questions about men in wheelchairs?

Question

i am writing a novel, in which one of my characters is a guy who uses a wheelchair. i'm finding there are a lot of things about this experience that i don't know much about. examples include:

what conditions might compel someone to use a wheelchair?

what are some typical obsticles he might face, even today in america, with ada & all? for instance, i wonder how he deals with going to a person's house, if the house has steps leading to the front door?

what about greater transportation, ie, riding in a car, taxi, or bus? do these things present additional difficulties?

if he has use of his arms, is it still possible for him to swim or even drive a car?

and, (sacrificig tact) among the different causes of wheelchair use, what, if any, would be the limitations on sex? could he get excited, have feeling, have an erection, have some movement in his hips, perhaps, and ejaculate?

i am hoping especially to hear from people with personal experience from disabilities.

Answer 1

What condition the guy has, and how severe it is, will affect almost all of these answers. I've known people to use wheelchairs due to spinal injuries, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, osteogenesis imperfecta ("brittle bones"), muscular dystrophy...

It also depends on whether he uses a manual wheelchair or a battery powered chair, or has both for different situations. Keep in mind that a battery powered chair MUST be plugged in every night to charge. They can be switched to manual and pushed by an assistant when necessary. People with power chairs often have a manual back-up, though depending on the condition it may be just as useful but more tiring, or may require them to have an assistant to move them everywhere if they can't push the wheels themselves.

I know a guy with spina bifida who can get into the driver's seat of his car and then collapse his chair and pull it over and hook it up with a bungee cord by the passenger seat. (Needless to say, his car has hand controls.) His strategy is only possible with a manual chair, obviously. The people I know who use power chairs can't collapse theirs, and the reason they use a power chair is sometimes because they don't have the strength to move no less collapse and lift a manual chair. Some vans have lifts on the outside (agonizingly slow, but they get the job done) to let wheelchairs (manual or power) on board. They can then be strapped in (I've only seen it done by an assistant, so I don't know if there are ways to do it one's self), and I don't see why someone in this situation couldn't also drive using hand controls.

I knew a guy with osteogenesis imperfecta who could have sex just fine, and people with spinal cord damage who have no sensation at all in that area. Another guy I know (I think he has spina bifida, but I'm not sure) can swim, and when I got certified as a scuba diver the book had a picture of a disabled diver who used webbed gloves instead of fins. Other people, I'm sure, would not be able to swim.

Getting around in public is probably the only universal difficulty, and it depends largely on location. Some cities are very accessible (especially in California, I've heard) and some are awful. Getting into and around friends' houses can also be difficult or impossible, as you figured out.

Keep doing research. Though, for the record, I don't support the idea that some people had of renting a wheelchair, if for no other reason than because your house almost certainly isn't equipped the way it would be for someone who'd been in a chair for a long time, and you don't know the tips and tricks that you can use, so if anything your experience would be even more difficult.

Answer 2

what conditions might compel someone to use a wheelchair? C.P cereal palsy, missing limbs, spinal injury, undeveloped parts due to sickness as a child or in the womb, paralyzed

what are some typical obstacles he might face, even today in America, with ada & all? for instance, i wonder how he deals with going to a person's house, if the house has steps leading to the front door? Homes can be a major problem, but most offices and public places are easy. Sometimes even if there is a ramp people block it or it is not in an easily found location.

what about greater transportation, ie, riding in a car, taxi, or bus? do these things present additional difficulties?
If you inform them they should send a cab that is accomidating and the busses all have lifts and special places that the wheelchair can be buckeled in.
if he has use of his arms, is it still possible for him to swim or even drive a car? Yes and yes

and, (sacrificig tact) among the different causes of wheelchair use, what, if any, would be the limitations on sex? Depends on the cause his disability. could he get excited, have feeling, have an erection, have some movement in his hips, perhaps, and ejaculate? You would have to pick a disability then research that particular one.

i am hoping especially to hear from people with personal experience from disabilities.

1 day ago - 2 days left to answer. - 6 answers - Report Abuse

Answer 3

Well, there are a great many factors that could cause a need for a wheelchair. I care for a late 40s man who is wheelchair bound because of a motorcycle accident and the stroke that followed. The range is anywhere from obesity to respiratory problems to recent surgery to leg issues. ADA as far as I can tell, doesn't stretch as far as it could. As he was not born in a wheelchair, all of this is new to me as well. I have found many instances in which we can't get him through doors of establishments not because there wasn't a ramp, but because the doorways are too narrow to accomodate a wheelchair, including the bathroom. I usually frequent the same places I know can fit him, and if its a new place, I go look first. If there are stairs, he simply cannot go in. The ADA really doesn't care about convenience either- the law is that there needs to be a ramp near handicapped parking, but it doesn't have to lead directly to the front or be convenient to get inside. I think the worst obstacle is other people. He tries to be friendly, but many people stare at him as if he were Bigfoot in a tutu riding the Loch Ness monster. I find that the worst, because that is inexcusable. I also find that people will almost ignore you, especially if you need help. Not all places have automatic doors obviously, so if I'm struggling to get him in a door, I've had people stop and watch me, rather than open the door or offer help. I can't stand that either. Another obstacle, if your fictional guy wasn't born needing a wheelchair, is severe depression and suicidal tendencies, because honestly, it's crappy going from doing anything and everything you want to being dependent on someone else and being limited in where you can go and what you can do. In my real case, he doesn't go visiting because everything outside of the house does not accomodate him. Many people simply come over to his house, because it has been modified to help him get around, and they are very understanding about it. Because of his stroke, he can't use the left side of his body, and his bathroom instincts are on overdrive. Therefore, travel is difficult, even in a car, because the doors may not open wide enough to fit the chair close enough to the car. It is an additional difficulty to be sure, because he cannot get in or out of his chair without help, so someone always needs to be there. Depending on the level of injury, your fictional person may be able to drive, if both eyes are functional, there is no psychological medication involved, and no brain trauma, then you would need to see the DMV superiors who would then need a doctor's note saying he doesn't have the above, they review the case, then give the DMV the okay or denial to let your guy drive. It would probably be difficult for your fictional guy to swim; again, based on his injury, because you need to have your wits about you to stay afloat, and arms and legs are pretty indespensible in swimming. Oh the sex question. Again, this depends on the level of injury. If there isn't lots of brain trauma, altering medication, or loss of sensation below the waist, he's still a normal guy. He can still have feeling, all that normal stuff, and perform normally. Dr. Ruth would probably tell your fictional character's sex partner to be on top during normal intercourse, and use the wheelchair to his/her advantage. Hope this helps!

Answer 4

What you are asking is a lot of information and if you are writing a novel, you need to be a lot more convincing than getting a few paragraphs from Yahoo!Answers. You need to do a lot more research. I strongly suggest you do not rely on people here to give you all the information you need.

There are a lot of organisations and groups and library resources to help you.
Read about personal experiences, research on disability in general, do interviews with people who have a lifelong disability, and people who acquired disability (eg, car accident, falls, industrial accident). Ask permission to talk to rehab centres and patients. Research about social issues facing people with disability.

I am sure people who come on this section will be more than willing to help but asking on Y!A you will only get piece meals, subjective info.

BUT DO try what the first answer said - spend at least a week TOTALLY in a wheelchair. DO NOT even get up to walk for anything - it will give you a good experience about getting around and doing things in a wheelchair. But it will also give you a great experience in a social context - how are you perceived in the community, the attitudinal barriers and prejudices disabled people face and many other issues.

Answer 5

Some disability that people may be in a wheelchair
Cerebral palsy, M.S, polio spine b Paraplegic, (most of them, there are partly paraplegic that can walk) amputees
Some of them only use a wheelchair when going out for a whole day ( all the above disabilities)

And yes some people in wheelchairs can swim some might need help getting out.
DRive a car some of them can with modifed cars
Some have to use maxi taxi other can use their arms to get in and out of cabs.

And if you see Murder ball or watch the Paralympic next year. you will get some more answers to your question

Answer 6

Don't spend a day or a week in a wheelchair. You are able-bodied and the experience will NOT mimic what a person who truly needs to use a chair would experience.

Instead find a willing person who is a chair user to let you shadow them for a week. If you want to use a chair too - go for it, but you will learn more from your teacher than your experience.

Get involved in the disability community if you want to write about us. If you are white and you want to write about a person who is black are you going to ask a few questions on Yahoo and think you got it? If you want what your write to have any semblance to anything real you are going to have to work a lot hard at understanding what it is like to be disabled. Our lives are not that simple.

Answer 7

When I first became disabled, I was given a wheelchair and that was my incentive to make myself be able to walk. The chair is still folded like when it arrived and my walk is more of a wobble, but I'm ambulatory. You will need to interview a tremendous amount of chair bound people, because everyone comes with a unique reason.

Answer 8

Take a few days and go to your local VA hospital. Take a look around and talk to the patients. Most guys in chairs are there for a reason. What they can do and how well they preform is based on injury. It would be a great education and you might make a few friends.

Answer 9

i agree with the first answer. I had many surgeries on my knees and at one time thought i would never walk again. this is painful depressing stuff to talk about to strangers. there is an expression "you can't sing the blues if you aint paid your dues" meaning kinda like you gotta live it to understand it

Answer 10

The best thing to do is to rent a wheelchair yourself and try it out for a day.