United Spinal Association Celebrates Its History-making Women Members
Jackson Heights, NY–United Spinal Association, a national nonprofit organization whose members live with a spinal cord injury or disorder, celebrates March Women’s History Month by recognizing its women members who have advanced awareness, civil rights, and adaptive sports for all women with disabilities.
Ms. Wendy Crawford, who has a spinal cord injury, is a member and the chair of United Spinal Association’s Women Without Limits committee. Ms. Crawford stated, “disabled women have come a long way. In a very short time, they have grown from forced isolation to major contributors in society, living life to the fullest due to organizations like United Spinal Association. They are now uniting together and with continued support, there are no limits to their accomplishments, including accessible healthcare.”
In her role as chair of the Women Without Limits committee, Ms. Crawford led the development and completion of a recent national survey of women who use wheelchairs that among its findings, uncovered a tremendous lack of wheelchair-accessible examination equipment at women’s healthcare facilities around the nation. More data from this survey can be obtained from Ms. Crawford at www.mobilewomen.org.
Other United Spinal women who have blazed a path in American society include current Board of Directors members Denise Ann McQuade of Brooklyn, New York, who has post-polio syndrome, and Ronnie Ellen Raymond of New York, New York, who has multiple sclerosis. Ms. McQuade was a pioneer in both accessible transportation advocacy and the independent living movement in the state of New York, and Ms. Raymond was the plaintiff in precedent-setting litigation in New York City that resulted in the construction of a ramp to the entrance of her cooperative apartment building, and many other such residential buildings thereafter.
Newest United Spinal Association Board of Directors member Jody DeVere of Ventura County, California, who has a son with a spinal cord injury, chairs the organization’s Motorsports Committee, which encourages people with disabilities, including persons who use adaptive automotive equipment, to participate in competitive motorsports. This committee also cultivates partnerships within the motorsports industry to raise awareness about spinal cord injuries and disorders.
Laura G. Schwanger of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, a United States Army veteran who has multiple sclerosis, is a current United Spinal Association Board of Directors member and longtime Administrator of the group’s Philadelphia Office. Ms. Schwanger is an accomplished Paralympic wheelchair athlete who captured a total of 11 medals among the 1988 Seoul Games, the 1992 Barcelona Games, and the 1996 Atlanta Games. Amazingly, after a 2006 breast cancer diagnosis, Ms. Schwanger battled back by taking on a new sport—rowing—and qualified at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany for the upcoming Paralympic Games in Bejing, China.
To download an informative free pamphlet titled Women’s Health: Special Considerations for Women with Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders, go to www.unitedspinal.org/pdf/womens_health.pdf.
To search all United Spinal Association publications for articles about women’s issues, please log on to www.unitedspinal.org/disability-publications-resources/.