A Word About Wheelchairs
There is a very good reason that when I say disability, you say wheelchair. Disability…WHEELCHAIR. Disability…WHEELCHAIR! Wow, that didn’t work as well on paper as it did in my head.
Moving on.
Wheelchairs have some heavy duty brand recognition. It’s the symbol on the parking spots, the bathrooms, and pretty much every public space that is designated for people with disabilities. So it’s not surprising that wheelchairs and disabilities are fused in the public consciousness. Here’s a fun fact: not everyone with a disability needs a wheelchair. I hate to state this obvious fact, but if it were obvious to everyone, I wouldn’t have to state it.
Let’s walk down memory lane for a moment. Come along with me on a short trip to the mall with my disabled, 15-year-old daughter. Join me as we park in the closest designated spot so she can walk the fewest number of steps to get to the one store she saved up all her energy to visit that week. Enter strangers, looking between me and my able-bodied-appearing, non-assistive-device-using teenage daughter, noodling through their preconceived notions directly in our sightline. Good times.
But, alas, what can be done? What symbol should we put on those placards to be inclusive? Yeah. I have no idea. That’s why I’m opening an Airbnb and not running for public office.
Here is what I do know: sometimes disabilities are invisible; some of the time, all of the time, only when the weather is shit. You get the idea. So when Paige and I were envisioning id, we didn’t focus on wheelchairs. Sure, we have a chairlift outside, and transport wheelchairs available for when folks need them, but our goal is to reach out to the people who are sometimes overlooked under the disability umbrella. People who may have had experiences like ours, people who might be able to go and do, but mostly have to choose between going or doing.
Like any other, ours is a community filled with diversity, and we are not foolish enough to think that we can accommodate everyone. What we can do is offer many of us a little respite from the ego-saturated world of disability management. So pull up a chair (wheels or no wheels) and take a look around. We promise to give you all the information you need in advance to decide whether our house is a safe space for you to get your freak on.