10 Years of Being “In” a Wheelchair
Today, 10 years ago, I was in a car accident that ended up severing my spinal cord, and I have been “in” a wheelchair ever since. Yeah, yeah, the awkward silence, the teary-eyed pitiful looks, the awws and omg-that-sounds-so-sads. Stop it. People with disabilities are not rare, alien creatures you hide your kids from in a grocery store (yes, that did happen). We’re part of this society. And disabilities are more common than the number of times Harry Styles has pretended to be straight.
But before I get into how the decade went. People are not “in” wheelchairs. People use them. As assistive devices. Grammar and all, but it’s a matter of building perspectives. People need to understand that wheelchairs are not our defining characteristics. We just happen to use them for our needs. See the difference?
Okay, so back to the decade. Here are the results from my thematic analysis of my experiences as a person with a disability over the past 10 years.
