General Chat

SINCE USING A WHEELCHAIR
I NOTICED ONE THING ,,YOU CERTANLY HAVE
A DIFFERENT VIEW OF EVERYTHING

IN SHOPS
CANT SEE IN FREEZERS
CANT REACH SHELVES
WHEN BEING PUSHED ALONG YOUR PUSHED PAST
WHAT YOU WANT TO LOOK AT SO SHELF IS LEVEL
WITH OTHER PERSON,
BASKETS ARE HEAVY ON YOUR LAP;
CLOTHES SHOPS I GET PUSHED UNDER THE CLOTHES RAILS

BUT I LEAVE THE BEST TILL LAST
YOUR RIGHT LEVEL WITH OTHERS AT WAIST HIGH OR BELOW
NICE I THINK NOT,,,,,,,,LOL

Hi Dizzi......must admit i found it a bit of an eye opener when i met Joan. We took her out and pushing the wheelchair was difficult at times.

Hello Dizzi When I started to take my Mother out in her wheelchair it really made me more aware of the lack of facilities available for wheelchair users. I can identify with all you have said, also I noticed that the hand dryers in public toilets were always placed out of reach, having said that this was a few years ago, and I have noticed in some places they are placed more wheelchair user friendly. :-D

Quite an eye opener, Dizzi. Many thanks.

Went on a one day course once to understand shopping needs of older customers. They put weights on our wrists and legs, they gave us glasses we could hardly see through and gave us earplugs. And then (in a mocked up supermarket) they gave us a shopping list to buy.

And we didn't do very well. Think I got Dr Whites instead of toilet rolls :-( :-(

AT LEAST YOU EXPERENCE OF SHOPPING WITH DISABILITY

I sometimes use a wheel chair or my mobility scooter when
shopping and also notice that I'm invisible to some people.

Emma

It must be a real problem crossing from one pavement to another. Once I parked in only available space in a hurry. Thought it was ok.

Got back and a very rude message was pinned to my windscreen wiper. Would have preferred it to be more polite, but there you go. But I had not thought about these lowered kerbs for wheelchair users :-(

Sometimes when I have to use my wheelchair and someone is pushing me I find that people tend to talk to the person pushing and they ignore me...I feel like saying "hey my body might not work properly but my brain is in gear" :-D

Jules x

Agree Jules, this also makes me smile when it happens
to me :-D

What Jules & GG say about people talking to the person pushing your wheelchair is true...you are not competent to hold a conversation...another thing that really annoyed me was, the height of those cash dispensers,(ATM?) no-one in a wheelchair can possibly reach them. I was one of the lucky ones, knew I would be rid of the wheelchair after another 6 weeks,(had a fall from a high ladder and broke a bone in heel)but it made me think...I was glad of the experience, even though this may sound odd.
Everything you say it very true Dizzi.x

Hope Dizzi will soon be fit enough to use the in-store scooters, when you can with any luck stand for a moment or two to reach higher shelves and then sit down and rest again. And you do have a decent size trolley basket without having to have one on your lap. And I did find that quite often people would stop and offer help without being asked, whilst when I was being taken with a wheelchair I did have the same "does she take sugar" treatment!

Dizzi I can relate to everything you said. I had to use one some 15 years ago and it's an experience I don't want to repeat if I can help it.

I found it quite scary not to be in control, even though I trusted OH. I did not like the loss of independence and got fed up of saying "STOP" each time we rolled past something I wanted to look at.

Sue x

I have a wheelchair and hate it. I have been supermarket shopping a couple of times in it and had one of those trollies that attach to the front. where the wheels get caught on the front wheels on the chair aghhh.

Yep you can't see anything and OH does'nt go where I want to go or stop. Scooter is far better at least you can go tearing off and stand up if you want to....then you get glared at by other shoppers for standing lol

If I am being pushed to the doctors I feel I need a seatbelt on, as it can get scary going down drop kerbs or over the uneven pavements