The Limit-Less Campaign educates the media to be conscious
of harmful labels currently used to describe wheelchair users. In this case,
“confined to a wheelchair” and “wheelchair- bound,” are frequently and thoughtlessly
used, thus limiting the wheelchair user’s capabilities and potential.
Words have the power to invoke images. Images in our minds
inevitably carry assumptions.
Assumptions are the basis for bias and prejudice. Bias and prejudice are
the root of unconscious judgments.
Unconscious judgments become ingrained conclusions. These ingrained
conclusions dictate much of society’s beliefs and, undoubtedly, have an effect
on people’s behavior.
Let’s look at some of the ingrained conclusions that result from the words “Wheelchair Bound” and “Confined to a Wheelchair,” as terms used to describe a person who uses a wheelchair.
The words “bound” and “confined” are used to set limits, to create boundaries, and to make restrictions. These words invoke images of limited possibilities. When combined with the word wheelchair, this label of limited possibilities becomes a major defining characteristic of a person who uses a wheelchair.
As a result, the ingrained conclusion of both the wheelchair user and society is one of limitations. If you believe that “what the mind can conceive, it can achieve,” then you must also acknowledge that “what the mind can’t conceive, it will not achieve.”
Being “Confined to a Wheelchair” or “Wheelchair Bound” is not merely a functional description of the actual physical time a person spends using a wheelchair. Look at Stephen Hawking as an example. He may spend a tremendous amount of time sitting in his wheelchair, but his mind is free to explore the universe in a manner unequaled by almost all others. Is he a person who represents limited possibilities? Or is he a person who represents the limitless potential of both the human mind and spirit? Still with the numerous hours he spends in a wheelchair, he is not “bound” or “confined” to his wheelchair.
At what point does a person become “Wheelchair Bound?” Is a person who uses a wheelchair more than fifty percent of the time “Wheelchair Bound?” Is he or she not “Confined to a Wheelchair” when the percentage is less than fifty? Where is the line drawn between those who are “Wheelchair Bound”, and those who use a wheelchair on a temporarily basis?
The reality is that no wheelchair user spends 100% of their time in a wheelchair. Therefore, no person is “wheelchair-bound” or “confined to a chair.” I urge you to support our
Limit-Less Campaign by agreeing to replace the limiting labels of “Wheelchair Bound”, “Bound to a wheelchair” and “Confined to a Wheelchair” with words that don’t carry these negative stigmas. A person who uses a wheelchair is a “wheelchair user”, but he or she is a person first. Just state the facts, no need to put limitations.
Help us to not let these limiting words continue to be used
in our language so thoughtlessly. Labels
have the power to invoke negative images and create assumptions that enter into
people’s minds subconsciously, and ultimately affecting their behavior.
"A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks,
he becomes." - Gandhi
Please help us Limit Less!
he becomes." - Gandhi
Please help us Limit Less!
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