What Everyone Should Know About the Disabled : SPINAL NETWORK : The Total Resource for the Wheelchair Community <i> by Sam Maddox (Spinal Network: $39.95, cloth; $24.94, paper; 372 pp.) </i>
“Spinal Network: The Total Resource for the Wheelchair Community” should be kept within reach by all wheelchair users and their companions.
This is an awesomely complete book, a kind of “Whole Earth Catalog” for those of us in wheelchairs and those who spend time with people in wheelchairs. Although slanted toward victims of spinal-cord injuries, it is so crammed with information and lively articles that anyone in this situation or curious about it will find it invaluable, fascinating and even amusing.
The book was assembled and written largely by Sam Maddox, an able-bodied journalist, who says in his introduction that the book is “meant to be a centralized starting place for people to find answers. . . .” He succeeds brilliantly. There are answers here to questions that most people might never have thought of asking.
One long chapter has articles on a wide range of medical topics; another covers an astonishing assortment of sports and recreation. Shorter chapters address travel, media and images, computers, sex and romance, disability rights, legal and financial problems and resource connections.
Even if you fail to see the humor in wheelchairs, I defy you not to laugh at the genuinely funny cartoons generously sprinkled around this large-format, 372-page, spiral-bound volume.
Many of the articles are models of clarity. A piece by Dr. Daniel Lammerste, for example, explains why some people with spinal-cord injuries recover and some don’t. It also tackles the difficult and complex subject of spinal-cord research. “A true biologic treatment that will bring function back is on the horizon,” Lammerste concludes optimistically.
Another piece looks at the promise of electrical stimulation: “. . . it is possible to say that with (it) people have walked, climbed stairs, manipulated objects, grown stronger, and had some fun,” the article reports. After surveying the field, the writer, in typical “Spinal Network” fashion, supplies the names, addresses and phone numbers of researchers who specialize in the field.
Did you know that besides basketball, tennis and bowling, wheelchair users play football and hockey? And ride horses? They also go sky diving, motorcycling, golfing and skiing. These and many other sports and recreation possibilities are breezily described. There’s information here on how to get started.
The sports and recreation section also contains profiles of wheelchair athletes, including Rick Hansen, a Canadian who may be the world’s best and--after pushing himself around the world in his chair--best-known wheelchair athlete. The section also excerpts the books of two famous American professional athletes who are now in wheelchairs: Baseball’s Roy Campanella, injured in a 1958 car crash, and Darryl Stingley, hurt in 1978 while playing football.
England gets reasonably high marks in the travel section but for China, it’s thumbs down. Wheelchair users who have traveled and travel agents who specialize in making arrangements for the disabled offer loads of valuable advice. There’s also a list of travel books and brochures for the disabled journeyer.
“Spinal Network’s” section on media is fascinating. It looks at popular images of the disabled while scrutinizing every form of mass media. Itzhak Perlman, the internationally renowned violinist, is among the interviewed disabled artists. One article tells how the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a polio victim, kept his use of a wheelchair hidden from the world.
Lauri Klobas, author of “Disability in Television and Film: An Annotated Resource,” gazes knowingly at the screen’s treatment of people in wheelchairs. She doesn’t like much of what she sees. “Even a blonde bombshell bimbo gets to display facets of her character in film and on TV,” writes Klobas. “Let’s hope someday that the gang wheeling across the screens reach the same plane.”
Maddox likens a disabled person’s computer to a sheriff’s six-gun. “It’s no equalizer,” he explains. His chapter on computers discusses how to shop and use one and explores other high-tech gadgets. As usual, the advice is useful and specific.
Sex can be difficult for the able-bodied. It’s no easier for the disabled. In the chapter on Sex and Romance there are separate question-and-answer sections for men and women. The queries are frank. The first male question is: “Can I still ‘do it’?” For women, it’s a similar: “How can I enjoy sexual activity?” The answers are helpful and sympathetic.
The section also contains part of a television interview with Ellen Stohl, a quadriplegic who appeared in the July, 1987, issue of Playboy. She talks about meeting men:
“They can’t put it together that I can be sexual and active and sitting in a wheelchair. And then they want to know if it’s permanent and it takes a long time to convince people. When I’m in a club and sitting on a bar stool, I’ll be approached three times as much . . . the wheelchair puts up a lot of barriers and brings with it stereotypes and myths that just aren’t true.”
Maybe Stohl would have better luck finding partners if she tried one of the many dating services and pen pal clubs (there’s one that’s international) described in the book. Most are open to both the disabled and non-disabled.
“Spinal Network” offers more, much more. You can obtain a copy by sending $24.95, plus $3 for shipping, to Spinal Network, P.O. Box 4162, Boulder, Colo. 80306, or by calling (800) 338-5412 (in Colorado, call (303) 449-5412).
It’s the most complete work on the subject.