The Convenience of a Wheelchair Tray

Need someplace to put a magazine down and read easily? What about having a convenient way to eat inside or outside? If you’ve been looking for something like this, a wheelchair tray might be an amazingly useful accessory for your wheelchair. Easily attached and detached, a wheelchair tray provides a convenient and easy surface for holding anything you want to keep close by. For a paraplegic, quadriplegic, or anyone using a wheelchair, it’s a really useful accessory. In this video, Luc shows some of the benefits he gets from his wheelchair tray.

Fitness and Being Physically Disabled

For some people, hearing “you can’t” is enough to make them say “I can.” That was the case for Jothy Rosenberg when he lost a leg and parts of a lung to cancer. Having a disability strengthened his resolve to work harder than able-bodied people to be able to accomplish even more than he might have had he not become disabled.

Jothy focused on endurance sports and using the effort from that as a motivator for everything else in his life. Many able-bodied people have discovered the self-confidence that is gained from competing and completing endurance events such as triathlons and marathons, and it’s true that many disabled persons could benefit from the same type of strength and inner confidence as well.

Looking at Jothy, who swims 5 miles a week, takes spin class, and cycles, one can’t help but be inspired by his dedication to use his disability to inspire and motivate himself.

Jothy’s story is inspiring – you really owe it yourself to take a look at his website, WhoSaysICan’t.org

Sip and Puff Sailor Hilary Lister Takes on New Challenge

Hilary Lister is a one-of-a-kind woman when it comes to determination. She has been using a wheelchair since she was 15 years old due to an illness called reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a degenerative neurological disorder, but she didn’t let her disease get in the way of reinventing her dreams.

First disabled woman to sail solo around Britain

Hillary gradually became a quadriplegic paralyzed from the neck down and is only able to move her head, eyes and mouth and needs to rely on other people for pretty much everything she needs. She also has a hard time breathing and just doing an interview might exhaust her. Despite of these setbacks she became the first woman with a disability to sail solo around Britain, which is approximately a 1600 mile journey, in 2009 at the age of 36. But the way she accomplished her triumph really pushed the boundaries of what is achievable in her condition without the use of arms and legs.

The sip and puff sailboat system

She was all alone in her sailboat strapped into a chair braving the rough open seas for many days. During the entire journey she basically relied on three straws to operate her sailboat. Being a quadriplegic myself, I can only imagine the “what if” thoughts of some potential disaster going around in your head when you’re all by yourself roughing the high waves with limited mobility. But at the same time, I can also relate to a statement she made during an interview with CNN: “When you leave the quayside, you leave behind the stresses of everyday life. Any sailor will tell you that. If you multiply that sense of freedom a thousand times, that’s how I feel. I leave behind my wheelchair, a team of caretakers and suddenly it’s just me.”

A Canadian engineer invented the sip and puff system that allows Hilary to control the sailboat through a series of commands she can give by either blowing or sucking through the straws, which are hooked up by pressure sensors to electric servo motors. For example, a puff in one of the straws works the tiller to go to port and a sip makes it go to starboard.

Sailing around Bahrain as next challenge

Hillary aims to assist other disabled or disadvantaged people accomplish their sailing dreams and therefore she has set up her own charity, Hilary’s Dream Trust. On April 13 she will be ready to take on her next challenge by sailing 100 miles around the Kingdom of Bahrain to raise funds for Bahrain Mobility International, which provides services to disabled people throughout the country.

Personally, I love Hillary’s motto: “Just go for it – live your dreams! We all have that same choice don’t we? You can live your dreams, or you can put up with the cards you’ve been dealt – I know which I choose every time.”

If you would like to read more about this remarkable woman, Hilary Lister, feel free to check out her website.

Wheelchair Accessibility at Environmentally Sustainable Tara Firma Farms

Recently we had the chance to visit a local, organic, and sustainable farm and want to share the amazing experience we had there learning about farm practices and how easy it can be to eat local and healthy. Read more

Automated Transport and Retrieval System for Wheelchairs Enables Driver Independence

Many wheelchair users transfer from their wheelchair to the driver’s seat but need to rely on another person to stash the chair in the car, limiting the driver’s independence. Thanks to a new technological invention, a laser-guided robotic wheelchair can now stash itself in the car. With the push of a few buttons on a remote control the wheelchair rolls by itself to the back of the vehicle where it is picked up by a motorized lift and guided inside where it securely locks itself. This whole process is reversed after the driver arrives at the destination. The system has been designed to work under various challenging conditions such as rain and darkness.

We are always excited to learn about new technologies that aid people with a disability, in this case giving disabled drivers more freedom. See a demo of this system in the video below.

Easily Getting In and Out of Doors in a Wheelchair

Being able to move through doors with ease, especially into and out of your own home, is crucial for any person in a wheelchair. Needing to rely on someone to open a door for you eliminates one of the most basic freedoms humans crave – the freedom to move around at will. That’s why making sure that your home is accessible and set up to allow you to get in and out of doors easily is so crucial if you’re using a wheelchair.

Luc shows how his home is set up with both an automatic front door and special handles on sliding glass doors that he, as a quadriplegic, can open easily. If you have any tips about what works for you in your home we’d love to hear what you have to share too!

Disabled Digital Artist Andrew Reach Shows His Work At Wounded In Action Exhibition

DisabledandProductive is excited that disabled artist Andrew Reach, who we interviewed last year – Interview with Digital Artist Andrew Reach – was selected with his work March of Humanity for a very special Art Exhibition of Orthopaedic Advancements, Wounded in Action. This exhibition features the art by soldiers, military personnel, surgeons and even civilians like Andrew who have been inspired by the brave fight our wounded veterans battle every day.

Andrew created his work March of Humanity as a statement of hope for a better future without war. From the violent vortex of energy at the focal point of the image emerge peaceful beings, he calls “whimsies”. “Like musical notes in a symphony, they are reborn in brilliant colors. With freedom comes the ability of all of us to reach our greatest potential,” he says.

About Andrew Reach’s Motivation

Andrew Reach began creating computer-generated art when it became too physically challenging for him to continue as an architect, due to the chronic pain from Scheuermann’s disease. This condition, which usually starts in adolescence, causes the vertebrae to grow unevenly, increasing the curvature of the upper spine. When Reach had two surgeries for progressive symptoms of this disease, the bravery of those wounded in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars inspired him and helped him overcome his own obstacles from the disease. Working with the Art Therapy Studio at Metrohealth Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, Andrew and his life partner Bruce Baumwoll are developing a program to introduce computer graphics. From this pilot program, they hope to bring computers into the VA to help our wounded veterans to heal. Andrew hopes his artwork will inspire them and others in difficult circumstances to overcome great obstacles, including the emotional pain induced by war. “Having my own orthopaedic condition and disability has tested me more than any experience in my life, especially my worth as a person,” he says.

click here to see the Wounded in Action website

Exhibits

March 9–13, 2010
Morial Convention Center, La Nouvelle Ballroom.
New Orleans, LA

April 26-30, 2010
Russell Senate Office Rotunda
Washington, D.C.

May through November 2010
National Museum of Health and Medicine at Walter Reed

Russian Wheelchair Breakdancer Makes Amazing Moves

Being in a wheelchair doesn’t have to stop you from achieving your dreams. When Maksim Sedakov from St Petersburg, Russia lost his leg in a car accident and ended up using a wheelchair, he was determined to prove that his condition would not prevent him from doing the thing he enjoys most.

Maksim picked up a passion for wheelchair dancing, participated in dance tournaments all over the globe and even competed in world championships. Maksim’s attitude is a real motivator for others. He continued to trust himself and his abilities. I like his attitude: “Don’t let other people discourage you when they say you are unable to do certain things. You can do so much more than you think, like dancing in a wheelchair.”

Using a Standing Wheelchair at a Bar!

One of our favorite features of a standing wheelchair is (obviously) that it can stand but even better is that through standing you have the ability to interact on a face-to-face level with others who are standing. As a disabled person, anything that you can do that can normalize your ability to connect with others can be a huge benefit to your confidence and self-esteem.

So, for fun, we decided to head to a bar and have Luc stand up and order his drinks right at the bar. It’s a little loud, but it does show you one of the really cool benefits of a standing wheelchair.

We also have some related posts:

Video of the Benefits of Using a Standing Wheelchair.

Our full story on getting your body ready for, and then using a standing wheelchair as a quadriplegic.

The 2010 Winter Paralympic Games Are Almost Here

The 2010 Winter Olympics have ended, but there are still plenty of Olympians in Vancouver waiting for their chance to compete – the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games are set to begin on March 12.

Featuring Ice Sledge Hockey, Wheelchair Curling, Alpine Skiing, the Biathlon, and Cross-Country Skiing, the Winter Paralympics will have just as much competition, grit and drama as the Winter Olympics, and even more inspiration. Take the amount of time and commitment it takes to become an Olympian, and now multiply it by the guts and drive it takes to do so while also battling a disability and you’ve got the essence of a Paralympian.

Disabled World has an exhaustive selection of information about the Paralympics, and a ton of great news can be found at the official site for the 2010 Winter Paralympics.

Good luck to all the inspiring athletes!