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Wheelchair of Fortune (Assistive Technology)

 From the age of three I have used an electric wheelchair. When I got my first wheelchair all I could do was go round and round in circles but now my wheelchair is my independence. 

Over the years I have had a total of five electric wheelchairs and each time the process for getting a new chair is slightly different. Before the NDIS, the amount I was allocated for a new chair depended heavily on the report writing skills of the occupational therapist. 

Each time I tried out a new range of chairs I always felt a bit uncomfortable because in my opinion I do not think that enough time for trialling new chairs is allowed. Once the selection process has been made, you then have to fit the chair to my individual needs. In years gone past this meant literally carving and sculpting the chair to my body type but in 2021 wheelchair providers prefer to use off the shelf mix and match components to supposedly cut down on costs. In my experience this means the final product is not as comfortable as my old chairs used to be. 

The power of assistive technology allows me to live my life the way I want to live it. It gives me an independent future so I thank God every day for my wheelchair of fortune. 




Wheelchair of Fortune


All my life I have dreamed of being free, just taking off in a hot air balloon;

This is not a possibility for me, I have to be more down to earth and rely on my wheelchair of fortune. 

People see my wheelchair as a trap but to me it is a way out of the doom and gloom, a stroke of good fortune. 

A new wheelchair for me is like spinning top dollar; it gives me power that cannot be understood by the worldliest scholar.


Every time I sit in my chair I know the wheel of fortune is spinning my way;

But the government grip on the purse strings makes me fear the dreaded black bankrupt display. 

I often think of what my future has in store; without my wheelchair I know I will never fulfil what the fortune teller saw.

My wheelchair literally gives me the drive to go for the free spin and achieve everything I have hidden within. 


I am not going to lie, my relationship with my wheelchair at times has been love hate and I have cursed fortune's fate. 

So my wheelchair has seen me over the bumpy road even when I was in self denial mode.

Some people see Wheel of Fortune as a game but without assistive technology my life would never be the same.

Every time I leave my darkened room I know my future is assured because of my wheelchair of fortune.


©️ Chris Van Ingen | 11 March 2021


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