Living With Polio

Millions of individuals who had polio are living in all areas of the world. Survivors range in age from a few months to nonagenarians (in their nineties). Aftereffects vary greatly depending on the number and location of the nerve cells destroyed by the poliovirus. The challenge or ease of living with polio varies for each survivor, depending on the availability of medical care and rehabilitation opportunities, and their family and social support.

Advice, hints, explanations, etc., are categorized by topic and are searchable. The source of the material is identified.

Reminder: PHI’s post-polio.org and IVUN’s ventusers.org or ventnews.org features numerous articles to assist in living with polio.

And Away We Go! Traveling with Mobility Aids

Travel overseas - or anywhere - can be enjoyable, enriching, enlightening, or a complete disaster if your equipment ends up mutilated or at the wrong destination. You should have the adventures, not your wheelchair.

I have flown with a power scooter and a manual wheelchair, and have accompanied others who traveled with power wheelchairs. Air travel affords you less control over the destiny of your equipment than bus or train travel. But knowledge is power, and the more you know about traveling with equipment, the greater your changes of having a problem-free trip.

Out to Sea - Accessible Cruising

I love to travel. No, I live to travel, and when I was mobile I did a lot of it, from camping here in the US to sightseeing in Europe.

Support Groups

GOALS AND LEADERSHIP
WHAT ARE THEY?
WHY DO IT ALONE?
WHO NEEDS THEM?
WHO CAN BENEFIT?
IS OUR GROUP NORMAL?
EN ESPAÑOL

Independent Living

The independent living movement grew out of the anger and frustration of people with disabilities who were excluded from places of education, work, general retail, worship, and recreation due to barriers in architecture, transportation, and communications.

Self-assessment

Post-polio advocates noticed that polio survivors experienced very frustrating visits to physicians when reporting new post-polio problems. Barriers included the limited amount of time a physician had for an appointment and the lack of experience of physicians in the early days. They weren’t as skilled at asking the right questions. Additionally, polio survivors knew they didn’t feel well, but hadn’t spent much time thinking about details. In fact, many survivors spent years pushing polio and its effects out of their everyday thoughts.

Post-polio hospital admissions in Australia over a 10-year period: An observational study and analysis of trends by month, location, and comparable conditions

https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdaf029 More

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Polio Place

A service of Post-Polio Health International