Christine Getman of Magic Wheelchair shares how the company designs inclusive costumes that center on wheelchair users, which can help them find belonging through representation and creativity. The company has designed more than 320 costumes so far.
Transcript
Christine: I am Christine Getman. I am the executive director of Magic Wheelchair. I live and work in Portland, Oregon, and I also live with spinal muscular atrophy. I’ve actually been a wheelchair user since I was 2 and a half years old.
Living with spinal muscular atrophy and being a wheelchair user has really been a direct insight into ways to customize the programming that Magic Wheelchair offers. I mean, I know firsthand how important it is to have my voice validated and to learn how to advocate for myself.
And so all of the Magic Wheelchair programming is, is functioning with that in mind. We want to make sure that kids and young adults have their voices heard, that their ideas are validated, and that ultimately they get to celebrate their true, authentic selves and celebrate the freedom that our wheelchairs give us.And so we do that through wheelchair cosplay.
Each Magic Wheelchair is customized, but building cosplays for folks who are disabled, it’s a really custom experience and it’s actually a lot of fun. So we tend to use 3D models, so we’ll 3D scan a wheelchair and then design a model around it. So everything we make is lightweight, you know, out of foam.
So it’s easy to push if you’re in a push chair or if you’re in a power wheelchair, It’s not putting too much weight on the batteries, but it’s all about making sure that you are the center of the experience. So if you’re riding a creature, if you’re driving a vehicle, or even a ship from your favorite movie, it’s all about centering the wheelchair user, making sure that they’re the star of the costume.
But it’s also important that we validate their voice. So, for some, Magic Wheelchair costume is about celebrating the wheelchair. So they want to show a little bit of the wheelchair. And for others, maybe they’re still coping with being disabled or having a new identity.
And so they’ll ask us to cover it up a little more. So it’s really all up to the person who is cosplaying, how much or how little their costume covers up the wheelchair.
And so we have built well over 320, I think, Magic Wheelchair costumes. So it’s hard to have favorites, but I especially love the ones that are unique or custom or have some element of music.
So we’ve had music themes from Metallica to Bruno Mars. I really love the costumes that have some type of assistive technology. So like adaptive buttons that allow the users to turn on headlights or maybe play some one-liners from their favorite movie. I think that’s a lot of fun.
I love creature costumes, like ones that are furry or ones that are like riding a creature because I think that pushes the creative element further than like putting a car around. But I really just love the ones where they get to be in charge, like they call the shots. And what color, what design, you know, what’s the name of the character? So I say I don’t have favorites, but I think I secretly have a few favorites.
So when we’re talking about Halloween, not every house that you go up to for trick-or-treating is accessible, right? There could be steps, there could be steep driveways. And so having an epic wheelchair costume on the street with headlights, with lights, with sounds that pulls people out. And guarantees more Halloween candy.
But it also helps folks celebrate their unique identities. You know, at conventions or comic cons. It helps bring the community together to celebrate how important inclusion and wheelchair cosplay is. So there’s truly something for everyone. From getting more candy on Halloween night to bringing communities together to celebrate disability pride.
Meredith Tokar: My name’s Meredith Tokar. I live in Austin, Texas, and I’ve been affected by SMA since I was diagnosed at a year and a half old.
Growing up, there was hardly any representation of those with disabilities in costume, cosplay, even in Halloween. With Magic Wheelchair, I emailed them in. That’s what I wanted. I wanted Skeletor throne-type thing. They worked with me very closely.
Being able to cosplay with everyone else was just — it felt more normal than it should have been or would have been normally. It just felt like I was part of the general crowd and got to have fun enjoying what everyone else was enjoying, and it was very uplifting.
If you have SMA or any disability, or you want to be a part of the general public in cosplay, even if it’s not with Magic Wheelchair, you should definitely go for it. It’s a very enriching experience, you know, able to be a part of just the general public is a great feeling.
