‘It’s not a part of me, but it is what it is’: the struggle of becoming en-wheeled after spinal cord injury

Abstract

Purpose

Many people who experience spinal cord injury become long-term wheelchair users. This article addresses the process of becoming en-wheeled through the case example of a disabled man called Patrick.

Design

An intrinsic case study informed by posthumanist developments was used. Within this design, Patrick and his manual wheelchair were the entangled participants of the inquiry.

Methods

Interviews and fieldwork observation with Patrick were conducted. Qualitative data were analysed using the posthumanist notion of ‘assemblages’.

Results

The results illuminate Patrick’s struggle of negotiating a new embodied selfhood that includes the wheelchair. Patrick engaged in ableist rehabilitation after spinal cord injury to recuperate the capacity to walk and break his connection with the wheelchair. After extensive treatment of his body, he reluctantly assumed his cyborg or posthuman condition.

Conclusion

The analysis and discussion resulted in a theoretical frame that presents the notions of humanist and posthumanist enwheelment as two directions of a continuum. The paper offers a useful tool for understanding and addressing enwheelment plus other cyborgification processes. We advocate for its acceptance into the disability studies and rehabilitation practice repertoire.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• Enwheelment –the process of becoming one with the wheelchair – is relevant to people after SCI (or other impairments).

• The notions of humanist and posthumanist enwheelment are developed and presented as two ends of a continuum.

• Rehabilitation workers should be mindful of the complexities of cyborgification to avoid ableism and help people flourishing within and beyond recovery.

Keywords:

• Assistive technology
• wheelchair use
• cyborgification
• humanism
• posthuman disability studies
• assemblages
• connectivity

Acknowledgments

We thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments that have been very useful to improve the article. We also thank Patrick for his generosity in sharing his time and stories with us.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 We use italics and inverted commas to insert Patrick’s voice in the text.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Generalitat Valenciana under a VALi + d contract [grant number ACIF/2016/391] and BEST I + D + i grant [2018/7758], as well as the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad [DEP2015-69,692-P].