Writing a character who uses a wheelchair

I'd imagine the same rules to minimize choreography are still in affect.

For example, in book one, you wouldn't necessarily say "she walked to the other side of the room." Some movement is just implied, and to include it would be a bit much.

Agree with MythMonger.

If I know the character is wheelchair bound and they crossed to the wardrobe, or headed for the kitchen, or opened the cocktail cabinet, or backed off, or turned to the Inspector, I know how they got there or did it.

Only need to mention the wheelchair if a mobility/safety/personal danger or threat issue arises that specifically requires mention of the wheelchair. Maybe someone is waiting in the shadows and overturns it, or a wheel gets caught in a rut...whatever.

Or there's only one step up or down, but it effectively blocks her movement. Or, her upper cabinets are empty, because she can't casually reach that high.

Even when a person walks somewhere we don't always use the word 'walk'. She goes, she went, she travelled, she made her way across the room, she raced across the room, etc.

...but when choreography for her is necessary, how about "rolled" or "propelled herself?"

I had something similar and I just used "wheeled." Not sure if that's right or not.

The thing I would suggest you try is ,some charities hire out wheelchairs. If you can get one , spend a few days sitting in it. Go out and move around in the street . It will be an eye opener to the the difficulties of life . How hard it is to do even basic functions . If you can't get a wheelchair, try walking on one foot with crutches .It will not help with the language much , but it will make you a more sympathetic to the struggle some pople have.

Stephenf has a good idea.

Another thing to think about is clearances. Not all places have halls wide enough, so she might get her fingers pinched in a narrow hall or not be able to get through. Using the bathroom also poses challenges. If she's not in one with a rail she might have trouble getting onto the potty and back off of it. If there's one little thing in front of her, it will be a challenge to navigate.

Have you considered putting her on crutches instead, or giving her one of those big black walking boots for foot injuries, or maybe a cast? That way she's still disabled, but it's a little easier to get her from place to place.

I saw someone who was writing an apacolypic book about a guy in a wheelchair who acts as a scout for his party. I was like, how? Wouldn't there be like abandoned cars, bikes, dead people, trash, etc. everywhere to navigate around? I thought it would be interesting to read.

I wanted to add a suggestion:

While I don't want to get you in trouble, I wouldn't fret over using the exact language deemed appropriate by differently-abled individuals when writing a character's inner monologue. I am not a wheelchair user, but I was born with profound hearing loss. When speaking out loud, I try and meet the linguistic expectations of the Deaf community, but my inner monologue rarely does. When your character is speaking, I would recommend following protocol, but I would also recommend using colloquial terms when writing her inner monologue.

I'd also like to offer you this link, if you don't already have it:

https://ncdj.org/style-guide/

That style guide is for journalism, but its advice could benefit novelists, too.

musicblind said:

I wanted to add a suggestion:

While I don't want to get you in trouble, I wouldn't fret over using the exact language deemed appropriate by differently-abled individuals when writing a character's inner monologue. I am not a wheelchair user, but I was born with profound hearing loss. When speaking out loud, I try and meet the linguistic expectations of the Deaf community, but my inner monologue rarely does. When your character is speaking, I would recommend following protocol, but I would also recommend using colloquial terms when writing her inner monologue.

I'd also like to offer you this link, if you don't already have it:

https://ncdj.org/style-guide/

That style guide is for journalism, but its advice could benefit novelists, too.

Click to expand...

I agree with this. I'll add on that if your character was injured in the previous book and not a life long user of wheelchairs, then the expectations for correctness are a little different.

Some really great advice in this thread. Love the idea of trying a wheelchair yourself as there's no better way to understand what it's like than to experience it yourself.

The only thing I'd add, is to consider carefully how your portray the character's mentality to being in a wheelchair. I have a friend that was born disabled and every time I see characters in TV shows or movies acting like being in a wheelchair is the end of their life, it just really crushes me for how he must feel when he sees that representation. Of course, showing the difficulties and the frustrations of being in a wheelchair is legitimate, but I would love to see more active characters that show the joy in their life too.

You could use 'she went' or 'she moved'--if the wheelchair was introduced properly, so to say, her stance towards what she has known, i.e., walking as opposite to being bound in a chair; it should oppose no problem to your reader's imagination as to how she 'wheeled about' or 'maneuvered her way through/over/across (something)'; how she 'stirred' or 'rode to the other side of the room', or simply how she is 'rolling with the times (a little smile at the end here, I hope)'. Anyway, I suppose, seeing that she has appeared in a previous book of yours, withal fated to a wheelchair in the second, there is a consequence that you have not neglected, which is well done.

Very short thoughts...

My son is in a wheelchair, so I have perspective if not experience. Don't make an issue of the chair except for where it is relevant, and most of the time it will be perspective. First clue, people in wheelchairs see the world from waist height - you could say it's a world of asses. Second thing, nothing is properly set up for wheel chairs, even well meaning people get it wrong. Example, the Chipotle near our home has a wheelchair ramp, but the door opens across the ramp, so you have to go past the door and come back to enter, and anyone who holds the door for him blocks the way. Third thing, everyone tries to help, even when they shouldn't. A person in a chair can generally do for themselves and would rather do it. Your character will be embarrassed when people offer to carry them up/down stairs, etc...

Musicblind, I know for years that people with disabilities, especially those that might involve a helper (mobility and vision being the first that come to mind) have been working on educating the public about asking before helping/touching. Has progress been made?

What about the "invisibility factor,' where people talk to the helper instead of the person with the disability? Is that improving at all?

Or are both of these thing kind of an ongoing issue that'll never really go away?

Both are ongoing.