Two brothers go to Easter Seals camp...

Mini-Doc: Brothers Camp from Christine Lee on Vimeo.

In this 2008 video, two brothers share some of their experiences at an Easter Seals camp.

Adapting a Violin

George Muller, born with aphalangia, won violin lessons but couldn't play the instrument right-handed. A teacher came up with a solution: she reversed the strings and moved the chin rest, but the sound wasn't right.

Claire Givens designed her first left-handed violin for George, which was made in Beijing. George is now playing along with his teacher. We wish him many happy hours with his new instrument!

Mobi-Chairs: Wheelchairs that Float

So today I have time to blog about floating wheelchairs, called Mobi-Chairs, that allow folks to go over the sand and into the water. Very cool. I saw links to articles about these and wanted to share a video (below) and a link to an article.



Update: A reader emailed to ask if these are available for purchase. I did find them for sale here. Please feel free to leave any other links about where they can be purchased in the comments.

Disaboom also has an article about four beach wheelchairs which you may want to check out.

Carter in his Batmobile

More Halloween costumes! Here's Carter and his wheelchair Batmobile!

Grommet Island: Beach Park & Playground for EveryBODY

Grommet Island Park in Virginia Beach, the first accessible beach park and playground in the country, will have its Grand Opening on May 22, 2010 at 1:30 p.m.

via its site:

JT’s Grommet Island Beach Park and Playground For EveryBODY will be the first of its kind in America. The idea was born when Josh Thompson’s family wanted to go to the beach, but he stayed behind because of the difficulty of getting his wheelchair to the beach, across the sand and down to the surf. They wondered how many more people never got to the beach for the same reason. The park idea was born. Bruce Thompson, Josh’s dad, took the idea of a 100% handicap accessible oceanfront park to the City of Virginia Beach where it was embraced with enthusiasm. Land has been allocated and plans are underway. Josh and everyone else with disability will have their day at the beach with your help.

This video shows a diagram of the park.

Camps for kids who use communication devices

via YouTube:

The Advancing Adventures in Communicating Camp offers a rare opportunity for children who use communication devices & their parents to meet many other children who use Alternative or Augmentative Communication devices. The Camp provides them with a safe & fun environment in which they can learn through one on one instruction, interact socially with supportive and understanding counselors and peers, and be accepted and treated with respect; all while having the time of their lives. For more information, please contact Anne Kuhlmeier, CCC-SLP-ATP at akuhlmeier@ierh.org. Our website is coming soon! The camp is primarily Sponsored by St. Luke's Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Services and Idaho State University and is run by well trained volunteers who are Speech-Language Pathologists & Graduate Students in Communication Sciences & Disorders.



For a list of more AAC camps, please go here.

Morgan's Wonderland, Large Theme Park for People with Disabilities, Opens Tomorrow

A father's wish to provide a place for people with disabilities to play, "where the words 'couldn't', 'shouldn't' and 'can't' weren't part of the vocabulary", has resulted in the creation of the first large theme park in San Antonio for people with disabilities.



Morgan's Wonderland is free for people with disabilities. Caregivers or family members pay $5. To read an article about the opening, please go here.

You can visit the park's site here. Reservations are required.

Annual Easter egg hunt at Montana School for Deaf and Blind Children

These little ones at the Montana School for Deaf and Blind Children are very excited by their Easter egg hunt- complete with beeping eggs in bright colors and eye catching designs to help their search.



The article, which can be found here, contains most of the script from the video.

You can read about the technology behind the beeping eggs- and where you can get them- here.

via @fredshead on Twitter

Snow Scapades- of all kinds!

First, two young ladies:

Emma goes out for her first wheel in the snow this winter! She's particularly interested in how the tracks her chair make look in the snow.



Leah had some fun in her power chair checking out the snow:



And check out Westpac Snow Scapade, a day of fun in the snow for 60 kids with disabilities in New Zealand where volunteers assist parents in providing experiences for kids they haven't had before with adaptive sports in a mountain setting.



Trying out new things, opening up vistas- have fun out there!

Another free way to watch TV , news and more...Zinc

Since I'm cable-challenged due to budgetary considerations, I'm still looking for a way to use my TV set without a monthly fee - and I believe I have a lot of company.

Over the holiday weekend, I ran into a new program called Zinc (which can be downloaded here). Like Boxee, it aggregates various sources of TV shows and news, among other things and allows the viewer to watch videos and even add favorites of their own (like local weather) to it.

Zinc ran well and has a very colorful appearance. There were no crashes on my laptop-with-specs-fron-a-few-years-ago, nor did I run into annoying little delays with a swirling ball. As a result, it really did feel as if I was watching TV once I chose my program or movie. By the way, Zinc allows Netflix users with a subscription to view movies. It has a nice interface for that. It also includes Hulu, as well as ABC, NBC, Fox, WB, and many more.

And did I say it's free?

This video will give you an idea of what Zinc is like.



There's apparently also a box to allow viewing in multiple rooms. Or you can just watch on your computer or hook your computer up to your TV set, like I do.

Mobile Phone Christmas Music

Experience Mobile Mobile from James Théophane Jnr on Vimeo.

Enjoy!
via @nickdawson on Twitter

Can I have this dance- wheelchair users learn to dance

via YouTube:
A muscular dystrophy patient finds joy with wheelchair dancing at Sharp Grossmont Hospital- while other participants talk about their disabilities and dancing.

Toys for Quads

Just heard about the Mind Flex game which is a big hit this holiday. It's pricey, but not nearly as expensive (as we all know) as assistive technology.

via YouTube:

Daniel Sieberg spoke with Mattel's Jim Sheridan about their new mind control toy, Mind Flex. The game uses brain waves to power a fan that floats a ball through an obstacle course.




Then there's the Star Wars Force Trainer, which also uses "cutting edge brainwave technology", according to the description:



Consider it practice for all the brainwave products about to come out in assistive technology- that none of us will be able to afford :)

For my nephew...

..who is feeling a bit under the weather. I found this video made by Chris about a trip to ToysRUs and it reminded me of our good times!

Exercising from a wheelchair: the VitaGlide

One of my wheelchair tennis friends decided to buy a VitaGlide for her home after seeing positive reviews of it on message boards in the disability community. It's a piece of exercise equipment that wheelchair users can roll up to and use to get a good cardio workout. The VitaGlide, made in a tapered shape, surrounds the wheelchair and has handles on each side. The user pushes and pulls those back and forth repeatedly.

People say they are losing weight and building up shoulder and back muscles. This, among other things, it is claimed, helps to correct muscle imbalances which can prevent injury. They say it also helps improve the ability to push a wheelchair and do other tasks. I've never used one, so can't attest to any of this,but feel free to check around the internet for feedback from people who have used it.

This is the kind of equipment that would be a great addition to gyms as well as in home use. It sells for about a thousand dollars, can be used independently by wheelchair users and adapted with specialized grips for those with quadriplegia.

A video is shown below.

Vancouver Adapted Music Society's recording studio

A video about the Vancouver Adapted Music Society's free to use recording studio, along with other resources.

New to the blogroll: The Traveling Wheelchair

After spending nearly 20 years in a nursing home, Kenny now has an accessible home. I found his wonderful blog The Traveling Wheelchair, which rates places he goes to in terms of access, on a score of five to zero. This is a great access guide for others traveling in Massachusetts, where most of the recent places seem to be. Kenny describes parking facilities, ramps on beaches and things to do at each place.

There is also a section on DisabilityVoice , where you can get your own web page for advocacy issues.

His blog also contains a lot of disability-related information, including legislation , the ADA, and other links.


I really like his mission statement:

"To help make the world more sensitive, respectful, safer and accessible to all."

Accessing nature

A number of years ago,I was fortunate enough to be able to go with the Ski for Light organization on their summer trip. With assistance, I was able to tandem kayak, enjoy swimming and go on hikes. I'm very grateful for the volunteers who made this possible because, without their help, most of the activities wouldn't have been possible.

Every summer I'd like to participate in these things, but it isn't possible. There aren't enough volunteer organizations around for that to happen and, as a single woman with a disability, those in my life who are willing neither have the time nor energy to help me do things like kayak.

So it was with mixed feelings that I read an article this morning which seems to say that those who advocate for access to the wilderness through "motorized means" are being, well, selfish. The truth is that the only way I get a taste of nature is through my own means, which is my power chair. And, yes, I drive as close as I can to the site if access is an issue because often that's the only way to see things. If it weren't for the paved nature trails around where I live, I wouldn't be able to enjoy the parks around here, for example. As a person with quadriplegia, I do rely on man-made and motorized access to wilderness areas.

Although the author is well meaning by extolling her mother's virtues and talking about her experiences with volunteer organizations and within her own family, I find it rare that friends with disabilities can afford to pay helpers or have available family members to help them access nature and even more rare that they've found a volunteer organization to work with them to do it. The author seems to unnecessarily label people with disabilities as "selfish" for wanting to be able to enjoy the wilderness independently when, quite frankly, that's often the only option for so many.

May I suggest that a better approach for the author would be to engage in dialogue with members of the disability community who disagree with her view, to find out why their needs may differ before assigning labels. Although the people with disabilities she knows have certain views, that doesn't necessarily mean that those who disagree lack humility, as she seems to say. I'd also be curious to see where she wishes to draw these lines in the wilderness where man made access shouldn't be provided. How would she and others who share her views suggest handling a situation where a couple who are both in wheelchairs would like to travel independently by themselves, an often ignored reality?

I'm always reluctant to speak for everyone on these issues, so I'd be interested in hearing what readers have to say about this.

And you got us feelin' alright....

My blogging friend Blue Girl would have loved this. She's always keeping the music alive over at her blog.

Last night my friend-who-was-recession/unemployed-but-whew-got-a-job treated me to the Elton John/Billy Joel concert in Philly. It was great. I've never seen either of them in concert before, so it blew me away to see both of these musical talents together.

I found this clip on YouTube of Piano Man from another performance and it gives you an idea of what it was like. Very thrilling when the audience sang back to Billy Joel near the end. Here's a review. If you get a chance to see either of them in concert, go.



*
Speaking of music - if you're into Mozart, two pieces of his were recently played for the first time. You can listen to an audio clip and read about it here.

Wheelchair accessible treehouse

A beautiful day outside, so thought it would be great to put up this video of a wheelchair accessible treehouse.