Urban Cripple

How Do I Convince My Parents to Let Me Use My Wheelchair?

Feb 03, 2019

I’m having a rough time with my parents accommodating my wheelchair. They refuse to take simple steps to make the house accessible (e.g., not letting me move the rolling kitchen island so I can access the fridge to eat). I’m really stuck because I’m needing my wheelchair more and more, but if I use it around them they make me feel like crap. This has been going on for two years. Is there anything I can do?

Get a Diagnosis

The fact that you’re condition has been worsening over time worries me. Have you gotten a diagnosis? If not, I would do this first. A diagnosis is going to give you both solid evidence for why you need the chair, and a common starting point when discussing making your home more wheelchair accessible.

Get Good at Using the Chair

If using a wheelchair is the best decision for your health, then you need to make sure that you are constantly practicing things like pushing, turning, transferring, and safely carrying items. If you’re constantly bumping into walls or asking for help, it’s going to hurt your case.

Talk to Them

Once you have a diagnosis, sit down with them and talk to them about it. Ask them what they feel about it, listen to their response, and then share your own feelings. Focus on how everyone can move forward through this new situation together. Have a list of small things that everyone can do to make the house more accessible.

Have a Plan and Keep Moving

I don’t know how old you are or what your situation is, so it’s tough for me to give direct advice about what to do next. Are you a student? An adult living at home? Either way, you need to make a plan. Set goals for yourself that cover every day, once a week, once a month, 90 days, 6 months, and 1 year. Keep moving towards them.

Get financially literate. Understand how a credit scores and interest rates work. Learn how to set and keep a budget. Have a solid grasp of how 401Ks, IRAs and savings accounts work. This all sounds really complicated but there’s a ton of information available online.

Master basic life skills. YouTube is a wonderful place for stuff like this. Cooking, cleaning, sewing, basic home repairs. Lessons for all of this stuff can be found there and easily saved for future reference.

Keep moving. I know you you’re stuck in a tough situation right now. I know things might feel hopeless. But no matter what, you have to keep moving forward. Every day is a chance to improve yourself and start to make things better. Don’t waste it.