Before the wheelchair, mobility was incredibly challenging for people who had a disability or injury that made walking difficult or impossible. For as long as humanity has existed, there have been people whose inability to walk has altered not only the way they live, but the way they are treated. The constant struggle to survive can be hard enough, but when a body is crippled and expectations are that a person live the same way as an able-bodied person, that challenge multiplies exponentially. Thankfully, along with wheelchairs being incorporated into society, acceptance for people of all abilities has become more commonplace.
The evolution of wheelchairs started out very humbly. In 1300 B.C., the Chinese and Greeks combined two of humanity's simplest inventions, the wheel and the chair, to create chariots and rickshaw-like vehicles. There were many wheelchairs after that, but the next notable advancement was the first self-powered wheelchair, invented by a watchmaker called Stephen Farfler in 1655. In the 1800s, the bath chair started to become popular. This was one of the first widely used wheelchairs.
The peak of the wheelchair's use and demand was after the two world wars. Up until the 1950s, wheelchairs where only powered by the user or another person. A Canadian inventor named George Klein was the first person to create an electric wheelchair, and although it was rather large and energy consuming, it changed mobility for disabled people. It was powered by a large battery on the back and a control switch for the user on the handle.
Disabled people were not always recognized as they are today. In British Columbia, starting in 1876, institutions, (which were basically segregated workplaces or schools) were created to house disabled people where they would live for many years, if not their whole lives, away from any family or community. It would take until the mid-1990s for all of the institutions in BC to close, and frighteningly, it was the first Canadian province to do so.
After both the world wars, and around the second half of the the 20th century, many movements started towards the goal of improving the laws around disabled people's rights in Canada. The main points of these movements were to develop the states of housing, employment, transportation and education for disabled people.
After the first world war, many veterans came home disabled. Because of this, many organizations were created to help disabled veterans. The same thing happened after the second world war, but that time, many of the movements were changed to also help disabled citizens. They did things like improving the wheelchair technology and helping disabled people to become more independent.
Today, Canada is still working on creating a more accessible and inclusive society for all people. Ontario enacted the AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) in 2005, and hopes to have a barrier free society by 2025. Yet, through all these evolutions, the wheelchair always, in a sense, stayed the same. It’s main purpose was to transport people, but it did much more than that. The wheelchair has changed the way the world views and treats the disabled.
The evolution of wheelchairs started out very humbly. In 1300 B.C., the Chinese and Greeks combined two of humanity's simplest inventions, the wheel and the chair, to create chariots and rickshaw-like vehicles. There were many wheelchairs after that, but the next notable advancement was the first self-powered wheelchair, invented by a watchmaker called Stephen Farfler in 1655. In the 1800s, the bath chair started to become popular. This was one of the first widely used wheelchairs.
The peak of the wheelchair's use and demand was after the two world wars. Up until the 1950s, wheelchairs where only powered by the user or another person. A Canadian inventor named George Klein was the first person to create an electric wheelchair, and although it was rather large and energy consuming, it changed mobility for disabled people. It was powered by a large battery on the back and a control switch for the user on the handle.
Disabled people were not always recognized as they are today. In British Columbia, starting in 1876, institutions, (which were basically segregated workplaces or schools) were created to house disabled people where they would live for many years, if not their whole lives, away from any family or community. It would take until the mid-1990s for all of the institutions in BC to close, and frighteningly, it was the first Canadian province to do so.
After both the world wars, and around the second half of the the 20th century, many movements started towards the goal of improving the laws around disabled people's rights in Canada. The main points of these movements were to develop the states of housing, employment, transportation and education for disabled people.
After the first world war, many veterans came home disabled. Because of this, many organizations were created to help disabled veterans. The same thing happened after the second world war, but that time, many of the movements were changed to also help disabled citizens. They did things like improving the wheelchair technology and helping disabled people to become more independent.
Today, Canada is still working on creating a more accessible and inclusive society for all people. Ontario enacted the AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) in 2005, and hopes to have a barrier free society by 2025. Yet, through all these evolutions, the wheelchair always, in a sense, stayed the same. It’s main purpose was to transport people, but it did much more than that. The wheelchair has changed the way the world views and treats the disabled.