r/YouShouldKnow • u/LtSoundwave • Jul 19 '20

Other YSK That many people with a disability consider their aides (wheelchair, etc.) an extension of themselves. You should ask before touching or moving them.

Read this article and was surprised to hear how many people struggle with this. Even if you are trying to help, you should ask first.

www.bbc.com/news/disability-49584591

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u/JoeDirtTrenchCoat Jul 19 '20

Not to diminish how you feel but I think it's irresponsible to compare these two things. It's several orders of magnitude in difference. I would feel uncomfortable if someone moved my tooth brush, but it's not the same thing as moving someone's wheel chair, and comparing them diminishes the point at hand.

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u/netsuad Jul 19 '20

I think hes more talking about the object being an extension of the body thing. Obviously a knife is less important than a wheelchair.

Kinda like driving a car, its like moving your arm or leg, you dont have to think about how to manipulate the object, if yiu want to turn left your brain just does it, you want to dice an onion, it just happens, and i imagine if you use a wheelchair you're not consciously thinking of how you interact with the wheels, it just happens.

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u/JoeDirtTrenchCoat Jul 19 '20

Yes, s/he's not wrong for the content -- it's the context.

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u/Hikure Aug 14 '20

Yeah I'm pretty sure they were trying to base it off of the closest thing they knew and related to - not try to diminish a disabled person.