The next Tumblr addition should be the ability to set traps for mutuals. Like you mark a post as being a trap for so-and-so, and when they reblog they get a little pop up of a box propped up with a stick falling and the words “Haha! @phaeton-flier knew you would reblog that!”
See, the problem with people who aren’t in wheelchairs writing about and/or drawing people who are in (manual) wheelchairs is that the people who aren’t in wheelchairs tend to think that there’s only like four movements that you do in a wheelchair. You can either push forward, push backwards, turn left, or turn right. And the characters do it all while sitting up straight or bending forward so that their noses touch their knees.
But the amount of motions that I go through on a daily basis are actually amazing. And the body language…you could write an entire book on the body language of someone in a wheelchair.
Like right now, I’m more relaxed, so I’m slouching slightly. I’ve got my right foot on its footrest and the left foot on the ground. Every so often, as I stop to think of something to say, I’ll push with my left foot to rock the chair slightly.
But usually, I sit mostly upright with my upper-half slightly leaned forward. When I’m wheeling across the campus, especially if I have somewhere that I need to be, I’ll lean and shift my weight in whichever direction it is that I’m going. It helps make the wheelchair glide that much more smoothly. How far/dramatically I lean depends on how fast I’m going, the terrain, if there’s a turn, etc.
Plus people who don’t use wheelchairs don’t understand the relationship between grabbing the wheels, pushing, and the chair moving. Like I’ve seen things written or have seen people try to use a chair where the character/that person grabs the wheel every single second and never lets go to save their lives. Which isn’t right. The key is to do long, strong, pushes that allow you to move several feet before repeating. I can usually get about ten feet in before I have to push again. It’s kind of like riding a scooter. You don’t always need to push. You push, then ride, then push, then ride, etc.
And because of this, despite what many people think, people in wheelchairs can actually multitask. I’ve carried Starbucks drinks across the campus without spilling a single drop. Because it’s possible to wheel one-handed (despite what most people think), especially when you shift your weight. And if I need to alternate between pushing both wheels, I’ll just swap hands during the ‘glide’ time.
I’ve also noticed that people who don’t use wheelchairs, for some reason, have no idea how to turn a wheelchair. It’s the funniest thing. Like I see it written or, again, have seen people ‘try’ a wheelchair where they’re reaching across their bodies to try to grab one wheel and push or they try to push both wheels at the same time and don’t understand. (For the record, you pull back a wheel and push a wheel. The direction that you’re going is the side that you pull back.)
Back to body language. Again, no idea why most people think that we always sit upright and nothing else. Maybe when I’m in meetings or other formal settings, but most of the time, I do slightly slouch/lean. As for the hands…A lot of writers put the wheelchair user’s hands on the armrests but the truth is, most armrests sit too far back to actually put your hands on. There are times when I’ll put my elbows on the edges of the armrests and will put my hands between my legs. Note: Not on my lap. That’s another thing that writers do but putting your hands in your lap is actually not a natural thing to do when you’re in a wheelchair, due to the angle that you’re sitting and the armrests. Most of the time, I’ll just sort of let my arms loosely fall on either side of the chair, so that my hands are next to my wheels but not grabbing them. That’s another form of body language. I’ve talked to a few people who have done it and I do it myself. If I’m ever anxious or in a situation where I want to leave for one reason or another, I will usually grip my handrims - one hand near the front , one hand near the back. And if I’m really nervous, you’ll find me leaning further and further into the chair, running my hands along the handrims.
Also, on a related subject - a character’s legs should usually be at 90 degree angles, the cushion should come to about their knees, and the armrests should come to about their elbows. You can always tell that an actor is not a wheelchair user when their wheelchair isn’t designed to their dimensions. (Their knees are usually inches away from the seats and are up at an angle, the armrests are too high, etc.) Plus they don’t know how to drive the chair.
Let’s see, what else? Only certain bags can go on the back of the chair without scraping against the wheels, so, no, your teenagers in wheelchairs can’t put their big, stylish, purses on the back. We don’t always use gloves since most gloves actually aren’t that helpful (as stated above, wheeling is a very fluid motion and gloves tend to constrict movements). Height differences are always a thing to remember. If you’re going for the “oh no, my wheelchair is broken” trope, nobody really has ‘flat’ tires anymore thanks to the new material for the wheels but it is possible to have things break off. We use the environment a lot. I always push off of walls or grab onto corners or kick off of the floor etc. Wheelchair parkour should really become a thing.
This is all of the physical things to think about. I could write a thesis on the emotional treatment of your characters with disabilities. But for now, I think that I’ll stop here. For my followers in wheelchairs, is there anything that I left out?
Also why isn’t wheelchair parkour a thing? Somebody make wheelchair parkour a thing.
I have a power wheelchair so a lot of this is very different for me (and I feel like non-elderly in power chairs are represented less too (but I could be wrong.))
But yeah- include problems like people in public who don’t realize that my 300lb wheelchair doesn’t stop on a dime (it’s actually a safety feature for people without good balance, there aren’t breaks and it won’t jerk to a stop or else some people might fall off it or get hurt by the jerking) so if you walk in front of my wheelchair while I’m moving, or stop in front of it, there’s absolutely nothing I can do to not run you over. (this drives me up the wall in public places, like in stores people usually have personal space but museums and zoos no way.) Also kids will actually climb on your chair in public places like aquariums and museums.
Canceling plans because of a “flat tire” not so much, but I’ve had to cancel plans because my wheelchair lift broke last minute and my chair wouldn’t go in, and I’ve had it die out in public because I didn’t charge it enough. (Thanks CJ for being there that time and pushing it for me lol.) I also had it randomly say it was dead though it had a half full battery, and just stop working every two feet- so like all electronics, who even knows.
And all that stuff about holding things in your hands or carrying bags gets easier in a power chair, plus you can get extensions to hold cups or water bottles or even cell phones. (Though I have a phone holder and it’s obnoxious, it just makes my chair bigger and makes it hard to get through chairs.) Provided you have a power chair with controls used by hands and have use of both hands, it’s easy to hold one thing and use the other hand for the controls. Not so easy to use the wrong hand for the controls though. I also have hangers and handles on the back of my chair (though the airline broke my favorite handle last time I flew and I’m not strong enough to fix it…) so it’s designed for shopping bags and such, but also really helps when I go places with friends and we all have bags and I can very easily carry them on my chair (or lap if they’re small) but again that’s only with giant, 300 lb type power chairs. (and I wouldn’t do it somewhere I was worried about pickpocketing.)
And yeah, tons to say on the emotional side of disability and how your other characters treat their disability too, but that’s a different story.
This is highly specific stuff that wouldn’t occur to you just by thinking unless you know someone who actually uses a chair, so THANK YOU VERY MUCH for this crucial info.
today i sent another €25 to Ahmed and his family, which consists of himself, his wife, 3 young children, and their new baby girl born in June. they’re €75,572 of the €100K goal; only 5 people have to donate €5 to match me, and you can always help them by sharing as well<3
genuinely what does it take for y’all to give a shit. Mohammed Ayesh works daily in the line of fire transporting injured Palestinians from their bombed tents to the nearest hospitals for treatment. Then he walks for miles sometimes to talk to and verify Palestinian families’ campaigns when he’s off work. This has been his reality for the past few months.
We’ve only raised a bit over £100 today. This is shameful. There was literally a tank that stopped right next to where Mohammed and his family were hiding this morning (including his kid brother, whose eardrums burst a decade ago when he was an infant under constant iof bombardment).
I’m asking you all to give a shit. If you have money to buy a morning cup of americano you can donate at least £5 to Mohammed so he can relocate his family and keep doing his work on and offline.
1 donation in the past 2 hours. only 4 donations in the past 5. please please continue helping Mohammed.
£17,735 / £18,000 goal that I hope we can get them to in the next few hours. It’s just £165 more to raise. Donating any small amount goes a huge way in supporting this family currently hiding from tanks stationed in their neighborhood
Please don’t let Mohammed’s campaign stagnate any further. It’s been like this for almost half a week now. We need less than £150 to reach 18k URGENTLY.
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