[Blind-rollers] Blind-rollers Digest, Vol 42, Issue 2, To Jevel S.

Jackie jpentland at hay.net
Fri Feb 4 22:58:57 UTC 2011 

Hi I have a manual chair as well.  I think I would be afraid of using a 
power chair having no vision.
take care jackie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "qubit" <lauraeaves at yahoo.com>
To: "Blind wheelchair users list" <blind-rollers at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 5:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Blind-rollers] Blind-rollers Digest, Vol 42, Issue 2,To Jevel 
S.


> Hello Marcy --
> Thank you for your comments and kudos for getting out there with the 
> chair!
> I am a blind roller who went the other direction and stuck with manual
> chairs for at least 3 reasons:
>
> 1.  A manual chair is easier to travel with without getting a van.  It
> collapses and goes in the trunk of anyone's car, and I am able to transfer
> into a car seat.  I also am able to scoot forward and use my feet to stear
> and feel out the ground in front of me. This also frees up one hand to use
> the cane, but admittedly it is awkward.
>
> 2. A manual chair is cheaper, especially when you work in the cost of a 
> van
> and a driver for that van.
>
> 3. I am in a wheelchair because of OI, the brittle bone condition that 
> makes
> me fracture very easily.  I know from experience that when I'm in an
> unfamiliar place with someone else taking me around, we invariably 
> encounter
> nasty things like poor wheelchair ramps that are hardly wide enough  to 
> get
> a standard sized chair onto, and dropoffs on either side.  I am terrified 
> at
> the thought of getting dumped out of my chair, which has happened more 
> than
> once and I have had some nasty fractures.  I therefore prefer to stay with 
> a
> sighted and ambulatory companion whenever I'm not in a flat and familiar
> place. Now as for home: inside the house, I have found that the times I 
> have
> tried the power chairs, I have left nice gouges and scrapes in walls and
> furniture as I try to get accustomed to the controls.  I do love the 
> ability
> to raise up to counter height in the kitchen, and do other things with the
> power chair that otherwise are difficult, and I think with practice I 
> could
> stear successfully and use the cane, but it seems extravagant to get a 
> pricy
> power chair just for inside.
>
> Another point of #3 is that I am using a companion to take me around 
> anyway,
> so I have no need to get a power chair, which would give some kind of
> impression that I am independent enough to travel on my own.  I know, I
> should be brave, but I was brave while I was ambulatory and I broke bones
> regularly, and the thought of continuing these episodes scares me out of
> travelling myself any more.
>
> So we're not all the same.  I agree 100% about the perceptions people have
> of the chair.  I have known many persons with new or progressive
> disabilities who resist using a chair, but you know, for some situations, 
> it
> is more liberating that it is confining.
>
> Happy season all!  It appears the groundhog saw his shadow, so we're in 
> for
> a long winter, but hey, do something you like indoors every day, whether 
> it
> fits well in your schedule or not...
> Keep rolling!
> --le
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Marcy Ryan" <waywardwheelsinc at hotmail.com>
> To: <blind-rollers at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 2:41 PM
> Subject: Re: [Blind-rollers] Blind-rollers Digest, Vol 42, Issue 2,To 
> Jevel
> S.
>
>
>
> To Jewel S.,
> I am a used of an electric wheelchair and blind, I have found that a 
> manual
> wheelchair is
> too difficult to use and get around safely. An electric can go slowly and
> manipulate areas that a manual cannot due to its size and weight. I am in 
> a
> Permobile and I love it, I can go slowly and safely or faster if I have a
> guide who walks quickly. If I am using a can I am able to manipulate the
> environment more easily with one hand free.
>
> I recycle medical equipment and work with many of our peers with multiple
> challenges, we all enter into the world of wheelchairs with a sense of
> concern and fear. I have found one you get one you never go back to a
> manual. The independence you get is so awesome and the ability to use the
> clicking of the controls to listen to the sound bouncing off the walls for 
> a
> guide. I think people fear what they will look like to others in a chair 
> and
> try to avoid it, because our culture is so judgmental about disability. 
> And
> a wheelchair puts you disability right out there for the world to see. I
> gave up subtle years ago, to get my and others needs met. Its hard for
> others to understand our world, they do try, but until you are here I 
> think
> its something you can't really understand.
>
> If you need information of equipment and how to work things our to meet 
> your
> needs, please contact me at my email, its the same as my company one.
> waywardwheelsinc at hotmail.com
> My company is all persons with disabilities, all the office's are run by 
> and
> for us, and the board of directors is also made up only of the disabled
> persons. I have found over the years  we have been able to meet the needs 
> of
> many because we are so diverse.
>
> Hang in there, roll on,
> Marcy & Sadie (my work dog)
>
> Marcella Ryan, ED
> Wayward Wheels, Inc
> 181 Franklin St. #1
> Winooski, Vt. 05404
> waywardwheelsinc at hotmail.com
> 1-802-655-2936
>
>
>
>
>> From: blind-rollers-request at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: Blind-rollers Digest, Vol 42, Issue 2
>> To: blind-rollers at nfbnet.org
>> Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 12:00:21 -0600
>>
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>> Today's Topics:
>>
>>    1. Re: hello (Jewel S.)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 08:38:19 -0500
>> From: "Jewel S." <herekittykat2 at gmail.com>
>> To: Blind wheelchair users list <blind-rollers at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: Re: [Blind-rollers] hello
>> Message-ID:
>> <AANLkTinOmk3xC=D8N9KYUnJqdbaR5e3aSLBDqhX_hnxy at mail.gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>>
>> Thank you much for the ideas! I used the messenger bag only because
>> that's all I have at the moment. I just made it a lighter load than
>> usual. I'll be trying a two-shoulder backpack next time, borrowing it
>> from a friend. I'm not supposed to have a lot of weight on my back,
>> though, so I'll still have to keep the load light. I'll definitely try
>> the dog leash idea@ That sounds interesting.
>>
>> On 2/1/11, Becky Frankeberger <b.butterfly at comcast.net> wrote:
>> > Making the bag sit evenly on both shoulders will help.  My husband has
>> > neck
>> > and back problems from a severe car accident, so he is super fussy 
>> > about
>> > what kind of backpack he uses.  He could never do a messenger bag as I
>> > think
>> > it sits only on one shoulder.  Practice with perhaps tying the roling
>> > bag on
>> > a belt.  You have to practice as you might have to change how you walk 
>> > a
>> > bit.  Or perhaps a super long strap you can pull the bag where the 
>> > strap
>> > goes across your body, thus I should think you are pulling it more with
>> > your
>> > torso, not just your waste and not just with your shoulder. Around here
>> > I
>> > would try with dog leashes, smile.  I would hook one end of the leash
>> > clip
>> > to one end of the short handle metal thing, not the actual grip.  Then
>> > the
>> > other clip end to the other side of the metal handle, thus the two 
>> > sides
>> > are
>> > like eight inches apart. This should add stability as you pull the bag,
>> > thus
>> > reducing tipping, which trust me you do not want, grown. Been there 
>> > done
>> > that, this works better.  For your pull bag you want the biggest wheels
>> > you
>> > can find.  That might just  one of those old laby carts you buy at Wal
>> > Mart,
>> > also called a luggage cart.  The wheels have rubber like little tires.
>> >
>> > Give it a think.  We are here to brainstorm with each other.
>> >
>> > Becky and guide dog Jake
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: blind-rollers-bounces at nfbnet.org
>> > [mailto:blind-rollers-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jewel S.
>> > Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2011 6:10 AM
>> > To: Blind wheelchair users list
>> > Subject: Re: [Blind-rollers] hello
>> >
>> > I am doing all right. Really miffed because the bus took off without
>> > me again today, so I missed another class and another quiz. I'm so
>> > irritated. It was supposed to wait for me for the two extra minutes it
>> > would have taken me to get there, but it was gone by the time I
>> > arrived at the bus stop. So now I'm sitting out in the cold at the bus
>> > stop for another h alf an hour (been here half an hour already).
>> >
>> > I am still having trouble figuring out how to use both my support cane
>> > and my rolling backpack. Today I'm using a messenger bag which is
>> > already hurting my shoulder, but I have to in order to use my support
>> > cane and my white cane simultaneously. Any new suggestions on how to
>> > use two canes and carry stuff without having it on one's back?
>> >
>> > What do you all do when there is snow and ice ont he ground? Is there
>> > anything special to put on a wheelchair to help it keep traction?
>> >
>> > Oh, another question. I'll be using an electric wheelchair at
>> > Disneyworld this summer to get around. Anyone have suggestions or tips
>> > on this? I'm using an electric so I can use my white cane in my other
>> > hand. I've used a white cane with a manual (not easy!), but not with
>> > an electric and am wondernig if there are any tips on techniques?
>> >
>> > Later,
>> > Jewel
>> >
>> > On 2/1/11, Jackie <jpentland at hay.net> wrote:
>> >> Hi how is every one doing?  I am doing ok.  Here there is a lot of
>> >> snow.
>> >> When there is a lot of snow it makes it hard to go out.  What does
>> >> every
>> > one
>> >> do when there is a lot of snow out.
>> >> take care jackie
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> Blind-rollers mailing list
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>> >>
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>> > %40gmail.com
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > ~Jewel
>> > Check out my blog about accessibility for the blind!
>> > Treasure Chest for the Blind: http://blindtreasurechest.blogspot.com
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Blind-rollers mailing list
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>> > 0comcast.net
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>> -- 
>> ~Jewel
>> Check out my blog about accessibility for the blind!
>> Treasure Chest for the Blind: http://blindtreasurechest.blogspot.com
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
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>>
>> End of Blind-rollers Digest, Vol 42, Issue 2
>> ********************************************
>
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