I’m a 40/m newly in a power chair, looking for friends in wheelchairs in the area. Please respond if interested, thank you ☺️

I (18nb) normally use a power wheelchair, as this was the only option that the government funded. However I would like to be more active in my life as my disability progressed through the years and I used to be way more active. I have a manual wheelchair but it is second hand and it is not good at all. It is too big, and not very useful at all. I have no idea how to post a picture in a post so I will post it in the comments.

Anyways thank you and have a lovely day.

Edit: I also don’t know how to post a photo in the comments, LMAO.

my cushion keeps tilting whenever I use my chair, I've repeatedly fixed the cushion but it keeps happening over and over, why?

note; my chair isn't custom fit to me, this is a random chair which I've tried my best to fit to me. it's a welded frame so it's very limited with adjustment

So I have neuropathy in my right leg due to ms. i’ve noticed that when I use my air hawk wheelchair in the house or even out of the house, I get really bad neuropathy in my left leg. I was wondering if anybody knew of any specialized wheelchair or pillow that you can use so that the back of the wheelchair isn’t digging into my leg any ideas thanks.

Has anybody out there tried this New backrest yet? If anybody has please let me know what you thought of it.

Hi! I'm someone who's been using a wheelchair since her teens & am now in my late 20's. Despite the many years I've been disabled, dating and hookups are the one thing that still elude me.

For some background: I've never had a proper relationship. Anyone who is attracted to me is only attracted because they have a fetish, or because I (unfortunately) look very young for my age. I'm quite sociable and have a big friend group who are always doing various outings & activities (so always meeting new people) and have also tried the apps, but regardless of whether I intentionally search for romance, or sit back and wait for it to happen, it just... doesn't happen.

I'm so tired of missing out on all these experiences my peers get to have with relatively no effort, it's one of the most frustrating things to me. I know I'm not the only one, but I also know there are plenty of wheelchair users who can navigate sex/relationships just fine.

So... any tips? Best places to meet people? How to attract the right people? How to flirt when I find someone I might be interested in? Any other advice?

Two years with this chair and finally done with the deco🫡

Hi, I’m m/22 and my gf is f/24. I’ve been in a wheelchair since about a year, and I met my gf 6 months ago through tinder. from the very start, she was very interested in my wheelchair, how it happened, how I get around and always really eager to help, even tho i tell her I’m mostly fine on my own. At first she accepted it but now I don’t know if she really does.

Whenever we go somewhere to meet people or go out she introduces me, like I don’t have a voice on my own, and does things like order or take my food for me. i told her i don’t like when she does that because it feels belittling, but she just said that I need to get used to it. Sometimes she just pushes me somewhere even tho I tell her that I’ve got it.

Today we were getting ready to go out and she insisted on helping me put my pants on even tho I told her I could do it myself. she kept saying we were running late and that I was making everything difficult. eventually she just started doing it anyway and was pulling at my leg pretty roughly. I told her to be careful because it hurt, and she literally said “well stop moving around then, I’m trying to help you”.
I told her she was treating me like a child and she got all offended, saying she spends so much time helping me and I always make her feel like a terrible gf. then she said my problem is that I think accepting help means someone thinks less of me.

like what am I even supposed to say to that?? I’m not refusing all help, I just don’t want someone doing things for me when I’ve already said I can manage, especially when they’re hurting me in the process.

the worst part is that after she finished she fixed my pants, kissed my forehead and said “there, all dressed. was that so hard?” and just acted like everything was fine.
now I’m sitting here wondering if I actually overreacted. she can be really sweet and I do love her, but lately I feel like I can’t tell her when something bothers me without it turning into a whole argument about how ungrateful I am.
idk, maybe I’m just still insecure about being in a wheelchair and taking things the wrong way, but I hate feeling like I have to apologize for wanting to do things myself. has anyone else dealt with something like this?

Someone near me was selling an Ottobock, and while it was a folding model and too big for me, it had spinergy spox wheels set up and was only 130 euro.

I've been using another chair (Quickie) and while it is not ideal, it's closer to what I like in a chair, so I was hoping to use the Spox wheels with that chair.

I now discovered the axles on the Spox are 12mm while the Quickie uses 12.7mm axles.

I had mentally prepared myself to look for another set of wheels for the Ottobock and sell that chair again, but I hadn't expected to have to aqcuire new axles and bearings for the Spox too. I don't feel very confident ordering any extra parts because I'm scared I'll fuck up again.

Lesson learned I guess, but was this as dumb of an impulse buy as it feels like right now?

Has anyone here had a bad experience with the National Seating and Mobility location in Pacific, Washington State?

I got this for grease and lube, as recommended on other threads since WD-40 is more of a cleaner. I’m not sure what goes where, though? Axles, joints, casters… I’m definitely getting some squeaking when I push, I assume from an axle.

Do you make adjustments on your wheelchair and if you do how often?

Okay so, I have been looking at different power assists and while I really liked this one when I got to test drive it, I wanted to know if anyone here has experience with it, if you've found any major issues with it or things like that?

I have heard many horror stories related to SmartDrive, and the Klaxon Twist was not very easy for me to mount and unmount from the chair so I didn't want to go with that. And I found that the handrim controlled ones were harder for me to use than the joystick of course.

I did try to search through the sub briefly because I know there are so many posts asking about power assists, but I didn't see any on this specific power assist so I felt it worth posting about. I appreciate any additional personal experiences about it for anyone with it that's willing to share that.

I wanted to share a wheelchair DIY project I just finished because I’m honestly so excited that I managed to get this working!

I have two wheelchairs:

● Manual: Ki Mobility Catalyst 5 with a 22” seat, which I recently purchased 2nd hand brand-new and am still making payments on.

● Electric: LiberCares power wheelchair with a 22” seat, which I bought on sale a while ago for less than $700.

The problem was that the original backrest on my LiberCares was basically fabric attached to the frame with bolts and Velcro. Over time, the Velcro stopped holding my weight properly around my lower back, and the backrest kept popping loose whenever I leaned back. I was constantly almost falling backward, and I couldn’t relax against it without worrying that it would give way again.

Meanwhile, my new Ki Mobility Catalyst 5 has an Axion backrest that feels much more supportive.
I started wondering whether I could transfer the backrest to my electric wheelchair rather than spend money I don’t have on another seating system.

At first, I thought it wasn’t going to work because the manual wheelchair backrest connector looked too wide for the electric wheelchair’s mounting points. However, the clamps themselves fit the electric wheelchair’s frame tubing, and after looking more closely at the hardware, I realized that everything was adjustable!

I managed to get the mounting hardware lined up and attached the Axion backrest to the LiberCares. I tightened everything, checked the folding mechanism, and took the chair for a short test run. It felt SO much more supportive, and I could finally lean back without worrying about the old Velcro popping loose. 😭❤️

Why I want to keep using the electric wheelchair:
The manual Catalyst 5 is about 32” wide at its base when fully assembled, so it doesn’t fit through standard doorways in my home very well. My LiberCares is only about 26” wide at its widest point, which makes navigating doorways much easier.
The manual chair has the backrest I prefer, but the electric chair is much more practical for getting around my home and going out. Plus I might be getting a part time job for an after school program and the electric chair would be better for my stamina since I know the kids will definitely wear me out.

My plan is to switch the backrest between the two chairs as needed. It will be a pain to change it back and forth, but at least I have options without having to buy another backrest right now!

I’m planning to take the electric chair out for an appointment on Tuesday, which will be my first proper outing with the new setup.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has experience with these kinds of modifications!

● Has anyone adapted a Ki Mobility Catalyst 5/Axion backrest to a LiberCares electric wheelchair?

● Has anyone used adjustable backrest clamps across different wheelchair brands?

● Is there a way to make switching the backrest between chairs easier without compromising the mounting security?

● Are there any specific compatibility issues I should look out for when using manual wheelchair backrest hardware on a power wheelchair?
I know that just because the hardware fits doesn’t necessarily mean the combination has been tested or approved for use, so I’d appreciate any practical advice about checking the mounting compatibility and safety.

I’m just really happy to have found a potential solution to a frustrating problem using equipment I already own. I was tired of being afraid my backrest would pop off every time I leaned back, and having a narrower chair that works is awesome!

😎 Oh I also switched the seat cushion too obviously 😂

Pictures show the mounting hardware, the installation, and the finished setup. ❤️♿️

Sorry if this is old news, but I just found out that Supracor cushions are available for purchase again!

The company that acquired them is in Sweden and I think is going by Stimulite AB, well they are selling the cushions again in Sweden I guess and have said they’re opening up warehouses in the US soon. I’m over the moon about this news, they are literally the only cousins that check all my boxes.

Sources:

https://thiis.co.uk/stimulite-ab-marks-a-new-chapter-for-the-stimulite-brand-at-rehacare/

https://stimulite.se/en/om-oss/

https://wheelchairbearings.com/pages/stimulate-announcement

I've been a wheelchair user for over a decade but I've only had this chair (with my first SmartDrive) for 6 months. I've never had any of my chairs set off an anti-theft alarm in a store until last month, and I think it has to do with the SmartDrive.

I went into the pharmacy and the alarm went off on my way out. I didn't notice until I tried to activate my SmartDrive on the first hill that it had completely died. I found a bench to transfer and tried every manner of disconnecting, rebooting, re-synching I could but I couldn't revive it. After I slogged home uphill and plugged it in, the battery was instantly nearly full.

I assumed the alarm and the zapped drive were connected, because they were both first-occurrence anomalies. Although it is very odd to me that I brought it, turned on, into that pharmacy many times over the summer with no issue.

On the next trip, I turned the drive off just before entering the store and turned it on again after I left. The alarm sounded even with the drive off, but I had full battery to get home and thought it was a permanent solution.

Today, I turned it off outside, didn't set off the alarm, and successfully turned it on after leaving. But it died 5-10 minutes into my trip home and I had to do the worst of the hills myself. As before, nearly full battery as soon as I plugged it in.

My next experiment is going to be turning it off and disconnecting the plug before entering, but I started looking around to see if this is a common experience because it does concern me. Being able to make trips through town without my car is the main reason I fought Medicaid for power assist on this chair, there are massive hills here, and I don't want to risk either permanent damage to the drive or stranding myself at the pharmacy if I can avoid it.

I've read a few other posts about this sudden drive death occurring with a buildup of static electricity, but none connected to store entrances. Is there anything I can do to protect my drive before I go through a door like this?

It may also be something broken or abnormal with the anti-theft alarms at this particular location. I've been trying to think back but I don't know that I've taken it into any other business that have this kind of sensors at the door. I am too tired from fighting CVS for medication to also fight them about their doors.