I broke my ankle and now have 3 disabilities! My top 3 perks of using a wheelchair.

I broke my ankle, and let me tell you: using a wheelchair while Deafblind is an experience for the next book! In honor of #DisabilityPrideMonth here are my favorite things about using a chair. 

Thank you to my friend Dr. H’Sien Hayward, a psychologist and experienced wheelchair user, for patiently answering all my chair questions! 

Descriptive Transcript

Video description: Haben, a woman with medium dark skin, dancing hazel eyes, and long dark hair, sits in a manual wheelchair. She has a microphone clipped to her black, wrap-style dress, and a support boot on her left foot. Behind and above, a canopy of trees provide welcome shade on a summer day. 

Haben: I broke my ankle and now I have three disabilities! Three! If you’re organizing a disability panel, you’re in luck! You can just hire me. I offer triple the perspectives, triple the wisdom, triple the speaking fees! 

You’re probably wondering what happened. When we ask people that question, we’re inviting them to share their trauma, their pain, and not everyone wants to share their injury story. I don’t ask people for their injury story. If they want to tell me, great! Beautiful! If not, that’s okay.

Rather than focusing on the break, I’m going to focus on the rebuild. That story starts at the hospital. X-rays showed there’s a fracture, and the nurse gave me crutches. I asked, “How do blind people use crutches?” 

The nurse said, “I’ve never been in this situation before.” 

Well, I’ve never broken a bone before. 

We quickly realized the easiest solution would be to use a wheelchair. 

Getting a wheelchair is actually tricky. The gold standard is to have a chair that’s custom designed for your body and lifestyle. That takes months, and the cost is astronomical!

I needed my mobility back. Like many women tired of being told to wait, I turned to Amazon. The chair arrived the very next day! I got my mobility back! And I want to share some of my favorite things about using a wheelchair.

The top one is freedom. Having the chair means I can roll out of the house. We’ve taken the chair across the country on planes, gone to parks, friends’ barbecues… That is possible because so many advocates have fought for policies and laws that would make more of our world wheelchair accessible.

My second favorite thing about having a wheelchair is that wherever you go, you have a seat. And this seat with a fancy cushion is way more comfortable than most of the other seats.

Third, as someone who can’t drive because I’m blind, it’s actually quite fun to be able to roll on my own wheels. A smooth hallway turns into a runway, and I’ve been enjoying that!

Cross-disability friendships are super important, and one of my good friends is Dr. H’sien Hayward. She’s been teaching me a lot about wheelchair life. 

Video description: Dr. H’Sien Hayward, a smiling woman with light skin,  voluminous blonde hair styled in soft curls swept to one side, and wearing a black blouse with puffed, short sleeves speaks from a video recording. She is sitting in a warmly lit room with high, slanted wooden ceilings and floral artwork on the walls.

H’Sien: Happy Disability Pride Month! I remember a moment many years ago that revealed to me just how sacred life in a chair can be. 

Photo: H’Sien grins while surrounded by pigeons in a sunny courtyard. She’s dressed all in black, including her sporty, manual wheelchair.

H’Sien (voiceover): It was the early 2000s and I was volunteering in Mongolia. We had brought about 250 wheelchairs and set up a clinic in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.

Video returns to her speaking.

H’Sien: And a woman of around 70 arrived. I was told that she had been paralyzed 44 years earlier from a stroke, and that her family had just brought her by horseback across the Gobi Desert for three days to our clinic. She was about to receive her first wheelchair, and when she did, tears began to stream down her face. Not tears of sadness because she was about to begin a life confined to a wheelchair. No, these were tears of joy because she got to spend a life liberated by a wheelchair.

Video returns to Haben.

Haben: Thank you, H’sien! Everyone should have a H’sien in their lives. 

I’m also really grateful for my family for helping with so many different things. My mom in particular has been cooking for me and she is a phenomenal cook! She is really, really good! I might have to fracture another bone. 

The bone should have a full recovery, and in the meantime, I’m enjoying chair life and reading lots of good books. One book I strongly recommend is a book called Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law.

Photo: Mylo, a German Shepherd dog with pointy ears, gazes with fascination into the pages of a book. The cover has an image of Haben facing forward confidently in a blue dress. The background is a warm red, and the title appears in white text.

Haben: Ask your library and bookstore if they have it! And if you enjoyed it, share it. Leave a good review! 

This is not the summer I planned, but it’s definitely a summer going in my next book.

My first Braille Map Experience at a Garden: Seattle Sensory Garden

The first time I experienced a Braille map of a garden was in Seattle. Thoughtfully designed exhibits throughout this oasis encourage us to savor all our senses; they even have a tribute to proprioception, the sense for knowing where your body is in space, a kind of internal GPS. While most gardens focus on sight, this one celebrates six senses!

Many organizations worked together to create this free, public garden: the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, Friends of the Sensory Garden, Local Lions Clubs, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Parks Foundation, and more. Thank you!

Descriptive Transcript

Haben gently runs her fingers across Braille on a vertical sign. The top part says, “Welcome to Woodland Park Rose Garden, Open 7:30 a.m. to Dusk.” Below that, an arrow points to the right and says:

Haben (reading out loud): Seattle Sensory Garden!

Seeing Eye dog Mylo and Haben stride along a wide, paved path toward a blue archway. Their friends Margaux Joffe and her small dog Codi stand beside a map for the garden. The sign has print, Braille, and tactile lines for the map. It’s tilted at an angle to make Braille reading easier. Haben stands by the sign, reading the Braille out loud.

Haben (reading): A garden in peak season is a riot for the senses! A symphony of sound, scents, and sight. We invite you to touch, see, listen, smell and move.

She touches a lilac, a small purple flower, leaning close to enjoy the sweet fragrance.

Haben (reading): Local Lions Clubs who serve people who are deaf and blind planted the seed of an idea for this space in 2008.

The camera zooms in on her hands reading, then shows the map with “Meadow Gardens,” “Woodland Gardens,” “Cathedral of Melodies,” “Table of Understanding,” and more.

Haben (reading): Come stimulate your senses at the Seattle Sensory Garden, an inclusive space for people of all ages and abilities.

Touch Tour at the Museum of Flight in Seattle

Imagine a future where blind people building planes, flying planes, and shaping aviation policy is so common it ceases to be remarkable. Seattle’s Museum of Flight has a selection of planes both blind and sighted people are encouraged to touch. Blind guests can also arrange an extended touch tour, and during my visit a pilot invited us to step over the public access barriers. The hands-on exploration of aviation history included studying the plane modeled on the one flown by Amelia Earhart. We’re excited for more museums around the world to offer accessible programs like touch tours!

Thank you to Gary, our museum guide, for teaching us so much about flying! I’m also grateful for my friend Margaux Joffe who scheduled the tour and joined me on this adventure.

Descriptive Transcript

Seeing Eye dog Mylo wags his tail as he nudges Haben. She’s sitting inside a small, single-seater plane that is positioned slightly lower than the museum floor. She explores the control panels with one hand while petting Mylo who is standing outside the plane.

Haben (voiceover): The Museum of Flight in Seattle offers touch tours.

Photo: Three people smiling together by a railing overlooking a multilevel, expansive museum gallery with a variety of planes on the floor and in the air. On the left is Margaux Joffe, a woman with light skin, short dark hair, glasses, a patterned jacket, dark pants, and white sneakers. She has her arm around Gary, an older man with white hair including his beard, light skin, glasses, navy blue blazer with a lapel pin, light shirt, tie, an ID on a lanyard, dark trousers, and dark shoes. On the right is Haben, a woman with long black hair, dark skin, wearing a denim jacket over a dark dress, and sneakers. Mylo lies on the floor in front of the group, smiling with his tongue out.

Haben (voiceover): Allowing blind individuals to feel a variety of planes, from the engines to climbing into the pilot’s seat.

Photo: Haben studies a radial aircraft engine through blue gloves. Gary also wears blue gloves. Behind them, multiple planes are visible on the floor as well as suspended from the ceiling.

Haben (voiceover): Touch tours help make science more accessible.

Photo: Margaux and Haben smile from inside the pilot seats of a small, bright red RotorWay Scorpion. The helicopter has several strips of black tape on its front. Still, Haben is signing ILY with optimism. Behind them is a large, gray and white model of a space capsule with a yellow entry ramp and open hatch. The capsule and helicopter are in a room with blue carpets, blue walls with painted puffy, white clouds, and panoramic windows showing more planes outside.

Love in the Lead: International Guide Dog Day

It’s International Guide Dog Day! Please share this video and encourage people to support The Seeing Eye. You can volunteer to help raise Seeing Eye puppies or make a donation by going to SeeingEye.org.

Descriptive Transcript

A German Shepherd dog on a big fluffy bed gazes toward the camera with his ears pointed. Beside him is a toy bone.

Haben (voiceover): Is this a guide dog or a Seeing Eye dog? Let’s learn the facts so we don’t step on any paws. 

Haben Girma, a Black woman in her thirties with long dark hair, wears a colorful dress. She stands in front of closed blue curtains, speaking to the camera.

Haben: There are schools all over the world that train dogs to guide blind people, but the oldest school is called The Seeing Eye, and it’s in Morristown, New Jersey. Only dogs from The Seeing Eye should be called Seeing Eye dogs.

Danielle Burton, a white woman in her thirties with long brown hair, wears a floral vest over a pink shirt, light-colored pants, and a backpack with an attached dog bowl. She walks while holding the leather harness connecting her to her Seeing Eye dog.

Danielle (voiceover): Danielle is walking down an unpaved road. She is being guided by her Seeing Eye dog Violet, who is a black Labrador Retriever. Violet is navigating various obstacles.

Violet steps cautiously on a forest trail covered in twigs and roots. Above them, the treetops glow golden in the evening sun.  

The video returns to Haben speaking.

Haben: Because of our civil rights laws, just about anywhere the public can go guide dogs can go. I was at a cafe the other day and they said no dogs allowed. But someone else in line saw this and they spoke up and said actually, you have to allow service dogs. This is a service dog. I love when bystanders become allies! You help make our world more accessible when you advocate for the people around you.

Kiran Kaja, a tall man in his forties with medium brown skin and short black hair, wears a blue shirt, light-colored pantss, and a backpack. He walks with a Golden Retriever Seeing Eye dog. 

Kiran (voiceover): My guide dog India is professionally trained by The Seeing Eye to help blind people like me independently navigate the world. Here he is confidently guiding me through a produce aisle in the grocery store without getting distracted by all the fresh food around him.

India walks beside open refrigerated shelves of vegetables. He continues past Haben and Mylo, her German Shepherd Seeing Eye dog, and India stays entirely focused on guiding Kiran.

The video cuts to a commuter train pulling into a station. Haben stands on the platform with her Seeing Eye dog Mylo.

Haben (voiceover): Lots of dogs can memorize routes, but Seeing Eye dogs are so well trained they can guide in places they’ve never been before. Seeing Eye dog Mylo takes cues from me. I need to know which train to take, and once it arrives then I can tell him to help us find the door.

When Haben gestures with her hand Mylo swiftly guides them to the nearest door. He waits for her to find the step, and then they both climb inside the train.

The video cuts to Haben speaking.

Haben: Thousands of hours and dollars go into training these amazing dogs. The Seeing Eye is a registered charity, and if you’d like to make a donation or volunteer your time, go to SeeingEye.org. It’s International Guide Dog Day, so please share this video and encourage people to support The Seeing Eye.

As cities embrace bicycles, let’s not forget pedestrians. Thousands of bikes parked on sidewalks in Amsterdam force pedestrians into streets where they face even more bikes. Seeing Eye dog Mylo rose to the challenge, and I felt safer having him by my side. It’s my hope city planners around the world design obstruction-free pedestrian pathways, and implement policies so they stay barrier-free.

Seeing Eye Dog Mylo Navigates Amsterdam

Descriptive Transcript

Seeing Eye dog Mylo and Haben, wearing a puffy purple coat, walk down a red brick sidewalk.

Haben: Amsterdam’s narrow, crowded streets energize my guide dog Mylo! He weaves through the people.

Mylo and Haben quickly approach a group of three people who part to let them through.

Haben: Vans half on the sidewalk, he glides past them.

Mylo navigates around a large delivery van that has two tires up on the sidewalk. 

Haben: The really hard part… all the bikes! 

Mylo pauses as three bikes zip past us. He cautiously maneuvers around parked bikes on the sidewalk. 

Haben: So many bikes! And they pop up quickly. From behind. From in front, from all directions!

Mylo looks over his shoulder, then swings his body protectively in front of Haben. A biker zooms by. After the bike passes, Mylo continues walking.

Haben: A lot of the paths where we were walking were shared with bikes. On one sidewalk, the street was on one side and on the other side the canal. But between us and the canal, is a railing, and hundreds of bikes were using that railing as their bike rack. 

A line of parked bikes face boats floating in the canal. On the street, a car – followed by a moped – makes a slow turn to avoid a group of people on bikes.

Haben: As we were walking down, a person coming towards us had to step into the street to go around because the sidewalk plus the bikes just didn’t have enough room. 

Mylo keeps Haben on the narrow sidewalk as people step into the street to get around.

Haben: Then Mylo stops. I reach down…

She touches his nose and he nudges her hand toward the object.

Haben: …and it’s a bike! Of course, it’s Amsterdam!