Do folks have thoughts about the phrase "part-time wheelchair user"? I get that it's necessary to remind the ableds that ambulatory wheelchair users exist, but it also seems to serve a qualifying/distancing function that is perhaps rooted in internalized ableism...?

Taking cues from the important "high functioning" versus "low functioning" autism discussions here...

In my own life, I deal with this by just getting very specific about my needs instead 1/

"I use a wheelchair to manage pain, fatigue, orthostatic issues, and (increasingly) unsteadiness. I use it about 80% of the time at home and nearly 100% of the time in the community. I can stand for short periods and walk short distances, but there are consequences." 2/2

I feel like there's a danger that, as a community, we've unconsciously taken up the ableist idea of being "confined to a wheelchair" and use it as our metric but with different words: part time (wc user but "not confined") and full time (wc user and "confined"). That feels bad.

The fact is that all wheelchair users need their wheelchair to properly care for their body and facilitate mobility -- whether they are using their wheelchair at that exact instant or not. Let's honour that.