12 Reasons to Date Someone in a Wheelchair
One of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to adults with disabilities being in a relationship is that we don’t understand or have the desire to be in a relationship — when indeed we do. I think the main problem when it comes to putting yourself out there as someone single with a disability is society, and how people often don’t understand our abilities. The minute people see we have a disability, they tend to become standoffish. So I want to talk about some of the benefits of dating someone in a wheelchair.
1. You’re always on an adventure with your partner when going out into society, and you will have something to talk about.
2. Every day you’ll be inspired by your partner — I know from my personal experience with my boyfriend, who has cerebral palsy like me. He continues to amaze me in the things he can do despite his disability.
3. You will always have the time of your life, because let’s face it, having a partner in a wheelchair is exciting. You could go from making love with your partner to pulling a wheelchair out of the mud.
4. We’re often go-getters, with so much drive to succeed no matter what the obstacle may be, and we don’t take no for an answer.
5. We are unique and always stand out. People will want to know the story of how our love came to be.
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6. Life with a disability teaches us to be creative, and that can help us find different ways to make the days with our significant others fun.
7. We are very compassionate, and we tend to be the best teddy bears who love to cuddle on the couch and watch Netflix.
8. In my experience, we’re great at listening and trying to help others despite our disabilities and obstacles, and we tend to put others before ourselves.
9. We can be very romantic. I’ve always been a hopeless romantic that does the biggest and littlest things just to make sure my significant other is cared for and loved. I enjoy making homemade cards and gifts for the person I am with.
10. In my experience and my friends’ experience we tend to be more honest and more loyal because of our life experiences of being judged and hurt.
11. You’ll always have a ride. If your legs get tired, you can sit on our laps and we’ll give you a ride. In the eighth grade my boyfriend at the time, who was able-bodied, would ride around on my lap.
12. If you take us on a date to a theme park like Disneyland, we will get great seats, extra help, and sometimes be able to skip the lines.
Remember when it comes to falling in love with somebody, love them because of what they carry in their hearts.
Getty image by Tatiana Stulbo.
Tylia L. Flores is a twenty-eight-year-old born with Spastic Cerebral Palsy. Despite her condition that affects her mobility, she does not allow it to affect her will and determination to make a difference in the world. Through her many life challenges and obstacles, she discovered her passion for writing. Tylia’s goal in life is to share her stories with the world. In doing so, she hopes to help others with disabilities realize that they, too, have the potential to make their dreams come true. Tylia is not only an author. She’s a radio show personality and a disability activist. Tylia has written about disability-related topics for Yahoo Life, Your Tango, The Mighty, ReadUnwritten.com, Words Between Coasts Project, Wednesday, Spilwords, and Goble Thrive. Worth Living Among her other appearances are Disability on the Spectrum and Why I was Afraid of Sexuality. Previously, Tylia was nominated to Diversabilities list of the most influential Disability Impacts of 2022. Additionally, Tylia holds the position of chairman in the creative director role for the North American Association Of Cerebral Palsy Advocates. She serves as a mentor for the Disability EmpowHer Network as well. Tylia also works for Write It Up Publishing as a sensitivity reader focusing on disability representation. Tylia has also been involved in many movie press releases for Samuel Goldwyn Films Come as you are Piece of me which was the short film directed and written by award winning filmmaker Bruna Cabral as well as the film adaptation of the book Calvin can’t fly by Jenifer Burnes Tylia is also a keynote speaker at 2020’s Cerebral Palsy Awareness conference. She has also been a guest speaker at Northeastern State University Broken Arrow where she talks to college students about disability and inclusion in education. She has also been a guest speaker at Plantation Middle School, where she discussed inclusion and disability with classmates. Tylia is fully certified in Education for All: Disability, Diversity, and Inclusion through Cape Town University. She’s also certified in Understanding Diversity and Inclusion through Purdue University. She’s also certified in creative writing at the University of East Anglia. Tylia hosts the Stomping On cerebral Palsy radio show with DJ Ty on Asheville FM with DJ Mouse during the Come On In the Kitchen segment once a month she also helps the staff behind the scenes, help bring awareness to disability awareness and inclusion within the radio broadcasting industry .
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