Kmart has entered into an agreement to settle a class action lawsuit concerning the accessibility of its stores for individuals who use wheelchairs or scooters for mobility.
Under the settlement agreement, Kmart will make alterations to its stores nationwide to increase their accessibility for individuals who use wheelchairs or scooters and pay $13 million ($8 […]

Pause to Remember America’s Fallen Wherever You Are
Over 60 years ago a group of paralyzed World War II veterans joined together to assert their fundamental civil right to the same opportunities their countrymen enjoyed and they dedicated themselves to building meaningful, productive lives for all of their paralyzed fellow soldiers. Through their efforts to […]

Go Where You Want to Go
A Whole World of Accessible Travel

Herb Bullock and guide prepare to cross the rainforest canopy on an accessible footbridge at La Selva, Costa Rica. The story of Herb’s adventures in Costa Rica begins here.
Misc.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: Out in the World
DIRECTOR’S NOTES: Our Mission and Vision
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Road to […]

Simply mastering the skills to get around in a wheelchair carrying out the activities of daily living and functioning in one’s community can be a challenge for many of us. I can still remember learning to drive a car with hand controls and trying to overcome the belief that my feet were going to move […]

Sixty years ago, on May 22, 1946, our founders held the first official meeting of this organization. They probably could not have imagined what would come of it, our great successes in advocating for wheelchair access, the tens of millions of dollars invested in research, the advances in technology, to name just a few. But […]

Behind every great trip there is often a great travel agent. For Herb and Agnes Bullock, whose Costa Rica travelogue appears here, that agent was United Spinal’s own Yojerdi “Jolly” Rodriguez of our ABLE to Travel program. And Jolly herself benefited from the knowledge of another agent with years of experience in accessible travel to […]

Knowledge Wanted: Accessible Venues Project
I live in New York City and have begun “The Accessible Venues Project” (otherwise known as “Pubs ’n Clubs!”). I thought United Spinal members might have some good ideas, so am seeking your help.
Here’s the deal: I get together with friends for smallish meetings and largish parties after work […]

ADAPT Protests in Tennessee for Affordable, Accessible Housing
On March 22, over 400 ADAPT members protested at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office in Nashville, Tennessee to demand that the federal government make housing vouchers available to get people out of nursing homes and into their own homes. ADAPT is a […]

Member Herb Bullock and his wife Agnes vacationed in Costa Rica, then wrote a letter to ABLE to Travel’s Yojerdi “Jolly” Rodriguez, who arranged their trip. They’ve graciously consented to share their travelogue in Action.

Friendly locals surround Herb Bullock on beautiful Jaco Beach on the Costa Rican coast.
February 28, 2006
Attn: Yojerdi Rodriguez, […]

Preventing damage to your chair—and unnecessary stress to you—requires taking some precautionary measures.

By Kleo King
While airlines are required to accommodate passengers with disabilities, each individual should also be adequately prepared for his/her trip, including ensuring that any assistive devices being taken on the trip are well protected.
The following is a list of […]

People with disabilities are traveling more than ever before in quest of fun, adventure, business—and accessibility.

By Tom Scott
Did you know that American adults with disabilities spend $13.6 billion on travel each year? In fact, the amount of leisure trips and hotel stays of travelers with disabilities is up 50% from 2002.

These […]

If you’re traveling with group of wheelchair users, you and/or your travel agent will need to plan ahead.
By Kleo King
The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) requires that airlines accept individuals with disabilities traveling as a group. The regulations implementing ACAA require that if the group consists of 10 or more people, the […]

A University of Connecticut-sponsored forum addressed a critical lack of accessible transportation for people with disabilities nationwide.
By Jayne Kleinman
The Problem

• According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in 2003, over half a million people with disabilities said they never leave home because of transportation difficulties.
• The National Organization on Disability (NOD) […]

Congress has appropriated funds to seed programs for accessible transportation.
By Terry Moakley
Funded at $78 million nationally this year and proposed to increase to $81 million in the President’s budget for next year, the New Freedom initiative is now a permanent section of the federal transportation law. It is geared specifically to support local […]

Accessible travel by land, sea, and air has been central to this organization’s mission from the start.
By Terry Moakley
Personal mobility and public transportation accessibility issues lie at the core of our organization’s existence, going all the way back to 1946. Founding members worked alongside World War II amputee veterans to achieve passage of […]

The executive director of the National Council on Independent Living is a United Spinal member who was largely formed by his experience in Vietnam.
By Chris Pierson

John Lancaster, executive director of the National Council on Independent Living, has had a special relationship with Vietnam since he was injured during the Battle for Hue City […]

While the National Park Service may not be 100% accessible, they have certainly been making progress.
By Rob Ingraham
“We have an accessible toilet at 10,500 feet on the side of Mt. Rainier, in Washington,” Accessibility Program Manager David Park of the National Park Service (NPS) recently noted. By anyone’s standard, that is evidence […]

By Lori A. Wood

“In the mid-nineties, one of my residents needed to use a wheelchair following a cardiac arrest while she was on a vacation,” says Dr. Florence Haseltine, PhD, an obstetrician- gynecologist and president of Haseltine Systems, www.haseltine.com, located in Alexandria, Virginia. “When she recovered, she had severe brain injury. Sometime around 1995, […]

By David A. N. Siegel, MD

Severe pain has long been known to be one of the most devastating consequences of spinal cord injuries (SCIs). Different studies have reported the prevalence of pain after SCI to be up to 94%, with the majority of the estimates ranging from 40% to 75% of patients. Pain […]

By John M. Williams

The idea of sitting in my office and taking online or distance learning classes adapted to my schedule and location has long had a strong appeal. I like the idea of eliminating the commute to campus, the hunt for a parking space, the mad rush to class among a swarm of […]