Sandra Cammaroto of the Transportation Security Administration would like to remind everyone about the new security measures:
I have been getting many calls about the removal of footwear at checkpoints for persons with disabilities and medical conditions.
People with Disabilities, those with prosthetic devices, and those with medical conditions DO NOT have to […]

Summer Sports

Misc.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: Changes
DIRECTOR’S NOTES: A Beginning
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Surveying the Action
CONNECTIONS: News of Communities for People with Disabilities
Dating4Disabled.com

Features

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Adaptive Summer Sports––More Ways to Have Fun in the Sun
Wave-Ski Surfin’ Safari
If you love water, adventure, and being “out there,” wave-skiing may be your ticket to summer fun.
By Beth Livingston
Sailing to Freedom
Thousands of Chicagoans […]

As I begin my second term, we are experiencing a change in leadership with the retirement of our long-time friend, Executive Director Gerard M. Kelly.

As I begin my service as Executive Director, I want to thank the Board of Directors for their confidence in appointing me. I have been with this wonderful organization for 10 years and am humbled by both the size of the task before me and the shadow of the two leaders I follow. I have […]

It has been fascinating to watch the Action Readership Survey take shape as more of you make your way there to give your feedback on this magazine. I won’t share with you any of the trends just yet. It needs more time until the population of survey takers is more representative of Action readers.

Dating4Disabled.com was developed by a group of volunteers who wanted to provide more social, intellectual and romantic outlets for people with disabilities. This growing community has become a gathering place for the international special needs population, home to members from over 15 countries world-wide. It is a place for people of all nationalities, backgrounds and […]

Beth Livingston and Steve Boehne get ready to ride the waves.
Boehne invented a surf board—and a whole new way of surfing—
for people who have mobility disabilities. (Photo by Dan Boehne,
courtesy of Infinitysurf.com)

If you love water, adventure, and being “out there,” wave-skiing may be your ticket to summer fun.
By Beth Livingston
Steve Boehne, the owner […]

From left to right, Carol Tibus, Brian King, Peter Johnson and Jim Healy sail
Lake Michigan courtesy of the Judd Goldman Adaptive Sailing Program.
(Photo courtesy of Peter Goldman/JGASP)

Thousands of Chicagoans with disabilities have discovered skills they never knew they had through an innovative sailing program.

By Jeff Canar, PhD
Ask anyone around the world to […]

Beth Arnoult, one of the subjects of the film Champions on Wheels,
is now the top women’s wheelchair tennis player in the United States.
(Photo by Grace Shafir)

A new documentary shows how five wheelchair athletes found meaning on the tennis court.
By Lori A. Wood
“I didn’t even know wheelchair tennis existed until the NASDAQ […]

Sam Panepinto (left) played for the Brooklyn Whirlaways,
coached by Al Youakim (right), in the early days of
wheelchair basketball. Sam and Al met again for the first time
in years at United Spinal’s 60th Anniversary celebration
at Grand Central Station last May.
(Photo by Emile Wamsteker)

The histories of United Spinal and wheelchair sports in the US […]

You might like taking shortcuts around sidewalk traffic and using your power chair on the road, but—for safety’s sake—adapt your chair!

By Ziggi Landsman
For years the average power wheelchair speed was somewhere around 4.5 mph. Nowadays, many scooters and chairs can pump out close to 7 or 8 mph with a number of them […]

Tiffiny Carlson at work.

Tiffiny Carlson thought her life was over after a diving accident. In fact, it was just beginning.
By Lori A. Wood
“When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.” It’s a phrase we all know, but few of us have lived it as admirably as Tiffiny Carlson. “I was a pretty active […]

By John M. Williams
For 14 years, I have dealt with the severe pain associated with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), a condition in which the median nerve is compressed as it passes through the narrow carpal tunnel in the wrist. Since the median nerve provides sensory and motor functions to the thumb and three middle fingers, […]

By Linda A. Cronin
An important and frequently overlooked part of the caregiving process is taking care of the caretaker. According to the Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA, www.caregiver.org), 52 million informal and family caregivers provide care to someone aged 20 or more with a disability or who is ill. Family members also continue to be […]

By Maria Diamond, Esq.

You’ve just been seriously injured. Medical bills are piling up and you might not be able to work for years. With your future suddenly uncertain, what do you do?
Unfortunately, there are no simple answers. But after representing people who have had serious accidents for over 20 years, I offer five basic […]

By Tamar Asedo Sherman
One of the benefits of having a disability is that you get a hiring preference by federal, state, and local governments. All federal agencies are required by law to identify qualified candidates with disabilities to meet workforce diversity goals. Here’s your chance to get a good paying job with health and retirement […]

By Ed Lash
Now seems like a good time to talk about the weather—specifically the effect that hot, wet weather can have on people with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Traditionally, the heat factor with MS has been explained as being due to temporary additional impairment of demyelinated nerve fibers in the central nervous system (CNS) due to […]

By Kathleen M. Muldoon

Yvette Silver ysilver@erols.com

When I was a kid, I had two heroes. One lived in a book and the other in a doghouse. Let me introduce them.
My book hero was Jo March, the second daughter in the March family in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Although she wrote this […]

By Tom Scott

The United Spinal Liberty wheelchair basketball team gave
an exhibition of their skills at Madison Square Garden during
a break in a New York Liberty WNBA game in July.
(Photo by Emile Wamsteker)

United Spinal Liberty MSG Event
Ten players from the United Spinal Liberty women’s wheelchair basketball team practiced and played a scrimmage […]