Accessibility Issues Of Motorized Wheelchair

1232 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: : wheelchair experience papers

This report will discuss the accessibility issue of motorized wheelchairs. Motorized wheelchairs are designed to meet an individual’s needs to their disability in mobility and created to be maneuverable in tight areas [1]. However, many barriers to people in wheelchairs face, that make it more challenging for them to accomplish (in some areas can include their day to day tasks or activities). Mechanical engineers are researching ways to help combat these barriers, which include how robotics can affect their daily lives [2] or adjusting their surroundings to make it more accessible [3].
Introduction
Making it one of the most commonly used assistive device, around fifty million people worldwide use, or need a wheelchair [4]. Being that, some …show more content…

Certain motorized wheelchairs have adjustable speeds as well. These wheelchairs are manufactured to be maneuverable especially for when the individual needs to make tight turns [10]. The majority of these wheelchairs use a power-base system, which are a direct drive system (which contains a gear box, to allow for adjustments to the motion) and is powered by two twelve-volt batteries …show more content…

The University of Washington has a team of engineers researching and implicating ways to create their Makerspace to be accessible to students with disabilities. In the article “How Makerspaces can be Accessible to People with Disabilities” by Jennifer Langston, published in 2015 discusses some of the examples of ways they are applying to make this area accessible to individuals in wheelchairs. A couple examples include adding wheels to tables where they can be moved around, having adjustable heights for tables that can be accessed with buttons, positioning tools or shelves at a reasonable height. Some of these implications have already benefitted people in these areas, including an individual named Kayla Wheeler, who was born with no legs and one arm

Show More
Related

  • Case Study Sunrise's Quickie Division

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chandler should allow Sunrise’s Guardian division to introduce the lightweight standard wheelchair even though there is concern that it might compete with Sunrise’s Quickie division. There are many reasons for this. First, due in part to Medicare’s recent recognition of the lightweight standard wheelchair category, the annual U.S. sales of $70 million in this category is expected to grow 15% annually. Second, Quickie and Guardian both penetrate the distribution channels in different ways. Quickie sells its products through rehab suppliers, and caters to new users and younger, active patients. Guardian, on the other hand, who caters to the elderly, does not sell its products through rehab suppliers. If Guardian introduces the lightweight standard

    Read More

  • Wheelchair Vans Essay

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is hard to live with disability, because everyday things become a challenge. U.S. Census Bureau report from 2008 states that 3.3 million non-institutionalized Americans over age 15 years use wheelchairs. The reason why there are so many people with disabilities is that U.S. spent decades at war. This is why mobility industry is rethinking the products it provides to support a growing demographic. Vantage Mobility International (VMI) and Braun Ability are two leading industry players that spent decades converting wheelchair vans from companies such as Chrysler , Toyota , and Honda into wheelchair-accessible modes of transportation.

    Read More

  • Nancy Mairs, Andre Dubus, Harriet McBryde Johnson: Disability

    1916 Words  | 4 Pages

    What comes into one’s mind when they are asked to consider physical disabilities? Pity and embarrassment, or hope and encouragement? Perhaps a mix between the two contrasting emotions? The average, able-bodied person must have a different perspective than a handicapped person, on the quality of life of a physically disabled person. Nancy Mairs, Andre Dubus, and Harriet McBryde Johnson are three authors who shared their experiences as physically handicapped adults. Although the three authors wrote different pieces, all three essays demonstrate the frustrations, struggles, contemplations, and triumphs from a disabled person’s point of view and are aimed at a reader with no physical disability.

    Read More

  • On Being A Cripple, By Nancy Mair

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    As human beings, we like to make sure never to offend or judge anyone. We even have sayings like “never judge a book by its cover”. A metaphor that is often said whenever trying not to judge someone based on their outward appearance; however, it is not often that people practice what they preach.  We judge people based on external factors within seconds. Even though we know what people see on the outside is not a defining factor or who we are as people. Nancy Mairs, author of On Being a Cripple, has to live through this every day. She knows this truth very well, and lives proudly with the fact that as she is disabled. Mairs is admirable for choosing to call herself a “cripple” and not be ashamed of it. Though the word is derogatory and a word that is avoided by society, Mairs identifies herself as a cripple because that is what she is. In explaining her disability, she says, “I haven’t always been crippled, ... to be whole of limb is ... infinitely more pleasant and useful. and if that knowledge leaves me open to bitterness … the physical soundness I once enjoyed is well worth the occasional stab of regret” (Mairs 186). What really

    Read More

  • How To Write A Persuasive Speech Outline On Intellectual Disabilities

    452 Words  | 1 Pages

    They are human beings determined to make something good in their lives. Across the world, people with disabilities have poorer health outcomes, lower education achievements, less economic participation and higher rates of poverty than people without

    Read More

  • disability

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    Historically, we have been taught that people with disabilities are different and do not belong among us, because they are incompetent, cannot contribute to society or that they are dangerous. We’re still living with the legacy of people with disabilities being segregated, made invisible, and devalued. The messages about people with disabilities need to be changed. There needs to be more integration of people with disabilities into our culture to balance out the message. Because of our history of abandonment and initialization, fear and stigma impact our choices more than they would if acceptance, community integration, and resources were a bigger part of our history.

    Read More

  • Profile Essays Profile Essays - Grandfather, Grandpa

    415 Words  | 1 Pages

    He used artificial limbs for a number of years while holding a job at IBM. After a while, though, he ceased using them because they felt too unnatural. Now, while enjoying the "retired life," his mode of transportation is a wheelchair.

    Read More

  • Disability as Power in the Works of Mary Duffy, Frida Kahlo, and Vassar Millar

    2893 Words  | 6 Pages

    What do you do without either of your arms? What do you do for a living constrained to a wheelchair? What do you do without control over your own body? Many people in the world today spend their lives wishing things were not as they were, attempting to forget how they are, or trying to change how they are going to be. When "disabled" people succeed, it is commonly thought that those individuals are amazing for overcoming their disabilities and thriving in life. Is this really what they are doing? The following three women, Mary Duffy, Frieda Kahlo, and Vassar Miller transform their disabilities into the ability to create complex forms of art that force the audience to gain a different perspective on disabilities. Their disabilities become their power. The artists use this power to force their audiences to look at their disabilities in an utterly new way using the "stare and tell" method. These women do not succeed despite their disabilities, but instead succeed because of them

    Read More

  • Universal Design Principles

    2559 Words  | 6 Pages

    There are several principles that form the foundation of universal design, which is defined as “an alternate path to accessible products or services, […] that have features that enable a person with a disability to use the product or service, whether by itself or in conjunction with assistive technology” (Tobias, 2003).Thus the main purpose of universal design is to make products usable to the greatest number of people, without the use of specially designed equipment (Connell, Jones, Mace, et al, 1997). The seven design elements serve as guidelines for reaching this goal.

    Read More

  • Wheelchair Experience Reflection Paper

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    I thought this was a great experience and opened my eyes to all the challenges individuals in wheelchairs have to face. Throughout the day, I noticed I had to go out of my way to find a path that was accessible for a wheelchair. Not only was it inconvenient, but at times it was physically challenging and required a lot of energy. The next day my arms were very sore. It was also difficult to navigate around the classroom, and I sometimes had to ask for assistance to move obstacles out of the way. A lot of the doors on campus were very heavy and made getting through the doorways a lot harder. Most of the time, I needed someone to hold open the door so I could get through to the other room. These experiences made me realize how important is it

    Read More

  • Universal Design

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    Universal Design for Learning came to the forefront after communities started questioning why there are not more accommodations for people with disabilities. After witnessing people with physical disabilities struggle moving around in society independently, this regulation helps people overcome the obstacles that in the past, caused much dependence. Some of the ways of accommodating people with challenges in the community were by building ramps at the end of sidewalks so that folks in wheelchairs could get from place to place, putting elevators in buildings, installing electronic switches to automatically open doors, and in most recent years different restaurants have added a selection of menus to help a diverse set of customers such as braille

    Read More

  • Importance Of Accessibility

    2731 Words  | 6 Pages

    The built environment is designed to enable the disabled and elderly, the able bodied users will find it even more friendly and easy to use. Thus, every built environment should be designed for its easy usage by persons with diverse bodily capabilities through a successful implementation of standards. There is a great need to create awareness among the policy makers, engineers, architects local bodies and to make them understand the needs and analyze why we do not come across persons with disabilities in our schools, colleges, work environments or in social gatherings. Education and training of professionals on this issue plays a significant role in promoting a barrier-free world.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Human Rights

    1743 Words  | 4 Pages

    Physical and mental disabilities can present extreme difficulties; disabled people often require assistance in the completion of vital activities of daily living (e.g. showering, housework, walking/climbing stairs, preparing

    Read More

  • Disability Rights Essay

    1258 Words  | 3 Pages

    This act established old age benefits and funding for assistance to blind individuals and disabled children and the extension of existing vocational rehabilitation programmes. In present day society, since the passage of the ADA (American with Disabilities Act of 1990) endless efforts of the disability rights movement have continued on the focus of the rigorous enforcement of the ADA, as well as accessibility for people with disabilities in employment, technology, education, housing, transportation, healthcare, and independent living for the people who are born with a disability and for the people who develop it at some point in their lives. Although rights of the disabled have significantly gotten better globally throughout the years, many of the people who have disabilities and are living in extremely undeveloped countries or supreme poverty do not have access nor rights to any benefits. For example, people who are in wheelchairs as a transportation device have extremely limited access to common places such as grocery stores, schools, employment offices,

    Read More

  • Technology Advantages And Disadvantages

    1686 Words  | 4 Pages

    In todays society our world revolves around technology. We use it in our everyday lives. It makes great sense that inventors would create new technology and make technology that is already used, easier for people with disabilities. From the blind to the handicapped and the deaf, there is no doubt you will be able to find some form of technology that will be of great help to them. These people with disabilities face barriers in their day to day life. However, it is technology that is making overcoming those barriers possible. There are some issues that arise as well. These would mainly consist of environmental barriers, having to learn new technology and cost. Even though there are issues that arise, technology is making the everyday task manageable

    Read More

More about Accessibility Issues Of Motorized Wheelchair

Open Document