I think many people who use wheelchairs would not say they are limited or restrained by their wheelchair. If anything it\u2019s the opposite. Their wheelchair makes it possible for them to move around and do things, and without their wheelchair they would actually be limited or restrained to one place. My wheelchair certainly has not limited me. It\u2019s made it possible for me to go to school, college and work, play sports and be with friends, and visit 11 countries (so far).<\/p>\n
And when we think of the word “restrained” we typically think of a physical restraint, such as something physically holding us down and keeping us in place, and something being used against our will or something seen as a negative thing. Sure, we have seatbelts and sometimes other straps or accessories on our wheelchairs, but they are for safety and comfort, not for holding us down in our wheelchairs. Generally speaking, they are not things we are forced to wear against our will and they are not a negative or mean thing. We aren\u2019t in our wheelchairs against our will. They certainly aren\u2019t restraining like a straight jacket.<\/p>\n
When it comes to the word “confine” (the actual word confined refers to childbirth), Webster\u2019s gives the following definitions:<\/p>\n
\u201cto keep (someone or something) within limits : to prevent (someone or something) from going beyond a particular limit, area, etc.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cto keep (a person or animal) in a place (such as a prison) \u2014 usually used as (be) confined.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cto force or cause (someone) to stay in something (such as a bed or wheelchair) \u2014 usually used as (be) confined.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Again, we are not limited by or with our wheelchair. We can move and do things. Normal things, in fact. And many people can reach things beyond the space of their wheelchair (or have the ability to at least stand-up to reach something).<\/p>\n That last definition is what\u2019s problematic. While our disability causes us to require the use of a wheelchair, again we aren\u2019t being forced. We don\u2019t have to be in our wheelchair if we don\u2019t want to. We could be in bed, on a couch, in another regular chair, in a lawn chase, laying on a beach or swimming in a pool. We could sit or lay anywhere. We can get out of our wheelchair whenever we want (obviously some of us need assistance).<\/p>\n Using the words \u201cbound\u201d or \u201cconfined\u201d ultimately makes it sound like we are stuck in our wheelchair and cannot get out, like we are strapped in against our will as some form of torture or punishment. It makes it sound like our wheelchair is permanently attached to us like a fifth extremity. If you know someone who uses a wheelchair you know none of this is true\u2026 and if you thought otherwise you obviously don\u2019t know that person very well at all.<\/p>\n I often picture the image from Silence of the Lambs because that it what I picture as being \u201cbound\u201d or \u201cconfined.\u201d<\/p>\n More appropriate phrases to use are \u201c(name) who uses a wheelchair\u2026,\u201d \u201c(name) uses a wheelchair due to the affects of\u2026,\u201d \u201c(name) utilizes a wheelchair for daily mobility\u2026.\u201d I think you get the idea.<\/p>\n In this politically-correct society I\u2019m surprised the media still uses these old school terms. Editors, journalists, reporters, it\u2019s time to get with the times.<\/p>\n I could also go on and on about their use of the word \u201csuffers<\/em>\u201d when referencing a chronic and disabling condition, but that\u2019s for another day\u2026 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s not uncommon for the media \u2013 print, online and broadcast \u2013 to refer to someone who uses a wheelchair as \u201cwheelchair-bound\u201d or \u201cconfined to a wheelchair.\u201d I hate to burst their pity or sympathy-evoking bubbles, but I\u2019m not \u201cbound\u201d or \u201cconfined\u201d to my wheelchair. No one is. Webster\u2019s Dictionary offers the following definition of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeneration.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeneration.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeneration.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeneration.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeneration.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/jeneration.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":409,"href":"http:\/\/jeneration.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407\/revisions\/409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeneration.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeneration.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeneration.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Hannibal_Lecter_Muzzled_Based_On\"](\"http:\/\/jeneration.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Hannibal_Lecter_Muzzled_Based_On.png\")
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