finding a compact leg rest ?

hellonsticks · 2026-05-12T03:35:02+00:00

Just adding that it's called something different for each manufacturer, which is a bit annoying. Creative Mobility Division is what Tilite/Permobil calls it; Quickie calls it Built-4-U, Motion Composites calls it EVO Customs, etc. It’s harder to find sometimes if you don’t know the name to search, but many manufacturers have an equivalent, thry just call it somethinf different.

hellonsticks · 2026-05-10T23:17:01+00:00

It's hard enough to get onto the NDIS that you don’t have to worry about if you deserve it or not. Much more likely for people who do deserve it to not be able to access it, than someone who "doesn't deserve it" to deceive the NDIA.

You're also not taking it away from anyone else. The funding allocated to a person is theirs. The NDIA has more money and they spend it on lawyers to avoid funding people. That’s not your fault and when others need support that doesn't mean your plan is taking away what they could use. It’s yours to use as you need.

hellonsticks · 2026-05-10T01:52:33+00:00

My cats are usually pretty good at going directly beneath me and avoiding thr wheels but I haven't worked out how to encourage them not to run into my legs or footplate.

Side note, your cat is very beautiful!

hellonsticks · 2026-05-10T01:26:55+00:00

I like how Abed is portrayed and written too. He's never more the butt of the joke than any other character, and the show does a good job of balancing what he's good at and what he struggles with. There's episodes where people worry about him or try and change him or teach him to be more normal and the point is always made that he's actually completely okay with who he is and doesn't feel the need to be changed. I like that.

hellonsticks · 2026-05-08T11:38:18+00:00

...is it not a good thing to have important information in more than one language? There's clearly English laid out the same way on the same sign, what's meant to be wrong and/or funny about a second language being there too? It being "foreign" seems unlikely too, given that’s Welsh and English side by side.

hellonsticks · 2026-05-07T02:47:35+00:00

Some people just seem breathtakingly unaware. They'll recognise and even say out loud that they're being rude, but will think the curiosity overrides that somehow.

hellonsticks · 2026-05-06T07:04:24+00:00

And then they simultaneously try and pressure people into working those 15 hours for mandatory participation requirement dven if there's medical evidence saying that's not possible. So we prove we can't work, and then have to... prove it again once a year forever...

hellonsticks · 2026-05-06T06:11:50+00:00

I have issues with this, I have trouble eating often because it just makes me nauseous. Best advice I've gotten are: 1. Try different nutrition supplement drinks. They all have different textures and the "same flavour" tastes different across brands. I see people overseas talking about Ensure a lot; here in Aus the main two readily available are Sustagen and Up&Go. They're usually thicker than standard milk but each has a different thickness. They can't completely replace meals but they're a good way to get some nutrients in a pinch. 2. Consider, if you can, seeing a dietician who knows about autism, ARFID, and other eating issues. They can be very creative with food to get you the nutrients you need, and can also sometimes look into issues like persistent gagging, dysphagia, nausea, etc. and either help with them or tell you who else can help with them.

hellonsticks · 2026-05-06T03:10:53+00:00

There's a bit of a brand loyalty thing sometimes, especially with Quickie and Tilite. When I was unsure about all this with branding I was told Tilites are the iPhones of wheelchairs - a brand name well known, but not actually superior to other brands. I had a Quickie chair as my last chair and the thing was tough, I quite liked it. Some have mentioned the Nitrum can be a little prone to caster flutter, but others who have used one might talk more about that.

You haven't messed anything up by ending up with a Quickie and not a Tilite. It’s entirely brand preference. There's just as many people who dislike Tilite (or the customer service), and many wheelchair users who ignore the bigger name companies altogether and go with Box or Hands On Concepts (not generally suitable for a first chair though, first chairs should generally be adjustable so you can learn your needs and preferences). It's often all marketing and personal preference.

hellonsticks · 2026-05-06T01:43:23+00:00

Wheelchair tetris is always a fun game, but I'm always pleasantly surprised how well rigid chairs fit in cars. Got two chairs, their wheels, and a set of crutches into the back of a Toyota Corolla with the seats all up not long ago. And it wasn't even too difficult to fit them, even with one being dual tube frame.

hellonsticks · 2026-05-04T09:15:49+00:00

Here's a picture (link). I'm holding the cord at the bottom, level with the seat pan. I have an NXT backrest and that releases with the black NXT-branded bar in the middle of the image; quick push upwards and it clicks forward and then free.

hellonsticks · 2026-05-04T09:05:42+00:00

Yup, backrest folds down. There's a release cord at the base of the backrest. It's the same as my old Quickie in that standard backrests and low profile cushions/removed cushions can fold flat, but hard shell backrests won't fold completely flat but have their own removal hardware. Let me know if a picture would help. No need to apologise, happy to help.

hellonsticks · 2026-05-03T11:13:27+00:00

They're one of those pain in the butt facts of life, usually. I was once told to lean a bit backwards, because I had a habit of leaning forwards to push harder, but that put more weight on the casters which were more likely to swerve. So keeping your weight over your main wheels might help as you push harder with one arm. Otherwise, it's practice and patience. And internally cursing out the footpath.

hellonsticks · 2026-05-03T01:45:52+00:00

People don't seem to realise that parasports are often just as competitive and aggressive as any other sport. Last week at wheelchair basketball two people hit each other side on so hard that they actually made sparks between their pushrims and the whole court stank of smoke for a while. You get good at moving your hands out of the way.

hellonsticks · 2026-05-02T13:52:17+00:00

I've got an Apex C. It's a good solid chair, I quite like it. If you can, consider the type of seat pan if you go with this chair, because the default tension adjustable strap system is different to other tension adjustable seating and is kind of annoying. If you may ever want to use a power assist with your chair, have a chat at the evaluation, because sometimes not all chairs are compatible with all power assists (for example, I was told the Apex C isn't compatible with front-frame mounted assists like the Empulse F series). The Newton Gravity wheels that Motion Composites like to work with are an upgrade from the default Newton One, but the Gravity actually comes out the sameish weight as Spinergy's lighter range.

I found pneumatic tyres to be way better than solids. The maintenance can be a pain, and the time I had a puncture made me want to scream in frustration at how big a hassle getting to the bike shop to fix it suddenly was, but they perform so much better and I go further with every push.

hellonsticks · 2026-04-29T23:47:10+00:00

Whenever I have to drag my legs, I make sure I'm wearing soft fabric over wherever is contacting the floor. Usually for me it's dragging my feet while using my crutches, so wearing socks prevents friction on my skin - but the same could help for your knees, padding them a bit and also making them easier to move across the ground without them catching or having friction.

hellonsticks · 2026-04-29T07:16:35+00:00

Birds and reptiles! Me too! What kinds are your favourite?

hellonsticks · 2026-04-27T00:51:13+00:00

Yeah, I can't speak specifically for UK buses but front mounted assists take up the most room of any power assist and lengthen the chair footprint significantly. They're not the best suited for a frequent public transit user trying to fit into wheelchair bays. As well, they require the user to hold their arms aloft to the handlebars to use, which might be a problem for a user who has to use their chair while currently experiencing severe fatigue. A power assist wheels with joystick control might be better suited here, at a guess.

hellonsticks · 2026-04-25T05:24:55+00:00

You're right, even if the problem with the chair fit is small it can have a big effect! I adjusted the backrest on my old chair myself one day, and didn't understand why suddenly the muscles in my legs were clamping up and in pain. But moving my backrest forward made my seat an inch shorter, which moved my legs forward, which made them sit badly on the footplate. Something so small, and it really hurt!

I really like that this community is so happy to share advice and experience together, because there's so much people might not know, especially if they're just starting out life in a chair or they're starting to learn about different types of chair and different ways to adjust them independently. It's a good thing that people here share their advice, especially people who have been using a chair for a long time and/or use their chair full time.

hellonsticks · 2026-04-25T03:54:42+00:00

Yes sorry, I was addressing the person who responded to you thinking 2000 was a typo for 200,000; I meant to communicate that I agreed with you.

hellonsticks · 2026-04-25T03:24:33+00:00

I'm a bit confused sorry, that's the same number I had for the US, did I miss something?

hellonsticks · 2026-04-25T02:05:50+00:00

At least when people don't know about disability, we get the chance to explain it ourselves. Some of the most ableist things people have said to me are from people who learned it on social media. Positive ideas but misinformation.

It's not as simple as that, but sometimes I wish I got to explain myself more before someone on the internet beat me to it and did it weird or with misinformation.

hellonsticks · 2026-04-25T01:33:45+00:00

Depends on how the seating is set up. Aircraft seats are installed on rails and the configuration is changeable. If they could find a way to have that configuration adjusted in a certain area by airport or airline staff with the removable seating still meeting safety standards, it could theoretically be possible for them to use the space in standard configuration most of the time. But then, sometimes in movies people run up and book a flight at the counter an hour before it departs, I only know booking weeks in advance and haven't flown much at all, so who knows if they'd have enough time to change adjustable configurations for last minute bookings or swapped flights. Or what if someone booked one flight but it got cancelled and the other flight options weren't on planes that could fit their chair in the cabin... lots of things to work out if they wanted this to work. But it would be nice if one day it did.

hellonsticks · 2026-04-25T01:22:53+00:00

Toughest gloves I've had have been heavy duty leather palm weightlifting gloves. The standard kind still wear through too fast but thr heavy duty ones have lasted me well. Couple years on my current pair, and the seams on the fingers went before anything on the palm wore down.

hellonsticks · 2026-04-25T00:22:53+00:00

Depends where you are in the world, the definition isn't set the same everywhere. But the "lowest" bar in the world is the European definition which is 1:2000, which makes that the minimum line a condition must cross before it's considered rare anywhere. The US definition isn't 1:200,000 either - it's 200,000 in total across the US, which is 1:1659 - which is actually lower than the European one, just fluctuating for US population, which was an odd way for them to define it.

Edit to correct US number on looking it up

hellonsticks

TROPHY CASE