On Our Own Tracks

My identity and how I actually do travel on sand, water and land…

As some of you would relate to, I find myself hearing comments referring to the fact that I am a wheelchair user, or person with a disability, on a daily basis. Although I do acknowledge that most of these comments come from a warm and loving place, I do at times find myself questioning my identity in this world. In particular, I question whether people see me as a twenty eight year old woman or just a wheelchair that has moments of inspiration. 

Generally,  my questioning does not come from a negative perception of my disability but from a position of intrigue. I wonder how can I take these outer perceptions and turn them around so that others are able to see my preferred identity as an average twenty-eight year old woman? An average twenty-eight year old woman who loves being active, partying and standing up for multiple social and community issues with disability rights being one of them.

In this blog, I will address some of the perceptions others have of people like me who are “in a wheelchair.”

Admittedly, some comments relating to this topic have been quite comical and put images in my head of me taking my wheelchair on a surfboard, down snow slopes and even to bed. So, to answer queries about how I do all of the things I do outside of the ‘disabled’ stereotype, I am going to explain how I get around and the equipment I use, which may offer you some tips about equipment you could use, too.  

I am going to start with one of the most roughest materials to get a wheelchair through and that is sand. Although there have been times when I have been able to travel on sand – by either having someone drag my manual chair across the sand backwards or having someone strong piggyback me – there’s usually no way to get my wheelchair onto the beach. However, I have recently found a few “Beach Wheelchairs”. I remember the first time that I tested one of these at Avoca Beach – it was such an exciting day! For me, apart from the obvious opening up of access, this experience also assisted me with starting to overcome my fear of waves as they are also made from waterproof material and wheels made out of inflated tires to ensure that the chair is ready to go on both sand and water. .  These wheelchairs are now on hire at selected surf clubs all over the country, see this Accessible Beaches Directly for a guide to the beaches they are located at. 

This brings me to the second  activity that I absolutely love spending time doing and that is swimming in pools and swimming holes. I vividly remember a large part of my childhood was spent trialling every floatation device out there, which were all met by this dramatic fear that I was going to drown. However, this changed when I was about fourteen and received an Intensity Water Skiing Jacket for Christmas. Admittedly after a lot of panic and anxiety around the first trial of the vest I surprisingly got comfortable with it. Just minutes after I was swimming the whole length of the pool feeling completely safe without a huge ring around me. In the fourteen years since then my confidence in this piece of equipment is basically one hundred percent now and I absolutely love this freedom in the water.

The last area of mobility that I would like to cover is wheelchairs. Now, as you would have seen around, there  are all sorts of wheelchairs, with each one generally personalised to suit the physical size, needs and personality of its user. In my case, I am very lucky to have three chairs in my so called ‘fleet’. These are my ‘everyday’ Manual Wheelchair, my Wheelchair with motors in the wheels, and my larger Power Chair which I absolutely love to bush bash and socialise in (and no I don’t know the speed limit on it!) Now although this may seem to be a lot of chairs, currently I find that I use all three chairs due to living between three different locations and having different needs. These needs generally range from traveling, working, hanging in pubs to just chilling out at home. I feel that using my wheelchairs this way, using them to fit my needs, I’m less likely to see them as an extension of my body more as aids in my busy life as an average adult.

I hope that now you know a bit more about my ‘day to day’ life and the equipment that helps me live it, you will start to see that anyone who uses a wheelchair, or has a disability, is a person who just wants to live life and do what they love. Also, if you happen to have a disability, I hope that you’ll explore these suggestions I have recommended, as I can assure you there’s something to meet all of our needs.