Category: wheelchair use
Delta Airlines and Powerchairs
I haven’t flown Delta in decades. Does Delta really not let you gatecheck a powerchair or scooter?
From Delta’s website:
We need 48 hours advance notice and at least one hour advance check-in on the day of departure if you:
* Require the packaging of a wheelchair battery for shipment as checked luggage (one [...]
Two Encounters
One
The other day I pulled into a parking space, one of two permit spaces, each with its own access aisle. Another car pulled in next to me at almost the same second. I opened my car door, leaned my seat back. The driver of the other car, a 20-something man, did the same. I pulled [...]
Memo to a Flight Attendant
To: Flight Attendent
Re: Aisle Chair
Shortly before landing, I reminded you that I would need an aisle chair at our destination. We landed, and then we waited. And waited. And waited. At some point your colleague said, “I’m sure her wheelchair would fit through here, and then we could skip the aisle chair.” You said, “I [...]
Camping Trip, Part 2
The next day we decided to stay a little closer to home. Bellaire Lake didn’t look too far away on the map, so we set off. In fact, it was up the mountain and down the mountain and up the mountain again, on a hard packed (watered) dirt road. We found Bellaire Lake easily enough, [...]
Going to the Theater
Sometimes I feel like Christiane is my long-lost twin.
Here’s a translation of her post about calling the theater:
A call to the Thalia Theater in Hamburg.
Me: “Hello. Can you tell me if the Nachtasyl (the pub in the theater) is accessible?”
Silence at the other end.
Me: “I’d like to know if I can get into the Nachtasyl [...]
Camping Trip, Part 1
First, I have to confess that it wasn’t really camping - friends lent us their little (no plumbing, no water) cabin on the Cache la Poudre river. The cabin, along with four others, is on National Forest Service land in the Roosevelt National Forest.
Second, I have to confess that I forgot to take a camera. [...]
Off-Road Wheelchair
We’re going camping next week and decided to do something about creating an off-road wheelchair. Here’s the result:
This is my backup chair, a Quickie GPV. I replaced the existing 37-540 tires with Kenda 2″ knobbies (50-540). I figured out that it would be ok to mount them on the existing wheels by reading Sheldon Brown’s [...]
Like Schumacher, after the bus
Christiane vs the bus:
It was the White City stop, the same story as yesterday. I’m waiting in full sight at the bus stop, holding my hand out towards the street, clearly signalling to the driver that I want to get on. And just like yesterday, the driver leaves me standing there.
I practically exploded with anger. [...]
Stairs in the News
A new stair-climbing wheelchair: TopChair.
Topchair is a brand new powered wheelchair (and concept) that enables its drivers to easily be able to climb and descend stairs, steps and other obstacles - all of this in addition to having similar performance to an industry leading powered wheelchair on the road or at home.
(http://marketplace.sibaya.com/2007/05/18/topchair-stair-climbing-wheelchair-ready-for-commercialization/)
From Wheelchair Diffusion, a [...]
A Place in the Choir
David blogs about being a [wheelchair using] singer in the choir. He dissects his director’s evolving view of him eloquently.
We’re about to sing in a non-accessible church again; I’m looking forward to the concert immensely despite this. We’re doing Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Boulder Chamber Orchestra. It’s an opportunity to work under a new director, [...]
Wheelchair Skills
Wheelchair Dancer wows them in Florida by going down 25 steps backwards.
Steeeve is riding escalators.
I’m doing five miles (on the flat) in less than an hour.
Steeeve (get a blog, man!) provided a link to the University of Dalhousie’s Dalhousie University’s Wheelchair Skills Program’s video page. Some of the clips are super basic, many use non-disabled [...]
So demanding,or, what I want in a hotel
I had gotten bored with the Courtyard. Only about 6 channels, of which 4 are some variation of ESPN. (I don’t have cable at home, so I get a kick out of watching the Sci-Fi channel when traveling.) Heavy doors. No fridge or microwave (although you can sometimes get a fridge if you ask nicely). [...]
Pigs have flown
I went off tonight, back to the inaccessible church (after much renovation), for choir rehearsal. My Beloved said, “You better pee before you go.”
I admit, I was skeptical. But children, I am here to tell you that after seven draining, gut-wrenchingly painful years, St Andrew Presbyterian Church of Boulder has a wheelchair accessible restroom.
So you [...]
Another one bites the dust
Invacare is discontinuing sales of Kuschall chairs in North America:
“Kuschall was doing OK, but it wasn’t profitable for us,” said Invacare Vice President Brian Ellacott. “(Medicare) reimbursement is going to be reviewed in 2007, and we know it’s going to go down. So if it wasn’t viable financially currently, the picture could get worse in [...]
So close to perfect
I’ve been cooped up in the house since Tuesday, so my husband and I went out in search of adventure this morning - I suggested we try Roger’s Grove, a park with broad paved paths along the river.
First, let me say that it’s pretty incredible that any city that has two feet of snow dumped [...]
The Re-Education of Michael Graves
John Hockenberry interviews Michael Graves:
When I visit Graves again one steamy morning last summer, he is confined to his bed due to a prolonged bedsore, under strict medical orders to heal it by staying down and out of his wheelchair, so he insists that we speak in his room. A number of chairs are set [...]
“The Wheelchair” and “The Uniform”
Christiane is in the process of moving to London, so she’s racking up lots of airtime. Here’s a translation of her post “Der Rollstuhl†und “die Uniformâ€:
Today at the gate in Hamburg.
Employee behind the counter to the contract helpers: “The wheelchair can board first.”
What I thought: “And the uniform stays in Hamburg.”
What I said (with [...]
Wheelchair page updated
I’ve updated the wheelchair page.
Exercising the franchise
Just a couple of random items from my voting experience:
Paper or plastic?
I have been paying very little attention to the controversy over electronic voting. In Virginia, you went into a curtained booth and toggled little switches on a board till you were happy with your choices, then you pulled a big lever; the machine went [...]
Curiosity versus discretion
I went to my 25th college reunion last week (yes, Virginia, I’m old). I’ve hardly kept in touch with anyone, so as far as I know, only two other people at the reunion even knew that I now use a wheelchair.
I was afraid that no one would remember me, but that didn’t turn out to [...]
You’re too young to burn
We’ve had season tickets to the Takacs Quartet for a number of years. These sold-out concerts are in a 500 seat theatre at CU, and somebody pretty much has to die in order for someone else to get tickets.
Every year I call the box office and beg for seats on the aisle; this year we [...]
Tschüss, Rolli-Moden?
I heard a rumour on CareCure that Rolli-Moden’s US operations are closing down. Rolli-Moden is a German company that makes fairly stylish adaptive clothing for wheelchair users. At the time of this writing, their website has a note saying it’s been closed down due to high volume of orders, so perhaps it’s true.
www.rolli-moden.com
www.rolli-moden.de
Germany - Planes, trains and automobiles
I’m back from a 10 day trip to Germany. No pictures yet, but I should have them in a couple of days.
I’ll start with transportation.
I flew United from Denver, via Dulles (once a totally fun airport, now a sad remnant of its former glorious self). I upgraded to Business class and thoroughly enjoyed it.
As is [...]
Visitability, the personal side
Being a wheelchair user certainly cramps your style when it comes to getting into other people’s houses.
My boss has a monthly after-work gathering for his immediate staff; it rotates between 6 or 7 people’s houses. I’m tired of getting the invite, with no mention of accessibility (again, we’re talking about a small group, not [...]
Don’t park there
A great YouTube find by Caughtya: New Zealand PSA.
Return trip
Christiane has kindly allowed me to translate her blog entries about her recent trip to India.
Der Rückflug (Original German text)
Return trip
Before leaving, we tried to find out what additional security restrictions were in place due to the London incident. On the flight here, I took only carryon luggage (a backpack, a purse). I packed very [...]
Delhi
Christiane has kindly allowed me to translate her blog entries about her recent trip to India.
Delhi (Original German text) - be sure and check the original for the photos.
I didn’t have the time or the opportunity to blog from Delhi. The internet connection was bad and kept dropping. I’ve been back in Germany since this [...]
Hell Airways
Christiane has kindly allowed me to translate her blog entries about her recent trip to India.
Hell Airways (Original German text)
Hell Airways
What a day! What can you expect, when you’ve only had a few hours sleep and the day started at 5 am? But in the end everything was fine. My stomach may be telling me [...]
No shoes
I’ve had a blinding flash of inspiration!
Like a lot of people, I switch shoes for thick socks on the airplane because my feet swell. It’s difficult to get my shoes on and off, both at the checkpoint and on the plane.
So why wear shoes at all? Propriety, I guess - well, and protecting my feet [...]
Bangalore
Christiane has kindly allowed me to translate her blog entries about her recent trip to India.
Bangalore (Original German text)
Bangalore
I don’t even know where to start. I’m overwhelmed by all the impressions I’ve had. Perhaps I’ll start chronologically. After the short night we went to the Microsoft Research Center, a very modern building with decorated in [...]
Welcome to India
Christiane has kindly allowed me to translate her blog entries about her recent trip to India.
Willkommen in India (Original German text)
Welcome to India
Okay, I’ve arrived. I’m in my hotel room and don’t know when I’ll be able to get this blog entry online. Everything here is terribly circuitous. Transportation. porters, checking in at the hotel, [...]
The Right Wheelchair
Thanks to Zach for linking to this.
Medicare believes that wheelchairs are needed for use In The Home Only. Do you?
Christiane in India/Blogging meme
Christiane is writing some terrific dispatches from her India trip (in German) - if you read German, definitely check them out!
She has also tagged me with a meme.
Warum bloggst Du?/Why do you blog?
Probably first and foremost as a venting mechanism - it’s hard to find people who are willing to sit around and listen to [...]
German travel resources
I’m planning a trip to Germany in September - here are a few helpful websites I’ve come across recently:
ÖPNV-Info: Mobilitätsportal für behinderte Reisende
(German)
Deutsche Bahn - Mobility for the Disabled: Services for mobility-impaired customers. (English)
Hotel Reservation Service (English - choose Extended Search and then Facilities at hotel and in room, and you can specify a [...]
Employees, veterans laud Alaska Airlines’ support of Wheelchair Games
Employees, veterans laud Alaska Airlines’ support of Wheelchair Games
The Pentagon could learn a thing or two about transporting troops from the men and women of Alaska Airlines.
Last week, an army of employees across the system teamed up with the airline’s ground handling vendors to successfully move more than 260 veterans with disabilities—the equivalent of an [...]
Qantas’ turn
They’re getting riled up and uppity down under!
This is discrimination, Qantas told
THE champion wheelchair racer Louise Sauvage, once the smiling face in Qantas promotions, has turned bitter about what she says is the airline’s “discriminatory” approach to disabled passengers.
Qantas’s confirmation that it limits the number of wheelchairs on each flight comes only days after Virgin [...]
Virgin backs down on wheelchair policy
Excellent! I love a happy ending, don’t you?
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) says it is pleased that Virgin Blue has backed down on a policy change affecting disabled passengers.
The airline says wheelchair passengers will no longer have to travel with a carer at their own expense.
The commissioner responsible for disability discrimination, Graeme [...]
Paralympian takes legal action against Virgin Blue
A wheelchair-bound Paralympian is taking legal action against Virgin Blue over its policy on carrying disabled people.
Paul Nunnari says he was told by Virgin Blue staff that he would need to be accompanied by a carer at his own expense the next time he flies with the airline.
Virgin Blue says people who are not able [...]
More on Virgin Blue
Airline to wheelchair users: pay a carer
Paralympics medalist Paul Munnari, who has propelled himself thousands of kilometres, said airline staff had told him he would have to be accompanied by a carer.
The airline’s spokeswoman, Heather Jeffery, last night said the airline had produced a more detailed policy on special needs passengers or “guests”, to take [...]
Accessible Landscape Design
I’m currently obsessing about creating an accessible landscape design for our property. Found so far:
Fun and Leisure: Home Enabling Garden, from NCPAD
ACCESSIBLE GARDENING: Bring Mother Earth Within Reach, from MDA
I’m trying to find resources which avoid tokenism: rather than “here’s how to build a table-top garden”, or “horticulture as therapy”, I want access to the [...]
Don’t try to evade me
Check out Wheelchair Dancer’s Sidewalk Etiquette Tips for Walkies.
Numbers 2 & 3 are my favorites. Seriously, moms, do you think I’m not going to miss your wandering child? This isn’t pedestrian pinball.
Wheelchair Advantage
I was down on Pearl Street Mall the other day for some reason that is currently escaping me, and decided to get some extra exercise. Now Pearl Street Mall is prime accosting territory - between the panhandlers and the environmental petition pushers, you can barely get through a single block without being confronted by your [...]
Dear Duesseldorf Airport
Duesseldorf Airport apparently doesn’t get it. Read Christiane’s In Pantoffeln zum Gepäckband (in German). A translation is below.
Dear organizational geniuses of Duesseldorf airport:
Imagine an airport where passengers are required give up their shoes at check in, and wear slippers to their gates. Additionally imagine, that the slippers are one size fits all, everyone must shuffle [...]
Misc
Disability Bitch is back, with some schoolin’ for cutesy crips:
Have you seen girls staggering home drunk on a winter night, skirt too short, fishnets torn, mascara smudged, plastic bag wrapped around their ears to keep the rain off? Well, that’s what your mobility aid Christmas décor looks like after a few hours on the town.
My [...]
Self determination
Agent Fang is back, hooray, with her adventures in wheelchair maintenance. Sadly, she has disabled comments. If I could comment, I would say, “Well done! And the next time it’ll be much easier. Get yourself a nice set of hex wrenches (or whatever your Swedish chair wants) - today the chair, tomorrow the world! Plus [...]
Aunt Aggie Ruins Christmas
From Crip Chronicles, Aunt Aggie Ruins Christmas, or Dies in the Attempt:
After it took nearly ten minutes for Aggie to walk — with human and cane assistance — from the living room to the driveway of a fairly small house, I said to Joan, “for $150 she could get a good transport wheelchair that would [...]
The Mythical Wheelchair Passenger
I wish I had the statistics to refute this sort of thing:
By the way, my own local bus route (London route 101 for those knowledgeable) was one of the first adapted, new buses and alterations at all the bus stops, all ceremonially opened by the mayor of the time. In the 10 years since this [...]
Traveling in a wheelchair doesn’t have to be limiting
Traveling in a wheelchair doesn’t have to be limiting
“Inconvenience is adventure wrongly considered, and adventure is inconvenience rightly considered,” Pat announced early in the journey. She had heard the saying at a nephew’s high school graduation ceremony, and it became a motto for our trip.
Standing’s not going to be a problem, or How I got chucked out of the ticket-selling moms
My daughter’s playing the Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods at high school. I signed up to sell tickets - not generally what I’d consider a labor-intensive job.
Ticket Mom calls me up. We agree on days. We agree on times. Then she says, “Is standing going to be a problem?”
“I use a wheelchair,” I say, [...]
High School, again
Today I mistakenly went to a high school music parents booster meeting. I have not generally done well as a booster parent. I find that booster parents don’t seem to have moved on since high school. Remember in Desperate Housewives when Lynette is trying to be accepted by the other preschool moms? Good comedy is [...]
Charming
Wheelchair search irks football fan: A wheelchair-bound teenaged fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is upset new security measures will require her seat cushion to be examined by security staff.
Which begs the question - what’s the level of search of able-bodied attendees? Metal detectors? Strip search?
Where’s an engineer when you need one?
The other day I park at work, whip the wheelchair out of the car, pop a wheel on, pop the other wheel on—wait, the wheel won’t go on. The axle goes in a little ways, then just stops. And it won’t come out again, either.
I shift over against the steering wheel to get some leverage, [...]
Fucking Cobblestones
Excellent! Check out the picture at the very end of Lisy Babe’s “Give my Grandad’s teeth back”.
What part of accessible …
An Incident at the Induction provides a perfect description of the disconnect between what should be accessible and what the mainstream thinks is accessible:
I hate lifts, and I know Cass does, too. … I don’t know any wheelchair user who likes lifts. They endure them, but they’d much prefer a ramp. Two simple [...]
Little wheelchair guy abuse
This week’s meetings were in a building that our customer had recently renovated (new cubes, new carpeting, new furniture). They had also put up the new, company approved restroom signs:
Unfortunately, they neglected to actually renovate the restroom. I wanted to sneak back in the middle of the night and duct tape out the little wheelchair [...]
New Urbanism
Via Rolling Rains: Eleanor Smith of Concrete Change has some excellent observations on the shortcomings of New Urbanism in an article in the Ragged Edge.
Prospect here in Longmont is an example of New Urbanism. While I applaud breaking out of the cookie cutter developer mold, and rethinking the relationship of the house with its environs, [...]
By Wheelchair In Iran
By Wheelchair In Iran:
Continuing through the bazaar, I felt a light hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see it was a university student dressed in a black chador from head to toe. She introduced herself, and just wanted to speak some English. She spoke somewhat haltingly, but I had no [...]
Gate check
Variations in gate-check policies I encountered on the trip; all flights were on Northwest/KLM.
DEN-DTW - no problem; got a gate check tag at the gate, gate checked the chair, it was returned to me at the plane in Detroit.
DTW-CDG - same. The arrival gate was a bus gate; the purser arranged a lift off the [...]
Deconstruction of the News
Here are two goofy news items that caught my attention:
SUV driver knocks down woman in wheelchair in a parking lot
Wheelchair-Bound Man Suspected Of Shooting Wife As She Drove
Let’s look at these in a little more detail:
CLEARFIELD — Clearfield police don’t know why a 64-year-old woman in a wheelchair was in a parking lot Monday [...]
Interesting (sitting vs. standing, another view)
While I’ve witnessed a fair amount of discrimination, condescension and patronisation of wheelchair users (including myself), I really think (thought) it wasn’t the norm in my experience.
But…
There’s a restaurant I’ve been going to for years, maybe once a month, every couple of weeks. It’s Italian. They clearly pride themselves on being good to their regulars, [...]
Sitting vs. standing
I’ve been agonising over whether to take the wheelchair and crutches to France, or just crutches. This despite the fact that I know I should take the chair. But I’ve been walking so well, and the chair is just another thing to haul around, and …
Then I read Jill’s account of waiting in the immigration [...]
Stupidest Question Ever
A thread on WheelchairJunkie, starting with the following:
Today, someone admired my new Jazzy 1122, and said…
“Did you get it at Costco?” (Costco is a warehouse store like Sam’s Club.)
I must look damn healthy.
Being Patronised
I went to a home improvement place yesterday to buy faucets and a sink, and to look at tile. Elderly Guy was working the tile department, and asked if he could help me. I asked about samples, and he muttered something about lending out sample boards, then looked down at me gravely and said, sadly, [...]
Ethiopia
Ethiopia in a wheelchair
Wow. Where do I sign up?
(Don’t) Have chair, will travel
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems to me that someone who consistently needs to use a wheelchair in public places might want to investigate acquiring one of his own: Missing Chair Holds Up Wheelchair Appeal
A court case over a disabled man charged for a wheelchair at an airport was held up - because no [...]
Ms. Wheelchair Florida 2005
Everybody rush over to Becky’s journal right now to congratulate her on being named Ms. Wheelchair Florida 2005! Just goes to show that even three hurricanes cannot keep a good woman down.
Michael Graves
An article in this month’s Metropolitan Home made me aware that Michael Graves, of Target appliance fame, is now One of Us. The Met Home article about Graves’ adaption of his home for wheelchair accessibility is superficial, but this SFGate.com article is somewhat more informative.
“None of them was designed for people like me,” said Graves. [...]
Edinburgh
From Lisy Babe, these are fun:
I’m Fine!
Why do these offers of help only come along when I’m fine? Why do supermarkets only put feta cheese on the top shelf? And why does no-one ever say “Do you need a hand?” when I’m attempting to mount a chiller cabinet in Sainsbury’s just to reach the damn [...]
Anachronism
When I learned that my choir would be doing a play, I commenced to worrying about the wheelchair, and how the director was going to want handle it - hide it? Try to do something period-appropriate? Ignore it? I learned at the run-through Saturday that she has decided to allow the anachronism of a modern [...]