It's interesting, the misconceptions people can have, the judgments they make. I was out on a downtown area recently with a friend. We were examining my wheelchair and checking out different aspects of it, seeing if anything needed to be adjusted.

I got up and shifted back and forth between a bench and my chair a few times as we were doing different adjustments. After a while my friend left to get something and I was alone for a bit.

I realized that a few street people were staring at me. I smiled and said hello. One of them said, "I just have to ask -- I don't understand why you're using a wheelchair at all, since you can get up and move around."

I explained that I have MS, that it affected people lots of different ways, that for me I am not paralyzed but my legs are very weak -- too weak for me to be able to walk around more than a very short distance, so I need the wheelchair, but I am at least able to transfer onto a bench on my own.

I think that's a common misconception I see all the time. People see me in my chair and assume that I can't get up at all, and they're shocked to see me stand up to get in my car, for instance, and some of them may think I'm faking it.

If they knew how my legs and stomach were quivering and the effort it took to do that! And of course I do everything I can to make everything look easy, so people don't guess how hard anything is. I stash my chair in the back of my van and then I get myself back to the driver's seat, and I want to look graceful the whole time. Hah. :-) It probably gives the wrong impression.

But when there's a chance to educate people, it's helpful to try.

I think it must be especially confusing to people if they see us using different mobility aids at different times. Why can the same person walk one day, need crutches one day, or a chair another? Or all three in one afternoon?

Just my musings for the moment. Thanks for the article. :-)