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It is a substitute teacher job that you never knew existed five years ago, and now it is your favorite place to work. The young adult program is offered in many school districts, but because you have never had a child with special needs you never knew that this program existed. Because one of the full time teachers was home resting after a third one of her lower back injuries, the school needed a long term sub. At first, you just took the assignment for two days, but after that short amount of time you were hooked. You called the district’s substitute secretary and said that you would fill in for the rest of the full time teacher’s absence.
That job not only changed the way you spent your work days, it also changed how you watched the world when you were away from those young adult classrooms. You pay more attention to people with limited mobility issues, you notice wheelchair brakes and wheelchair tires when you are at the mall. You watch to see if you can help, have a conversation, or simply make a connection. The one teacher’s lower back injuries introduced you to a world that you simply did not know existed.

High Performance Wheelchairs Offer a Number of Options to People with Limited Mobility Issues

Nearly 650 million people, which is around 10% of the world’s population, live with a disability. Whether it is a disability that occurred at birth or one that was caused by an accident, there are many people who find themselves dealing with wheelchairs and other mobility devices to help them navigate their daily lives. Consider these facts and figures about the disabilities that many people live with and the modifications that can help make their lives more manageable:

  • 38.9% of people 18 years and older in 2016 who had disabilities were also obese.
  • 3.6 million people over the age of 15 in the U.S. use a wheelchair.
  • The U.S. civilian population showed an increase from 11.9% to 12.8% in people with disabilities between the years 2010 and 2016.
  • Disability is determined by the Census Bureau by asking six types of questions measuring difficulty with hearing, vision, cognition, walking and or climbing stairs, self-care, and independent living.
  • 11.6 million people use canes, walkers, or crutches, and this number does not take into account the people who use a wheelchair.
  • Making up 7.1% of non-institutionalized people with disabilities, ore than 20 million people over the age of 18 have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs.

Finding a way to get through life if you lack mobility can be a challenge, but it is important to know that there are resources available that can make many things more manageable. From the right kind of wheelchair for a permanent disability to crutches and walkers for a short term injury or recovery from surgery, there are many options that can be of assistance. Lower back injuries are common, so there are many surgeries and rehabilitation programs that can be of assistance.