Being in a wheelchair has changed certain parts of my life but with day-to-day activities I am pretty similar to everyone else. It’s what happens in-between the activities where I can often feel left out or on my own. A typical medical school morning involves rolling to class, grabbing a coffee, and heading upstairs for small group tutorials. Now wait…I did say stairs, which means I have to find an elevator. But wait there’s more….the elevator is in the adjacent building which I take to the 2nd floor and travel through office spaces to finally reach the top of the stairs. My path was 2-3 minutes, while my classmates’ was 30 seconds. This is not a lot of time but the travel in-between and after activities is a social hotspot for informal discussion. In lectures it’s shop talk but afterwards you can ask Joe from the 3rd row about studying together. This may seem small, and in reality it is….but it’s the small things that can mean the most. Every time I go to take the accessible path, I’m often on my own and painfully aware that I am different from my classmates. A small action that goes a long way is when someone takes the path with me.
When a friend takes the time to join me on the scenic route it tells me 3 things…
- That I’m a little less different
- That they care and value our friendship
- That I’m not alone
Often, I don’t mind being in a wheelchair because it’s just my normal. I don’t roll around thinking “Wheelchair! Wheelchair! Wheelchair!” because there are plenty of moments in my day where I don’t even notice the difference. That’s why, when I’m reminded of being different it feels like a jolt to my nervous system. With that jolt can come all the emotions of thinking this world is unfair, no one cares, and why me? But that jolt can be prevented when a simple task of inclusion is fulfilled. So, take the accessible path with your friend just like you would take the same set of stairs to class. It means more than you know.
“This may seem small, and in reality it is….but it’s the small things that can mean the most.”