{"id":8234,"date":"2020-07-18T14:33:48","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T04:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/?p=8234"},"modified":"2020-07-22T14:25:37","modified_gmt":"2020-07-22T04:25:37","slug":"a-damn-fine-walking-stick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taramoss.com\/a-damn-fine-walking-stick\/","title":{"rendered":"A Damn Fine Walking Stick"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Did you know that July is Disability Pride Month<\/a>? What better time to write a few words on being a disabled woman and taking pride in my damn fine walking stick, ‘Wolfie’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people with disabilities, injuries, chronic illness, or simply age, benefit from the use of a mobility aid. For some, however, the transition to using mobility aids may be a tough, due to stigma in the community, negative attitudes in their family, or internalized ableism. Mobility aids make disability more visible, and ableism – that is, negative or derogatory attitudes and discrimination against people with disabilities – is so rife in common language <\/a>and practices, that comfort with using aids publicly can be something that takes practice, and pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple studies show that stigma and embarrassment are still major obstacles to mobility aid use. (See Research highlights reluctance to use mobility aids due to others\u2019 perceptions<\/a>, as well as Stigma, Embarrassment and the Use of Mobility Aids<\/a>, and Perspectives on Use of Mobility Aids in a Diverse Population of Seniors: Implications for Intervention<\/a>) This means many who would otherwise benefit from mobility aids don’t use them, or won’t leave the house with them, and therefore experience more pain, falls risk or other health issues, and less public participation and freedom than they would otherwise. (*It’s also vital to make spaces more accessible, but that’s a whole other blog…)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, it’s important to de-stigmatize disability, and mobility aid use<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So although I also post about these topics at Tara and Wolfie<\/a> (named for my fav walking stick, ‘Wolfie’), as it\u2019s Disability Pride Month it feels like a good time to write a short blog answering some of the simple questions I am asked almost daily by people who are new to mobility aids and want to give them a try. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FAQS<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People often contact me privately to ask me if they are \u2018disabled enough\u2019 to use an aid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am here to tell you what others have kindly explained to me in the past:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can benefit from using a mobility aid, you have the right to use one. That is what they exist for.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are literally thousands of illnesses, disorders, congenital disabilities, impairments, and injuries that can require or be helped by the use of mobility aids. These include but are by no means limited to things like low vision, muscle weakness, POTS, EDS, nerve injury, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, dysautonomia, MS, dizziness, sports injuries, falls risk, common ageing, and partial or total paralysis. Due to the nature of their condition, many who use mobility aids use different ones in different circumstances (crutches or wheelchair, cane or walker, etc), and on other days may not require one at all. The fact that so many people are surprised a person who uses a wheelchair may also be able to sometimes walk is yet another reflection of the fact that far more disabled voices and stories need to be heard<\/strong> in mainstream media and culture so their lives are represented with some accuracy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all people who use aids have paralysis, are amputees, or are seniors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all disabilities are visible<\/a> to the eye. In fact, most are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n