What can family members do to encourage a good adjustment to life in a wheelchair after spinal cord injury? - Kathy Hulse, MSW

Continue to be there, call them on it when they’re being a jerk. You don’t get the right to be a jerk when you’ve had a spinal cord injury. Yes, you get the right to be angry and mad at the world, but you don’t get the right to do it all the time. None of us have the right to do that. We can have bad days, but just because you’ve broken your back or broken your neck, you don’t get to treat your caregiver like dirt. That’s not right. I think you need to call your loved ones on that and just say, “Sorry, I’m not dealing with you today if you’re going to be like that. I’ll deal with you when you more appropriate,” like you would your teenager.