There are so many things in life that a lot of us take for granted. Even the ability to stand up and walk around is something special, especially when we remember the many people in the world that are confined to wheelchairs and face so many challenges each and every day.
From getting on and off public transport to navigating buildings with lots of stairs and tight corridors, there are so many issues that wheelchair users have to deal with.
14-year-old Alex Johnson knows all about that. He’s been using a wheelchair for most of his life after being diagnosed with skeletal dysplasia, a condition that affects the growth and development of his skeleton.
They say that in order to truly understand what someone’s life is like, you should try to live like them for a day, and that’s an idea that Alex has truly taken to heart.
The inspiring teen launched his very own ‘Spend a Day in My Wheels’ challenge, encouraging classmates and other people to spend a whole day in a wheelchair and see what it’s like to be disabled.
Alex got plenty of his peers to try out the challenge and broaden their understanding of the problems faced by wheelchair users, and he also recently encouraged some important lawmakers to give the challenge a try too.
The teen, from Lebanon in Tennessee, got in touch with Tennessee Rep. Clark Boyd, who helped to organize a special event at the House of Representatives.
He, along with nine other lawmakers, decided to use wheelchairs, provided by The Permobil Foundation, for a whole day in order to raise awareness for disabled individuals and also get a better feel for what life was like without the use of one’s legs.
They went to meetings and did a regular day’s work in their chairs, but encountered a lot of new challenges along the way.
Many of the participants revealed that they struggled to navigate corridors and find their way around meeting rooms. They also realized how difficult it could be to open doors as a wheelchair user, stating that doors felt a lot heavier and harder to open in general.
Boyd said:
I expected it to be difficult, but I had no idea how frustrating it could be to just simply get around. It’s really been an eye-opening experience.
Alex always hoped that his challenge would raise awareness and understanding, hopefully encouraging people to help make the world a more accessible place for everyone.
And by getting actual lawmakers to give it a try, he’s clearly having a real influence and affecting people who have the power to make the world a better place. It’s his hope and ours that the lawmakers will pass some handicap-friendly legislation, hopefully triggering a movement all across the country and inspiring us all to think a little more deeply about the disabled community.
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Today I, along with nine of my colleagues in the Tennessee House of Representatives, participated in the Team ALex…
Posted by Clark Boyd-State Representative District 46 on Tuesday, 11 February 2020
