Wheelchairs have come a long way from their humble beginningas simple chairs with wheels. The modern wheelchair has been around for more than 200 years, and improvements continue to be made. At the same time, societies and cultures all over the world have come far in accepting and helping those who rely on wheelchairs.

However, random and fleeting encounters between people in wheelchairs and those who aren't, definitely do not prepare either for everyday interaction.

This first installment of our 3-part series on wheelchair etiquette deals with wheelchairs in the office. Below are tips for those who are in wheelchairs and for those who aren't.

If you're the one on a wheelchair

Unless someone at workreally dislikes you, your colleagues would most likely give you the space you need to move around. However, this doesn't give you the license to be president of the universe and demand that all work situations accommodate you.

Be pleasant and acknowledge the little favors everyone does for you. If you're male, it would be nice to let the girls go ahead of you sometimes. You may even open doors for them. Saying "thank you" will always get you further.

Sometimes, you colleagues could have the tendency to fuss over you a little too much, especially when they know you're not feeling well, or if they see that you have to deal with a tough load. It is perfectly fine to politely refuse their help when you're sure that you don't need any. On the flip side, offer them help when you can.

If you have a colleague in a wheelchair

You are never obliged to be nice. However, as a person, you are expected to be respectful. It would be helpful for you and everyone else to develop your peripheral vision. A lot of accidents could be avoided.

Saying that you're sorry when necessary will also get you a long way. Offer help whenever you can, and I'm sure that your disabled colleague will lend you a hand in turn. You might even end up being good friends!

Although wheelchairs require fewer parts than cars, the same care and attention should be given to wheelchairs. Because like a car, it is always a hassle to have something broken, causing a break down in the middle of the road.

As we wait for some brilliant capitalist to come up with a wheelchair-wash, you have to take things upon yourself and act now. Your wheelchair might not be able to wait for the wheelchair-wash to become a reality. Here are 3 simple tips on how you can do basic periodic wheelchair maintenance using cleaning stuff that are readily available.

1. Dry, damp, dry

This rule applies to every part of your wheelchair, and this is the rule that begins the maintenance process. Using a dry, soft cloth, wipe off dust and dirt from all surfaces. Then, use another cloth you can wet, and wipe the surfaces again. This is to remove stubborn stains. Go back to using your dry cloth for drying off.

2. Take precautionary measures against rust

Products that allow you to waterproof leather and fabric are great for your wheelchair seat. You won’t have to worry about the seat smelling bad or the leather peeling after being accidentally left out in the rain.

Products that protect metal from rust may be used for the frame of your wheelchair. Make sure you get the joints where parts are hinged or screwed together.

3. Make sure rubber parts still provide traction and grip

Wheel maintenance doesn’t end with making sure they are inflated. It is also important to be aware of whether or not they can still provide friction to make sure that you remain in control of where you want to go.

Check the lock and break mechanisms. Make sure the pads can still do their job to prevent accidents, especially if you often find yourself in uneven terrains.

Who said only cars have the right to bling and cool accessories? Your wheelchair can very well be a blank canvas on which you can do anything. Today, we give you 3 tips on how you can dress up your wheelchair. 

1. Add art
1. Air brush art

The best area to have anything airbrushed on is behind your backrest. Standard manual wheelchairs have nice smooth backrests ideal for air brush art. The surface area is big enough, making the artwork more visible and easier to apply. Even surfaces like your backrest also make drying more even.  

Usually, air brush art produces pieces in deep, bold colors with thick outlines. This is great if you like graffiti art or if you’re into neo-impressionism. Air bush is also the way to go if you’d like to immortalize actors or musicians on your backrest. 

2. Hand painted art

You’d be amazed to learn that you can fit murals in your backrest. With the right artist, you recreate famous frescos and even iconic paintings. If you prefer something edgier, you can have a little Andy Warhol painted on your backrest. If you fancy Warhol’s soup can, wheelchairs with a reclining back have enough space to accommodate that. 

2. Add bling

Instead of painted art, you can opt to add shiny metal pieces onto your wheelchair. You can make your wheelchair wear simple wardrobe accessories like spiky cuffs and wallet chains. For extra toughness, you can use an old, beat-up leather belt with metal studs. Have someone sew it onto the backrest or use super-glue.  

3. Accessorize

If you have wallowed in self-pity for a long time because of your disability, now is the time to say “Stop.” Know that there are a lot of opportunities waiting for you, and there are so many things left for you to do. You are just like any other person, except that you navigate the world using a really cool machine – your wheelchair.

You may own a transport wheelchair, a manual wheelchair, a power wheelchair, or even a mobility scooter. Whichever ride you have, you can choose to travel and see the wonders of the world.

Yes, you can be a tourist and tour the world in style. In fact, there are a lot of travel programs and agencies dedicated to travelers with special needs. Traveling for people with disabilities has gone a notch higher; it has become a trend nowadays to temporarily swap your wheelchair-friendly home with another traveler’s, who shares the same needs as you. This way, you are assured that the home in which you will be staying while on vacation has assistive furniture that would work for your convenience.

There are also a lot of great places to discover that are recommended for those in wheelchairs and even for the slow walkers. This is good, because you can visit a tourist spot and take your time to enjoy the sights. Coordinate with your friendly travel agent to learn more about these spots.

Do not be afraid to see the different tourist attractions that the world offers. Connect with other people who are going through the same experience and you will see that you are still very lucky. Find these people in online communities and in networks and forums.

And while you are at it, you might want to consider a group travel tour. Not only would this be fun, you would also get to know more people, and in the process, build lasting friendships among people who understand how you feel. 

If you’re familiar with Professor Charles Xavier of the X-Men, then you must think the current crop of wheelchairs are quite ancient and prehistoric. Professor X doesn’t have to vigorously push on tires or press anything to get his wheelchair moving. In fact, the thing floats on air as seamlessly as if it were flying. While this is the Marvel universe, you must envy the level of technology they have to be able to come up with these wondrous things for the physically disadvantaged.

You actually don’t have to look that far, as Professor X-like wheelchairs may just be flooding the market soon. A smart wheelchair is one that is designed specifically for people who can’t use the conventional mobility aids in moving a conventional wheelchair. It has an artificial, computerized control that sort of auto-pilots the wheelchair in lieu of user control, with the ultimate task of reducing the burden on the user. It has infrared sensors, sonar, or computer vision to spot obstacles and thus modify the person’s route to cope with it. These things assist in navigation and stops the user if he or she has directed the wheelchair to come face to face with an obstacle. Taking this a step further, some smart wheelchairs even have robotic arms to hold common household objects and get door handles.

Now verging on science fiction, some models of smart wheelchairs for specific people actually have the ability to interpret small muscular activations and execute them as high-level commands. Yes, mind control and artificial intelligence.

Smart wheelchairs are usually for users with cognitive impairment, like dementia, or motor disabilities, such as cerebral pulsae or paraplegia (what Professor X had).

Today, however, because of the high specialized nature of the invention, the price of smart wheelchairs can be pretty steep. So while the first batch of these nifty inventions were delivered in 2000, it is still very much uncommon today.

This article is aimed at non wheelchair users as well as wheelchair users.  But the wheelchair users will know most of what is written here, whilst the majority of non wheelchair users will be pretty clueless. 

Do you think that anyone not in a wheelchair truly appreciates the accessibility issues?   

Thing like the difference between the heights of curbs on pavements can be a nightmare to navigate for a new wheelchair user (particularly manual wheelchairs, as power wheelchairs have a little bit of extra oomph).  That’s just the start of it. 

Travelling on a bus can be a task in itself, as some buses will drive straight past you if you are in a wheelchair, either because it is too full or not a disabled access bus.  On a lot of occasions the wheelchair space will be with someone’s tat, the owner of which, who doesn’t care that that space could be wanted by someone struggling to get into the centre of town. 

What about going to popular parks and tourist spots?  How many of these places cater properly for disabled access? Many of these places do cater for wheelchair users, but only if you phone them in advance to make sure that some help is on hand.  That and gravel paths don’t do wheelchair users any favors. 

Now non wheelchair users, have you read this post carefully?  None of these things will seem like daily challenges to you, but think about them and what it would feel like if you were in a wheelchair for just one day.  And next time you find a building, bus, pavement or tourist spot that doesn’t appear to have adequate disabled access, then please say something on a wheelchair user’s behalf.

No, I am not talking about the rising price of wheelchairs and their accessories, although that should be something we could talk about.  What I’m talking about, is the air that inflates the inner tubes of the wheels. 

We all know that having an inner tube, surrounded by a tire, that is then attached to the wheel frame, is the most comfortable type of wheel you can use on a wheelchair, but it does have its draw backs, punctures.  Now isn’t it a pain in the nether region, when for some un-known reason you get a puncture and there is nothing you can do about it, until it can be fixed.  Which means you have to struggle home, fix it where you are or phone a friend to give you a hand. 

Well, this does not have to be the case.  Have you ever thought about using that foam stuff in a can, that is used for car tires, you know the stuff that can be sprayed directly into the valve, where the pump goes, to inflate the tire and fix the puncture, even if it is only a quick fix. 

You can get many different types of this quick fix in a can, but generally it is made up of a latex mixture, which seals the puncture whilst inflating the tire.  You will need to replace the inner tube after using this stuff, but it is quick and easy to use. 

You can find different types of cans of quick fix puncture kits in most bicycle stores or garages, but the best ones for wheelchairs, do seem to be the ones which are used for BMX bikes and mountain bikes.  The more extreme the sport, the more extreme the puncture it seems to be, so the more worthy the solution.   

When people become wheelchair bound for whatever reason, illness or accident it suddenly becomes apparent how wheelchair unfriendly the home is.  Many people struggle with cranes and crutches, walkers and rollators for as long as they can, before resorting to a wheelchair, because of the wheelchair unfriendliness of their homes. 

People may say ‘why not sell up and move to a wheelchair friendly home?’, but often wheelchair customized homes are far and few between and out of many people’s housing budget. 

There are loans available to make modifications to make a house more accessible, but they rarely cover everything if corridors and doors need widening, a wheelchair stair lift is needed, a bathroom with reinforced walls suitable for installing grab bars on, needs to be put on the ground floor, and kitchen cupboards lowering – to name a few tasks. 

If you are lucky as regards to the housing front and everything is wide enough, you have a bathroom you can access easily, and then it could be that you just need a few accessories to make your home wheelchair friendly. 

It could be that all you need are some ramps to make getting up and down a step (Rubber Threshold ramp), or over a bump in a doorway (Threshold Wheelchair Ramp).  There are also some good ramps available for putting over steps to the entrance of your home like the Telescoping Platform Ramp.  

Other things that you could consider for making the house more wheelchair friendly are bed rails, assistive furniture like hip chairs and lift recliners, and accessories for bath safety. 

One of the most important things that wheelchair users want is mobility and some independence. Anyone who has ever had broken bone or bad back can understand this concept of mobility, so let’s answer some questions that will help ensure a wheelchair user is as mobile as possible. 

Should I choose a Manual Wheelchair, or a Power Wheelchair? 

This really depends on the disability and overall health of the wheelchair user.  A manual wheelchair either needs to be pushed, or strength in hands and arms and a good general standard of health is required, as wheeling yourself about in this manner can be exhausting at first, but does keep you fit.  A power wheelchair on the other hand is a lot easier to operate, and maneuver with a joystick to control it. 

How do I make my Wheelchair More Mobile in the Home? 

First of all, you need to make that doorways and corridors are wide enough for a wheelchair to fit through. Also ramps (like the Rubber Threshold Ramp and the Threshold Wheelchair Ramp) will need to be installed over steps within the home. There are some also assistive furniture choices you can make to make your living room more comfortable and accessible. 

How Do I Make the Bathroom More Accessible? 

There are grab bars that you strategically place around the bathroom to help you maneuver around.  Also there are toilet seats and toilet safety rails that can be installed to make going to the toilet unassisted easier. Transfer benches, shower sprays and non slip bath mats can be put in the bathroom to make showering and bathing more accessible too. 

It is no longer expected for a wheelchair user to be stuck in bed, or indeed your home, and the wheelchair is a device that allows you more freedom and mobility. 

Whenever the New  York marathon takes place, I am astonished at the speed of some of the wheelchairs that go around the twenty six mile course.  The one thing I have never seen though, is a normal, standard power wheelchair.  There is nothing to stop someone using a standard power wheelchair, although if they did, they would probably not finish any ware near the customized chairs, which the winning wheelchair athletes use. 

There are many activities and sports that anyone using a manual wheelchair can do, I’ve seen ballroom dancing, basketball, line dancing, handball and tennis just to name a few.  Of course, if you want to take your sport or activity to the next level, then a purposely built chair, for that particular activity, will probably be the best route, although an expensive one. 

Have you ever seen a normal manual wheelchair going round a skate park, doing the kind of tricks that you normally see done by guys or girls, on BMX bikes?  No, then take a look at the worlds first wheelchair back flip.  These guys are either nuts, brave or just down right stupid.  I think they are brilliant, and an inspiration to all. 

If there is any activity you want to take part in, then don’t let your wheelchair stop you.  If you have a manual wheelchair or a power wheelchair, there should be no difference, you can still take part in any sport and almost any activity, even sky diving, but I’d leave behind the wheelchair on that one. 

Most sports centers will cater for wheelchair activities, but if they do not, then you have every right in the world to make sure they do.  It is not just a great way to meet other people, but an excellent way to keep fit.   

Wheelchair sports and activities don’t have to cost a fortune or need specialist chairs.  Almost every community has some kind of activity that is either especially for wheelchair users, or a mixed participation activity.  So get out there and wheel yourself to anything you want to be doing.