If you see someone in a wheelchair stand up or walk, just keep your mouth shut. They either were prescribed that wheelchair and their insurance agreed they needed it, or they became so desperate for the mobility the chair would provide that they paid a lot of money out of pocket (because they don’t have insurance or they have a shitty ableist doctor or whatever).
It’s estimated that around 85% of full time wheelchair users can stand or walk to some extent. Think of it like glasses: the majority of people who wear them can technically see without them, but they reduce pain, improve the quality of the wearer’s life, and enable millions of people to do things they otherwise couldn’t. A wheelchair is no different. In fact, even part time users legitimately need their chair, just as people who need reading glasses legitimately need their glasses. In addition to paralysis, some reasons for using a wheelchair include pain, fatigue, fragile joints/bones, vertigo, and many, many other debilitating symptoms.
Using a wheelchair is already stressful enough as it is, thanks to iffy accessibility. Please don’t add to a disabled person’s difficulties by calling them a faker.
story time: when I was younger my family was going on vacation and like usual we wheel-chaired my mom up to the security check, she got up and walked through the metal detector (setting it off with her hip & shoulder replacement) and sat back down in her wheelchair once she was done the maybe 10 step walk. This woman near us mockingly said “oh my god it’s a miracle” to her smugly giggling boyfriend. None of us heard her except for my sister, who immediately burst into tears. This woman was probably also unaware that my mom went from being one of the most fit people ever to essentially lying on her death bed for multiple years on end only to finally “recover” with serious ongoing disabilities because of her extremely rare autoimmune disease. Aaand despite everything she’s been through over the past 14 years she’s still the most positive and kind person I know. So again, if you see someone in a wheelchair stand up, please remember that you know nothing about their life and you should keep your disgusting comments in your head.
One of my best friends has fibromyalgia and the first time I saw her without her wheelchair I was confused, (but didn’t say anything). She can get around her own house and short distances just fine. But if she goes anywhere longer then she really must have her chair, including shopping trips. And I’ve seen first hand the way she gets ignored sometimes, being a woman in a wheelchair.