52 replies to this topic

[quintooo]

hey all,

I've been with a chair for just over a year now. much of that time was spent in transport chairs, crappy rentals, and trial chairs that didn't fit. I'm now in my own custom chair and feeling good about it. i know that i have the potential to do a lot of useful stuff with the chair, but i don't know how to start. the rehab i went to was a geriatric facility and no one there was in any way equipped to deal with a young, active person facing life in a chair. as such, when i left rehab i couldn't even pop a small wheelie. the concept of chair skills didn't exist in this rehab, as most patients in chairs there would die while in rehab, and the rest would neither be interested nor in any condition to do the kind of stuff i want to learn. in short, i was an anomaly there. I've improved my chair skills since then, but i want to take it further. a friend who was in a SCI rehab in the city told me they taught such skills as stair climbing/descent, recovering from falls, curb hopping, using escalators, etc. that's the kind of stuff i want to get into. of course i want to do it safely so i don't think the best idea would be to watch a couple Youtube videos and then try to climb a steep flight of 50 stairs. i am also completely broke and wouldn't be able to afford lessons, if lessons exist for something like this. pointers, tips, leads, etc. are welcome. geographically speaking I'm in Toronto, Canada, just for reference.

thanks, and i look forward to your replies !

quinto

[D. Smith]

I can do escalators any day, curb hopping a majority of the time, recovering from falls a good portion of the time, and stair descent very few days. Stair descent and ascent in my opinion are the most difficult.

To go up an escalator, you just roll up to it and put the front wheels on one step and then lean forward, let your back wheels on the step below, and hold on to the rail. To go down you just do the reverse. Roll backwards to it, have your back wheels on one step, the casters on the step up and hold on. Going down is much more intimidating to me, especially after watching this video. Wheelchair and escalator mishap.

As for the rest, let me find some of the videos I watched that kind of helped out.

[wheeliebear75]

D. Smith, on 06 December 2011 - 08:35 AM, said:

I can do escalators any day, curb hopping a majority of the time, recovering from falls a good portion of the time, and stair descent very few days. Stair descent and ascent in my opinion are the most difficult.

To go up an escalator, you just roll up to it and put the front wheels on one step and then lean forward, let your back wheels on the step below, and hold on to the rail. To go down you just do the reverse. Roll backwards to it, have your back wheels on one step, the casters on the step up and hold on. Going down is much more intimidating to me, especially after watching this video. Wheelchair and escalator mishap.

As for the rest, let me find some of the videos I watched that kind of helped out.

Just wanting to point out.....the chick executed it flawlessly....then came the guy who cannon balled his way down & into her.

CHICKS RULE!

[D. Smith]

@Wheeliebear: I know!!! That guy gave us a bad rep for doing these kind of theatrics!!!! You better believe whenever I do escalators that I now have a death grip.

[qbounce]

Just wanted to say, as you're trying these things for the first time it's much safer to have a friend always either in front of you or behind, depending on which way you may fall.

A good wheelie practice is to have a friend strap a safety harness around your back axle and hold it while you do a non-stop wheelie for as far as you can go without dropping your front casters. If you should tip too far backwards, your friend can catch you with the harness. It's a simple exercise, but it builds your confidence very fast with regards to knowing your center of gravity.

[ajl338]

As said above. If you have a good strong back wheel balance position you can do anything. It took me a year to sort out balancing and from there the rest a few weeks.
I actually built myself my own chair assult course out of bits of old wood so i could practise. The first bits were lengths of about 1metre and about 10mm high with end pieces on to stop them slipping, representing door treads, these then got bigger so the bit i was practising rolling over was like a plastic patio door heigh of about 800mm. I also ended up building what is like a square coffee table, it has a ramp up one side and two steps down the other. I must have fallen down this practising 50 times before i got it right (brought knee pads). Its about confidence, sitting up straight in your chair and keeping your head up.

When i do stairs, if they are narrow (less that diameter of my wheels) i use the rail and drop down backwards, this is also good for getting out of a building when the fire alarm has gone off and the lift doesnt work. one of two i drop down forward. Escalators are very easy. I looked at a youtube clip and just gon onwith it. You should always be facing up hill, so when you come down one you get on backwards. I use all types of escalators on the tube in shops etc.

I struggle to get up steps, facing downhill and pulling up on the rails, there is strength as well as technique required here.
But get some objects to practise on, kerbs are about timing as much as anything else. That can come from practising with a 20mm door tread, it will still trip you up and out of you dont lift those front wheels. If you are confident with timing then a little momentum and up you go.

getting back into a chair after having fallen over is easy if someone is there. Get yourself into a position as if you were sitting in the chair obviously with your feet into the air, hold on to the wheels, get the other person to stand by your footplate, put there foot on your main axel and push down on your footplate, really easy up you come. If you are on your own harder, I have found a way for me but i am sure any physio would have kittens if she saw me do it.

being able to do this has given me so much freedom.

[D. Smith]

Just following up on how to get back in your chair if you've fallen out, here are two videos. Unfortunately there is no easy way to it. This is how I do it and there is also this way. Here is uprighting your chair by our very own Apparlyzed.

[Tetracyclone]

I still cannot pull wheelies. Qbounce, I like your suggestion. Thank you for taking time away fro bouncing.

[qbounce]

Tetracyclone, on 07 December 2011 - 05:27 AM, said:

I still cannot pull wheelies. Qbounce, I like your suggestion. Thank you for taking time away fro bouncing.

LOL

[quintooo]

thanks all... question for those who can do escalators : if, for instance, i try going up an escalator for the first time, is it really going to save me to have an (AB) person behind me ? will they really be able to catch me if i slip ? i'm just concerned because my agreement with mum when she leased me this apartment was that i not incur any further injuries ^_^. i think, though, that i'm going to try it late one night on the métro so that if i have an accident there will be less people around to embarrass me further by asking if i'm okay. however, if i learn how to use escalators i'll be able to go so many more places alone. at the moment, if i get to a métro station and the escalator is broken, i hop out of my chair and either get a friend with me or a stranger to carry the empty chair up the steps, and i meet them at the top. today though i approached two young guys coz i was alone and after one carried the chair up, he came back down and the two of them carried me up too. it's nice to know that complete strangers will do that for me, but i'm always so scared of being dropped because my bones are like glass. and it would be embarrassing. also i don't like it when people carry me. personal preference i guess. i find it infantilizing. anyway, i digress... i wish i knew someone in my city who had this skill so they could show me live. i find it's always easier to learn something if somebody shows me in person. i saw a guy do it once at a métro station and was awestruck watching him go up while i waited for the elevator. is it hard or just something you do a few times and get used to ? sorry for asking so many questions, i just like to know as much as i can about something before potentially falling down a flight of moving stairs.

[ajl338]

you arent going to slip on an escalator, the only issue is hands getting tired holding on etc, the AB isnt going to hold you they are just going to lean against the back of your chair to ensure you stay locked into the step that your front wheels are on with your back wheels. You really dont need to hold on with more than one hand once you are on. Sometimes the hand rails travel at a different speed to the steps but it is no big deal to just let them slip through your hands or walk your hands up them.

I was really worried but it was much easier that doing kerbs or back wheel balancing. You will find clips on youtube of people balancing facing downhill, but there are also clips of this going wrong. it can be done but if your motive for ridding escalators is to get places rather than as an extreme sport then go for the safe option of facing up hill at all times

[D. Smith]

I with agl. Personally, I did it two times with friends behind me just to be safe. Slighlty back-fired as the second time going down my friend freaked and held the chair up to where the backwheels weren't touching the escalator. Once you do it several times you just kind of know what you need to do.

[Kwag_Myers]

Tetracyclone, on 07 December 2011 - 05:27 AM, said:

I still cannot pull wheelies. Qbounce, I like your suggestion. Thank you for taking time away fro bouncing.

If your main wheels are adjustable, try moving them forward just a bit. It doesn't take much, so go a little bit at a time until you can raise the front wheels with a strong push. I saw a wheeler in a restaurant with his chair set up so his coasters hardly ever touched as he moved through the place. That's a little too much for me, but it worked for him.

I practiced my wheelies with my chair in front of the sofa so it would catch me if I went over backwards. I haven't tried curb hopping yet. Sounds like fun (don't tell the wife).

[mike13]

Hey all, I have been in the chair for 7 years now and the way I started it was just balancing on the back wheels for as long as possible, then I went around my house balancing. Forward and back, Since I am at the dr. (Seams like constantly) and always have to be hopping up curbs and down. I whent on a trip to Prauge a while back and had to wheelie every where being that the streets are cobblestone. luckily I had been practicing doing the wheelies and such. The hardest part for me was when I was in London on the subway(The Tube). It was hard because the train was higher then the platform, some were as much as a foot difference. Those I had to get out of the chair, get myself on the train and then pull the chair up. But all in all, I would not have changed a thing. I not only got to expeirince a whole new world, but I learned so much. and I learned that there are people out there that will really help others for no other reason then to help otheres. My advise. Just go out and practice, practice, practice. because you can watch every video out there but you still have to make it work for you! go out and have fun, if you fall, well then you fell, so what. I live life as if I fall, O-well all it means is that I have to get up.

Just go out and have fun and live your life.

[rue2you]

How do you hop a curb slow? I see videos of people coming off of curbs very slow and controlled. I can pop a wheelie and come off the curb on my back wheel, but it is one quick move. I would like to do it slow and controlled but don't know how. I always come off the curb and hold my breathe that all goes well! So, if any of you have advice I would love to hear it!

[A trophy guy]

You'll have plenty of practice time.

[A trophy guy]

rue2you, on 11 December 2011 - 01:27 AM, said:

How do you hop a curb slow? I see videos of people coming off of curbs very slow and controlled. I can pop a wheelie and come off the curb on my back wheel, but it is one quick move. I would like to do it slow and controlled but don't know how. I always come off the curb and hold my breathe that all goes well! So, if any of you have advice I would love to hear it!

Could you link a video showing it? I am having a hard time picturing what you are talking about.

[Vanessamaee]

rue2you, on 11 December 2011 - 01:27 AM, said:

How do you hop a curb slow? I see videos of people coming off of curbs very slow and controlled. I can pop a wheelie and come off the curb on my back wheel, but it is one quick move. I would like to do it slow and controlled but don't know how. I always come off the curb and hold my breathe that all goes well! So, if any of you have advice I would love to hear it!

I go curbs very slow and controlled, however my way wouldnt work well if you have a drastically large curb. I go down backwards. I turn the chair around and lean down to my knees as I slowly roll both wheels off at the same time. With my weight on the front casters it keeps me from flipping over backwards. However I did this on a VERY high curb once and did flip just due to the drop down.

Also Ive never gone p or down an escalator but Im not too worried about the balancing during te ride part, more about the getting on and off timing part lol

Edited by Vanessamaee, 11 December 2011 - 02:19 AM.

[D. Smith]

rue2you, on 11 December 2011 - 01:27 AM, said:

How do you hop a curb slow? I see videos of people coming off of curbs very slow and controlled. I can pop a wheelie and come off the curb on my back wheel, but it is one quick move. I would like to do it slow and controlled but don't know how. I always come off the curb and hold my breathe that all goes well! So, if any of you have advice I would love to hear it!

To me its just a timing and confidence issue. If I know I'm going to be fine, I just pop the wheelie and try to lower myself as gently as possible. I also have my casters probably at a 45 degree position with the ground if I'm going off about a 6 inch curb like that. I could try to send you a video of it if you want.

[guido]

Also, in the UK, the Back-Up Trust run Wheelchair Skills courses:

http://www.backuptru...do/WCS-training

[mike13]

I myself would never go off a curb backwards any height curb! it is just to unsafe and un-balanced.
I practiced balancing on the rear wheels for as long as posible, then I would wheelie all over the house, then I would practice doing a wheelie over small items, then bigger and bigger items (Not things that could roll or move). Then I roll up to the curb on a wheelie and get the front tires over the edge and just slowly go over. it took a little practice but you will get used to it. I mean we have plenty of time, everything that I have learned I had to learn on my own. Like others above the rehab center did not know anything about the outside of-the-box thinking that we have to learn on our own. be possitive and have faith in yourself and just go for it.

[Zack]

Mike13 has left me with No reply! His Practice Practice Practice and Just go Have Fun and live Life Nails it!

Koddos' mike13

[KayDub]

The ski village where I work has loads of escalators, so I've gotten to the point where I can ride one up alone by leaning forward and hanging on. I'm still too afraid to go down, I'll start with my fiance or a friend standing below me just in case. It's so much more convinient than the elevators. They just redid the "ADA accessible" elevator halls that are only on either far end of the village and they all have super thick carpet and I end up going out of my way to get on one.

Also, from the highest part of the village everything has cobblestones. To get on the snow you have to go up a grated step and then onto the hardpack where the shed with all the accessible equipment is, ski school meets, the chairlift and gondola are, etc. There's only one ramp on the far far side that brings you onto the snow but it leaves you in the middle of a big icy hill instead of near the chairlift or anywhere else you'd need to go. I've gotten good at wheelieing up the grated step (it's pretty high) and then leaning forward and grabbing the side of the stone pillars on either side of the step, to bring me up onto the snow. The problem is once I'm there I get stuck because the snow is on an incline down to the step instead of evened out by the guys who dig the steps and groom the flat area. It'll take me 10 minutes to go what seems like 10 feet because I have to wheelie every roll because my caster wheels get stuck in the snow. It's a pain in the ass and I really think it's not asking too much for them to have a truly accessible way to the gondola, which is accessible and has an accessible area for learning and eating at the top. They like to brag about how ADA they are but overlook things like this. I'm really mobile and struggle here. Bleh.

But yeah the talk of tricks just reminded me of this because I've been working on it almost everyday. Gotta keep practicing!

[wheeliebear75]

guido, on 11 December 2011 - 05:25 PM, said:

Also, in the UK, the Back-Up Trust run Wheelchair Skills courses:

http://www.backuptru...do/WCS-training

Pity there isn't a sister program in the U.S. like this.

[mike13]

I can relate to the US does not have anything for wheelchair skills training, When I went to Prauge and then Crew. the people over there eastern area? they were much nicer and really did seam to give a sheet. it was nice but bummed me out because this was not where I was from.

And to those with the Kuddos!! hahaha seriously. What other option do we have? 1. Go out and try to live again. 2. Lie there and die! it really is the only option we have! Don't get me wrong I have those days, BUT. being down is a temporary feeling, and death is a permanent solution.

But the wheely thing, I do it for fun and conveineance. i'm basically lazy, So I go off the curb or roll all the way down this or around that. to much work, off the curb, to the car, Gone... hahaha........

[knightrider]

If you can't back wheel balance (Hold wheelies) then the safest way of going down curbs is going backwards and lean as far forward as possible like putting your chest on your knees, make sure both wheels are lined up so they go off at the same time and than slowly roll off.
If you can back wheel balance just simply roll up to the curb pop a wheelie and hold it and slowly line both wheels up to the edge and roll off, but if the curb is Big then do the same by lining up the wheels but this way is safer then just rolling up and jumping off the curb so to speak. Once you are in a wheelie, try make it a deep one so that the casters are as high as you can get them and your knees are touching your chest, but only if you can do these types of wheelies of course, then slowly roll up to the edge and roll off very slowly, once you've dropped the curb you can even lean back against the curb holding the wheelie and not fall back, it's a very controlled way of doing it, and that way is the safest way of conquering steps as its slow and controlled. I might not be the best at explaining in text lol and i always say it's better seeing it in action than reading it but if you understood then cool.

Wheelies are a thing all wheelchair users should try master because it makes life so much less of a hassle when out and about. If you need to learn, the best way is maybe get someone behind you (AB of course) then roll back slightly and gently flick your wrist kinda thing on the hand rim to go forwards, once the castors are up just try doing gentle hand/finger movements back and forth until you find your sweet spot, that is your balance point, doesn't take too long as long as you keep practicing, once mastered, you'll probably be sitting in a constant wheelie for a few weeks because you love it lol.

As for steps or curbs once you've mastered the wheelies and if you're not brave enough, get two AB's with you, one behind incase you tip back too far and one infront of you, the one in front has a rope or something that can be tied to your front forks so they can help keep the front castors up and prevent you from tipping out on your face lol if you suddenly lose the wheelie. Then it's up to you, just try as i said above and slowly roll off holding the wheelie, once done and when you've done curbs a few times and confident you can then drop the ropes/cord or whatever you used with the person who was helping infront of you and try by yourself and then you're away. The more you do the more confident you'll get, it's like anything the more you practice the better you get.

Edited by knightrider, 14 December 2011 - 08:15 PM.

[A trophy guy]

This is the first I've ever heard of anyone ever going backwards over a curb or step. In my opinion, this sounds incredibly dangerous and unwise. I certainly never have done such a manuveur, even in my first few weeks and months of being in a chair. I would think working on mastering wheelies and front-facing curb-hopping would serve you much better, both now and in the future, than to risk doing something so unstable and awkward as backward curb hopping.

[knightrider]

A trophy guy, on 14 December 2011 - 09:15 PM, said:

This is the first I've ever heard of anyone ever going backwards over a curb or step. In my opinion, this sounds incredibly dangerous and unwise. I certainly never have done such a manuveur, even in my first few weeks and months of being in a chair. I would think working on mastering wheelies and front-facing curb-hopping would serve you much better, both now and in the future, than to risk doing something so unstable and awkward as backward curb hopping.

Going down backwards is very safe, obviously if you just roll off backwards and sitting normally then yes you will tip out and very dangerous, but if you lean as far forward as possible with your chest against your knees and roll off very slowly then it's safe, probably the best way if you can't wheelie/back wheel balance.
Try it ATG you'll soon see its perfectly safe. I wouldn't or others wouldn't of mentioned it if it weren't safe would we

[A trophy guy]

knightrider, on 14 December 2011 - 09:27 PM, said:

A trophy guy, on 14 December 2011 - 09:15 PM, said:

This is the first I've ever heard of anyone ever going backwards over a curb or step. In my opinion, this sounds incredibly dangerous and unwise. I certainly never have done such a manuveur, even in my first few weeks and months of being in a chair. I would think working on mastering wheelies and front-facing curb-hopping would serve you much better, both now and in the future, than to risk doing something so unstable and awkward as backward curb hopping.

Going down backwards is very safe, obviously if you just roll off backwards and sitting normally then yes you will tip out and very dangerous, but if you lean as far forward as possible with your chest against your knees and roll off very slowly then it's safe, probably the best way if you can't wheelie/back wheel balance.
Try it ATG you'll soon see its perfectly safe. I wouldn't or others wouldn't of mentioned it if it weren't safe would we

True. I probably spoke before I had a clear grasp of the action.

[Beautiful]

I go off curbs backwards. Never had a problem with it. Knock on wood.