Walking Rollers

This group is for all our semi-ambulatory part-time wheelchair users. Group meets every 4th Monday of the month.

United Spinal’s newest peer support group, Walking Rollers, is a space for semi-ambulatory part-time wheelchair users. The group will be facilitated by Rob Henry, a board member for Untied Spinal Association of Michigan and coordinator their peer mentor program. He was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome in January 2019 and was paralyzed from the neck down. Through physical therapy he regained the ability to walk for short distances but uses a power chair as his main method of mobility.

Henry hopes the group can show participants users that they don’t have to feel guilty about the stigma that surrounds ambulatory wheelchair users. “I know at times people will look at somebody who can stand up from a wheelchair and rudely say ‘why do you use a wheelchair if you can walk?’ I know I’ve gotten funny looks before,” says Henry. “I hope this group shows that there are many others out there like them and helps them navigate the world in an easier way.”