Mindset Is Everything

The mindset of a person with a disability is one of the most influential qualities that others sense. There are many people with disabilities who tend to be angry and pessimistic.  They lash out their anger and frustration in an attempt to deal with their disability.  Some lack the confidence, motivation, and the resiliency to push themselves to overcome their issues.  While it is indeed tough to overcome problems associated with their disability, it is indeed not impossible.  With proper influence and guidance, anybody, regardless of whether they have a disability or not, can overcome anything if they have the right mindset.  The most powerful thing that a person possesses is the mind.  With the right mindset, anything is possible.

Advice For Office Workers: Wheelchair Office Etiquette

With many disabled professionals working these days, it is not uncommon to find them in an office environment (aka Cubicle Farm).  While worldwide societies and cultures have been generally accepting and accustomed to helping those in wheelchairs, there is the occasional fleeting encounter that does not prepare anyone, chair or no chair, for the daily interaction that one has in an office environment.  The following are a few pieces of advice on wheelchair office etiquette:

If you are the wheelchair user:

-Unless someone at work really dislikes you, your colleagues would most likely give you the space you need to move around. However, this doesn't give you the license to be president of the universe (unless YOU are the CEO) and demand that all work situations accommodate you. 

-Be pleasant and acknowledge the little favors everyone does for you. If you're male, it would be nice to let the women go ahead of you. You may even open doors for them. Saying "please" and "thank you" always get you further.

-Sometimes, you colleagues could have the tendency to fuss over you a little too much, especially when they know you're not feeling well, or if they see that you have to deal with a tough load. It is perfectly fine to politely refuse their help when you're sure that you don't need any. On the flip side, offer them help when you can.

If you have a colleague in a wheelchair:

-You are never obliged to be nice. However, as a person, you are expected to be respectful. It would be helpful for you and everyone else to develop your peripheral vision. A lot of accidents could be avoided.

-Saying that you're sorry when necessary will also get you a long way. Offer help whenever you can, and I'm sure that your disabled colleague will lend you a hand in turn. You might even end up being good friends!

Wanna Find Love? Article on Being Disabled & Dating

The following article is from gowheelchair.com and is a great article for those who are disabled and are interested in finding love:

There are all sorts of online dating sites, for all types of people, religions and even kinky ones, so of course there are online dating sites for disabled people. These places are ideal to go to find friendship, then maybe as you chat online, it might develop into something more. Disabled people deserve love and friendship, just as much as much as anyone else, so here is a selection of the better sites to visit.

Whispers4U is a great place to start, as it is more than just a dating site but a social networking community site, which encourages friendship, just as much as dating. It has over 30,000 members, groups you can join and create to find whole communities of like minded people.

Lovebyrd is another social community site with an emphasis on building friendships as well as dating. It aims to help people that have a condition that might make it difficult for them to meet and make friends and provides a safe platform for friendship, dating and online chat.

Disabledpassions is a completely free dating and social networking community for single people with a disability. It recognizes that fact that meeting people can be hard, even more so developing friendships and love. It has many groups and forums to explore and find people you’d like to get to know more.

Disabled World’s Disabled Dating Community is another 100% free site, which helps find friendship and love connections worldwide. It has chat rooms, your own mailbox, a compatibility match making services and lots more besides. Once more this site is more of a disability social networking site with articles and community links.

D.A.W.N (Differently Abled Winner’s Network) is a match making service that uses an extensive questionnaire and a telephone or personal interview to help find that perfect match. This site was created in 1993 by woman who has polio at 4 and knows the romantic and social challenges that are faced by disabled people. This is a paid match making service.

The Disabled Dating Club has a huge database of friendly people who want to meet new people for friendship and maybe more! It is another site that has many ways to connect with people like chatrooms, instant messaging and email. Membership is free.

If you sign up to all these sites, you should be making new friends in no time and perhaps you will find a special someone too. The social networking aspect of many of the above sites really does put you at ease, as you can email/IM or talk to people in groups as friends and nothing more. It’s puts you in control.

Pity = $$$.

Every Labor Day, you can see on TV the annual MDA Telethon with Jerry Lewis as the host. For as long as most of us can remember, he has worked to help raise a countless amount of money to help those with Muscular Dystrophy. Since I personally have MD, I have witnessed firsthand as to the services and help they provide for people with MD. While I am greatly appreciative of his help with raising money for research and help, I do question his thinking about how he portrays people with MD.

Jerry Lewis has helped to perpetuate negative, stereotypical attitudes toward people with muscular dystrophy and other disabilities. Jerry Lewis and the Telethon actively promote pity as a fundraising strategy. Disabled people want respect, not pity. In 1990, Lewis wrote that if he had muscular dystrophy and had to use a wheelchair, he would "just have to learn to try to be good at being a half a person." During the 1992 Telethon, he said that people with MD, whom he always insists on calling "my kids," "cannot go into the workplace. There's nothing they can do." Many people have argued that he uses the Telethon to promote pity, a counterproductive emotion which undermines our social equality. Here's how Lewis responded to the Telethon protesters during a 2001 television interview: "Pity? You don't want to be pitied because you're a cripple in a wheelchair? Stay in your house!"

I do understand his reasoning behind his way of portraying MD in this light. Pity equals money. Just look at some of his old movies where he plays some bumbling idiot. The more we are pitied, the more money people will shell out to help us. This is the reason why most people will never see active people with MD on the Telethon. While I do respect Jerry Lewis for all the help he has done, I wonder if it is worth the price of having most people thinking that we are not equal?

That's Why They Cost So Much! Wheelchair Testing Explained

Ever wonder why powerchairs cost as much as some cars? The following article from Mobility Management explains the reasoning and also discusses the testing that goes into powerchairs before they are sold to the public.  The kind of testing encompasses everything from actual range to the maximum height a chair can drive over and even extreme weather testing!  Check out the article for yourself at the following link.