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Jonathan Wolpaw, MD, surveyed the state of brain-computer interfaces
in his keynote address to the American Paraplegia Society.
Spinal cord health care professionals make this year’s conference in Las Vegas one to remember, setting the bar high for next year’s meetings in Orlando.
By Rob Ingraham and Chris Pierson
“I never thought I would wax sentimental about the Riviera,” said American Paraplegia Society (APS) President Indira Lanig, MD, at the beginning of the first session of APS’s 52nd conference at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas last month, “but this week, I do find myself waxing sentimental. Coming here [...]
Some states have been slow to ensure that voters with disabilities have equal access to the process.
By John P. Herrion
A ballot-marking device for people with disabilities is demonstrated at United Spinal headquarters. All voting machines are required to be accessible after January 1, 2007.
In 2002, President Bush signed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) into law. HAVA provides federal funding for states to improve election administration and replace outdated voting systems. Its provisions require education for voters concerning voting procedures, rights and technology, and training for poll workers and volunteers to effectively administer the voting process. Other obligations under [...]
Alex Pitts was born quadriplegic, his twin brother Ryan was not. This month they will be entering kindergarten together. Like most twins, they have many similarities, but their levels of ability and needs are very different. How will this affect their experience at school?
By Rob Ingraham
Six years ago, Melissa Pitts gave birth to twin boys. Ryan arrived healthy, but for his brother Alex, something went wrong in delivery. Before he had a chance to take his first breath, Alex sustained a C-6-7 spinal cord injury (SCI) and entered the world quadriplegic.
As a physical therapist experienced in [...]
Camp Courage, in the wilds of Minnesota, is a place for every ability to learn and have fun.
By Tiffiny Carlson
Garrison Keillor had it right when he said Minnesota was a land unto itself. With its 10,000 lakes and abundance of untouched forests, it’s the kind of place where a storyteller can close his eyes and conjure a whole world out of the imagination. And that’s kind of what Courage Center, a physical rehabilitation center in the Twin Cities, did when it imagined and then realized Camp Courage in 1955 as the ultra-accessible environment for people with disabilities.
Since its inception, Camp [...]
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 getting to 10 mph and above.
Some other things haven’t changed. Many areas still do not have good curb cuts (or any), or for that matter there may be no sidewalks at all. Then there is human nature. That hasn’t changed either. You have the [...]
UNITED SPINAL ACTION ALERT
On Monday, July 17, Senators Bingaman (D-NM) and Santorum (R-PA) introduced legislation to remove Medicare’s “in the home” restriction on mobility devices. Please ask your Senators to cosponsor this important legislation for people with disabilities!
Currently, Medicare will only cover mobility devices if beneficiaries need them for use inside their homes. If a beneficiary can function at home with a manual wheelchair, but needs a power wheelchair to go to work, the doctor, or the local grocery store, Medicare will only pay for a manual wheelchair. This “in the home” rule severely restricts the independence of people [...]
What’s good news for people with disabilities who want to use taxis in New York City is good news for people with disabilities nationwide.
By Terry Moakley
At the end of May, partly as a result of advocacy by United Spinal and other local groups, the New York City Council passed a law that soon will raise the total of hybrid or clean-air taxis to 273 and wheelchair- accessible cabs to 231. In a joint press release issued by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s office on the day of this vote, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn stated, “We have a responsibility to [...]
A proposed federal law would require newly constructed, federally assisted single-family homes to be made accessible to persons with disabilities.
By John Herrion
In March 2005, Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois (D9th) introduced an innovative piece of legislation, the Inclusive Home Design Act, that would require all newly constructed, federally assisted, single- family homes and town houses to be built so that they are accessible to persons with disabilities.
While United Spinal Association is pleased with the introduction of this legislation, there remains much work to be done to make this bill law.
People with disabilities face significant challenges in finding housing [...]
Congress needs to change the antiquated policy that leaves many trapped in their homes.
By Alaine Perry
Phyllis Johnson (not her real name), who is 77 years old and has multiple medical problems including heart disease and chronic leg pain, cares for her granddaughter every day while her daughter, a United Spinal employee, goes to work. Phyllis can walk well enough to get around inside her house, but she tires rapidly when she tries to walk any distance. She really needs a wheelchair to get around outside-a power wheelchair, because she is not strong enough to push a manual wheelchair herself.
Unfortunately, [...]
By Tiffiny Carlson
At age 14, I became a complete C-6 quad, without the ability to transfer. Typical story: shallow water, drowning, resuscitation, three months of rehab, then shipped back home.
Of course, depression followed. Mine lasted nearly three years. I simply couldn’t see any reason to be happy. Little did I know a one- month trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico—four years after my injury—would help me see something other than self-pity, and that was gratefulness.
My family decided to take us four kids on a month-long vacation to Mexico around Christmas 1997. I was in full-swing, post-high school rehab at the [...]
A former champion bodybuilder rediscovers physical fitness following diagnosis for MS.
By Lori A. Wood
“I started exercising and joined a gym when I was 13 years old,” says Paul O’Lone, Founder and Executive Director of Accessible Fitness, www.accessiblefitness.com, a fitness center for people with disabilities, located in Santa Clara, California. “In 1979 or ‘80, somebody gave me a box of bodybuilding magazines and I saw these pictures of Arnold Schwarzenegger and said, ‘I would like to look like that someday.’ I started exercising, did my first bodybuilding show when I was 15 and placed third in it. By the time I [...]
In New York City, a shelter opens to house people with disabilities who are escaping from abusive relationships.
By Jennifer M. Rodriguez
After years of abuse, and being taken across the country from New York City to California by her abuser who then abandoned her and kidnapped her children, Theresa McIntosh was left to fend for herself in an unfamiliar place with no money, resources, family or friends. Just when it seemed as if things couldn’t get worse, Theresa was dealt yet another unlucky card, when a car ran over her while she was crossing a Los Angeles street and which subsequently [...]
By Linda A. Cronin
Do you find it difficult or impossible to transfer to the exam table at your doctor’s office? Do you ever need to be lifted by staff? Has the nurse ever skipped weighing you because the scale is inaccessible? Have you been examined while sitting in your wheelchair? Do you find it tough to access the office because of heavy doors, few parking spaces, hidden ramps, or narrow hallways?
For me, the answer to all the above is yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Time after time, the quality of effective medical care I receive is compromised when I [...]
By Rosemarie Rossetti, PhD
A documentary crew films the author and her young design team at the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. (Photo courtesy of Mark Leder)
I never paid much attention to the thought process that went into lighting a home until it was time to build my own. When I built my first home 11 years ago, I relied on an interior designer friend of mine to place the lighting. My new home, the Universal Design Living Laboratory (which I described in the March 2006 Action), will be a national model for universal design. This time I’m doing [...]
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 million in cash and $5 million in gift cards).
If you use a wheelchair or scooter for mobility and and shopped at a Kmart store between May 6, 2003 and July 7, 2006 in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon or Texas, you may be eligible [...]
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 some of the most unlikely spots for wheelchairs on the planet: Ed Rymut of Eco-Adventure International, based in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.
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, Travel Coordinator, ABLE to Travel
United Spinal Association
75-20 Astoria Boulevard
Jackson Heights, NY 11370
Dear Jolly,
We have returned from a wonderful vacation in Costa Rica! And we would like to thank you very much for your help in making arrangements that worked out [...]
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 tips which, if followed, will assure that air travelers with disabilities have a pleasant trip:
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 are just a few of the findings of a 2005 study by Harris Interactive in coordination with the Open Doors Organization (ODO), a Chicago-based nonprofit, and the Travel Industry Association of America (TIAA). (For more information, please visit www.opendoorsnfp.org. Copies of the 2005 market study are [...]
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 group must give the airline 48 hours advanced notice and check in at the gate one hour before departure. In reality, the group leader or the travel agent booking the group trip will contact the airline at the time of booking in order to obtain any special [...]
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