A Reading the Signs column

I no longer recall which came first, the fall on an icy sidewalk that necessitated a lesson for Treasure in how to dog guide a walker-using partner or the timely Christmas letter from Rachel Scott. My friend of years is a retired nurse/instructor in gerontology who has mastered the graceful art of using a wheelchair.

She [Rachel Scott] included the following “dashed off” list of guidelines for adding a little grace to our own welcoming of persons with wheelchairs into our churches and at home or care center visits. True to the manner in which Rachel approaches all people, each “Commandment” says, “See the person first.”

1. You shall always respect the dignity and individuality of the person in a wheelchair as you do your own.

2. You shall remember that control over one’s own life is very precious, so that you will not do for wheelchair users what they can do for themselves, even if it takes them longer.

3. You shall take care not to bump wheelchair wheels, remembering that a small bump to you may feel like a small earthquake to the person in the wheelchair.

4. You shall remember that unexpected movements of a wheelchair can be quite startling, so that you will always ask the user’s permission before moving a wheelchair.

5. You shall remember that the person in a wheelchair may find it hard to look behind, so you will come around within the person’s visual range before speaking or touching them.

6. You shall not assume that the person using a wheelchair is also hard of hearing, and shall speak in a normal volume.

7. You shall assume till you discover otherwise, that a person in a wheelchair has interests as broad as anyone else’s, and shall converse accordingly, including not talking with others over the wheelchair user’s head.

8. You shall be aware that conversing at the same level as the person using a wheelchair, by sitting or kneeling for all but brief exchanges, is more comfortable for the wheelchair user, and will be much appreciated.

9. You shall ask the user’s preference before wheeling a wheelchair backwards.

10. You shall take care to place objects within easy reach, as a person using a wheelchair may not be able to reach as far as you.

As you practice these commandments, your wheelchair-using friends will call you blessed!
Thanks, Rachel.

Used with the permission of the Nebraska Conference UCC