In this series of articles about mobility aids, I have already covered walking aids. Now it is time to delve into the scary stuff — wheelchairs. The question of wheelchairs is with you from the beginning. When diagnosed with MS, one of the first questions that comes to mind is, "Will I be in a wheelchair?"

Chances are your doctor did not answer that, but I will. Statistics show that less than half (up to 40%) of MSers use a wheelchair at all, and only some of those end up in a wheelchair full time. For many, it takes a very long time.

It is not unusual to use a wheelchair part time, trading with a cane or walker. On my first electric scooter, I had a holder to carry my cane so it would be handy when I wanted to get up and walk. A person who can still walk might use a wheelchair just sometimes — on a bad day, only for long distances or to ease fatigue. Often people seem to be afraid of wheelchairs. Why? Annette Funicello said, "For me, the wheelchair symbolizes disability in a way a cane does not." No one wants that "disabled" label that seems to come with a wheelchair.

Most of us have grown up learning that Society has negative feelings about wheelchairs, and it has been easy to adopt that negative stereotype. That is funny, almost, because children are often drawn to a chair on wheels, especially an electric one, but also a regular manual chair — the negativity is not natural. A wheeled chair is a delight until we learn that a wheelchair means something is wrong. No wonder we cringe at the idea of needing a wheelchair.

There were undoubtedly people with walking difficulties from the beginning of time. There is mention of wheeled beds in 530BC in both Greece and Italy, but it is unclear if these were for disabled movement or if they were simply the first baby beds. Anyway, the Chinese had some sort of wheeled chair by 525BC, so there were attempts even then.

Phillip II of Spain commissioned a project in 1595 that resulted in his “invalid’s chair,” considered the first identifiable wheelchair. Every century after that brought new advances in wheel chassis, wheel size and type, and building material. In the early 1900's spokes were added to the wheels and the first motorized chair was developed. In 1932, when Harry Jennings built the first folding, tubular steel wheelchair for paraplegic friend Herbert Everest, the modern standard wheelchair had been developed.

Suddenly the wheelchair was easy to move and wheelers had gained another level of mobility. As with many devices in the 20th Century, wheelchairs went through enhancements and developments using electricity and new materials, and adding features. By the end of the century, wheelchairs were available in a wide choice of manual and self-propelled models that facilitated activities of all kinds and included features that even allowed upright positions and the ability to climb stairs. Wow. Wheelers had evolved from the feared label "disabled" into that clever phrase "differently-abled."