My reaction to the 'wheelchair for a day' fundraiser.

So a while ago there was a video released by a celebrity where she spent the day in a wheelchair. At first glance, this seemed like a harmless way of making non-wheelchair users think but it never sat right with me. It was when I saw her summary video of her day did things start to come into place for me. Her words hurt. She described using a wheelchair as "horrific". Able-bodied people commonly view wheelchairs as items that take away independence and freedom. Whereas that couldn't be further from how wheelchair users view their wheelchairs. My wheelchair is not a negative thing, I love it. Without it I am stuck sliding around the floor on my bum, I spent 2 days with paralysis without a chair which made me even more grateful when I got one. She did it to raise money for a spinal cord injury charity but as many people who have SCI's pointed out using a wheelchair is only 50% of what it means for them. They will have many problems such as neuropathic pain, incontinence, bowel issues which she will never understand. If she really wanted to get to grips with accessibility she could have followed someone with a SCI for a day, she could have sat down and made a video with people with SCI's to raise awareness of what a SCI means for them.

Then after many disabled people raised the video as a problem she then released an 'apology' where she completely ignored everything she had been told by wheelchair users just basically saying she did nothing wrong because she was raising money. No one was questioning her intentions but the action she took was hurtful to the disabled community. It feels silencing that she wasn't interested in making accessibility better but making people think she is so kind and compassionate to those 'poor disabled people. I think my favourite quote from her "spending a day in a wheelchair" video was "I'm just counting my blessings that I'm just doing it for 24 hours" because it shows that she has no idea what it means to be disabled or use a wheelchair, just how inaccessible things are. I have had discussed with many people I play wheelchair basketball with and we all agree, being disabled isn't the end of the world. Actually, when accessibility is done right and everyone is included (like at wheelchair basketball) Disabled people love life, so telling us that 'were inspirational' or 'brave' is absolute bullshit. Were human, so treat us like we are.

Oh and whilst I'm on the topic of disabilities, disabled isn't a bad word so use it. Just please don't use 'handicapped',' handicapable' ect ect because it's demeaning.