Tips for Occasional Wheelchair Users

• Don't let a wheelchair keep you from your normal routine.handicapped sign image by sonya etchison from Fotolia.com
  
  Wheelchairs help people with limited mobility live the type of life they want. But it is certainly not easy. Wheelchair users have many daily obstacles, from heavy doors to narrow passages, to overcome. It is even more difficult for the occasional wheelchair user because they are not accustomed to these everyday challenges and do not know what to expect.
  
  

Call Ahead

• Going out in your wheelchair can make you anxious if you don't have a game plan. Call ahead to any restaurant, establishment or appointment to inquire about wheelchair accessibility and possible obstacles. If you are still unsure or nervous, request that someone come out to assist you. People are usually very considerate of these requests.
  
  

Use Handles

• The handles on wheelchairs are very useful and can becomes another set of arms for holding things. Bring bags that you can hang over the handlebars for groceries, mall shopping or simply for your day-pack or purse.
  
  

Clip-Mirror

• Use a clip-on mirror to determine happenings behind you. Sometimes you are so concerned with powering forward that you don't think about obstacles and pedestrians coming from the rear. The mirrors also aid in neck strain from frequently turning around.
  
  

Wear Slippers

• If you are going to be in the wheelchair all day, you do not need to wear shoes. Wearing cozy slippers is perfectly acceptable and much more comfortable than constraining shoes or dealing with untied shoelaces. The exception, of course, is if you are attending a formal event.
  
  

Throw Rugs Danger

• Throw rugs may be useful around the house but they are major obstacles to wheelchairs. They can lift up the wheels as they roll over the rugs and immobilize the chair. Remove them from your house, if possible, while you will be confined to the wheelchair. If they must stay, use double-sided tape or rubber matting, which you can cut to size, to hold the rug down securely.
  
  

Keep it Clean

• Dirty shoes can track dirt into your home. Similarly, your wheelchair's wheels bring outside debris into the house, often causing stains on carpeting and additional work at home. Just as you would wipe your shoes before entering the house, make sure your wheels are clean. Keep a cloth or wet-wipes at the entrance of your home to make it easy to wipe your wheels. Keep a natural-fiber doormat (or even an absorbent bath mat) at the entrance of your home and roll back and forth several times to make sure tires are clean.