WeAreA married couple that are both full-time wheelchair users. AUsA (again)

What's sex like?

EDIT: So this is the first thing I get gold for, huh?

See previous AMA for answer, but basically things still "work" pretty much like normal - sometimes it takes a little blue pill to get things "going" but for the rest of the story, your mom and dad should have told you how that works a long time ago.

What are some adaptations you've made to your living area that you really appreciate? Buying a house and transitioning from a walker to a wheelchair right now.

The VA gave us a grant to get a lot of things done to our home - some things they require to qualify for the grant are 36" doors from the front all the way to the bathroom (for wheelchairs and stretchers in case of emergency) as well as a 4'x4' roll in shower. They also require 2 accessible exits from the home - with one preferably from the master bedroom.

Who pushes the automatic door button when out together?

Honestly, we usually don't push them.. they don't work 75% of the time (no exaggeration) or they are just S O S L O W. I usually open the door and sometimes I'll even hold it for her :)

Do you think the Predators have what it takes to come back being down 2-0?

Not a doubt - we're going to be on home ice for the next 2 - and our first time at the finals it's going to be INSANE

Despite the added security, how do you plan on sneaking in the catfish?

I could just slip one under my cushion. It would be a little smushy when we got it in.. but it wouldn't be any worse off than the one in Pitt. Getting close enough to toss it would be tough.. but who doesn't mind a little bit of mushed fish goo hitting them in the back of the head? amirite?

Hello, and thanks for doing this AMA. :) I'm actually in a class covering accessibility right now, and I'm super interested in the practical aspects of it.

One thing that's been stressed is doorways having a minimum of 32" clearance when the door's open 90º. How realistic is that for someone in a standard chair that's like 30" wide, like how do you manage to get through without pinching your hands or scraping the shit outta your knuckles every single time? Is the preferred 36" something you see as adequate for the majority of people in wheelchairs, and do you think that "the majority of people in wheelchairs" is an appropriate standard for the ADA?

On an average day in which you go out together (e.g. to a restaurant or shopping), how many "design barriers" would you say you run into? Bad curb cuts (here in Chicago, we have the Chicago Curb Cut, in which both the curb cut and the street curve downward, causing people in chairs to bottom out, which can pitch them forward, fucking ridonk), having inadequate space to exit your vehicle, ramps that are too steep or too long, doors that are too heavy to open, changing tables in accessible stalls being installed over the toilet, counters of inappropriate heights, etc.?

What kinds of things would you like non-chair users to be more aware of when it comes to accessibility and barriers? I saw one person in the comments here saying that accessible bathroom stalls don't mean "reserved," despite the fact that they likely have access to all of the others; are there similar issues that you'd like to be more visible?

What would you like to see changed, and what actions would you like to see people without disabilities take to get them going?

One thing that's been stressed is doorways having a minimum of 32" clearance when the door's open 90º. How realistic is that for someone in a standard chair that's like 30" wide, like how do you manage to get through without pinching your hands or scraping the shit outta your knuckles every single time? Is the preferred 36" something you see as adequate for the majority of people in wheelchairs, and do you think that "the majority of people in wheelchairs" is an appropriate standard for the ADA?

My chair from wheelrim to wheelrim is 27". Most everyday chairs have a fair amount of camber (the wheels are angled diagonally so the chair is wider at the bottom than the top) that keeps your hands out of the way.

32" is common and plenty big for us and MOST wheelchairs. Chairs that are 30" or wider are very rare, usually only for obese users.

On an average day in which you go out together (e.g. to a restaurant or shopping), how many "design barriers" would you say you run into? Bad curb cuts (here in Chicago, we have the Chicago Curb Cut, in which both the curb cut and the street curve downward, causing people in chairs to bottom out, which can pitch them forward, fucking ridonk), having inadequate space to exit your vehicle, ramps that are too steep or too long, doors that are too heavy to open, changing tables in accessible stalls being installed over the toilet, counters of inappropriate heights, etc.?

You nailed it! All of those are fairly common. (more common than you would expect) I'd say the most common problem is inadequate curb cuts. The most annoying common issue is stores that have isles that are too narrow or the store itself is overcrowded so we can't get around very well at all.

What kinds of things would you like non-chair users to be more aware of when it comes to accessibility and barriers? I saw one person in the comments here saying that accessible bathroom stalls don't mean "reserved," despite the fact that they likely have access to all of the others; are there similar issues that you'd like to be more visible?

Yeah, handicapped stalls don't mean reserved. It is just a common courtesy to not use them unless you need to because the others are taken. Nothing is more annoying than going into a bathroom with 6 stalls and the ONLY one taken is a guy in the handicapped stall doing his taxes or something.

Restaurants are getting worse about seating availibility - by only having high topped tables. Even the Cheesecake Factory doesn't have a table we can sit across from eachother unless we sit outside. - most have a bench on one side and a regular chair on the other. That means we have to sit side by side.

What would you like to see changed, and what actions would you like to see people without disabilities take to get them going?

I'd love to have the owners of every single place sit in a wheelchair for an hour. Park, get into their business, get a table or shop or whatever their business provides, use the restroom and try to get around when it's super busy. Just to see what it's like. That would fix 90% of the issues we'd ever run into.

How often do you grab race?

¯\(ツ)/¯

How do you commute and travel?

If I'm by myslef I've Uber'd with no problems. The drivers are always super helpful getting my chair in the trunk and stuff. Usually when we travel we rent a car from Hertz - no issues getting hand controls on a car.

As for airlines, we LOVE Southwest, the planes are always super easy to get to the front row in our regular chairs without the need of a special isle chair

Are companies hiring with equal opportunity real? as in they don't favor more with non-disable.

I honestly can't answer this for sure. As a software developer, using a wheelchair has absolutely no effect on my productivity (or my projected productivity by an employer). I do believe that whether they try to or not, there is always an immediate hesitation by an employer and it would vary widely on a case by case basis.

Who's faster?

Usually me. I have bigger wheels and longer arms so I have some mechanical advantage. My fastest 1/2 marathon time in an everyday chair is 1:52 and hers is 2:06 - (give or take a couple of minutes because of memory). I'm faster, but not THAT MUCH faster

Do you have a car? What is it like? (Pics please:] )

We both drive Mazda RX8s - I had a red one for 11 years and put 230k miles on it. Loved it so much I got a black newer one. Hers is just like the red one, but silver. The hand controls are just a handle that sicks out on the left side of the steering wheel. You push the stick down and it presses the gas pedal, if you push the stick forward, it pushes the brake pedal. Since it just moves the pedals, an able body person could still drive the car like normal.

We love these cars because it has rear doors that open "suicide" so it's SUPER easy to get in the front, open the back door and put our chairs in the back seat. The average load up / unload time is about 90 seconds.

http://imgur.com/I92gm5i

http://imgur.com/O65H426

http://imgur.com/2sb5Cpg

http://imgur.com/2xpYqdC

My grandmother had one of those adapted cars. She loved and hated it, everyone else just hated*. The first and only time she drove my father he thought it would be his last. She just hit the power and zoomed.

RIP Didi, I'm coming up to the age she was when she got polio.

Edit: * they hated the car because she couldn't drive it properly.

Hand control technology has come a long way in the past few years. I've even driven a manual transmission car with hand controls (once).

How the hell did you hit 230k miles without rebuilding the engine? I had to rebuild mine at 90k. But mine is turbocharged, so that doesn't help much haha

The first engine went out at 94k but the factory 100k warranty covered it. I sold it at the VERY END of the life of the second engine

How do you bang?

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