Assistive Technology

Inventor Dean Kamen takes his iBOT 4000 Mobility System
down the stairs of the New York City subway system.

Misc.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: The Right Equipment

DIRECTOR’S NOTES: Tools for Living

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Twelve Actions

PROGRAM NOTES: December 2006
DEVELOPMENT: More Lasting Gifts This Holiday Season
MEMBERSHIP & OUTREACH: Associate Memberships Available
LEGISLATIVE NEWS: December 2006
Missouri Stem Cell Victory
Social Security […]

I would like to propose a little test for all of us to take. Start when you get up in the morning. You will need something to write with and something to write on. Notice I didn’t say pen and paper, since some of us use other means to write, such as a computer or […]

People with SCI/D often develop very strong bonds with their “equipment,” because it is so much more than mere nuts and bolts––it is an essential tool for our hard-won independence. Regrettably, access to the tools we need––particularly power wheelchairs and scooters––cannot be taken for granted and this access is currently under assault by ever-more restrictive […]

I was looking through past issues of Action while assembling the list of member miniprofiles that appears on page 38, and I had a strange sensation of being in a time machine. I remember talking to some of those members who were profiled last spring as though I had just spoken to them last week. […]

DEVELOPMENT: More Lasting Gifts This Holiday Season
In the spirit of the holiday season, United Spinal Association is calling upon all Americans to remember our nearly one million fellow citizens with spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, and or other disorders of the spinal cord.
“It’s a season of giving and we urge everyone to consider […]

Missouri Stem Cell Victory
Missouri voters approved the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative on Election Day, making it a new Missouri State Constitutional Amendment. The amendment protects equal access to any federally approved stem cell research treatments while banning human cloning. It essentially prevents the Missouri Legislature from passing a law that is […]

Universities to Study Wheelchair Transportation Safety
The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) and three other university partners have been awarded a $4.5 million five-year federal grant to continue research on transportation safety and usability for people in wheelchairs.
The U.S. Department of Education’s National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research has renewed funding […]

Dean Kamen invented what he calls “the world’s most sophisticated robot” to transport people with mobility impairments places they never thought they could go.

By Lori A. Wood

A wonder of modern technology, the Independence® iBOT® 4000 Mobility System, allows people with disabilities to go places that they may have never imagined. “It took some of […]

Randy Kwapis’s Action Chair, which he invented for his son to play on grass and other difficult surfaces, is a modern marvel.
By Michael Lee

Matthew Kwapis sits in the chair his father Randy designed to enable him to play on grass and other surfaces unusable by ordinary wheelchairs.

Randy Kwapis, 43, inventor of […]

We’ve come a long way, baby, from the “devices” of yesteryear to today’s technology.
By Terry Moakley
Was assistive technology really around 60 years ago, Santa? Yes Virginia, it was, but we didn’t call it “assistive technology” way back then. We just called it a “device.”
One of the earlier devices was developed by one […]

It takes a team to raise a service dog.
by Linda A. Cronin

Dogs and their human partners establish strong working
relationships during a training at Canine Partners for Life.

The first time I saw a service dog at work, I was amazed at how smoothly and efficiently the animal picked up a set of keys. […]

By Lori A. Wood

“My son, Tom, was the company’s founder,” says Margaret Street, president of SEMCO, which stands for Street Electric Manufacturing Company, LLC, of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. “He passed away in June 2001 and that’s when I took over as the single member of the company.
“Tom had suffered an accident in October 1988, which […]

By Jean L. Minkel, MA, PT
How you get around has a big impact on what you can do and where you can go.
Many people who have lived with a disability for a long time have found that careful consideration of the best way to get around has been a key to their independence. For […]

By Josie Kelly

As the holidays approach, most of us fondly remember the games and toys of our childhood. The anticipation of tearing open wrapping paper to find a new toy, and the pleasure of mastering the new skills such toys represent, are universal. Children with disabilities are no different, even if the toys we found […]

By Wendy Crawford and Cheryl Price

When you are sitting most of the time, there are some important points to remember for beautiful hair. Take the time to really think about what would work best for you. Decide on a great overall look, remember to be practical and resourceful, and the result will be a more […]

By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Thanks to technology, there are many devices that can increase, maintain or improve the functional capabilities of people with spinal cord impairments, enabling us to live independently and even return to work. If you can move anything––a finger, your mouth, your eyelid or your head––you can operate a computer. Technology is progressing […]

By Rosemarie Rossetti, Ph.D.
Universal design is a framework for the design of living and working spaces and products benefiting the widest possible range of people in the widest range of situations without special or separate design. My husband Mark Leder and I have been applying its principles as we build our new home, the Universal […]

By Ed Lash
When a person is faced with serious illness, it’s very common to lose self-confidence and self-esteem. It sometimes makes you feel inadequate, probably because illness makes you feel that your body is inadequate. When we have been well for a long time we have a tendency to get overconfident, thinking we are immortal, […]

By Kathleen M. Muldoon

Yvette Silver www.yvettesilver.com

When I was 13, I felt like a prisoner. The only time I went outdoors was to walk to and from school. Otherwise, I sat in the classroom or inside our tiny apartment. I wasn’t being grounded; instead, a series of crises had affected my family, which consisted […]

By Tom Scott

United Spinal Wheelchair Football Team Has New Home
The United Spinal Giants wheelchair football team is proud to have a new home field. The Giants will now be practicing and competing at Victory Field in Forest Park, New York. In coordination with the City of New York Parks and Recreation, United Spinal […]