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  • Dancing When You Have SMA

    Posted by kevin-schaefer on June 3, 2018 at 11:02 am

    This weekend I went to a friend’s wedding, and I’m not lying when I say that I killed it on the dance floor. I got talking with this girl who was sitting next to me at the reception, and when it came time to dance I went into ultimate show-off mode.

    As I’ve written about multiple times in the past, I use a JACO robotic arm to help me with things like eating, drinking and picking stuff up. It’s also a great tool for impressing people at parties, weddings, etc. I don’t have a picture unfortunately, but I raised my JACO arm up in the air and had my dance partner put her hand on it. From there she used it to spin around, and we’d move at the same time if we were going across the dance floor or whatever. She knew what she was doing far better than I did, so that made it much easier. Yet between both of our moves, we attracted quite the amount of attention from everyone there.

    I know it’s easy to feel awkward at dancing events when you’re in a wheelchair, but I’d really encourage you to embrace it and show off your moves. I had a great time, and my dance partner was totally chill. If you can just get over that initial anxiety about sticking out and all, weddings and dances can be a great opportunity to meet people and have fun. Plus, everyone is drunk anyway at a wedding reception, so no one cares how awkward you look.

    kevin-schaefer replied 5 years, 9 months ago 2 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • ryan-berhar-2

    Member
    June 3, 2018 at 4:27 pm

    I have to say this is one of those things I avoid at all costs haha.

    • kevin-schaefer

      Member
      June 3, 2018 at 9:31 pm

      You should give it a try man! It’s really fun. The advantage too is that at weddings everyone is awkward and has no idea what they’re doing. It’s a good opportunity to just let loose and have fun.

      Maybe this will give you a little inspiration: https://www.pinterest.com/amp/spinalpedia/wheelchair-dancing/

      • ryan-berhar-2

        Member
        June 3, 2018 at 9:48 pm

        I just don’t like those kinds of environments. Mostly because they’re too loud for me to be heard. Glad you had a good time though!

      • kevin-schaefer

        Member
        June 4, 2018 at 9:55 am

        I gotcha man. Fortunately it wasn’t so crowded that it was impossible to hear. Still, I understand that problem. With our muscles it can be really hard to project in a loud environment.

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