| Wheelchairs are most commonly used by people | | | | adaptations to make them electric |
| who have restrictions on their mobility. A | | | | powered...the user can simply attach a |
| wheelchair allows you to move around with | | | | battery and they are able to use a small |
| greater freedom than you may have once had | | | | joystick device to get around. The main |
| without it. They provide mobility to those | | | | benefit of these wheelchairs is the freedom |
| who would otherwise be limited or completely | | | | and mobility that the user enjoys. With |
| unable to move their legs... but that doesn't | | | | technological advances in the manufacturing |
| mean that they are only for those who are | | | | of these devices, the user can move around |
| unable to walk. Many people who use them are | | | | with a great deal of ease and comfort. |
| still able to walk but simply are not as | | | | |
| mobile without it. | | | | Unfortunately, there are drawbacks, too. The |
| | | | biggest drawback is not in the wheelchair |
| For example, if you have severe arthritis in | | | | itself but rather in the design of buildings |
| your legs, heart trouble, or a weight | | | | and city streets. When they were designed and |
| concern, a wheelchair will allow you to move | | | | built, wheelchair accessibility was not |
| about with great freedom and without fear | | | | forefront in their minds. Today, many laws |
| that your health challenges will get in the | | | | are in place to ensure that retrofitting and |
| way. | | | | remodeling take place to allow users the |
| | | | freedom to get around. But the reality is |
| There are several options available for you | | | | that this retrofitting is not complete: there |
| to enjoy. Thank goodness that we no longer | | | | is still a lot of work to be done. However, |
| live in the day and age of the wooden | | | | wheelchair users can rest assured that |
| wheelchair of a century ago with its giant | | | | changes are being made and wheelchairs are |
| front wheels and tiny back wheels, those | | | | increasingly being designed to help users |
| looked cumbersome and unstable, even if they | | | | make it through narrow doorways or over high |
| were built with the best intentions. | | | | curbs with greater ease. |
| | | | |
| Today's wheelchairs are truly state of the | | | | What else is available in the mobility |
| art. They are lighter and stronger than when | | | | industry? There are many devices that can |
| they were originally constructed from wood: | | | | help you get around a little more easily. |
| they are made of such materials that they can | | | | Electric stair ascenders are a great device |
| withstand a great amount of wear and tear but | | | | where the wheelchair user simply sits on the |
| are not very heavy. They do not necessarily | | | | platform and presses a button and the |
| require someone to push around the person | | | | platform rises along a track installed |
| seated in the chair...quite often the person | | | | parallel to the staircase. Think of it like a |
| seated in the wheelchair can move themselves | | | | cross between an elevator (which is |
| about very easily, by rolling the larger | | | | completely vertical) and an escalator) which |
| wheels (now in the rear). | | | | is diagonal and it doesn't restrict stairway |
| | | | use for those who do not use wheelchairs! |
| As well, these wheelchairs can come with | | | | |