Where We Go

Let’s first consider where we go, how we get there and how little we have to think about it!

Able bodied people tend not to think a lot about how to get around when walking. Walking is that subconscious complex neuromuscular activity that lets us move around our environment, almost without mental effort. Americans place a very high social value on the ability to ambulate. An injured person’s return to walking after a period of being ”wheelchair bound” is typically cause for celebration. This celebration of ambulation takes place even if the recovered walking is fatiguing and limited to short distances. Gaining or regaining the ability to ambulate, even a short distance, can be a valuable functional goal, especially considering its importance for activities such as bathing and toileting in a home environment.

However, if we equate mobility with ambulation, we run a high risk of increasing, instead of decreasing, a functional limitation, all in the name of promoting social acceptance.

Mobility is our ability to go where we want to go, when we want to go. We all use many forms of mobility to participate in life. We may put on a pair of sneakers to go for a run for exercise. We walk around our homes, schools and offices to perform our activities of daily living. Some of us drive to cover greater distances in shorter times. Others rely on public transportation for community mobility. We like to at least dream about getting on a jet plane to get away on that dream vacation. Each type of mobility described above has its own advantages and disadvantages; each offers us a different level of control. Each method offers a different level of efficiency with regard to expenditure of time, energy and other resources.

If you live in a big city, you may step outside on the street and go almost anywhere you want without much planning – to the store, bank, out to dinner or visiting a friend. Taking a dream vacation, however, takes a lot more planning; you might need to save up the money, request time off, surf the web for the cheapest fares, or tolerate more plane changes to save money. Performing your everyday life tasks should not take the same level of travel planning as a remote vacation trip; yet for some people with mobility impairments, ordinary tasks can require extraordinary planning.

Some key considerations in thinking about Assistive Technology to be used to address mobility impairments include:

• What are the tasks the person most needs and wants to accomplish?
• How is the person currently performing these tasks?
• What environment(s) does the person need to access to perform these tasks?