#Beyond wheelchairs...

[tammyhybrid21]

I am actually going feral right now.

Absolutely feral. Why does fandom KEEP DOING THIS... So many fandoms in the past 3 years have done the same thing. People just do not know what infantilization is. I want to take the word away from you... it really just is to the point where I am SCREAMING.

Heaven forbid that people write neurodivergent or disabled characters as neurodivergent or disabled.

Or really, and

Neurodivergent and disabled.

Heaven Forbid that we actually write disabled people as needing help, or having “childish” interests and hobbies.

Like man, infantilization is not that.

Needing help, needing something explained isn’t infantilizing(not on its own anyway). Having a childish interest also isn’t infantilizing on its own... what is infantilizing is the perception of such. Like man, heaven forbid people have hobbies that aren’t in the “correct” age group. It’s like when people look at folks getting into Bluey as adults and react like it’s weird and unbecoming of an adult...

Heaven forbid that people have diverse interests I guess.

Or like, specifically for autistic characters, I’ve seen a sweep of people reacting to folks writing/drawing meltdowns as if a meltdown is inherently infantilizing... same with shutdowns. Or folks reacting to depressed characters acting depressed as if it’s automatically infantilizing for those folks to struggle. Anxious characters been anxious is also apparently infantilizing.

It’s that one particular crosshair of ableism that I hate

Like heaven forbid that people struggle with their disabilities I guess. If you struggle at all you’re a child who can’t do shit... Go sit on a cactus, go touch the stove and think about what you’re saying when you say such things.

A wheelchair user needing their wheelchair isn’t treating them like a child.

Autistic people stimming isn’t treating them as a child.

ADHD folks having reminders on their phones isn’t treating them like a child.

A deaf person using sign language isn’t treating them like a child. ALSO READ Selectively Mute folks having a bad day and using sign isn’t treating them like a child.

Autistic Shutdowns and Meltdowns isn’t throwing a tantrum and been a child.

Having a “childish” interest doesn’t mean you’re incapable of been an adult

Been in a wheelchair doesn’t mean you have an intellectual disability automatically(why is this coming back up so much to?! Like excuse me?!)

Characters having injuries and having to recover isn’t treating them like a child

Sickfic isn’t infantilizing

A character asking for help shouldn’t automatically been seen as infantilizing either, sometimes people just don’t know how to do something. It’s when they refuse to learn or even try on their own you should squint at it.

Script failures and struggling to continue a conversation isn’t been a child

Apology loops are trauma responses not someone been a child

Having days where life is just... too much isn’t been a child either. That’s just life.

Struggling to eat/handle certain foods isn’t been a child

NEEDING HELP BECAUSE SOMETHING IS HARD ISN’T INHERENTLY BEEN TREATED LIKE A CHILD

But man, so many times I see characters having bad days treated as if that’s infantilizing. Just, just stop.

I hate this trend so much. Like I can list off a million little things that people seem to take as inherently infantilizing when it’s just... reality sometimes. And maybe some folks would point at me and say well that’s just infantilizing myself but like-- it’s complicated.

The whole issue is COMPLICATED.

But I am so very, very tired of seeing characters written as struggling with their disability and that inherently been read by the audience as the writer infantilizing them.

Rain World... Pokémon, Encanto, a few specific Coco fics... Steven Universe, Warrior Cats, Sonic the Hedgehog... All these fandoms have this problem and I am so tired of it.

[skarmoree]

indivigilantes

hi it’s part 2 where I draw the robins all grown up plus a few extras (everyone say hi babs terry and cass)

[hoaxghost]

i want to gently hold your version of nepeta and then tear it like a dog toy oh my god

"Yowie Zowie!" - Nepeta probably

[xxplastic-cubexx]

speaking of movieverse charles i rlly wanna know ur thoughts on the whole dark phoenix charles villain arc they try to do

i dont think they were trying to make him a 'villain'- antagonize him a bit maybe. STILL THOUGH it felt pretty forced, if at the very least out of nowhere (just like the whole bit of hank and erik bonding over raven ..... if i may be so bold to say....). raven's generally been edgy about charles throughout the movies but why did hank have to do him like that too 😭😭

i dont mind when media portrays charles as less-than-perfect- that's what makes him such an interesting character: wanting to do the right thing but inevitably being human and messing up along the way to do so, or thinking his way is right And Maybe On Paper It Is but then in action its.. not that simple

if the movie did it better then id be chill maxing Ok Cool Love It- but having hank try to act as though charles couldnt POSSIBLY be more distraught over raven's death was actually insane 💀💀💀💀

[justsalpals]

Picture if you will, the most beautiful ethereal man you ever seen walking up to your seafood stand. Ordering the challenge meal giant clam, big enough to feed a family of 4-6. Ripping it open with his bear hands, and just going to town on that fucker like it's nothing. Several times a week he does this.

This must be why they call him Bear, you figure.

[orchestrel]

of all my friends…no one thought to grab my package or text me to see if i wanted it grabbed

[starlitcorgi]

Signs I Need To Make For My Wheelchair:

(I'm going to add to this when I think of more and there will be more)

Seriously I'm 36 not 6, also I'm a person not a dog. Just stop doing this to disabled people, it's creepy not friendly.

Also have some self awareness when you're out. Until I started using a wheelchair I had no idea how little self awareness able bodied people have. Like no wonder so much isaeki starts with a person being hit by a truck. Give wheelchair users and those with mobility aids space, or at least don't complain when you get run over.

Seriously why are others so handsy with disabled people? It freaks me out and makes me uncomfortable and awkward.

[normal-with-adhd-is-a-joke]

I need people who only have accessibility issues due to mild-moderate sensory issues to understand that there's a difference between being uncomfortable in a space and needing to provide your own accomodations in order to be comfortable and being physically barred from entering a place.

Yes, it's not fair or right that you need headphones, sunglasses, a service dog, etc in order to exist in public. This needs to change. However, it's not the same as lack of physical accessibility. I have to structure my life around wheelchair accessibility, and even that can fail. If the bus that's supposed to take me to the grocery store has a broken ramp, I have to wait for the next one regardless of the conditions outside. If I arrive at a cafe and there's no wheelchair ramp I have to turn around and go home. I've missed classes at college before because the only elevator in the building is broken. Hell, if there's a fire the rescue plan for me is "just sit and wait until a fire fighter comes and carries you away (maybe, if they can lift you) leaving your $13,000 400lb powerchair to burn. Or maybe use the elevator if you're cool with the possibility that it might be compromised and drop you three stories down or directly into the fire". I don't have limited access when basic accessibility requirements aren't met, I have no access, and I have no way of providing access for myself. It's beyond frustrating to see people try to argue that all accessibility advocacy is equally important and that physically disabled people are being discriminatory by centering our needs when lack of physical accessibility is such a fucking massive, life-altering issue that often affects the daily functioning and literal safety of mobility aid users. "I have to do it uncomfortable" and "I can't do it at all" are different.

Physical accessibility needs are also seen as excessively burdensome compared to sensory needs. Asking a place to get a wheelchair ramp is seen as "too much", especially if that place is a small business. The ADA in the U.S. even has several points where it mentions "undue financial burden" as a reason to deny accessibility. Places are using sensory accessibility as a way to seem disabled-friendly without putting in work.

🦼Physically abled people can reblog but don't derail 🦼

[letter-22]

i really hope we see more sun spider in btsv. they were so swag.

[jentlemahae]

-

[apho-sappho]

Sometimes I think about how my sister appeared in my memories in the hospital (sunlight falling on her through the window, frail yet big in the hospital bed, the horrible dent in the side of her head from the surgery) and wonder how my parents saw her. And I wonder if I'll ever really know how I should feel about her. And I don't even know if my brother saw her immediately after it happened

[heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon]

Ayylmao.tv: So once The Steven Universe Kinnie Clickbaiter 'Impersonator' ran out of "content," they went on to steal all the monetized gold from hard working "creators" like me and my friends, basically! UWU

Me, having enough of these dudes: Aw, I'm sorry ya bastard did u mean

Again, these grifters complaining about being grifted like "these people are stealing our entire 'personalities' while hiding behind masks! UWU" while they themselves have check marked, monetized and built their entire Internet Personalities off hiding behind their masks that are the icons of Whatever Queer Women's Fictional Character TM that decided to Simp for or Kin that day while making their monetized bullshit "Explainer" videos about these Queer Women's Careers and Dramas TM while using her copyrighted material and clips of her work is hilarious to me like ...It's still not YOUR "personality" or "work" that's being "stolen" like ... You're literally nothing, a shit copy of a shit copy. shamrockshakefootlettice...

If you really wanna try and claim some type of Fandumb "Identity Theft" here than you can at least try thinking up your own damn O.C, again, like the rest of us girls and gays have already done here a long time ago, because it's not that hard, or, once more, you can stop hiding behind the mask of whatever Barely Legal Vivziepop Daughter Figure you're currently hard for, stop monopolizing and mansplaining a queer women's career and hardships in what's supposed to be a queer fandom space, or get the fuck out and keep away from us, cishet! Let the antis stop thinking we claim you because WE DON'T CLAIM YOU!!!!

EDIT: WHY DON'T THEY EVER PAY A WOMAN TO TALK ABOUT VIVZIEPOP SHOWS?! IT'S BECAUSE THE MARKETING TEAMS AND AMAZON KNOW HOW THEY'VE ALREADY BEEN BRONIFED BEYOND BELIEF BEFORE EVER BEING PICKED UP. ALL THANKS TO AYYLMAO.TV AND HIS OWN CONTENT FARM ABOUT CONTENT FARMS.

[orchestrel]

i sing in a choir and today it was a trip but my friends got me up on the stage and I sang the whole concert from a chair

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

ayo this pretty cool

[id: active style manual wheelchair with frame made of rectangle wood planks screwed together. end id]

as we know active type wheelchair very expensive, & repair need buy from specific medical manufacturer n take very long time. someone (who wheelchair user themself of near 40 years) made open source active manual wheelchair where most (if not all?) material from commercial easy get materials! wood, plastic, pvc pipe, & those commercial aluminum square pipe things. n they put guide made them yourself in link for anyone want try make

this video from their instagram show their wood frame wheelchair actually pretty durable, include clip from everyday use & even drop wheelchair all over place (basically imagine what airline do to them…) - n wheelchair stay in tact! n even if some part break - it easy change because wood planks all screwed together so you just buy wood plank & unscrew & rescrew.

not great for people w advanced seating positioning needs probably (think if only problem is easy butt pressure sore, maybe can still use this + supportive cushion but think beyond that it get hard). but if like you don’t need those things then maybe fun project?

have not use for self so can’t actually talk about experience but it look pretty cool

edit: reblog this version instead

[reasonsforhope]

"The average pediatric wheelchair can cost thousands of dollars. And when children grow and their needs evolve — or a wheelchair gets damaged — those costs multiply.

So, the team at MakeGood NOLA, a New Orleans-based adaptive design lab, has made something that can transform the world for disabled children.

“Introducing the world’s first fully 3D-printed wheelchair,” MakeGood founder and president Noam Platt started a recent social media video.

He wheels a small, almost toy-like lime-green wheelchair into the frame, complete with a matching harness, suitable for children ages 2 to 8.

“Everything from the body, to the wheels, to the tires, the seat, and even the straps, all were 3D printed on a regular Bambu Labs A1 machine,” Platt continued.

This means the design is fully compatible with a regular 3D printer anyone can have in their home.

“We designed this to be modular and easy to make,” Platt continued. “Really, anyone with a 3D printer and some filament can download the files and print it.” [Note: You can also use 3D printers for free or a small cost at some public libraries and maker spaces, opening up accessibility even further.]

Once the prototype is completely finished, it will be available as a fair-use download that anyone can use for free.

Pictured: The new 3D-printed chair by MakeGood. Photo courtesy of MakeGood NOLA

Platt said that because it has a modular design, the wheelchair can be put together without any tools or glue. And if any part of it breaks or is damaged, users can simply re-print the single piece they need.

“As a wheelchair user I love everything about this,” TikTok user @thisisharlie commented on Platt’s video debuting the wheelchair.

“Mine costs more than my car, I can’t imagine having to buy a new one every year or two as they outgrow it,” @thisisharlie continued. “You’re going to change the world.”

For Platt, that’s always been the plan.

When he created MakeGood in 2021, the nonprofit design lab was thinking of the more than 1 billion people around the globe who live with disabilities.

“Since traditional design often overlooks diverse bodies and minds, it is crucial to reshape the built environment,” MakeGood shares on its website. “The challenges our communities face — both physical and social — are solvable.”

MakeGood works with individuals to co-create their adaptive design solutions, centering the “Need Knower,” the disabled person or their primary caregivers, throughout the entire process.

Since the founding of MakeGood, 1,600 individualized adaptive devices have been delivered to families for free. Platt’s team found a niche with this wheelchair, which they call the Toddler Mobility Trainer, or TMT. 

On its website, the organization says the wheelchairs were “designed with therapists from all over the world” and offer “unmatched mobility and independence to young kids.”

Children and parents agree.

“It’s an A+,” one parent said of an earlier prototype of the TMT in a report by CBS News. “It’s helped [my son] become more mobile and be able to adapt into the other things that he’s going to be offered. It’s helped his development.”

At the start of the design process, Platt reached out to area hospitals to see if he could fill a need.

“Part of it is empowering clinicians that we can go beyond what is commercially available,” Platt told CBS News. “We can really create almost anything.”

Now in the final stages of tweaking the TMT design to be ready for release, Platt is eager to get the wheelchair rolled out and into the homes of the children who need them most.

Pictured: A rendering of the 3D printed design, which will soon be available for download. Photo courtesy of MakeGood NOLA

“We think this sort of 3D printing and design is going to be huge for accessibility, and for wheelchairs specifically,” Platt said in his social media video. 

In the meantime, people can request a free chair from MakeGood.

“We have a growing list of people who’ve requested these, and once we finish the design, we’ll start filling those requests with custom-printed chairs, including things that you might need for your particular chair,” Platt said in a follow-up video.

Because the chairs are easily 3D printed, they can come in any color and can be modified to include other accommodations, like a section to hold a breathing device or other aid. With years of customization and design experience under his belt, this new innovation is simply an extension of Platt’s dedication to inclusive design.

In 2023, Platt told New Mobility: “I feel like every time I deliver one of these [assistive] devices, I get a hopeful feeling that the world has been changed a little bit for the better for the next generation.”"

-via GoodGoodGood, May 8, 2025

[briarpatch-kids]

Something I don't think many people who don't have complex rehab powerchairs realize is that the cripple tax for us is so much higher.

I'm going to preface this with the statement that if you have a CRT powerchair, it's generally because you will literally die without one. There really is no "suffering without" if you don't have one, insurance or government schemes will not pay for it if you won't literally die without. Pretty often with "some people NEED wheelchairs and can't get by without them" type posts, the tags are filled with "i need this but just get by without" so I wanted to make sure people understand under no uncertain circumstances that people die waiting for approval of these and there is no getting by without if you have one. Some people do need them and get by without, but they are in the "this would vastly improve my life" need category rather than the "I will either get this or die" need category.

Anyways, once you're in the complex rehab category of disabled, the price of being disabled goes up by a MASSIVE amount. I am just barely in the complex rehab category, and my powerchair costs $23,000. This doesn't include the seat cushion or positioning equipment which likely adds another $1,000 minimum. It also doesn't include maintainance (last year mine was over $1,000 in parts cost before labor) Back when my needs were only a custom ultralight wheelchair with the basic seating options, I paid $3,500 for it so you get some context in how much the price SKYROCKETS once you get complex. Off the rack "standard" wheelchairs start at around $250.

My ventilator costs $500 a month in rental for just the box, you cannot buy one only rent. This doesn't include monthly checks, or all the tubes and masks and parts I need, I'd be willing to bet that adds on another couple hundred bucks.

My shower chair? It's a specialized one because I can't use the usual ones and that costs $2,000.

Additionally, because I need a caregiver, that adds another $1,800 a month to my price of living. I am in a special cost saving program that pays my spouse to do my bathing, dressing, and toileting so that would be higher for anyone else as well. This is not for 24 hour care, it's for bathing, dressing, and toileting.

My wheelchair van that I need in order to go anywhere beyond a mile from my house (like the doctors office) and was bought used at an age old enough to vote, that we were given a special discount and tax breaks for, cost us $7,500. If you don't get an ancient shitbox (said with love) like we have, they're around $65,000.

The bathroom remodel we had to do so I could pee and get showered was $17,000 and did not include anything high end, it was the cheapest we could do that met my needs.

The wheelchair ramp was $15,000 before labor to set it up.

None of these costs were optional, they weren't "improve my life" types of costs, they are "this is the minimum I need to live" costs. I know people who have even higher minimum costs to live, I'm pretty low on the "complex rehab" disability scale.

Tl;Dr whatever you think the highest cripple tax costs are for severely disabled people, quadruple them.