Adjusting to life after an ABI can be tricky and upsetting. This can sometimes be made harder by the changes in your body that stop you from doing the things you used to able to do.

A big one is having to use a wheelchair. Wheelchairs can either be used during the recovery and rehabilitation stages or much longer term. In some cases a person with an ABI may have to use a wheelchair for life.

Using a wheelchair can have lots of different effects on you and different people feel differently about using one. Remember any feelings you feel are right for you. If you are worried, talk to your nurse or family.

Not everyone has to use a wheelchair. It all depends on what part of the brain or body you hurt:

• The frontal lobe controls your movement. If you have hurt this part of the brain you may find it hard to move your arms and legs and walk properly.

• The cerebellum is the part of the brain that controls your balance. If you hurt this part of the brain you may find it hard to walk in a straight line or may feel like you are falling. This can stop you walking. Have a look at the section on Ataxia.

• Spinal cord injury can prevent messages from the brain getting to the body. If your spinal cord has been very badly damaged you might not be able to walk at all. In this case you would have to use a wheelchair for life.

• Being in bed for a long time can make the muscles in our legs weak. If this happens you may need to sit in a wheelchair for a time and have physiotherapy to make you leg muscles strong again. You can then start to walk slowly with help.

Some things you might be feeeling if you have to use a wheechair:

• Frustration at not being able to walk
• Happy that you are out of bed and can move about with help
• Impatience: You want physiotherapy to end so you can start to walk again
• Worried about being labelled: Maybe you think sitting in a wheelchair makes you uncool or you think people will stare. That’s normal to worry about too.