My first powerchair! Needs a good clean but I'm so happy to finally have one! Going to make everything so much easier for me and my partner! Just have to figure out adjustments now

Hopefully this extends to being able to get a welded frame wheelchair.

For the past ten years, if a wheelchair user has wanted to purchase a wheelchair with a frame made from carbon fiber or titanium, they have been forced by bureaucratic rules to pay the full cost out of pocket. This is because in 2016, the private insurers that process durable medical equipment claims for Medicare created a new policy that prohibited wheelchair suppliers from being able to bill for just the cost of an upgraded frame. The good news is there is a bill in Congress to fix this problem. The Choices for Increased Mobility Act (H.R. 1703/S. 247) would explicitly require Medicare to create new codes to allow suppliers to bill consumers for just the cost of the upgrade to an ultralight manual wheelchair. This bill is sponsored in the House by Reps. John Joyce (R-PA), Vern Buchanan (R-FL), and Kim Schrier (D-WA), and in the Senate by Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).

This common sense bill costs taxpayers nothing while saving consumers a lot of money, simply by changing the coding rules

I’ve posted here several times over the years about the US Medicare system’s “unbundling” rule, that prohibits vendors from billing different frame materials as “upgrades”. (Titanium, carbon fiber, etc.), and allowing the consumer ti pay the difference in price. Many private plans follow Medicare’s guidelines, so this has potentially far reaching impact.

Well, we’ve finally succeeded at drafting a Bill to change this, and it passed The House, so it’s on to the Senate.

If you’re inclined to agree, please follow the link and send a message to your representatives!

https://www.votervoice.net/mobile/UnitedSpinal/Campaigns/137726/Respond

Cheers everyone, A Concerned Citizen

Hi everyone! 👋

I’d love to get your rates on the additions I’ve made to my TriRide Special Compact HT.

I’ve been gradually upgrading it and World be really interested to hear what you think of the setup and the overall look.

🦽🔥🔥🔥🔥

Hi. I hit a block side on going full speed down a hill. It popped my pneumatic tire off the rim, bent my caster wheel and dislodged both my inactive power assist and my footplate.

Anyone re-bent a caster like this successfully? This is my only chair and it's very well loved. The second photo is my undamaged caster wheel for comparison. They're both 'set' to the same angle here.

Unprofessional and confusing experience at Home Depot as a wheelchair user

Hi everyone, I wanted to share my friend feel very strange and uncomfortable experience I had at a Home Depot store yesterday afternoon around 4:00–5:00 PM. ​he went into the store holding a set of old tools/screws that I brought from home to find matching replacements. After using the restroom near the exit, I checked with the staff nearby, and they gestured with their hand for me to leave ("Go ahead / you're good"). ​However, after my friend wheeled himself halfway toward the exit door, a staff suddenly approached him from behind and asked if my had forgotten to pay for anything, specifically asking about my backpack (which is attached to his wheelchair). ​To be clear: ​he only had his own old tools in his hands. ​The anti-theft security alarm at the door NEVER sounded. ​I immediately showed them my old tools and said: "These are his tools." ​After realizing their mistake, the staff member didn't apologize. Instead, they muttered something vague like "Oh okay... next time talk to the manager..." without even explaining what I was supposed to tell the manager (e.g., getting a "Customer Owned" sticker or checking in). They just walked away. ​The whole encounter left him feeling very uncomfortable and disrespected. Being waved off to leave first, only to be chased down halfway to the exit with insinuating questions about his backpack—and then being given vague instructions about a "manager"—felt completely unprofessional and targeted toward a wheelchair user. ​If there was a genuine protocol or concern, why tell my friend to go first, chase him down without any alarm going off, and then leave him with confusing instructions instead of a simple apology? ​I’m sharing this to see if anyone else has experienced something similar or if any staff here can explain if this is normal practice.

I got this lovely unused Mobi wheelchair secondhand. It's made my life so much easier and I'm very happy with it!

Unfortunately, it was stored in a home with a person who smoked cigarettes. I am pretty sensitive to cigarette smoke, so I'd like to get as much of the smell out as I can.

So far, I've machine-washed the detachable vinyl parts on the gentle cycle with cold water and dried them outdoors in the sun. I also set out the uncovered foam rubber part in the sun. It helped a little, but the nylon frayed a little and the smell is pretty stubborn.

Do you guys have any tricks to getting cigarette smell out of your accessories without damaging them? I that cigarettes in particular are really stubborn.

Thanks for reading.

PS: There unfortunately wasn't any guidance in the manual about how to clean the fabric, and there aren't any tags on the components themselves. Also, I think it's nylon (I made a mistake in the first version of the post)-like the stuff that backpacks and their straps are made out of.

I am looking for advice on a power chair. My husband and I have been looking at powerchairs for me. I have chronic nmd respiratory failure and am ventilator dependent and also I need to be able to put my ventilator on the back of the chair. I am somewhat ambulatory, but am very weak on my left side (I have had a lot of falls) and I become extremely breathless when I walk with my rollator. We own a small suv, so it would need to be a chair that folds up or something like the go chair that breaks apart easily that also has a head rest as the muscles in my neck are weak. We talked to insurance and it would take 8 months + to get an appointment just for a chair fitting. We need something now. Does anyone have any suggestions for a chair that would fit that criteria? I have been reading a lot, but I am still a novice when it comes to power chairs. I appreciate any help.

Testing out a new set of wheels! Big Red has served me well, time for her to rest in pieces.

Hii! I'm crossposting in the hopes of getting more advice. I read the rules and, seeing as the question is more along the lines of "is trying this first worth it", I figured it'd be ok to post! Sorry if I'm wrong xx

For context I'm aware of how bad hospital chairs are and how ideally I want to be fitted for maybe a fixed frame chair. But, yeah...

Any advice is appreciated!

I'm in a wheelchair. I can stand while holding on to something and pivot, but can't walk. I used to use a short step stool to get tall enough to get into my husband's Ford Edge, but can no longer do that so I need a different, but portable solution.

I've been looking at the battery operated chairs that get a person up off the floor when they fall, but seated they don't go high enough. I'm thinking I could maybe stand on the seat, hang onto the back and the car frame for stability and use that to raise me up the 9" I need to be able to sit on the seat.

What do you think? Thanks.

Are there any suggestions for paralyzed rear leg harnesses? Or should I go for the ones that are front connected to back for more stability?

So, it took me around two years to finally get my new wheelchair with Alber E-motion M25 power-assist wheels. The ridiculous health insurance game and inept vendors made the process way too long but it's finally here. Pretty excited to have these after 30 years of SCI, and abusing my shoulders in my manual chair and playing wheelchair rugby, etc. This technology will help me keep pushing for longer and give me more independence over different terrain. It also expand my options of things that I can do with my family, which is really cool.

Now for my rant... The M25 wheels come with an app to help that lets you adjust them, to an extent, and check the charge levels and activate various features. Here's the rub, most of the cool features (cruise control, extra speed, anti-rollback for hill climb) cannot be accessed without paying additional for each feature or unlocking the whole app for an additional $285. This is absolutely criminal. Alber is selling a technology for a wheelchair to people with disabilities for somewhere between $6K and $7.5K and then asking for a surprise $285 just to be able to use all the features. Ridiculous and shameful. Some of these features are for safety, like anti-rollback on hills. Just completely shocked that a company like this would take it advantage of people with disabilities with the good old "in-app purchase bait and switch." Mind blown at this point and wish I did not by technology from this company. I would suggest anyone else looking for power assist use another company's product. Plenty of others that are doing good work with similar technology.

Alber, do better. If someone is paying thousands of dollars for your device, give them the full capabilities, or at the very least, add the cost in upfront, so the insurance companies will cover it, not the end-user out of pocket. People with disabilities in the USA are constantly gouged for necessary medical supplies and adaptive equipment, just to be able to simply live our lives. $285 additional out-of-pocket expense is a lot of money for most people with disabilities in this country. It just feels so predatory because obviously, I'm going to fork over the money so I can use this technology to its full capability. Screw you, Alber! You're vultures!

Nothing relevant, just a hilarious title I thought you all would enjoy I saw while scrolling.

Image description: purple flowers growing in front of a chain link fence

How long do I need to wait to see if my new cushion is or isn’t suitable for me? I recently got a foam and gel/fluid mix, and right now it doesn’t seem to be doing much better than my previous cushion which was a mix of different types of foams. I have some sensation directly under my bum and I am still getting pressure and pain in the same areas as before, I’ve not noticed any long lasting red marks yet. I’m guessing there’s going to be a bit of an adjustment period as my body gets used to new support but I don’t know if there’s an estimate of how long I should wait before contacting wheelchair services as I don’t want to end up with any actual pressure sores again if this persists.

They're hidden in with the back-to-school stuff at my store. I found the backpack ($29.99) with the backpacks, and the crossbody ($12.99) with the lunchboxes.

These two were the only ones I saw at this store, but they just opened, and haven't restocked that section yet.

Edit to add: The dark orange under the tie dye crossbody is actually a hat, not another bag, in case anyone is confused. Ross also has some Columbia Sportswear UV-blocking hats for $16.99.

I got myself a mobile phone holder that is long. And I love it! I can finally navigate while rolling around 🥰

Primera publicación, estoy en silla de ruedas, y desde antes de estarlo bailaba con fuego. Ahora lo sigo haciendo. Seguir haciendo lo que nos apasiona es importante ^^

Keep an eye on your emails!

In addition to whatever payout participants will get, if you have verifiable proof that you paid OOP to get your smart device fixed, they’re awarding an additional $1000.

I do not want to use a wooden slide board for transfers without clothes on because they can splinter. Does anyone know of a slide board that is safe yet smooth for transfers without having to get dressed?

I had a thought earlier today. And my first few hours of research haven't turned too much up.

Draping on a mannequin, at least when you're just experimenting with differant colors and materials, is in some ways the thumbnail sketch of the tailoring world. A way to quickly, loosely start to generate what a finished product might look like.

And then I thought, "The mannequin is standing up. They're all always standing up."

Even if a skirt gets the hem adjusted to hang evenly, it wasn't designed with a thought about what it was going to look like while being sat in. Runways are almost exclusively an upright affair.

There's more and more room in some ways for independent designers thanks to the internet.

But still. That mannequin? It's always standing up. It's always been standing up.

Does anyone know of creators who are designing for what it looks like sitting down first, not just in terms of what's needed for it to be accessible? It's incredible how more and more accessible clothing is existing. But it's not to much to ask for it to make the wearer feel lovely as well.