We are all capable consciously or not of putting things, situations and perhaps people into categories or generalising, especially after experiencing something. This can lead to looking at people almost in a judgemental way. Think about when you see a child displaying what seems to be misbehaviour or actions a parent just cannot control.
Decision time
We always take Luis out, we believe that he should enjoy the outdoor space the same as we do, even though he sometimes expresses himself with loud outbursts. After constant use day in day out at school, out and about, and travelling, Luis' pushchair finally gave out. We had a decision to make, to get another pushchair or to increase the use of his wheelchair as his primary mode of transport. We had been using pushchairs for the best part of 6 plus years so we were leaning that way initially.
Moving over to a wheelchair
We decided to use the wheelchair on a permanent basis as the pushchair has a weight limit and would be of no use soon.
There were a few things we needed to consider:
The room needed in the car as it does not fold as compact as a pushchair.
A wheelchair can be less versatile for example if not using a paved path, or needing to carry extra things, the basket under the pushchairs are quite handy.
As we do not own the wheelchair outright, repairs need to be booked in.
Contacting the airport and holiday providers to make prior arrangements for getting Luis on and off transport safely.
Ensuring that places we go to are more accessible.
Different Reactions
When Luis was in pushchair expressing himself we always received quite mixed reactions, and most leaned towards intrusive stares, looking at us so as to suggest what is wrong with Luis or why don't we do something about him.
Interestingly now, people are less intrusive in their stares and more understanding or more interested, especially when Luis makes noise or has sudden outbursts. This was an interesting change of reactions, we sometimes laugh that maybe we should have moved him over sooner.
Abroad this was more or less the same, when I compare the previous years with an XL pushchair to using his wheelchair. The reactions of the general public was more receptive and willing to accommodate us where needed.
So what is the reasoning?
Not all disabilities we know are physical or require a wheelchair, meaning not all of us as parents or the ones having a disability will definitely need a mobility aid of some kind. So for the onlookers seeing a bigger child in a pushchair immediately raises statements or questions similar to:
why is a child that size in a pushchair
they are probably lazy and their parent is encouraging it
if that was my child I would make them walk
Whereas if you put the same child into a wheelchair and all of sudden the treatment changes because they must have an issue. People stand out of the way, they open doors, you can go first, they almost want to lean over and rub the child's head and ask them if everything is ok, you get the point..
I am not telling you to all rush out there and get a wheelchair not at all, I just wanted to share a bit about how our conscious/unconscious bias works and how it can affect those around us both positively or negatively...
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