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News
Los Angeles Abilities Expo Exceeds Expectations…Again
Abilities Expo kicked off the 2010 series of events with a slam dunk in Los Angeles. Coming off an extremely successful 2009 show in Anaheim, the Expo on April 9-11, 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center has staked its claim as the latest tough act to follow.
 By the end of the day on Sunday, 5,423 adults—a 17.5% increase over the 2009 attendance—had crossed the threshold to see latest products and services for people with disabilities, learn from dynamic workshops and engage in fun events and activities. An estimated 25% more of children also made a showing, bring the grand total to nearly 6,800 people.
“Responses across the board have been overwhelmingly positive,” said President and CEO David Korse. “We were thrilled to see so many old friends and new faces come to take advantage of all that Abilities Expo has to offer the community of people with disabilities.”
Featured products included everything from cutting-edge wheelchair designs to adaptive clothing to a musical instrument that is played by strumming beams of light. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Exhibiting companies enjoyed a tremendous response from attendees. “We redesigned our Assured Comfort line over the winter and reintroduced it at [the Los Angeles Abilities Expo]. It was a major success and resulted in upwards of 50 sales,” Joe Hallock, CEO of SleepSafe Beds, recounted.
The Assistive Technology Pavilion, complete with an Interactive Demo Lab sponsored by the Team of Advocates for Special Kids (TASK), was also a huge hit. Expo goers of all ages took advantage of this unique, interactive computer experience. It was IT with a little help from AT, and visitors had the opportunity to test drive adaptive computer equipment, software, toys, communication tools, blind/low vision equipment and much more.
 "Our experience with sponsoring the AT Pavilion [Interactive Demo Lab] has been wonderful,” said Laura Simmons-Martinez, Technology Project Director for TASK. “It was great seeing so many people interested in AT. It’s not everyday that we get to see so many parents and their kiddos interact for the first time with the different toys and low tech items. By Sunday evening, despite being exhausted, we all agreed that the entire weekend was a fantastic success!"
Attendees were also riveted by a series of informative workshops held right on the show floor. Sessions featured a panel of experts who fielded questions on a wide variety of important issues, tips on how to make your house a Home, Sweet Accessible Home, advice on intimacy and other compelling topics.
 The positive energy that was evident on the show floor turned into raw excitement for the fun, interactive and, at times, awe-inspiring events and activities. Crowds held there breath each day as Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham, the Guinness Book of World Record holder for the wheelchair back flip, plunged down a ramp and performed gravity-defying stunts on his wheelchair. Each time a bell sounded, visitors looked to see a fellow attendee of different abilities triumph as they reached the top of a 25-foot rock climbing wall with the help of adaptive climbing equipment. Onlookers shared in the emotion as the 2010 Ms. Wheelchair California was crowned. The Super X Fun course challenged all persons with disabilities to pit their navigation skills against the twists, turns and ramps of this wheelchair obstacle course.
“I had an awesome time,” said Expo attendee Rod Smith. “I loved it. It’s the most fun I’ve had since my accident.”
Abilities Expo will be back at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 15-17, 2011. In the meantime, we’re looking forward to the New York Metro show on May 21-23, 2010 at the New Jersey Convention & Expo Center in Edison, New Jersey.
Feature
Product Spotlight: Wheelchair Motorcycle
The Wheelchair Motorcycle by Mobility Conquest will be featured in the Ride-Away Handicap Equipment booth at the New York Metro Abilities Expo on May 21-23, 2010.
What can guarantee you freedom, the open road and the opportunity to stay bad to the bone? The Conquest Wheelchair Motorcycle. This motorcycle is the pinnacle engineering genius, innovative design and a pledge to ensure that the exhilaration of riding remain a present reality instead of a distant memory.
Those who are born to be wild, but can no longer ride a standard motorcycle can literally ride this bike from their wheelchairs. (See video.) An automatic rearward ramp allows the driver to mount the motorcycle, while a locking mechanism ensures a stable driving platform. Equipped with an 1170 CC engine, this three-wheel motorcycle tops out at a blistering 105 mph. How’s that for wind in your hair?
Masterminded by Alan Martin, the concept for the Conquest was a labor of love for his son, an avid biker whose injury had ended his ability to ride. Martin was determined his son would get to experience his passion again. After three years, painstaking efforts, five million dollars and multiple prototypes, testing and design modifications, Martin and his son realized their dream.
 They then discovered just how many people shared their aspirations, how many active paraplegics who would love nothing more than to ride again. At that point, the son’s passion which had become the father’s mission became a successful enterprise and reawakened the call to the open road for many motorcycle enthusiasts.
“It’s awesome to behold. A real ‘Batman meets Judge Dread’ hybrid,” one rider said. “I felt King of the Road.”
The Conquest’s ground-breaking design combines a high-end suspension at both ends of the motorbike that can accommodate the wheelchair user and a passenger without compromising handling and control. The chassis offers remarkable stability without losing the precise maneuverability for which motorcycles are famous. (See video.)
“I have been a paraplegic ever since my accident and each day I have missed the thrill of riding on the open road with the wind, the rush of adrenaline, and the freedom,” recalled another dedicated biker. “There is no feeling of freedom that compares to driving a motorcycle again. Thank you, Mobility Conquest, for helping me do what everyone told me I could never do again.”
See for yourself at the Ride-Away Handicap Equipment booth (#1134) at Abilities Expo New York Metro.
Feature
Meet the Star of the Oscar Winning Music By Prudence at Abilities Expo!
Music By Prudence will premiere on HBO2 on May 12 at 8:00pm/7:00pmC.
 On March 7, 2010, when the Academy Award in the category of Documentary Shorts went to Music By Prudence, it was a triumph on multiple levels. Not only was Roger Ross Williams the first African American director to win an Oscar for directing and producing a film, the work itself brought to light the challenges that people with disabilities face worldwide and the success they can achieve if given the opportunity.
The film tells the story of Prudence Mabhena and her band, Liyana, what it is like to live with disability in Africa and their determination to create a life filled with optimism and hope.
Prudence is a resilient young woman from Zimbabwe, where people believe disability is caused by witchcraft. In extreme cases, children born there with disabilities are even killed. Prudence’s own early life was a struggle for survival, striving to have her most basic needs met. She was often the victim of neglect and isolation. Often told that she was worthless, Prudence was despondent and even attempted suicide to escape the pain.
Life finally smiled on her when she received a scholarship to the remarkable school, King George VI School & Centre for Children with Physical Disabilities (KG6). Here Prudence received a wheelchair, care and an education. She made many friends. Slowly, she awakened...and then she began to sing.
Together with seven other students, Prudence formed Liyana, the most unlikely of bands. Liyana’s music soars with an Afro-fusion beat. The band hopes to record and tour, and when you listen to their music, you hear their amazing talent and know that their wish will come true.
In addition to her position as lead singer of Liyana, Prudence is a teacher at the school and receives a salary. In a country where people with disabilities are viewed as worthless rags, Prudence is proving that with hope and optimism, it is possible to live a life of ability.
In the future, Prudence plans to become an advocate for people with disabilities in the third world. She will work with the UN and other organizations to help developing nations change their policies and attitudes toward these people. With her message of “disability doesn’t mean inability,” Prudence wants all people to strive for independence, to remain hopeful and positive and to know that you can take whatever you are given in life and make something from it.
To learn more about Prudence’s story and the film, visit www.musicbyprudence.com.
Meet Prudence!
 Prudence will be in the United States during the month of May for the premiere of the film and meetings with various people and organizations, including President Barack Obama and the United Nations. You can meet her when she makes an appearance at Abilities Expo New York Metro on Saturday, May 12 to speak about the film and her work to raise awareness about disability in Africa. She will also share her beautiful music with Expo attendees. Joining her will be the film’s director, Roger Ross Williams.
See the Film!
Music By Prudence premieres at 8/7PMC May 12 on HBO2. The film will also be screened at film festivals throughout the year and will be released on DVD late summer 2010.
Screen the Film!
Share the message of Prudence through a screening of the film in your area! To arrange screenings and possibly an appearance by Prudence or the film’s director, contact the film staff through the website. Screenings are available after the film’s premiere on May 12.
Listen to the Music!
“Going Nowhere” is currently available on iTunes. Search under the band’s name, Liyana. In a few months, the full movie soundtrack will be available on iTunes as well.
Support Prudence’s Advocacy Work!
Donate to the Music By Prudence Project, an initiative to establish Prudence as an international advocate, raise awareness about disability in Africa and create exchange between Africans and American people with disabilities. You can make your tax deductible donation online at www.musicbyprudence.com.
Sponsor Prudence and the Band!
Opportunities are available for companies and organizations to sponsor Prudence and her band. An American tour with performances by the band and screenings of the film is currently being planned. To learn more, contact Williams through the website.
News
What kind of AT do you want to see at Abilities Expo New York Metro?
The Assistive Technology Pavilion Interactive Demo Lab at Abilities Expo New York Metro will be sponsored by the New Jersey Assistive Technology Center.
The Assistive Technology Department at Advancing Opportunities will ensure the Assistive Technology Pavilion will feature the latest AT products for people of all ages with wide ranges of physical, sensory and intellectual disabilities.
This area is designed to allow you the opportunity to interact with breakthough technologies to determine if these products can improve your physical, technological and social environs.
Sometimes figuring out which device will work the best or what software will best meet your needs requires some trial, error, hands-on testing. If you are considering AT but haven’t tried the technology or would like to see it in action first, visit the Assistive Technology Pavilion at Abilities Expo New York Metro.
If you want to be sure the device you want to try will be there, visit http://www.assistivetechnologycenter.org/handson.php, fill in the form and let Advancing Opportunities know what to bring.
News
Journey of a Million Smiles
This summer, Matt Eddy will attempt to leave his mark in the Guinness Book World Records for Longest Distance Travelled in a Wheelchair on Life Support while conducting his cross-country “Million Smiles Tour.” Matt has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and is only strong enough to move two fingers. He uses a wheelchair and requires a ventilator to breathe. Matt will leave Red Rock Park at Lynn Beach in Lynn, Massachusetts on June 5, 2010 at 10am and drive his wheelchair on back roads across the USA with a final destination of The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California. Matt's goal is to reach the aquarium in the shortest time by wheelchair while collecting one dollar from one million people. The journey is estimated to take 120 days. The funds raised from the “Million Smiles Tour” will support the programs provided by Matt's Place Inc.
Matt's Place Inc. is a non-profit organization which helps people with severe physical disabilities who are intellectually capable of directing their own care live independently in the community. Matt's Place provides housing, caregiver training and scheduling, and community education and awareness. Currently there are millions of non-elderly adults living in nursing homes and chronic care institutions simply because there is a severe shortage of affordable accessible housing. The programs of Matt's Place are a win-win for all Americans. Enabling people with severe physical disabilities to live independently within their community not only provides them with a better quality of life, it is also is more cost effective.
One of Matt’s Place’s latest projects, called "The Ollie," is almost complete. In a modified a two family home, a young man who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and is ventilator-dependant will live in one unit, and another young man who is a quadriplegic from a spinal tumor and currently in a nursing home, will live in the second unit. A portion of the money raised by Matt’s transcontinental trek will finance other apartments like “The Ollie.”
Matt’s current fundraising goal is to make his “Million Smiles Tour” is $35,000. This will provide the funds necessary to get Matt and his support staff across the country and to abide by the guidelines set up by Guinness Book World Records to verify and claim the “Trans USA by Wheelchair” record. All donations are tax deductible and can be made payable to Matt's Place Inc. (PO Box 305; Lynn, MA 01903) or online at www.officialmattsplace.org.
News
Let the Games Begin!
 Since 1984, elite athletes with disabilities have had a place to showcase their talent and compete on a national level. This year, approximately 300 qualifying athletes between the ages of 7-21 will come from all corners of the country to Lake Forest and Deerfield, Illinois to compete in 2010 National Junior Disability Championships on July 17 -24. This Olympic-style sports contest is the most prestigious event for those who compete in disabled sports and serves as a qualifier for the Paralympics team.
For eight intense days, athletes with spina bifida, cerebral palsy, amputees, visually impaired/blind, dwarfism, and any other similar physical disabilities that impede movement will compete within their age groups, hoping that their training and dedication is enough to best their rivals.
Competitions will be held in track & field (including javelin, shotput, discus, club and softball throw), swimming, table tennis, archery and 3-on-3 basketball. All contests are sanctioned by Wheelchair Sports USA (WSUSA), and individual events are run under the rules of their respective governing body.
Athletes train year round in preparation for these championships and must qualify at sanctioned regional meets and competitions held prior to this event.
“I wake up and push about 5 miles in my racing chair each morning,” said Paralympics hopeful Kelsie Kellen. “Luckily I am homeschooled, so I get to push in the morning, then do some studies and then train hard in the evening.
Locally, Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA) will be managing this event. “This is a huge undertaking but it will bring visibility and awareness not only to these outstanding athletes, but also our area. We hope this event will also inspire those who are currently disabled but do not participate in recreational sports. The event will require almost 600 volunteers over eight days and we hope our community will help and support us,” said Cindy Housner, Executive Director of GLASA.
For more information on NJDC 2010, please visit www.njdc2010.org or GLASA at www.glasa.org.
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