The Arts

Sunflower by Michael Monaco. More works by United Spinal members can be viewed in this gallery.

Misc.
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD: Follow Your Bliss

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT: Hidden Talents
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: June 2007
Hybrid Taxis at the Expense of Accessibility
No Handcyclists Need Apply
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Flying Colors
SOCIAL NET: May 2007
Who Can Help […]

The ability to enjoy the arts is within everyone. One of the nice things about creating art is that the person who views your work cannot tell if you have a disability. Artwork is subjective and is judged on its merit; not on whether the artist can hold a pencil or brush. An artist strives […]

As persons who have had to adapt to a disability, we may have had to reinvent ourselves. Many of us may, in the process, have found hidden talents we didn’t know we possessed. Luckily, the creative process knows no barriers and is only enriched by our individual experiences.
In my own life, I am grateful for […]

Hybrid Taxis at the Expense of Accessibility
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s announcement that the city’s yellow taxi fleet will become completely hybrid within five years (news article, May 23) callously ignores the immediate transportation needs of people with severe physical disabilities who cannot enter or exit currently approved hybrid taxi vehicles, as well as New York […]

When, in our March issue, we asked readers of Action to send us their art, I had no idea what sort of response we would get. I certainly did not expect our invitation to elicit the amazing variety and quality of artwork we did receive. I am very grateful that the six individuals you will […]

Who Can Help You Go Back to Work?
Last month in this space, we looked at programs the Social Security Administration (SSA) offers to make it easier for people who receive benefits to return to the labor force without imperiling their benefits. If you missed that article, you can find it here.
This month, we’ll take a […]

Five Times More Seniors with Spinal Cord Injuries Now than 30 Years Ago
The number of spinal cord injuries among senior citizens (age 70 and above) has grown fivefold in the past 30 years, as compared with younger spinal cord injury patients, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Jefferson’s Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center of […]

Seattle-based artist Harriet Sanderson expresses herself on her disability by creating powerful images out of wooden canes, wheelchairs, and other unusual media.
By Lori A. Wood

“When I was three, I was on the couch taking a nap, and when I woke up, I was feverish and couldn’t move my right arm,” says Harriet Sanderson, an […]

Bill Lasher’s wheelchairs are stunning works of art.

Bill Lasher’s “Chopper Chair” (courtesy of Lasher Sport)

Bill Lasher Jr. makes beautiful custom wheelchairs for his company Lasher Sport (www.lashersport.com) out of a warehouse in Anchorage, Alaska. A United Spinal member, and longtime Alaska resident, Lasher became paralyzed during a skiing accident when he was in […]

It took an injury for Kitty Lunn to return to her beloved dance
and make it her life.

By Linda A. Cronin

“The dancer inside me doesn’t care about the wheelchair,” says Kitty Lunn, artistic director of Infinity Dance Theater. “She just wanted to keep dancing.” (Photo by Dan Demetriad)

Kitty Lunn always wanted to be a […]

In March, we asked artists among United Spinal Association’s membership to send us samples of their work along with statements about what effect, if any, their spinal cord injury or disorder has had on their art. We think you will be as impressed as we were by the diversity of real talent among your fellow […]

Two friends from the Bronx rap about living with spinal cord injury.

By Michael Lee

The friendship of Ricardo Velasquez (left) and Norris Namel, formed out of their shared experience as disabled men from the same project in the Bronx, preceded their partnership in music.

Norris Namel, 25, was celebrating his sister’s sweet 16. Namel, […]

United Spinal and other disability groups got a sneak peak at the accessible cabs of the future. The only item missing is a plan on how and when they will be made available.

By Terry Moakley

The Standard—the first purpose-built accessible sedan taxi—was a hit at an accessible cab summit held in New York City in April.

More […]

By Jenny M. Lieberman, MSOTR/L, ATP
As a clinician responsible for evaluating clients for wheelchairs for more than 10 years, I have developed an appreciation for and an understanding of the importance of a thorough assessment for those clients who are wheelchair mobile.
For each of my clients, multiple factors must be considered. The results of a […]

By Leonard J. Selfon, JD, CAE
Some people would say that the more things change, the more they stay the same. With some things, however, we would have to respectfully disagree. As you may know, United Spinal Association has had a long history of assisting veterans, both with and without disabilities, in securing their civil rights, […]

By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Waiting in line to make a purchase at a department store this morning, a woman asked if I was shopping alone. “No, I’m with my daughter,” I responded before realizing why she asked the question.
I use a manual wheelchair and had several items piled in my lap. She was surprised there was […]

By Ed Lash

As I mentioned in part one of this article in the previous issue, I was amazed at the answers I received when I asked at my multiple sclerosis (MS) support groups, “Do you perspire?” A number of people told me they did not perspire at all, or perspired hardly at all. Many had […]

By Rosemarie Rossetti, PhD
Of course, most of us want to live in pleasant, not to say “beautiful,” surroundings. We often think in terms of colors, patterns, schemes, shades, and so on. Many people are so concentrated on form when they think of home design that they all but forget function. I can’t afford that luxury.
The […]

by Kathleen M. Muldoon

Yvette Silver www.yvettesilver.com

Dear Gran,
I hate summer camp.
I hate fresh air.
I hate sleeping under the stars and getting bit up by mosquitoes.
The other campers hate everything too.
Please send me a train ticket to come home.
Love, Kathleen
That is the letter I sent my grandmother after my first night at summer camp. It was […]

Safe at home! This play was part of the action at the first ever wheelchair softball tournament to be held at a Disney park. Hosted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays wheelchair softball team, the tourney was held at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. (Photo courtesy of Cynthia Crank, Pages of Life)

By Tom […]