People who surf will tell you that there is something immensely freeing and satisfying in riding a wave and feeling the power of the ocean. After losing a leg in a car accident, Dana Cummings discovered that freedom and made it his mission to share it with other disabled people.

AmpSurf, short for the Association of Amputee Surfers, was founded by Dana and is a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities learn to surf. Many of them can’t imagine that they’d be able to get on a surfboard, and nearly all of them are nervous, but they all end up surfing.

Dana has said that he just wants everyone to be able to feel the rehabilitative power of surfing and the ocean, and this video shows that he is making a difference.

Congratulations to you Dana, and thank you for improving the lives of so many people.

Recently we filmed a video with Luc showing how his Dodge Sprinter conversion van can be used as both a wheelchair passenger van and a camper alternative to an expensive and gas-guzzling motor home. The van is equipped with a wheelchair lift and an EZ-lock system to securely lock a wheelchair in the passenger side of the van. The van has a few basic camper facilities such as a microwave, a refrigerator, a sink, a water tank with an external water hookup for refilling at a campground, a ceiling fan, storage cabinets, window shades,  110V electrical power outlet and two solar panels on top of the roof to keep the batteries charged. There is room for two people to sleep in the back of the van and a ceiling lift makes it easy to do transfers between a wheelchair and the bed.

Luc and his wife have two dogs that can safely come along for the ride because there is room underneath one of the beds to secure two dog crates. The Sprinter van is quite a bit larger than standard minivans, which leaves Luc some room to maneuver around in his wheelchair, something he hasn’t been able to in any other van.

Watch the video below to check out the interior of the conversion van and the wheelchair accessible features. And for more information read our earlier article about Camping in a Dodge Sprinter Van.

Free Wheelchair Mission was founded in 1999 by Don Schoendorfer, who has a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after he was inspired by the sight of a physically disabled woman in Morocco crawling across a dirt road. It certainly adds a challenge to life when you have a mobility disability. But setting that aside, the people who are physically challenged living in the more developed countries – like myself – may in some regard consider themselves lucky compared to those living in the poorer countries where access to the most basic wheelchair is practically non-existent.

Don took note of that unfairness and came up with the idea of creating a simple, durable and inexpensive wheelchair that would be distributed free to those in need on a non-discriminatory basis. As you can see from the picture, the wheelchairs are made using bicycle wheels and a cheap plastic patio chair. Now, how ingenious is that?

The cost of one wheelchair is around $60.00.  That is hardly anything when you think of the huge difference that one of these chairs can make in the life of someone in need, whose alternative would be to crawl across the dirt or being moved around in a wheelbarrow. So far Free Wheelchair Mission has given away nearly half a million wheelchairs in 77 developing countries.

One of my favorite anecdotes confirming what a difference this wheelchair can make is a story I read in the Los Angeles Times. It’s about a 5-year-old boy in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The boy lived in an orphanage for disabled children, where he spent most of his time lying on the floor except for trips to the bathroom. A week after the boy was given his new chair, the Free Wheelchair Mission representative who delivered the wheelchair was heading to the airport when he caught a glimpse of something familiar on the side of the street. It was a wheelchair. The little boy was in it being pushed by an older boy who was running. The boys were laughing.

Don, keep up the great work!

To learn more about the Free Wheelchair Mission, visit their website at http://www.freewheelchairmission.org

I’m not sure whether this should be classified as a wheelchair or a tank… take a look and let us know what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsyDqlRrSWE&feature=fvsr

Phaedra Marriott-Olsen has been crowned Miss Wheelchair USA 2010. The Miss Wheelchair USA competition is very similar to the traditional Miss USA contest.  “The largest difference is that we did not do a swimsuit competition,” Phaedra said.  The contestants are judged on appearance, their accomplishments and goals. One of the major differentiators is that they are also judged for the work they do as leaders in the field for women with disabilities. The goal of the Miss Wheelchair America pageant is to promote glamour, self-confidence and community service. “Society just doesn’t think women in chairs are beautiful and the reality is we’re pretty amazing,” Phaedra said.

Phaedra Marriott-Olsen, Miss Wheelchair USA 2010

Phaedra became disabled in 1996 after being hit by a drunk driver, but she didn’t let her tragic accident stop her from making strides toward preventing more drunk driving incidents from happening. Instead she took on the position of Director of Services for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

Phaedra is an inspiration and a role model for women with disabilities. She now represents others in wheelchairs throughout the country and she plans to travel across the country to attend various events to promote individuals with disabilities.

“Just because you have a disability, does not make you a different part of society,” Phaedra said. ”We can still be active, intelligent people in our society. That’s my biggest goal.”

For more information about Miss Wheelchair USA, visit mswheelchairusa.org.

Have you heard about the National Organization on Disability? If not, you are missing out an important resource to help you live life to the fullest as a disabled person. Founded in 1982, the National Organization on Disability is supported by grants from such notable organizations as the Ford Foundation, Lockheed-Martin, UPS, and the American Red Cross, just to name a few.

The mission of the National Organization on Disability (NOD) is to expand the participation and contribution of America’s 54 million men, women, and children with disabilities in all aspects of life. Our current focus is on improving employment prospects for America’s 33 million working-aged Americans with disabilities.

Although many of the programs of NOD are far-reaching and have impact at the state level, they still have plenty or resources to help the disabled. If you have a few minutes, take a look at what they have to offer.

National Organization on Disability

Anyone who has had to purchase a wheelchair accessible van, ramp van, or a lift van knows how expensive the customization can be. Taking a factory made van, lowering the floor, and installing a ramp is a labor intensive process. Nearly all of these vans are customized by relatively small specialty shops, and while these shops often do great work, factory support isn’t there if something goes wrong.

The MV-1

So we were excited to see that the first factory built wheelchair accessible van will be available soon. Dubbed the “MV-1″, and looking like a cross between a truck and a minivan, this new vehicle could prove to be very useful.

Wheelchair Pride has a nice story on this great new vehicle – you can see their article here for more information.

President Obama addressed a ceremony honoring the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, calling it “one of the most comprehensive civil rights bills in the history of this country.”

The law requires buildings, transportation facilities, and commercial facilities to be accessible to the physically challenged and guarantees employee rights for people with disabilities.  President Obama said that the ADA has served to “tear down the physical and social barriers” and stressed “not dependence, but independence”. The President also signed an executive order designed to improve enforcement of the ADA.

Now the ADA’s impact is everywhere: wheelchair lifts on city buses, signs in Braille, sign-language interpreters. Yes, there is still a long way to go. Yet in redefining the terms of disability, the ADA made us impossible to ignore. By now people should understand we’re just part of the human landscape, and we’re here to stay.

Though the ADA established rights, it has not reduced the need for advocacy. For example, people with disabilities have always had difficulty finding jobs. In fact, there is a 42% employment gap that separates working-age people with and without disabilities in the workforce, according to Cornell University researchers. The ADA has laid a foundation, but more work is left to be done.

You can see the entire ceremony honoring the 20^th anniversary of the ADA, including Obama’s speech here:

Aaron Fotheringham has taken a fact of life for him – being in a wheelchair – and converted that into something that can show others the power of resilience. In the first 20 seconds of this video, Aaron falls or crashes several times. It’s not the crashes that are important, though. It’s that he gets back up, keeps trying new tricks, and has almost single-handedly created the extreme sport of hardcore sitting.

We think Aaron is great and hope he keeps trying tricks and keeps living his dream.

UC Berkeley may be one of the most accessible, disabled-friendly universities in the United States. Much of that is thanks to one man, Ed Roberts.

Roberts, who became a quadriplegic after contracting polio as a teenager, was admitted as a student in 1962 to the Berkeley campus. He immediately found difficulty in obtaining campus housing, however, as campus housing officials refused to accommodate the 800-lb iron lung he had to sleep in.

Roberts used this as motivation, found housing, and eventually helped launch the Physically Disabled Students Program at the Cal campus. Rather than allow himself and others to be discriminated against, Roberts was part of creating an organization that changed disability attitudes and increased disability advocacy across the U.S.

So on January 23 next year, remember Ed Roberts and the extraordinary efforts he made to increase the opportunities for the disabled.

You can read the full story of Ed Roberts at the UC Berkeley web site.