As a full-time wheelchair user of close to 40 years, I’ve grown pretty accustomed to people asking if I need help. 

Some people ask and then you get those that thrust themselves upon you, like you couldn’t possibly have successfully completed the task you’ve done 4653 times prior, without intervention by some random with a saviour complex. 

I don’t mean to sound brash but, as a person with a disability, you are either comfortable with people asking if you need help and, therefore, comfortable in accepting the help or kindly declining it. 

Or you’re the type of person that, come hell or high water, do things on your own and loath the thought of interference from anyone else. 

I consider myself to be pretty fearlessly independent but I, like everyone, disabled or not, have a limit. Do I like asking for help? Probably not but, for me, part of being a strong and independent person with a disability, is to know when to suck eggs and ask for help. 

If you’ve been a wheelchair user for any more than a week, you’ve probably heard ever patronising but encouragement-scented phrases like “Isn’t it great that you’re out and about” or “Look at you shopping on your own” 

The fact that in 2024 statements like this are still being made begs the question “Why is the bar of expectation set so low for people with disabilities”?

How can we have progressed and overcome the odds to get to the year 2024, where we can recreate human tissue to heal injuries or make children born profoundly deaf hear for the first time but the simple task of a wheelchair user getting a drink out of a fridge at a shop is celebrated in a not too dissimilar way?

About the author:

Adam Sheppard is a Motivational Speaker, Writer, Entrepreneur, Podcaster and Personal Trainer who is a full-time wheelchair user born with Spina Bifida and is also a bilateral above-knee amputee. Adam is based on the sunny Gold Coast and lives by the mantra “Say Yes More!” and is always on the hunt for new adventures and ways to extract every bit of fun life has to offer!