I’M NOT “WHEELCHAIR-BOUND”

This term is used quite often to describe the amount of time a person needs to use their wheelchair. Someone like me, who is in my wheelchair from the time I get up until I go to bed, would be labelled as such. I’ve never liked how this label made me feel. While this term is most often used in medical contexts, I’ve heard it used by well-meaning people who may not have any idea how phrases like this portray people like me.

To be bound is to be restricted - one could argue that I am restricted in my abilities, but without my wheelchair, I would be even more so. (a beached whale, if you will, but oh so much cuter!)

My wheelchair is my freedom, not a prison.