What are your feelings about people in wheelchairs?

Question

I mean people that must use the wheelchair and never recover, such as a person with an amputated leg

Answer 1

I don't really have any feelings, there like every other person, except in a wheelchair. I understand they have much greater hardships in life and difficult barriers to overcome (almost on a daily basis) but i wouldn't ever treat a person any differently just because they require a wheelchair.

Answer 2

I only know 2 people in wheelchairs personally. One I dearly love and she's a delight to be around. The other is a jerk, and I avoid him when possible. My feelings for them have nothing to do with their being in a wheelchair.

I don't feel sorry for either of them. I do feel sorry for the woman that lives a couple houses down from me. She doesn't seem to have any family or friends and must be lonely. But, she won't talk to me when I see her outside and try to start a conversation. She just grumbles and heads back to her house. I think loneliness must be very hard to deal with.

I don't have any personal feelings for anyone I don't know...whether they're in a wheelchair or not.

I have a degenerative condition and will be in a wheelchair before too many more years pass. I certainly hope the people that know me now don't change what they feel about me just because I'll be in a wheelchair. I will be the SAME person I am now.

Answer 3

I have a spinal cord injury and am in a wheelchair myself. It's good to read these answers and most said exactly what I hoped that we are people who just happen to be in a wheelchair. A few have said they are a bit uncomfortable and that's fine I'm new to this and I feel that way when talking to some one new myself. But with time and experience it gets easier. Like I used to have a hard time talking about it and answering questions if some one asked. Now I don't mind if it's an honest question and I give some one credit for asking instead of just gawking which happens at times to. But anyway good answers.

Answer 4

They are people just like anybody else. Certain provisions must be made, ramps and such.

As soon as you treat anyone in a wheelchair with pity or sympathy, you are taking a little bit of their selfhood away.
You are no longer talking to them but to their disability.

My friend Trevor, who is visually impaired and needs a walking stick, told me he could tell how some people would act weird around him. He couldn't stand it.

We are all people, alike and different, with the same amount of humanity.

Answer 5

I spent a while in a wheelchair after a serious accident. I broke my hip, so I couldn't walk, and elbow on the same side, so crutches were out, and had a brain injury (no balance) so I couldn't do anything but one thing in one direction: Fall. Down.

It was hard for me to manage life as it was after the injury, the wheelchair made everything a lot more difficult. As I got more mental power back, I was a little hurt at the way I became everybody's burden. I felt resented. It was good motivation to finish physical therapy and take (literal) steps to take my life back.

I try to notice and be friendly to people with disabilities, because they need it. Life hasn't been as fair to them as it has to us, and will make both of your days better if you can smile and say something nice. You both win.

Answer 6

I use a chair. I did recover, but that doesn't mean I can walk well. A wheelchair is my source of freedom. It is like the wings on a bird that carry me where I want to go. Envy me that I have such a pleasant ride. I don't need anyone's pity or sympathy.

Answer 7

I married a wonderful guy who just HAPPENS to be wheelchair dependent to get about.

When I was a kid, wheelchairs intimidated me and I felt uncomfortable in approaching people.

In 1983, I had a nephew born, who would end up in a wheelchair by the time he was 8. He passed away at 15 from his disease. By being around him, I got comfortable around the wheelchair.

I met my hubby in 2004, and understood from our internet talks that he was a paraplegic (right side) from a major stroke. I have learned to handle, clean, maintain and operate a wheelchair with great comfort. I know when to move forward, backwards, lock the wheels, how to transfer, lift & fold and place in the trunk of my car, and watch for loose nuts and bolts. That wheelchair has become a part of me.

What are my feelings about people in wheelchairs?

I feel priviledged to be married to one of these unique persons!

They're just regular folk who happen to sit all the time, and their chair comes with wheels! Not an issue to even think about twice.

121007 7:55

Answer 8

I have Spina Bifida, and use a wheelchair as a means to clean my apartment and catch up to my son when we are outdoors(he is 3). I honestly don't care what people think as long as they don't pity me. I was born this way for a reason, and while I can walk with the aid of crutches and braces, it is so much easier to get around in a wheelchair. I don't look for handouts, just help where it's needed.

:)

Answer 9

A person who is disabled and has to use a wheelchair is not like everyone else. They do have a different life than those who are not sitting in a wheelchair. However, people who use wheelchairs are people like we are. We should treat them respectfully like we would with others. I have met several people who use wheelchairs and I respect and admire them. In fact, I have a good friend who is in a wheelchair who is married and has a son.

Answer 10

I'm one of those people in a wheelchair. I don't want pity. Just be decent to me. Open a door if you're nearby when I'm going in someplace, or hand me something off the top shelf in a store. Just be polite. Not everyone is. I've been cursed at, called names and made fun of. There's no reason for that. Some people are jerks.