[misc.handicap] BOTFOJ

stevev@chemstor.uoregon.edu (Steve VanDevender) (02/25/90)

Index Number: 6947

In article <10298@bunker.UUCP> Michael.Merrow@hnews.fidonet.org (Michael Merrow) writes:

>Index Number: 6870

>After seeing the film "Born on the Fourth of July", if I didn't know any 
>better, I would have gotten the distinct impression that anybody in a 
>wheelchair with only lower body impairment can easily travel around 
>balanced only on the back two wheels. Well I just can't seem to get the 
>hang of it. Any suggestions (I'm using a relatively lightweight Invacare 
>Ride-Lite 5000 with tip-guards in the back)? Is there some trick to it, 
>or is it just a matter of practice? This is a serious question. I would 
>love to be able to get across our bumpy back yard easily this summer.

It's a matter of practice.  I had used an E&J tank for 13 years
before buying a Quickie II, and then had the Quickie for a few
months before deciding to learn to balance on the rear wheels.  I
let a bipedal friend play with it one day and he promptly started
balancing on the rear wheels, which made me resolve that I
wouldn't be outdone in my own 'chair by a biped.  Now I coax my
bipedal friends into my 'chair so I can teach them to balance.

I pretty much taught myself to balance on the rear wheels, going
only from what I knew about how to raise the front wheels
temporarily.  I was rather lucky in that I learned to balance
without falling over backwards until a couple of months after I
started practicing.  Since you have tip guards, you probably
don't have too much to worry about but you may want to have a
spotter in case you get too far overbalanced.  Make sure that
your tip guards do not prevent you from balancing at all--if they
are too low you may not be able to reach the balance point on
your 'chair.  Once you have more practice with balancing you may
want to do away with the tip guards entirely, since you should
find that it is very difficult to fall over once you understand
how your 'chair balances.

Here's a haphazard list of balancing tips from my own experience:

If you're teaching yourself, try working up to balancing by
pushing forward sharply to raise the front wheels until you have
reached the balance point for your chair.  If you have some trunk
control, you can make it easier to balance by leaning backwards
or bumping your torso against the backrest as you push forward.
If you have enough you can even initiate balancing with a torso
motion without having to push on the wheels at all except to
maintain balance.  You will also learn the most important safety
technique for balancing--if you feel that you are going to tip
over backwards, pull backwards on the wheels _hard_.  That will
allow you to recover from all but the most severe overbalancing.
If you spend a while just getting to the balance point and then
panicking and coming back down, that will ingrain this most
important recovery habit.

Next you will have to become comfortable with being at the
balance point and even being slightly overbalanced.  Knowing that
you can recover, you will then have to get used to being at a
point where you feel like you're going to fall over backwards,
and even be able to move voluntarily to that point.  The primary
rule of balancing on the back wheels is that pushing forward
makes you tip farther backwards, and pulling back makes you tip
forwards.  The very first time I practiced I started on a smooth
floor, which gives you maximum responsiveness, but once you are
at the point that you are trying to maintain balance for a time
you may find it easier to practice on carpeting, which adds a
little resistance and lets you stay balanced with less effort if
you are close enough to the balance point.  I would practice
balancing while watching TV so that the feeling of being balanced
would become ingrained to the point where I wouldn't have to
think about it.  It is also very important that you try to relax
as much as possible--I haven't yet met a beginner who wasn't
extremely tense and who would jerk back and forth past the
balance point.  It doesn't take much practice to find the balance
point and if you concentrate on relaxing and making smooth
adjustments you will soon find that it takes very little effort
to remain balanced.  Being able to rock smoothly back and forth
past the balance point is also a good exercise.

Once you have mastered these basics of balancing, it's time to
learn how to move while balanced on the back wheels.  An
excellent test of how comfortable you are with balancing is
trying to move backwards while balanced.  This requires that you
cycle through these steps:

1.  Allowing yourself to tip backwards past the balance point
(but not too much).
2.  Pullling back on the wheels to right yourself, which will
also inch you backwards.
3.  Moving both of your hands forward on the rims.

If you can move backwards like this uphill, you are a pro.
Moving fowards while balanced is slightly easier since you only
have to overbalance in the safe forward direction.

Once you are fully confident of your ability to balance and
recover from overbalancing, you should practice balancing with
only one hand, or with taking your hands off the wheels (briefly)
and replacing them while balanced.  You should also practice
turning in place while balanced.

At this point you won't have a whole lot more to learn.  Perhaps
the last important balancing skill is being able to descend a
slope while remaining balanced the whole time.  This is actually
not especially hard, and often feels more stable than balancing
and moving on the flat because you can remain in a slightly
overbalanced positon and use the drag from the wheels to keep
yourself in a stable position.  I find that I am much more
comfortable descending steep slopes while balanced, partly
because I am in a more normal sitting position, but mostly
because my front wheels are off the ground and cannot become
caught on rocks or cracks.

Highly advanced topics for wheelchair balancers include curb
hopping and dancing, but I'll leave those for a later tutorial.

Next:  aerodynamic streamlining techniques that can allow you to
exceed 20 mph in your everyday 'chair or 30 mph in your racing
'chair :-).

>Michael

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--
Steve VanDevender 	stevev@chemstor.uoregon.edu
"Bipedalism--an unrecognized disease affecting over 99% of the population.
Symptoms include lack of traffic sense, slow rate of travel, and the
classic, easily recognized behavior known as walking."

Chita.Cazares@f114.n202.z1.fidonet.org (Chita Cazares) (02/25/90)

Index Number: 6952

I think doing wheelies in a chair IS mostly a matter of practice. Keep 
trying, you'll get it! Just don't take out C1 - C7 while you're at 
it...

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spr@cs.brown.edu (Steve Reiss) (02/27/90)

Index Number: 6957

I don't use a wheelchair or have any direct experience with this, but I
did remember reading a research article about it.  The article is
"A theory of wheelchair wheelie performance" by James J. Kauzlarich, PhD
and John G. Thacker, PhD (University of Virginia Rehabilitation
Engineering Center, P.O. Box 3368, University Station, Charlottesville,
Virginia 22903).  It appeared in Journal of Rehabilitation Research and
Development Volume 24, Number 2, pages 67-80, Spring 1987.
The JRRD is published by the Veterans Administration.

The article does not give the kind of practical advice that Steve
VanDevender gave.  It is quite technical.  The authors propose a mechanical
model for wheelchair wheelie performance, as the title suggests, and
suggest a problem mathematically similar to the wheelie balance problem
("balancing an inverted pendulum rod of 1.56 m length in the palm of the
hand is shown to be a problem mathematically similar to the wheelie balance
problem for a 90-kg wheelchair + user").  The article suggests that the
'chair user's ability to balance the rod might indicate he/she could learn
the wheelie manuevers.

This kind of research is done to improve wheelchair design and to help
determine what maneuvers a person can master with a given handrim force
capability and reaction time.  If you are really interested, it might be
worth writing to the authors and asking if certain wheelchairs, in theory,
should perform better and if they have gathered any data from 'chair users
to verify their model.

--Loretta Reiss

Red.Maple@f223.n163.z1.fidonet.org (Red Maple) (03/01/90)

Index Number: 7017

Hi! Pat, about doing wheelies in a wheelchair, it can be done with
practice.  I have seen some teenagers that play basketball in their
wheelchairs, and they were really adept with those wheelchairs ,
doing wheelies and every thing possible.  They had good control of
their wheelchair and I was not afraid that they would hurt
themselves.  Try to go see wheelchairs athlete when they are
playing basketball or other sports.  I was amaze at the control
they had, and some of them using only one hand.

cheeers, Red

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Stephen.White@p1.f853.n681.z3.fidonet.org (Stephen White) (03/03/90)

Index Number: 7060

 > After seeing the film "Born on the Fourth of July", if I didn't know any
 > better, I would have gotten the distinct impression that anybody in a 
 > wheelchair with only lower body impairment can easily travel around 
 > balanced only on the back two wheels. Well I just can't seem to get the 
 > hang of it.

   When I had a go at it (on a heavier wheelchair) it was too bloody
difficult! You could try getting a wheelchair with heavy wheels and
light frame/seat etc.

Steve!

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Betty.Draughon@p10.f1.n360.z1.fidonet.org (Betty Draughon) (03/22/90)

Index Number: 7239

In a message to Red Maple <03 Mar 90 17:25:00> Pat Goltz wrote:

 PG> I've watched wheelchair basketball players, and I agree with you
 PG> totally. But that doesn't mean I'd try it personally! <grin>

Wheelchair square dancers put on a pretty good show, too.  They
make me feel AWFUL when I stumble over my own two feet!

Yeah, I know.  Born a klutz, raised a klutz, and I'll die a klutz.
<grin>  My grandkids don't seem to mind, though.

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