solitary -
This has gotten way off topic, so I'll make this my last post.
Be honest. Are you, or have you ever been, totally dependent on just your upper body for everything you do? Based on your comments, my educated guess would be that you haven't because, and please forgive me if this sounds mean, you assume a lot and seem very naive.
What really is normal? When you said that a paraplegic of today can live a "nearly normal life" I took it to mean that you meant like most other people. I never meant that a disabled person doesn't have a better chance today for a more rewarding life than ever before, because we do, and not everyone is limited to being a greeter at Walmart or working at Goodwill sorting screws or making crafts, either. I thought you meant everyone could have those things if they didn't limit themselves. Years ago I could type 85 w.p.m., and I worked at a university for many years in administration.
Do you think the average person out there who needs a modified van with a lift or ramp and hand controls, electronics, whatever, can afford to buy one? Not at $40,000 - $100,000 for a new one. And not many people I know have the kind of money or I.Q. that Stephen Hawking does either. Or Christopher Reeve had, or Joni Eareckson Tada. That is not "normal." They are the exception.
I'd hate for you to tell Bryan Cutler that his parents shouldn't have, yes BOTH, been overcome and died in their 40's from A.L.S. because Stephen Hawking hasn't. I'm not trying to sound cruel, but if your answer to my question above was yes, then we'd have something to discuss. If the answer was no, then we wouldn't. Just the phrase "nearly normal life" tells me that you really don't understand it.
That would be like my saying those with cancer today can have a normal life because of all the advances in treatments, etc. over the years. A lot of people can't afford or have access to those advances, so they don't benefit from them. It wouldn't help to make that kind of statement to my sister now, or three siblings who died from cancer, because others have been more fortunate.
Just FYI - about the chair that can climb stairs, aside from the starting cost of $26,000, to get one you must:
* Including all items you carry (which can be 20 lbs. max.) weigh under
250 lbs.
* Be able to grasp handrails and stabilize the system (chair) while initiating the
movement up and down stairs.
* Have sufficient hand function to operate a hand-operated joystick.
* Get a prescription.
* Be evaluated at an authorized center to meet basic user requirements.
* Test drive one and be assessed by their clinician on your physical, cognitive,
and perceptual skills.
* Take delivery training (cost separate from chair) and,
* Pass a driving test.
Other than that, the height of the steps the chair can climb must be 5-8 in., depth (tread) 10-17 in., front edge cannot stick out over 1 inch, and only climbs curbs up to 5 inches. I wouldn't want to have to measure steps all the time or wonder if they're o.k.
I used to jump up to 6 in. curbs regularly in a manual chair. I'd say maybe only 5-10% of people with disabilities will ever get one of these chairs because they could afford one, and probably half the people wouldn't meet basic requirements.
You can go to their website if you want, just type in ibot in a search field.
Lastly, speaking of fields, I didn't, or wouldn't have, gone in the field without permission, and if the Amish neighbor would've thought I'd have gotten stuck he'd have told me. Now as I remember, it was only a big washed out puddle in the lane to the field. The guy laughed with me. When we got back home, my great-nephew who was with me washed the car and had fun as I sat at the wheel, especially his face lit up in one hugh smile when I let him hit my window with some mud.
As far as that gas station, (beside McDonald's at Willow Valley, but soon after that, was torn down) the guy outside who wouldn't pump gas may or may not have been the manager, but was the only one there. No customers either. I'd love to have the energy to contact every place and resolve every mobility issue I've ever experienced. That isn't realistic or feasible. It happens too often. These physical issues are why the life isn't what the general population experiences, so IMO are anything but normal.
Stay well. Peace.
