User:Superable333/WheelchairJunkie

WheelchairJunkie.com is an online community dedicated to wheelchair technology and disability culture. As a user-helping-user resource, WheelchairJunkie consists of a message board, technical articles, and inspirational writings.

History
WheelchairJunkie.com was founded in 1997 by disability figure, Mark E. Smith, on the premise that there wasn't enough information and peer support relating to wheelchairs. Based on a self-described obsession toward increasing his own mobility, Smith had grown-up around the wheelchair industry, and had a passion for the people and products.

Initially, WheelchairJunkie was called The Wheelchair Underground, run by the pseudonym "Count Cripula." The site was hosted on a free server, and consisted of "Count Cripula's" reviews of power wheelchair products. The site immediately gained popularity, and Smith registered the domain name, WheelchairJunkie.com (chosen from his childhood nickname, "WheelchairJunkie"), formally changing the site's name.

By 1998, Smith was Editor under his own name, and a message board was added. With the addition of the message board, popularity dramatically increased, and Smith began answering user questions and posting technical articles.

In 1999, CanDo.com, a dot-com start-up disability portal site, proposed to purchase rapidly-growing WheelchairJunkie.com. However, an agreement was never reached, and CanDo soon shut down.

In 2001, Smith added the "Idiot Zone," a section featuring wheelchair stunts, which was wildly popular, but was removed in 2007, as Smith no longer felt the antics fit the informative and inspirational tone of the site.

In 2003, "PowerchairDiaries" debuted, narratives written by Smith, chronicling his own life and disability philosophy.

In 2007, off-shoots were added, including a Myspace page and a media site focused more on Smith as a personality.

WheelchairJunkie has always been independently run, funded, and edited by Smith himself. Advertising has never appeared on the site.

Today
WheelchairJunkie today consists of very structured, consistent content:


 * Weekly articles that alternate between technology and inspirational.
 * Message board that's a user-helping-user community, as well as an "Ask Mark" technical section.
 * PowerchairDiaries section that focuses on inspirational disability content.
 * MySpace, YouTube, and Twitter channels.
 * Article index of exclusive wheelchair how-to's.

Mark E. Smith, Editor
Born with cerebral palsy, Smith was deemed a vegetable. Despite growing up in a dysfunctional household, and having severe cerebral palsy, he went on to become one of the first physically disabled children mainstreamed in California's public school system, continuing on to college. Smith is the author of three books: Growing up with Cerebral Palsy: A remarkable story by San Francisco's impossible dream kid, Too Fast: Select tales from the madman of WheelchairJunkie.com, and Making the Most of It: The 11 keys to mastering disability and life. Smith was also a contributing author to Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, and is a columnist in New Mobility Magazine. Smith has been a manager at Pride Mobility since November 2000, and represents the company in many public roles. Smith is also a well-known speaker and disability advocate, and is among the world's foremost experts on wheelchair technology.