Mobility Awareness Month

(Local View from 4'2, Lake County Press, May 15, 2026)

May is mobility awareness month. It’s a time to spotlight and celebrate various forms of adaptive equipment and their importance to increasing inclusion and accessibility in everyday lives. Oftentimes, we see adaptive equipment as big expensive purchases that are out of reach for many. While it’s true that adaptive equipment is often expensive, there are many things that every day people create and adapt out of necessity with duct tape and a stick of gum. Sounds like MacGyver, I know. In all honesty, people with disabilities are some of the most creative people we know when it comes to creating solutions for mobility. So, for this edition, Jenna and Jaime want to share stories of a diverse array of adaptive equipment and how they open doors and create freedom for so many. 

Jenna: What does mobility mean to you and what tool have you found to increase your mobility? 

Thanks, Jaime. To me, mobility means I can traverse the world as independently as possible. I can go out and explore the great outdoors. I can live a thriving life with laughter and love amidst the hard stuff. My wheels are my greatest tool in my mobility. All the other medical and mobility gadgets are second. Even last night I used a roll of paper towel to turn on a light switch that was inaccessible. Anything and everything can increase mobility for me. My most recent love is my new Firefly on my new wheelchair! I can now get my Firefly, the electric third wheel attachment, on and off myself! This opens up a whole new world of independence and adventure. As I said before my most recent trip, “Hey dad, save up some bail money for me!” That is my new joke, for now.  

Jaime: What does mobility mean to you and what tool have you found to increase your mobility? 

Thanks Jenna! For me, mobility is freedom, agency and dignity. I always feel like I live in a very delicate ecosystem of mobility devices where if you take away one, it disrupts and negatively affects everything. Like Jenna, wheels aka my wheelchair is of the utmost importance as it’s the tool that allows me to get out of bed and move about my day. I’ve used a manual wheelchair most of my life but in recent years I’ve started using a power chair for longer distances and for hiking trails. The power chair has opened new doors of independence and choice. I get to more easily move over terrain that I once needed help with when using my manual. This means I get to see more of what I want to see and do more of what I want to do versus relying on others and what they want to see and do. The other amazingly important tool that helps me maintain my ability to do all the things is my ‘stick’. It literally is a stick made from 2 wooden dowels. It was originally designed as a dressing stick for me by an Occupational Therapist. My dad took on the great task of continuing to make replicas of the stick for me throughout the years. Yes, I still use it for dressing but it has become more like an extra arm where I use it to do everything from turning on lights switches, closing windows, opening doors to putting on my glasses and everything in between. 

So as you can see mobility tools come in all forms and all can be equally vital to helping us get out there to a thriving life.