Wheelchair Experience

     Today I did the wheelchair experience. I thought the blind experience was hard but this one was a lot more difficult for me. I did fine in the building maneuvering but once I decided to go to the MC to get something to eat I struggled big time. It was a good thing that I had my husband close by when I went to the MC or I'm pretty sure I would have hurt myself and a few other people. I'm also not sure if I would have ever made it back to the Hinckley building either. Since there was construction in front of the Hinckley building I had to go all the way down around the gardens by the Ricks building. That is a pretty steep hill and once I got going on it I could not slow down. Also my wheelchair kept drifting right so I almost ran off  the curb a bunch of times. My husband had to keep chasing after me and catching me before I crashed. By the end of the experience my arms hurt so bad from going up the hills. I obviously need to go work out more often. Also when I went to one of the counters in the MC to get directions it took a while for them to even notice me because they couldn't see me over the counter. It was very frustrating to me and I'm sure that this is also a very frustrating thing for people who are actually in wheelchairs. Also I struggled big time with transferring myself to a toilet and back. I honestly could not figure out how to do it. The last thing that I found to be quiet difficult was the handicapped doors. A few of them were broken or they did not stay open long enough.

     This experience was truly an eye opener for me. It truly gave me great respect for those who are in wheelchairs. I always thought they looked fun and even sometimes easier than walking. Today I realized that that is not the case. They are difficult and require a lot of strength and skill. They limited me in so many ways including how easy it was to do my homework on my lap. People who are in wheelchairs must have very strong arms. They must also have good self esteem or they need it built up because I definitely got a lot of weird looks today. I also realized how not handicapped accessible places can be. I had to take way longer routes to get to places and even though my bathroom stall was a handicapped one it was not big enough by any means. My wheelchair barely fit in it. This experience has really changed my outlook on people and wheelchairs and it has really gotten me thinking about how I can make accommodations for students that are in a wheelchair or have limited mobility.