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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfectWahhhh, I don’t wanna

Welcome New Folks

It looks like another one of my very old post got some traction recently and I just wanted to say “hi” to all the new followers and to let you know that I have a very nice, accessible blog over at https://urbancripple.com that you should take a look at. 

All of my latest content goes there and then I just post links back to Tumblr. 

If You Are a Devotee, Do Not Follow or Interact

I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to see you in my feeds or on my follower list. If you you wanna fuck a paraplegic that badly, walk into traffic with your dick in your hand. 

Please Cite My Work Correctly

If you want to use my content in your presentation, slide deck, report, etc., please let me know and include a link to the content you’re referencing. Ideally, the link should refer back to https://urbancripple.com. However, if the content you’re referring to is not available there, a direct link back to Tumblr is fine.

If you’re referencing something I’ve said or written during an interview or podcast, it would be super-great if you would mention it during the interview or podcast. I find it frustrating when people borrow heavily from my work and then only mention me as a source in something like a tweet or in a footnote not included in the original material. If you’re gonna use me as a source, please cite me appropriately and let people know where your information is coming from.

And yes, podcasts have gotten in trouble for not correctly citing their sources before.

Do Not Slide Into My DMs

Occasionally, folks message me on here in an attempt to strike up a conversation and just “chat”. I believe the young folk call this “sliding into one’s DMs”

Don’t do this. I don’t “chat” with anyone on here save for literally two people. Urban Cripple is not a person, it’s a persona. And the person behind it doesn’t have the same energy that you see projected into your timelines. Plus, as far as Tumblr goes I’m really really old , so any conversations I have on here just make me feel like:

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Originally posted by aheadacheandchickenwings

So yeah. If you have a question you want me to answer, submit an Ask. If you have a really long and complicated answer you want me to answer, send an Ask through the form on my site. If I have questions about what you need, I’ll let you know.

Please Take a Look at Previously Submitted Questions

All of the questions I’ve been asked before are over at my main site: https://urbancripple.com/ask-me-anything/

Don’t Submit Asks that are Responses to Other Asks

People have a tendency to “reply” to an Ask someone submitted by submitting an Ask. I fucking hate this with the heat of a thousand suns. If you have a response to something someone else has asked me, submit a reply or reblog it. Otherwise, I’m deleting your submission. I don’t care how helpful it might have been or how long you spent writing it. It’s not my job to be a go-between for the people who read me blog.

I Have a Patreon, an Adsense Account, and I use Amazon Affiliate Links

I use Patreon, Adsense (that’s Google ads) and Amazon Affiliate links to cover the cost of hosting my site. You’re under no obligation to give me your money (directly or otherwise), but if you do, it will always be deeply appreciated.

Discord:

I have a discord server for fans of my work to hang out and ask questions/generally get support: https://discord.gg/DEdcDKC83k. If you want to join, read the rules, and don’t be an asshole.

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How Do I Get Better a Popping a Wheelie?
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I talk a little bit about how to more easily lift the front of your chair in my Cripple Survival Skills: Pop a Wheelie and How to use a Wheelchair guides. However, I want to directly address the issues you’re having with lifting the front of the chair. Depending on the size of your chair and how much it weighs, it can be difficult to lift the front, regardless of your upper body strength. You’re not going to be able to lift the front of a 75 pound hospital chair, for example. If your chair is sized correctly and made of modern, lightweight materials, you should have no issue adjusting the center of gravity on your chair to make the front easier to lift.

A quick safety warning before we continue: adjusting the center of gravity alters the way your chair feels why you are using it and you are much more likely to tip over or bang into things until your body adjusts to the new settings. I recommend spending a fair bit of time indoors and in a safe environment practicing using your chair with the new adjustments before heading out in public.

By default, most wheelchairs have their center of gravity set at 0°. This keeps the chair fairly stable, even when the user is leaning backwards. However, it also makes the chair slower and harder to maneuver. In your case, the low center of gravity on your chair is preventing you from easily lifting the front wheels. How you go about adjusting the center of gravity on your chair depends on your make/model (read your owner’s manual), but the process is pretty much the same on most chairs.

To adjust the center of gravity on your chair, take a look at how your wheels attach to the frame. Odds are there’s some kind of adjustable clamp or rod attaching the wheel to the frame. Make a note of the current position of the wheels on the frame. Then, loosen that clamp and slide the wheels of your chair forward an inch or two and tighten the clamp. Then, get back in your chair and see how it feels. Do not attempt to lift the front of the chair. Instead make sure the chair operates smoothly and normally and that you feel secure while moving in the chair. When you’re comfortable with the adjustments, from a stationary position, slowly lift the front of your chair. It should rise easily and in a controlled fashion. If it rises too quickly, adjust the center of gravity back towards its original position. If it’s still too hard, move it farther forward.

Now that you’ve got the hang of lifting the front of your chair, the next step is to practice balancing the chair with your front wheels off the ground. Basically, you’re trying to do a super long (stationary) wheelie. When you’re able to easily and confidently sustain a wheelie while stationary, practice holding your chair’s front wheels off the ground while moving. Don’t get too ambitious: start with slowly moving the chair forward a couple of feet with the wheels in the air. Then, move on to faster speeds and longer distances.

Once you’ve got the hang of this skill, you’re ready to start jumping curbs. The key to jumping a curb (or any raised surface) is speed. You need to be moving fast enough that you’re momentum carries you over the curb when your back wheels touch it. I highly recommend having a spotter or even wearing a bicycle helmet here. Falls while curb jumping can be particularly painful. To start, practice approaching the curb at at slow speed and timing your wheelie so that the front of your chair clears the curb and your back wheels just touch it. You don’t need to worry about being able to get up the curb just yet. It’s more important to get the timing right first. After you’ve got a feel for the timing, it’s time to practice jumping the curb. The most important thing to remember about curb jumping is that, as soon as your front wheels are in the air, you have to commit. Any hesitancy on your part could lead to your chair getting stalled on the curb and getting stuck or tipping over. Go in confident or not at all.

If you’ve done it right, when you’re back wheels touch the curb, the back of your chair should start to lift off the ground and level out with the sidewalk. Once that happens, shift your hands forward on your tires, drop the front of your chair and push hard to give your tires in enough grip to keep you on the sidewalk.

Related Questions:

Product Recommendation: Lens Wipes

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Something handy I stumbled on recently. These individually sealed lens wipes (affiliate link) are super cheap and easier to keep in your bag then a microfiber cloth and a spray bottle for cleaning your glasses. They’re also great if you have multiple bags because you can just keep a couple in each one and not have to move stuff between them. And in a pinch, they can double as a wet half-decent wet wipe.

Check ‘em out here.

gear recommendationevery day carryEDC
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If You’re Gonna Make Something Wheelchair Accessible, Don’t Make it a Thing

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Here’s some examples awkward accessibility being a thing:

Your at a hotel that has a lift to get you from one sub-floor to another, but the lift can only be unlocked and operated by one specific person that the hotel now has to go find. Sure, they’ve made the entrance to the sub-floor is accessible, but now it’s a thing.

The buses are wheelchair accessible but the driver has to stop the bus, take 30 seconds to lower the goddamn ramp, move passengers out of their seats, hook up the straps and then secure you in the bus. Sure, they’ve made the busses accessible but now it’s a thing.

The restaurant has an accessible entrance, but it’s past the trash room and through the kitchen. Sure, the restaurant is accessible, but now it’s an insulting thing.

Here’s some great examples of accessibility not being a thing:

The train to the airport pulls up flush with the platform. I board with everyone else and sit wherever the fuck I want. Riding the train is accessible and not a thing.

In Portland, I press a button the side of the streetcar and a ramp automatically extends at the same time the door opens. I board in the same amount of time as everyone else. This is not a thing.

I get that it is difficult to design for wheelchair accessibility, but folks need to start considering the overall quality of the experience versus just thinking about meeting the minimum requirements.

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A Cripple’s Guide: Master Post

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The list of guides I’ve written as of October 3rd, 2019

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Q&A Master Post

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The Total List As Of September 22, 2019

Question Categories:

Ableism

Accessibility

Bathrooms

Design And Engineering

Disability And Identity

Disability And Representation

Disability Policing

Friendship, Social Situations, And Etiquette

Gear

Health And Safety

How To

Insurance And Healthcare

LGBTQIA+

Mobility Aids

Parents And Parenting

Sex, Sexuality, And Relationships

Writing About Disability

Wanna see your question on this list? Submit an Ask or use the Ask form on my site:

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2020 Broke My Trust In Humanity
I just don’t want to spend the time to get to know someone only to find out that they spent the last year selfishly endangering other people
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If you like what I do and want to support me, you have a bunch of cool options:

  1. Stop scrolling, click on the link and actually read what I’ve written on my site. This helps improve my Google rankings and grow my audience
  2. Reblog this article (after you’ve read it) and help spread the word.
  3. Become a Patron on my Patreon Page
  4. Make a purchase (of any kind) using one of my Amazon Associate links
  5. Follow me on Twitter
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So, it’s been a year: a year since I stopped going into an office; a year since I’ve seen friends or family; a year since the stress got so bad that my hands started to crack and bleed. Most of all, it’s been a year since I’ve been able to trust anyone outside of my spouse when it comes to avoiding COVID‐19.

Every single person I saw on the street became suspect. Were they quarantining like I was, or were they secretly going out in large groups? Did they believe that the virus only affected elderly and disabled bodies, so masks weren’t necessary for everyone? Did they simultaneously try and claim to be one of those same people in order to avoid wearing a mask? Were they constantly weighing the benefits of “normalcy” against their own risk of contracting COVID while ignoring the risk they pose to others?

Did they think the virus was a part of a conspiracy? Was the mask covering just their mouth because they’re an oblivious asshole? Or were they trying to send a message?

All of these questions would race through my mind when I would see people in the hallways of my apartment or on the streets of Seattle.

It got to the point where we decided to take the money we’d been saving for a condo in downtown Portland (ha!) and move to the suburbs. The best thing we could do to protect ourselves from well, everything, was to move as far from other people (and shared walls) as we practically could.

Has it been worth it? Sure. I love having more space, real, full-sized furniture and being able to sit outside and not hear someone screaming during a mental break. But the cost has been high. I’m an extrovert by nature, but the last thing I want to do right now is meet new people.

I just don’t want to spend the time to get to know someone only to find out that they spent the last year selfishly endangering other people for their own personal benefit.

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