the way of anything I set my mind to, and my chair enabled me to do many things.  If I was “walking” with others, it was thought of as my legs.  If my friends were biking, it was my bike.  Of course it never actually transformed, but I used it in many contexts. 

There was one thing my family warned me against.  My chair was not to be used as a weapon.  This was because other kids could not defend themselves against a four horse-powered, motorized vehicle, with sharp edges.  This rule didn’t mean much to me in early childhood.  After all, I wasn’t going to go around saying “give me your lunch money or you’ll have to answer to four horse power”. 

Throughout childhood, my wheelchair did not factor into my reactions to others because I knew it wasn’t supposed to.  It wasn’t until I was much older that my friends improved in athleticism, and my lack of physical resources created a power struggle in many practical joking situations.  For example, they could run up and turn my chair off and I would do nothing because I didn’t want to be unfair.  After instances like these continued it occurred to me that they were using all their physical resources, while counting on the lack of mine.

In everyday life I would not use my chair as a weapon; however in situations where people are using their physical capabilities at my expense I have come to see no problem with using my chair as a resource.  When I first did so my friends were shocked, but it went a long way in levelling out the playing field, and making practical jokes fun for both sides.  It’s all in good fun, for example no one should be at risk of severe injuries, but now my friends respect that if they’re giving me a hard time, I can give them one back.

Wheelchairs are meant for physical equality, not weaponry one-up-man-ship.  Therefore using your chair recklessly and/or seriously injuring someone is not justifiable. However if someone is using their physical capabilities to make your life more challenging, I would say that using the resources your chair provides to challenge theirs is a fair adaptation. 

Until next time keep on rolling in the city.

~ Chantal