I want to raise a related issue that is even more obscene than the fact that the Scooter Store (and other companies) is pedaling this medical equipment with this kind of “line.”

Does anyone think about what a wheelchair is really for? Regardless of who “qualifies,” or how a sale can be made, we seem to have forgotten that a wheelchair is not a “thing” to buy just as we would purchase jewelry from another home shopping corporation!

I have cerebral palsy, and I was forced to make the agonizing decision to transition to a power wheelchair after years and years of battling against slow deterioration, pain, and loss of function. In the three years prior to having to relinquish the ability to walk functionally, I worked in physical therapy, used different types of crutches, wheeled walkers, unwheeled walkers, and manual wheelchairs. My lifetime of unrelenting work to remain ambulatory still resulted in the need for one of those power wheelchairs they are now marketing like candy to the afternoon viewing audience.

I cannot tell you how sickened I am by the number of ambulatory people I meet who stop to tell me how they wish they had a power wheelchair so that they didn’t have to walk. It’s so hot. They just get tired of being sweaty. It takes them longer to walk. They hate standing in line. Sure beats walking. And they can get one for free from the Scooter Store…

And just so you don’t think I’m rushing to judgment, these are people whom I know have gym memberships. They walk all over town on a regular basis. They see a wheelchair as a convenience. I think we have the Scooter Store to thank for that shift in attitude. People who don’t need wheelchairs want them now, because, and I quote, “it beats walking.”

Do you see these actors on the commercials riding in circles, showing off their new toys, waving to the camera? It’s a wheelchair, people! And if folks do go the scooter route, it still has the same very bad effect on the body over time. But why worry? You can go to the Grand Canyon! How convenient! What a great time a new power wheelchair would be! Sign everyone up!!

Again, only speaking from experience. But the first huge problem with the stranger who approaches me and wants a wheelchair just like the one I have is this. A wheelchair is an absolute last resort. And if any person goes from pretty much functioning on their own without any kind of assistive device–if they are doing ok, but not as well as they or their doctor would like them to be, then a wheelchair should not be the first choice.

I do talk to people when I’m not enraged by their chair envy. I ask them if they have talked to a doctor about wanting a wheelchair. I tell them a doctor needs to write a prescription for a wheelchair. I stress that a wheelchair is medical equipment, and that it is a medical intervention. I tell them the health risks of a sedintary lifestyle are much greater than almost any symptom (like pain) from walking that can be treated in another way. I also tell them that if they get a wheelchair it will be an uphill battle to do everything they can to maintain physical function, and that odds are they will not enjoy the freedom to walk around town like they do now. Or ride their bikes. (Yes, some people who tell me they want a wheelchair are whizzing by me on ten speeds).

Most people who want a wheelchair think it’s a toy. Oh, it’s so neat! They want it because they think it will make their lives easier. And the Scooter Store is right there, talking people into giving up their mobility as soon as possible.

As someone who didn’t go to the doctor and finally say the word–that I thought I needed a wheelchair, until I could not get out of bed to get myself a glass of water, until I was the cliche – “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up” or until I was crawling on my floor to get to the bathroom–I resent this absurd complaint about not being able to get around your house because your home was not wheelchair accessible in the first place.

If you didn’t need your home accessible for a manual chair, use of walkers or canes, crutches, etc – or otherwise you did not need to make your home friendly so that you could function there with a disability significant enough to warrant the use of some type of assistive device, then anyone who wrote you a prescription for a power chair is guilty of malpractice, and anyone who sold you a chair you didn’t absolutely need is greedy and unethical to say the least.

If you truly need a wheelchair, you need your house to be accessible first. If it’s not, then it’s beyond me how anyone–customer, doctor, salesperson can justify getting you one.

And I don’t have any sympathy for anyone involved in a deal like that. If you want a chair because it looks like fun, it looks easy, and you think you’ll get it for free, ask yourself if it’s really worth giving up the mobility you have. Because you will lose what you have if you use adaptive equipment unless you 110% NEED it.

Not a toy! Be smart with your health. I wouldn’t do anything different. There was no chair until I could not function safely. Don’t let ANYONE talk you into getting a wheelchair for any other reason.

The only thing dumber and creepier than pedalling wheelchairs to any customers who think they know on their own what the consequenses are would be to sell oxygen tanks to just anyone who thought using those would save them the energy of having to breathe on their own. If the Scooter Store sold oxygen as if it were a convenience, would we buy that too, as long as it was free?