By Rosemarie Rossetti, PhD
I am in the early stages of designing the landscape for my new home, the Universal Design Living Laboratory. This home and garden will be open for tours to the public when it is completed, estimated to be spring 2009. My husband and I purchased a 1.5-acre treeless lot and will […]

United Spinal New York Jets quad rugby team. A force to be reckoned with!

Off you can go into the wild blue yonder.
By E. M. Treston

“Do you want to fly?” asked the voice on the other line.
“Do I wanna what?” I asked, perplexed.
“Fly,” stated the voice.
“Ya mean like an airplane?” Suddenly I remembered that I had e-mailed a company I found on the […]

By Tom Scott

Adaptive sports gets a fuel injection.
What is the most heart-stomping, adrenaline-inducing adaptive sport in the world today? Some might say rugby, or maybe basketball or hockey, but times are changing fast. Strap yourself into a kart and rocket to speeds in excess of 60 mph with your backside about 2 inches […]

Compiled by Tom Scott
United Spinal Association has received a generous donation from Pontiac and General Motors Corporation of Motorati Island in the Second Life (SL), a Web-based virtual reality community. You can learn more about the newly-named Motorability Island at www.unitedspinal.org/motorability/.
Motorability Island in SL is a vast, complex with seven separate simulated environments […]

United Spinal Association, in partnership with Joe Hurley and the Bart J. Ruggiere Adaptive Sports Center of Peru, Vermont, took to the slopes of Bromley Mountain, Vermont on Saturday, February 23rd and Sunday, February 24th to host a skiing clinic for United Spinal members. Participants received two full days of lessons including extensive one-on-one […]

Chicago’s Focus on Accessibility Could Be Key in Bid for 2016 Summer
Olympics
By Tom Scott

Linda Mastandrea, Paralympian and
Chicago 2016 VP of Sport & Accessibility

While the Windy City is famous for a lot of things, one of the least mentioned is its good accessibility. But Chicago is making great strides at offering […]

By Craig Kennedy
If Christopher Reeve were alive today, the first piece of advice he would have for us all would be to live for today. Despite all the work he did to find a cure for paralysis, Reeve lived in order to find a way to make each day better. He strived to improve […]

Compiled by Tom Scott
Local Wheelchair Quad Rugby Team Sweeps to D.C. Area Tournament Title
The United Spinal Association New York Jets quad rugby team won five straight matches over two days to win the First Annual Capitol Clash wheelchair quad rugby tournament held at the Hoop Magic Sports Academy in Chantilly, Virginia, at the […]

By Tom Scott

PepsiCo Hosts “Sports Spectacular” for Youth With Disabilities
PepsiCo’s campus in Purchase, New York was the most recent site of United Spinal Association’s “Kids Sports Spectacular”––a fun-filled and exciting event for children with varying disabilities that teaches the importance of self-esteem, teamwork, and friendship through participation in wheelchair sports including basketball, […]

Subway Series at Shea: United Spinal Mets bat against the United Spinal Yankees in the 2007 Major League Wheelchair Softball Tournament in New York City in September.

Wheelchair Softball Hits Homerun at Shea
The rainy weather wasn’t going to dampen the spirits of the fans who came out to watch the final game of the […]

The 2007 United Spinal Navigators

United Spinal Association Helps Give MLB Fans a Showcase of Wheelchair Softball
On July 7 and 8, United Spinal Association helped promote the game of wheelchair softball during the Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Fan Fest, which was held this year at the Moscone Centre in San Francisco, California.
Wheelchair softball athletes […]

United Spinal Association and wheelchair athletes the world over lost a close friend and tireless advocate last month.
by Rob Ingraham

Albert Youakim, a nationally known pioneer in the early development of wheelchair sports and a tireless advocate for people with disabilities, died Sunday, August 19, at the age of 82.
Youakim, an influential coach, […]

I expect many of you will be on vacation this month (as will I), and will therefore be interested in the theme of many of the articles in this issue: Recreation.

Planning a mile-high vacation? Here are three ways to have extreme fun in Colorado for the adventure-loving adaptive sportsperson.
By Andrea J. Kennedy

Downhill mountain bikers can test their skills on stairs at the top of the trail leading to the road down the mountain.

Colorado is one of the most adventurous destinations in the world. Lovers […]

Therapeutic riding offers many people with spinal cord disorders a fun way to improve balance, mental outlook and overall health.
By Celina R. De León

Brenda Smith (in chair) gave up most sports when she began
raising her children, but recently she’s discovered a
passion for horseback riding.

Brenda Smith of central Florida said it was three years ago when […]

Tripping the light fantastic can be good for your health and for your social life.
By Kelly Rouba

Cleveland’s Dancing Wheels modern dance company. People of all abilities can use any or all parts of their bodies to move to the music. (Photo by Dale Dong, courtesy of Dancing Wheels)
As a young man living in […]

A respected recreation association shows how you can start a program for your own local wheelchair sports heroes.

Members of the Grand Rapids Wheelchair Sports Association Sports Camp team, one of the group’s many events promoting adaptive activities for people with disabilities.
By Michael Lee
Luanne Westenbroek, a tennis enthusiast from Grand Rapids, Michigan, first learned about wheelchair […]

Whether you want to grow healthy vegetables, a beautiful bed of flowers, plants to attract butterflies, perennials, tropical or desert plants; a garden is a worthwhile endeavor and can reap great rewards.
By Linda Stango, AIA

A computer generated image of a raised garden bed demonstrates just how easy and accessible gardening can be for wheelchair […]

Vincent Laffaille

Vincent “Vixente” Laffaille, 29, of Agos-Vidalos in southwestern France, is president of his local Wheelchair Rugby Club. Action recently asked him about his life as a person with spinal cord injury in France. Here is his story:

I am paraplegic at T-7–8 from an accident. I did my rehab at the rehab center of Bagnères […]