Celebrating any and all mobility aids and other assistive tools for the freedom and autonomy they give us! Challenging the ideas that mobility aids equal giving up and that mobility aids are ugly. Submissions welcome. Send a message or tag this blog if you see a post that belongs here. **This blog is not run by a medical professional and does not give out medical advice; this blog is simply here to shine a positive light on disability aids** Likes will come from @fibromyalgicaf. [profile pic ID: a heart in the disability flag colours on a grey background. /end ID] [Header ID: Six photos side by side (only four on mobile) showing different aids in use. From left to right: (a man walking with a white cane), a person doing a wheelie in their manual wheelchair, a woman standing with her forearm crutches, a person taking a mirror selfie while standing with their rollator, a person sitting in manual wheelchair, (another person doing a wheelie in their manual wheelchair). /end ID]
Hi! Welcome! This blog is all about celebrating mobility aids, prosthetics, and other assistive tools for the freedom and autonomy they give us! Mobility aids don't ruin the fit. Mobility aids don't need to be ugly. Using aids and assistive tools isn't giving up. Aids, prosthetics, and assistive tools give us independence and support us as we interact with a world that is not built for us.
What counts as an aid?
For the purposes of this blog, anything that assists you, accommodates you, helps you overcome a barrier caused by a disability or chronic illness, or helps treat a symptom. Disability aids are more than just mobility aids, toileting aids, and adaptive cutlery. This blog considers AAC and medication to be aids, as well as things like therapy putty, food coloring and beanies/hats. Service dogs are also celebrated here. Handbikes count. If you have a disability (which includes chronic illnesses) and something helps or supports you, it counts!
Below the cut, you will find info about:
blog header 🩷 tags 💛 submissions 🩵 asks 💚 the team
About the blog header
This blog's header features real people and their mobility aids. I'd still like to get a greater diversity so if you would like to be featured, submit your pics via an ask...
Open to all mobility aids, prosthetics, braces, and assistive tools.
If your photo shows your face or any identifying features, please make sure you're ok with that being publicly visible.
Please only send photos with a decent resolution.
Please don't send more than 5 photos.
Submitting a photo doesn't guarantee it will be featured
@ Tags
You're welcome to @ tag this blog in one of your own posts if you're happy for us to reblog it. You can also tag us on another person's post (i.e. in a reblog or comment) if you see something that fits our blog; we will then check in with the OP to ask if we can reblog.
Submissions
Submissions are welcome; show off your aids, share a story of how aids improve your life, share a recommendation, or anything else that is a celebration of mobility aids, assistive tools, and prosthetics.
Asks
Asks are always open (including anon). Send a pic, share a story, etc.
If you're asking a question... I can't guarantee I can answer all questions but I will do my best to direct you to resources when I can't give a direct answer. Sometimes I will just post your question so that other followers can answer.
When I answer asks, I tag them as #DAP asks
If you're sending an anon ask, feel free to suggest a #tag name for yourself.
The team behind the scenes
This blog is owned by and posts are coordinated by @fibromyalgicaf (you can call me Jay)
Hi! I'm a 30-something person (they/them) living with fibromyalgia and a few other chronic illnesses which have removed me from the workforce so this blog is one of the ways I keep myself somewhat busy. I am a mobility aid user myself; I use a self-propelled wheelchair and a cane. I am not an expert in mobility aids or anything disability related (I'm fairly new to the disability community and still learning a lot). I'm simply here to spread awareness, and encourage positivity and pride about disability aids.
Helpers
As of September 2025, this blog is no longer a one-person initiative; Jay now has two fabulous helpers writing image and video descriptions! At this point, they've chosen to stay anonymous but they deserve a shout out because they're making this blog better!
If you'd like to join the team as an image describer, video describer, transcriber, or if you think you can help in another way, please send a DM ✌️
My wheelchair gives me freedom because with her I can go further and stay less tired
Wheelchairs are freedom for so many people! Thanks for sharing!
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For Disability Pride Month I asked the community to send in little submissions sharing what you love about your aids and how they improve your life. I'll be posting the asks individually like this but I'll also collect them into one big post (or a few, depending on how many I receive) closer to the end of the month. If you'd like to join in, send an ask/submission or add a comment here ✌️
abled people don't know my balance problems won't stop me from hitting them with my cane if i hear "haha, so what'd you do to your leg? ;))" one more time!!
Ugh, I hate these questions! And why do they laugh?!
If any able-bodied people are out there, please don't do this! Please don't ask "what's wrong with you?" or "when will you get better?" either. We're just people trying to go about our lives; please stop being intrusive ✌️
Celebrating disability aids because my ankle braces let me be active without fear!
Everyone deserves to move about in the world safely and without fear!
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For Disability Pride Month I asked the community to send in little submissions sharing what you love about your aids and how they improve your life. I'll be posting the asks individually like this but I'll also collect them into one big post (or a few, depending on how many I receive) closer to the end of the month. If you'd like to join in, send an ask/submission or add a comment here ✌️
i genuinely used to go weeks without showering due to how exhausting and painful they were, but now that i have a shower chair im showering multiple times a week.
Yass! I can second this; shower chairs are amazing!
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For Disability Pride Month I asked the community to send in little submissions sharing what you love about your aids and how they improve your life. I'll be posting the asks individually like this but I'll also collect them into one big post (or a few, depending on how many I receive) closer to the end of the month. If you'd like to join in, send an ask/submission or add a comment here ✌️
without my eardefenders i would be completely dependent on my environment to be quiet when i cannot handle noise anymore. now i can just block most of it out when i feel it start to become too much.
it gives me the freedom to go through my day more confidently that i can get home at my own time and tempo instead of the moment i realise the noise is gonna be a problem.
Thank you for sharing! Ear defenders are so underrated as an aid!
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For Disability Pride Month I asked the community to send in little submissions sharing what you love about your aids and how they improve your life. I'll be posting the asks individually like this but I'll also collect them into one big post (or a few, depending on how many I receive) closer to the end of the month. If you'd like to join in, send an ask/submission or add a comment here ✌️
I hear we love canes here, so here's my hand carved hardwood one! Local wild cherry branch, a true shock absorber that fits both my hands.
Hardwood was non negociable for me since any vibration from the cane is sent to my shoulder and neck, I can't even stand an aluminum cane on carpet. And hardwood canes are not cheap, so had to DYI. I've been using it for about a month and it's such a life changer!
If anyone is in a similar situation, or just wants a durable whimsical cane, I'd be happy to do custom canes! Sliding scale pricing for those who need it; I'm not here to profit from those in need, I want to use my hands to help those who can't while I still can.
But truly, I heavily recommend hardwood canes; more stable and can easily last a lifetime. Also great defense opportunity; you really are supported from all sides. And if anyone wants to try to make their own? There's no gate keeping with me and I'd be happy to share tips and tricks!
Love this, it's so beautiful! Thank you for sharing!
(btw, this blog cannot endorse making your own cane but there's no judgment if you do; mobility aids can be expensive so you do you)
Hello!! I just thought I’d drop this here uhmmm! I just got my first cane, one of my friends just bought me a foldable one when I casually mentioned I’m really unsteady some days. I made them muffins as a thank you! I have to hide it from my parents, and I probably won’t use it very often, but I’m really glad I have it :P
Anyways, I feel like you’ve maybe been asked this before, and I apologize if you have, but do you have any tips for decorating a cane? I’m still nervous about using it! Thanks in advance! ^w^
Hi,
First of all, shout out to your wonderful friend who got you the cane!
Second, I'd like to offer a bit of encouragement about using it. It can seem a bit nerve-wracking the first few times but it will get easier. Most people, most of the time, don't get a lot of negative attention for it. Maybe the first few times, try using it when you're with someone you know and trust so you feel more brave.
Now, on to decorating it... Here are all the tips and ideas I've collected while running this blog:
Stickers are possibly the easiest and the most common. I recommend putting clear tape over them once they're all stuck on so they don't peel off.
Check out this post by @bebsi-cola that points out how bike frame stickers are probably best suited to canes and crutches.
Some people use glow-in-the-dark stickers.
You can cut vinyl or duraseal and stick it on. A cricut tool can be handy here; some libraries have them if you don't want to buy one.
If you have the ability and patience, drawing (vivids/permanent pens) or painting (there are specific paints made for metal and I've seen nail polish recommended) like this.
Flowers like this
Use fabric like this
Check out this post where someone submitted a few ideas including sewing patterns.
You could use washi tape
And @emeraldraccoon478 suggested using crocs charms here
You don't have to stop at the main stick part; hang something from the top/handle like kandi, a plushie, a fancy strap, or a picture like this or like this.
Do what *you* want; nobody else should be judging you for how you decorate your belongings.
If you want more inspiration... When this blog reblogs decorated mobility aids, they're tagged either with #mobility aid decorations and/or #decorate your mobility aids. And if you're searching the whole of Tumblr, use the #cane user tag as it's more likely to show you posts from other disabled people instead of kink posts.
And check in on the comments and reblogs because I'm sure someone else will have more ideas ✌️
(you're welcome to send more asks if you have more questions or if you want to show off your decorated cane; I'm going to name you 'decorating cane anon' in case you do want to send another)
anxious ambulatory anon again!!
I once more want to say thank you for the encouragement and support using my wheelchair in public, and. Tomorrow. I am getting fitted for a custom active chair!! After a year of fighting with doctors I finally got the prescription and I am so excited :) thank you again!!
Yay! I'm so excited for you! The chair will change your life!
You're welcome to send in pics or another ask letting us know what your chair is like when you get it ✌️
Sorry there hasn't been much going on here recently. I had a big fibro crash with no warning so I've been sleeping huge amounts and barely able to do anything in between.
I'm finally coming out of it so I'm working my way through all the asks now, and getting the queue going again. Keep sending stuff in; it will get posted, I promise!
I finally bought a mobility aid! I don't know how much I'll use it, but I know that there are days where my new sparkly pink folding cane will be helpful, and I'm done denying it to myself just because I don't need it every day :D
Yass! Occasional mobility aids are just as valid as those that get used every day!
"I can’t believe how much mental energy I’ve been expending on staying upright!
I hold my head up high when I get on the bus. I smile confidently at the kind people who get out of my way and encourage me to sit down. I don’t feel embarrassed or like a faker; this is how I should be treated. ...Why have I previously felt embarrassed about limping, stumbling, sitting on the floor in a queue? I just needed crutches!
I’m hit with an overwhelming sense of pride in how far I’ve come and how much I’ve accomplished whilst being so ill. ...I did these things with barely any energy, or frankly, any awareness of just how bad some things had become…
…and I did it all without my crutches. Imagine what I can accomplish now."
"I'm hit with an overwhelming sense of pride in how far I've come."
Going to a pride parade in our wheelchair and not having to worry about falling over, seizures, or pain and fatigue so bad we wouldn't make it back home. And even being able to do some laundry and eat something after getting home instead of just passing out!
Getting a cane soon, and very excited for that. I have weak knees and overall can't walk a lot, so I'm very excited for this, to actually be able to move easier and more, and this will also help me loose weight as well. I'm also hopefully getting knee and wrist braces (my wrists are also rather weak, weak bones and so forth are very common in my mom's side of the family, my mom had to be operated on her wrists a lot actually.) I can't wait to be free.
We're excited for you too! Feel free to send in another ask once you've got it to share how it's going or even a pic! (I'm gonna call you 'cane and braces coming soon anon' in case you do send another)
Disability Pride Month is coming up soon and I'd like to do a little project collecting one-liners about why people use mobility/disability aids and celebrating how the aids improve our lives...
👩🦽 How does your mobility aid give you more freedom?
📱 How do your adaptive tools / assistive tech make you more independent?
🚿 Did your shower chair/stool change your life?
🤔 What do you think able-bodied people don't know about your disability aid(s)?
Send an ask with the heading 'Celebrating Disability Aids Because...'
Send a sentence or two about how your aid(s) improve your life, give you freedom, make you more independent, make the world easier to interact with, etc.
All aids are welcome — this includes all mobility aids, AAC, all other assistive tech, adaptive tools, shower and toileting aids, adaptive cutlery, as well as things like therapy putty, beanies/hats, or anything else that helps or supports you.
I used a mobility scooter for the first time yesterday when I was at the highland show (big agricultural show) and it made my day so much easier. I was able to make a detour halfway across the grounds to drop something off at lost property and go back without it just exhausting me and I went around everything at the show, some things multiple times which I haven't been able to do in a long time.
The only downsides were how almost everything was set up for standing height people (workable for me as an ambulatory person but bad planning) and how said standing height people really lacked spatial awareness of the people using wheelchairs and mobility scooters but that's not unexpected and was definitely outshone by the joy of actually having energy and working limbs after spending 6 hours there!
