From TIME · Nicole Clark · · 2m
Stop shaming people for using mobility aids
Wheelchairs, crutches and rollators are life-changing tools, not signs of weakness. Yet stigma keeps disabled people from using them.
In brief
Wheelchairs, crutches and rollators are life-changing tools, not signs of weakness. Yet stigma keeps disabled people from using them. Mobility aids enable disabled people to participate equally in society, but widespread stigma and invasive questioning prevent many from using them despite their need. Originally…
Mobility aids open doors
When fitted correctly, mobility aids like wheelchairs and rollators are extensions of the body, enabling disabled people to participate in society more equally.
Stigma runs deep
A two thousand twenty-four study in Disability and Health Journal surveyed sixty wheelchair users and found themes of feeling patronized. One user said people openly stare and ask invasive questions.
“People are weird about it. I often have people just openly stare or come up and ask invasive questions.”
Invisible disabilities are common
An estimated seventy to eighty percent of disability is invisible, meaning the impairment is not externally obvious. Many people use mobility aids only during flare-ups or are ambulatory wheelchair users.
Josie Tang's daily reality
Josie Tang, a twenty-one-year-old artist in Cornwall, England, uses mobility aids to manage hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis slash Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Tang shares experiences on Instagram since two thousand twenty-four.
Discrimination in public
Tang faces discriminatory comments online and in person. Strangers have knocked on Tang's car window to question their use of a handicap parking spot despite displaying a Blue Badge placard.
“So you're practicing what it's like to be older then?”
Stigma stops people seeking help
Dr. Julie Hershberg, clinical associate professor of physical therapy at the University of Southern California, says patients decline mobility aids to avoid judgment. Some are bullied or called lazy by peers and families.
“They cut back life and joy and the things they want to do.”
Disability is rising fast
In two thousand nineteen, roughly forty-one million noninstitutionalized people with disabilities lived in the U.S. By two thousand twenty-four, that number had risen to almost forty-six million.
Long COVID created new need
COVID created a significant new population with invisible disabilities. Approximately six percent of people who get sick with the virus go on to develop Long COVID, often requiring mobility aids.
Energy-limiting conditions demand tools
Emily Taylor, president and CEO of Solve ME, explains that ME slash CFS and Long COVID require mobility aids to manage. Post-exertional malaise causes symptom increases twelve to forty-eight hours after activity.
“Imagine starting your day, every day, with a cell phone battery that only charges ten percent.”
Dignity means using what you need
People with disabilities deserve the basic dignity of existing in the world using tools that support their bodies, without fear of judgment or harassment. Normalizing mobility aids is essential.
What to remember
Mobility aids enable disabled people to participate equally in society, but widespread stigma and invasive questioning prevent many from using them despite their need.
