Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. ~Robert Frost

Let's Be Honest...
You yourself probably have a parent or grandparent -- or surely know someone -- who has suffered a grievous physical misfortune or catastrophic person injury or illness of one sort or another. He or she suffers the inevitable depression which follows, the effects of which can so easily lead to long bouts of almost catatonic inactivity. Why bother, we wonder. Why bother fighting back....

And if somehow we break through the depression, we then face the silent scream of routine: The long, arduous, often painful, all too often insanity of rehabilitation routines that themselves take a terrible toll -- so much time wheelchair bound, sitting and waiting for transport to and from one torturous clinic session or another. Then more time propped up in an uncomfortable wheelchair waiting for "We'll be with you shortly, dear" .... [15 minutes later] "Sorry for the delay, and how are you doing today, dear? And all you can do is smile weakly through the haze of pain-suppressing medication while you scream to yourself: "Every ^&$%$ day my bloody life is like a Friday night at the zoo, with all us crippled animals grabbing our cages and yelling 'Let me out of here. Let me out of here!'" But no one stops to listen. And in the end, no one has time to care, but you -- "dear".

And the progress? What progress? It seems like there is little progress that makes any practical difference in our silently torturous lives. So much suffering, so many false smiles, such an expenditure of energy, time and yet more pain for too little gain that makes a difference, or so it always seems. Always. Always!

After awhile those around us must get on with their own lives. We are left alone to do the best we can with whatever we have left to work with....Enter the Segway® X2. It can make a major positive therapeutic difference for so many of us Rehab Battlers.

Three Important Notes::
(1) In my humble opinion the Segway® X2 is exquisite as a Practical Physical Therapy(PT) Rehab Aid for many of us Physically Handicapped Battlers who are not totally functionally independent but who are at least partially mobile a portion of our day.
         Please bear in mind, however, that Segway® does not recommend, intend or authorize its product as a medical or rehab device. My conclusion is that we are 100% on our own regarding any perceived or real risk we Rehab Battlers may face if and when using a Segway® as a PT Rehab aid. The logic sounds fair enough to me!

(2) I am duty-bound and logic-driven to strongly urge all Rehab Battlers never -- never! -- ride any electric vehicle, including the Segway®, on any public street where cars, trucks, cabs, buses roam.
        Electric vehicles are too quiet to be noticed amid the attention grabbing clog of stop signs, stoplights, rights of way, crosswalks, yields, cellphones and din of street-level noise pollution.
         Perhaps some public sidewalks may be "RBS" (Rehab Battler Safe). Please, though, consider carefully the many risks associated with the population density of most public sidewalks these days.

(3) The Rest of Us does not embrace many learning handicapped individuals. For example, the content of this website does not pertain to young adults diagnosed with autism, mental retardation, developmental delays, language impairments, severe learning disabilities, among other learning handicaps. Having worked professionally with autistics and the emotionally disturbed for some 25 years (see my award- winning FACTS+ Curriculum -- programsteppe.com), distractibility, attention span, correctly following directions, and non- compliance are behavior problems often associated with these handicaps. The consequences of these behavior problems pose, in my opinion, unacceptably high risks to Segway® X2 use.

         And of course, always wear a helmet: I don't wear one off road because as yet I have not found one that won't jam into the back of my neck where my spinal cord injury is, should I fall backwards or sideways in particular -- See HedbringSCI. com.

 

The difference between bed and grave is motivation. ~Charles Hedbring

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