A few weeks ago, I made an appointment with a photographer friend of mine to get some updated head shots taken. My most recent ones were almost five years old, and while I don’t look that different, I didn’t want anyone thinking they were getting cheated out of a younger product when they met me…
Last night I got a private message on Instagram from one of my college sorority sisters to let me know that #AbledsAreWeird was trending on Twitter. I don’t spend much time on Twitter because I find it pretty useless as a social media platform, but my curiosity was piqued. I did a search for the…
About a month ago, a video started making the rounds on Facebook that had been posted by CBS News. The video was of a young man in a wheelchair who was at his graduation ceremony at my alma mater, Florida International University. He was at the edge of the stage fitted with an exoskeleton, two…
Yesterday, I was scrolling through my Facebook feed (what else is new?) when I came across a post titled, “100 Ways White People Can Make Life Less Frustrating for People of Color.” As I went down the list of suggestions, I realized that many of them could be very easily modified to apply to how…
In August 2017, paraplegic athlete and trainer Justin Levene flew into Luton airport near London to discover that his custom-made manual wheelchair had not arrived with him on the plane. Unfortunately, this happens to many manual and power wheelchair users, and the only option at the time is to use an airport chair. Luton airport…
This morning, I woke up and checked my Facebook feed as I usually do when I manage to haul myself out of bed. As I scrolled through, I saw a photo posted by a younger (and former – more on that later) friend of mine from a Halloween costume party she attended last night. Her…
It was a random day with my two sons, and we were just relaxing in the living room while watching TV. My 10 year-old asked me to get him some water. I looked at him, sprawled lazily on the floor, and said, “Hey, you’ve got two perfectly good legs. You know where the refrigerator is,…
Earlier today, I was reading through the comments on a Facebook post in an accessible travel group. The original poster was asking about the security of aisle chairs (used to transfer wheelchair users to an airplane seat), and one commenter suggested that a certain type of lift should be used instead. These Eagle lifts, as…
Back in 1934, the local press asked the football coach at Ohio State University what his team’s chances were of beating rival Michigan. Francis Schmidt replied, “Those fellows put their pants on one leg at a time, the same as everyone else.” This statement alone makes it obvious that Schmidt was not a wheelchair user….
Okay, admittedly at first glance some of these tools and gadgets you’re about to see may look like either sex toys or torture devices. But I guarantee you, they are not. Over the last several years, I have been losing strength and dexterity in my hands, and standing up to reach something is increasingly difficult….