jenroses:

hoodoodyke:

electraposts:

madneto:

roseupinmyhead:

spiftynifty:

madneto:

okay, i’m just putting this out here because it needs to be said and i’m sick of letting the bullshit train continue when i could help stop – or at least bring attention to – it. i have a friend who is diplegic and therefore uses a manual chair (her twin was also quadriplegic and in a motorized chair) and when we watch movies with wheelchairs in them, we like to critique the designs.

do you know why mcavoy couldn’t/can’t drive his motorized wheelchair? BECAUSE THE FUCKING WHEELS ARE ON THE WRONG WAY. HANK MCCOY, WHO IS SUPPOSEDLY A “GENIUS”, DESIGNED THE WHEELCHAIR SO THE BIG WHEELS ARE ON THE FRONT AND THE SMALL WHEELS ARE ON THE BACK.

LOOK!

LOOK AT THIS ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT. DO YOU KNOW WHY HE CAN’T DRIVE IT? THE SMALL WHEELS ARE AT THE FRONT BECAUSE THEY ARE SMALL AND THEREFORE ALLOW FOR LOTS OF FINE CONTROL, AND THE BIG WHEELS ARE AT THE BACK BECAUSE THEY OFFER POWER. WHEN THE BIG WHEELS ARE ON THE FRONT IT IS SO DIFFICULT TO CONTROL WHERE YOU ARE GOING. IT’S LIKE WHEN YOU WALK BACKWARDS ON A BIKE AND TRY TO STEER STILL WITH THE HANDLEBARS. I SAT BACKWARDS ON MY FRIEND’S MANUAL CHAIR AND TRIED TO WHEEL MYSELF. IT WAS LIKE COMPLETELY REWIRING MY MOTOR SKILLS EVERY SECOND I WAS MOVING. IT. IS. BULLSHIT. AND ALL OF CHARLES’ CHAIRS ARE LIKE THIS!!! HANK!!!!! WTF!!!!!!!

ALSO. Charles would have THE WORST backpain from that stiff-ass unnecessary fuckin metal backrest that goes all the way up. YOU KNOW HOW PEOPLE’S BACKS GET UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN SITTING FOR HOURS ON A LONG PLANE OR CAR RIDE???? YOU KNOW THAT FEELING??? THAT FEELING IS THIS CHARLES’ LIFE, OKAY. HIS BACK HAS TO BE UNNATURALLY STRAIGHT ALL THE TIME. THIS CRITIQUE IS TAKEN FROM MY FRIEND’S EXPERIENCE BECAUSE SHE ALSO HAS A HARD BACK CHAIR AND HAS BEEN TOLD SHE’S GOING TO HAVE AWFUL BACK AND SHOULDER PROBLEMS BECAUSE OF IT. YET HARD BACKS ARE STANDARD AND SLING BACKS – LIKE THE ONE I’M GOING TO SHOW YOU IN A SECOND – ARE NOT! THIS IS BECAUSE THE WHEELCHAIR-GETTING SYSTEM IS COMPLETELY BROKEN AND IT’S SOMETHING YOU SHOULD REALLY CARE ABOUT BUT IT IS A RANT FOR ANOTHER DAY). THE POINT IS, CHARLES’ BACK IS ONE HURTIN’ UNIT IN THIS CHAIR I GUARANTEE YOU. HE OBVIOUSLY DOESN’T NEED IT FOR TRUNK CONTROL. HE HAS AMAZINGLY FREE RANGE OF MOVEMENT ABOVE HIS HIPS. THIS CHAIR IS  B U L L S H I T. HE CAN’T DRIVE, HE CAN’T SIT UP IN A COMFORTABLE WAY. POOR BABY IS H U R T I N G  but right, Hank’s ~~a genius~~

In contrast, look at this chair!

Look at those tiny-ass wheels on the front! The user of this could spin ON A DIME. It’s Nice as Fuck. Look at that back. (Okay I’m not 1000% certain it’s a slingback) but it doesn’t go all the way up the user’s back! That’s some free-range-of-movement-let-your-spine-do-almost-anything-it-wants-shit right there. Since Charles pretty clearly has full use of his trunk in the movies, this would make much more sense. Also, Ann (friend) and I really don’t see why he would want an electric wheelchair when he clearly could have a manual one that allows for even more control. 

AND OKAY, all wheelchairs should be specific to their users. Some people need more back support. In Ann’s quadriplegic brother’s chair there was a neck brace and little wing things on the side that came out and clamped around his body. Some people’s foot rests need to go out like Charles’ does (whether or not he requires this is kind of foggy, espc. since the overall design is so. asinine.). Some need their footrests to be more in like the orange chair. Some people get tilted wheels, some people don’t. (Also the process for deciding this is bullshit – on government insurance they will only build your chair with the assumption that you will never leave your house and therefore it’s almost impossible to get ‘add ons’ like sling backs and tilted wheels and under-the-seat brakes WHICH SHOULD BE STANDARD, AGAIN, BECAUSE IF YOU DON’T HAVE THEM YOU COULD HAVE MORE MEDICAL ISSUES DOWN THE ROAD OMG THIS SYSTEM IS SO BROKEN). 

But I think we can ALL fucking agree that your wheels should go on the goddamn correct way so you can, you know, steer. And that maybe your chair should be designed more like a mobility assistance device than a fucking 1860′s gentleman’s club wingback for no goddamn earthly reason.

SHIT this stuff gets me riled up.

wow this is really interesting and makes a lot of sense! New headcanon is that Charles only uses the ridiculous X-chair when he’s teaching a class but the second he has spare time he settles into a wheelchair like the one below and just goes “aahhhhhhhh”

@spiftynifty is absolutely right, I was about to criticise his wheelchair as well, but then I noticed that he uses a completely different one when he is actually outside with Hank and Summers brothers (sorry for super bad quality)

Let me reblog this with an addition because YOU SHOULD STILL ABSOLUTELY CRITICIZE HIS WHEELCHAIR. Yes, he uses the manual wheelchair outside. Wanna know why? 

Regular motorized wheelchairs are REALLY REALLY heavy. Charles’ motorized chair, even if its a light weight alloy, is made ENTIRELY out of metal. It’s probably too heavy for wheeling through gravel and across the lawn. He would sink. Also, let me re-iterate, ITS WHEELS ARE CONSTRUCTED ENTIRELY TOO POORLY TO HAVE ANY CONTROL WHATSOEVER. THE *WHEELS* ARE GODDAMN METAL, IMAGINE WHEN ITS ICY OUTSIDE. YEAH. YEAH, IT’S NOT GOOD. And when it’s not icy and he’s trying to wheel across the grass with those stupid-ass wheels – into the pond he goes. Also, Hank put the motor like one fucking inch off the goddamn ground so when the HEAVY WHEELCHAIR inevitably SINKS………. Yeah. Charles is up the creek without a paddle.

As for this manual chair, it is also subpar. Although the wheels are mercifully in the right place, it looks too small for him. The wheels need to come up higher so that when he wheels himself, the rim grips are right there. Also, his arms should be able to go back pretty far on the wheels. Where they are now, you can only get a little bit behind your hips (again, speaking from experience). The high back on this chair AGAIN restricts his movement in this aspect. Charles probably will have shoulder pain that may result in surgery down the road with this chair (because it looks SO MUCH like Ann’s chair and that’s exactly what Ann has been told will happen to her). 

Second of all: I understand you’re just trying to make canon work and are not being bad people (please believe me, I know this), but absolutely no disabled person should have to switch chairs for mobility purposes multiple times a day. These chairs should be built for every day needs. Is wheeling on carpet a bitch with a manual chair? YOU BETCHA! Easy fix: take away the rugs; it’s Charles’ house. Is it more exhausting to go up hills in a manual? Oh my god, I don’t know how people do it, it is the worst. But maybe that’s a struggle that should be shown, instead of magically having him transfer to a new chair whenever a new problem arises? Think: would you like to cart around 47 different mobility devices that you would have to transfer in and out of just because your house and/or your chair, is not built for your life convenience? Maybe they should just build the chair better. It is a part of Charles and it always will be. BUILD. IT. BETTER.

Charles is lucky enough to be a multimillionare with his own lab/engineer to build chairs for him. Hank is 100% capable of making a chair that would defy any disabled person’s wildest dreams. Except…. it’s apparently more important that we just make the chair “look cool”. Never mind that 1. It doesn’t, 2. WHEELCHAIRS THAT WORK FOR DISABLED PEOPLE ACTUALLY CAN LOOK COOL TOO!! WHAT A CONCEPT.

I am just sick and tired of the way disabled people are portrayed in film and media 99% of the time. Wheelchairs are not sick gadgets to do whatever the fuck you want with. They are actual mobility devices that millions of people use, and truthfully representing the lives of those people is important. And hey, wheelchairs are fucking cool! They don’t need art direction to make them be chill! They just need good design, that again, reflects the ACTUAL LIFE the character lives. These are MOBILITY ASSISTANCE DEVICES. They are their legs. It is completely impractical and inconsiderate to think that a disabled person should just hop from chair to chair whenever the need arises.

Well, that was almost a spiritual experience. Thank you for that, madneto. I learned a ton from your righteous wrath.

Once again, this post provides a handy guide for first-time wheelchair users for what to look for in fit.

Random aside that highlights the individuality of wheelchairs… I absolutely can’t use a manual wheelchair to propel myself because the problem that makes walking difficulty means that repetitive stress on my arms and shoulders is equally problematic. Like it’s easier for me to walk than use a manual wheelchair and that’s not saying much. For me the magic “perfect” chair would have to allow me to be upright or almost fully reclined, while allowing indoors, outdoors and stairs. As it is, I mostly stay home, use electric carts in grocery stores, and if I must travel, we rent a scooter and I end up in pain anyway due to the posture it requires. Thankfully I can still walk short distances, usually. But the right device is the difference between being housebound and being in the world.