Abilities Expo is this weekend on April 9-11, 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center

Los Angeles, CA, April 5, 2010 – Thousands of people with disabilities, their families, caregivers, seniors, veterans and healthcare professionals are expected to attend Abilities Expo on Friday, April 9, through Sunday, April 11, 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Admission is free and show hours will be Friday 11 am to 5 pm, Saturday 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday, 11 am to 4 pm.

Abilities Expo has put together an impressive line-up of exhibits, celebrities, workshops, events and activities to appeal to the full spectrum of people with disabilities, from children to seniors and everyone in between.

“Abilities Expo’s distinguished 31-year track record of enhancing the lives of people with disabilities through technology, education and networking will continue in Los Angeles,” said David Korse, president and CEO of Abilities Expo. “Between the adaptive sports demonstrations, the interactive assistive technology pavilion, the dynamic workshops and the thousands of products and services on display…this is a must-attend for everyone in the Community.”

The Latest Products and Services
Attendees expecting cutting-edge products and services for people with all types of disabilities will not be disappointed. They will find mobility products, medical equipment, home accessories, essential services, low-cost daily living aids, products for people with visual impairments and much more. The new Assistive Technology Pavilion will feature 2,000 square feet of the latest AT products for people with wide ranges of physical, sensory and developmental disabilities. This pavilion is anchored by the Team of Advocates for Special Kids (TASK), who is sponsoring an Interactive Demo Lab. This lab will not only feature an array of breakthrough assistive technologies, it will allow Expo visitors to experience them hands-on.

Relevant Workshops
A series of compelling workshops which address pressing disability issues will be offered free-of-charge to all attendees. Sessions will focus on travel, dating, finances, home modifications, the criteria to getting the best accessible vehicle and that is just for starters. Special sessions will also be available for healthcare professionals.

Extreme 360 Wheelchair Back Flip, Rock Climbing, Adaptive Rowing and More!
Abilities Expo does not merely inform, it engages and it entertains. “Wheelz” Fotheringham will perform his jaw-clenching, Guinness-record earning wheelchair back flip. Attendees who thought rock climbing was outside the realm of possibility will find themselves at the top of a fully-accessible adaptive rock climbing wall. The next Ms. Wheelchair California will be crowned on site. To round it out, there will be interactive adaptive sports, dance performances and instruction, adaptive rowing, canine assistance demos, kid-focused activities and an Artist Market showcasing the works of local artists with disabilities. There will even be free H1N1 vaccinations administered by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health while supplies last.

Celebrity Encounters
Actor, writer and producer Richard “Jaws” Kiel will be signing autographs and photos for fans at the Expo. The 7’2” Hollywood legend is best known as the relentless, steel-tooth assassin who pursues James Bond across multiple continents in The Spy Who Loved Me and as Adam Sandler’s biggest fan in Happy Gilmore.

Paralympian athlete Angela Madsen will also be on hand to demonstrate adaptive rowing and showcase her famous ocean rowing boat, RowofLife. It was this vessel that carried her into Guinness record fame as the first woman to row across the Indian Ocean.

Miracles Happen
Attendee Desiree Trujillo, the mother of five-year-old Alexzander, a child with congenital cerebral palsy, is especially excited about the upcoming event. “I can’t wait for the new Abilities Expo!” she said. “Zander has gotten very good with the walker he received at last year’s show and wants to show off.”

When fitted with Prime Engineering’s KidWalk at the 2009 Southern California Abilities Expo, Alexzander walked hands-free for the first time. Witnessing the child’s profound transformation from a neighboring booth, Joe Hallock and Gregg Weinschrieder, co-owners of SleepSafe Beds, bought the life-changing equipment for him.

For more information, schedules and directions, visit www.abilitiesexpo.com/losangeles.

Amar Latif - the Blind Scotsman Who Shows People the World - Founder of Traveleyes At Stand 715 at the Abilities Expo, LA Conference Center 9 - 11 April 2010

When Amar Latif lost 95% of his eyesight at the age of 16 due to a genetic condition, he did not allow himself to sink into a depression, indulge in self-pity, or rant about the unfairness of life. He had after all set up his first business at the age of 13, a stall selling candy to fellow pupils at his high school in Glasgow, and he was determined blindness wouldn’t limit his enjoyment of life. He realised the way to succeed was to get a good education and work hard.

He did well at school and went on to gain a BSc in Maths, Statistics and Finance from Strathclyde University in Scotland, for his third year he studied in Canada at Queens University in Ontario. After graduation, he joined the UK’s largest telecoms company and trained as an accountant.

By 2004, at the age of 28, he was in a senior position managing a team of accountants, and flying around the world to give motivational speeches. However, as his overwhelming passion was for independent travel he was preparing to launch Traveleyes, his travel company. Six years since its launch he has led hundreds of trips, giving thousands of blind and slighted people the chance to sample the delights of the planet.

From 9 to 11 April 2010, Amar Latif the founder of Traveleyes, will be at the Abilities Expo at Stand 715 at the Los Angeles Conference Center. Traveleyes may be headquartered in the United Kingdom, but blind and sighted people travel from America to join Amar and the group on vacations around the world. He is at the Abilities Expo to bring Traveleyes to the wider American market.  

Amar Latif said “I set up Traveleyes as from a very young age I wanted to see the world. I knew there were so many things out there to be experienced, but as I found that what I wanted in terms of a travel aspiration didn’t exist I decided that either I do without, or build it myself. So I built it. A lot of the time a vacation for a blind person is tagging along with family and friends, who mean well but dictate schedules and activities. That is something that does not happen on a Traveleyes holiday, as everyone is independent.

“The company is called Traveleyes as 50% of the travellers are blind and 50% sighted. The blind and sighted travellers form pairs and the sighted person provides a visual description as we explore cities, art galleries, take part in adventure activities, or dine in restaurants. In return, the sighted traveller receives a significant discount on the cost of their vacation.

“I knew Traveleyes would be popular with blind travellers, but I’ve been amazed by the amount of sighted travellers who return, as they say they couldn’t go back to the old, less friendly and less interesting type of vacation. Solo travelers, couples, and people in groups feel equally at ease on our tours.

“Already in 2010 we have visited the Valley of the Kings and seen the Pharaohs Tombs and cruised along the Nile in Egypt. We have explored Cape Town and Table Mountain, and walked the Braille trail in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in South Africa. We have skied in Austria with our sighted guide’s ski-ing behind giving instructions when to turn, or stop.

“I create the holidays for their sensory experiences and plan them using a tactile atlas. As a blind person, walking the Braille Trail in South Africa is incredibly liberating as I can walk uninterrupted for hours. Ski-ing I am totally free, as guided by my sighted ski-ing partner it is just me ski-ing down the mountains for eight hours each day. Vacations last from 5 to 14 days and usually include up to 20 people, an equal mix of blind and sighted.”

Places are available on Traveleyes vacations. This includes two trips to Croatia in April and May. Two trips to Tuscany in June to explore the Italian cities of Florence, Siena and Pisa, taking time to do an Italian cookery class. During a tour of the Yorkshire Dales in England in July, made famous by Charlotte Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, they will visit the Bronte Parsonage in Howarth. On a journey to Peru in September, the group will follow the Inca trail. In October, there is a vacation to Turkey.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

For further information, or to arrange an interview or meeting with Amar Latif, please contact Catherine Goodier, Director of CGPR Limited, on telephone: +44 (0)20 8663 2935, cell: +44 (0)7717 573060, or email: catherine.goodier@gmail.com

EDITOR’S NOTES

*All prices shown exclude the cost of flights

Amar Latif has the genetic condition Retinitis Pigmentosa, characterized by progressive degeneration of the retina, resulting in night blindness and decreased peripheral vision, leading to blindness.

He featured in Beyond Boundaries, shown on BBC America. He trekked the 220 miles across the Nicaraguan jungles armed with only a Braille compass, limited rations and a tent. For the journey he also had to push a wheelchair user.

Abilities Expo will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015-1399

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Ms. Wheelchair California Pageant, Inc., a non profit advocacy and activism organization for the benefit of the disAbility community with a focus on the issues of women with disAbility, announces the 2010 Ms. Wheelchair California Pageant will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center hosted by the Abilities Expo, on Fri/Sat, April 9/10, 2010. 

The Abilities Expo runs from 11AM-5PM Friday, 10AM-5PM Sat and on Sunday the 11th.
11AM-4PM.  Admission to the Abilities Expo is free and registration at www.abilitiesexpo.com is required.  There is no fee to attend the Pageant.

Ms. Wheelchair California 2009, Alyson Roth, Age 30 of Foothill Ranch, will retire her title and give a farewell speech on Saturday afternoon.

***Pageant Start and end times are approximated. 

Event times for the Pageant on Friday April 9th is 11:30-1:30 and the Saturday April 10th event times are 11:30-1:30, 2:30-4:00. 

The crowning will be held at approximately 3:30 with the debut of the theme song "Woman of Light" by professional singer/composer Stefana Dadas. We have invited Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn to receive a recognition of her commitment to the disAbility community and we anticipate a recognition from her as well.

We will be holding Opportunity Drawings for items donated by 20th Century Fox Studios and an electric lead guitar donated by the Minarik Guitar Company.  The Fox donated items drawing will be held at various times during the Pageant and the guitar drawing will be held April 28th.  You do not need to be present for the guitar drawing.

The entertainment is MC Russ Marchand and singer/composer Stefana.  Please see www.russmarchand.com and www.stefanasd.com for their information.

The contestants are:

1. Latanya Gibson, age 46, Moreno Valley
2. Leslie Robinson, Age 57, Riverside
3. Jennifer Kumiyama, Age 29, Long Beach
4. Laree Carnes (pronounced Laray), Age 42,
    Los Angeles
5. Cynde Soto, Age 53, Long Beach
6. Margarita Elizondo, Age 34, Lemon Grove (San
    Diego area)
7. Ligia Andrade Zuniga, Age 29, San Mateo
8. Zinthia Alvarado, Age 23, San Gabriel
9. Gina Inhelder, Age 32, Stanton

The judges are:

1.  Representtive of the San Bernardino 66'ers
    Baseball team, Class A team of the Dodgers
2. Larry Madick, Middle/High School Club
    Development, Kiwanis International, Kiwanis
    Rose Float Club
3. Kimberley Barreda, Chloe Magazine
4. Lt. Barbara Ferguson,  Legislative Liaison,
    San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department
5. Tammy Wilber, Ms. Wheelchair Washington,
    Ms.Wheelchair Washington State Director

Personal information on the contestants, judges and MC are available upon request.

Please contact Ruthee Goldkorn, Executive Director, Ms. Wheelchair California Pageant, Inc. with any questions or for additional information at knowbarriers@yahoo.com or 951.247.8150.

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Abilities Expo works closely with dozens of trade media partners and the general consumer media in each market we serve. We cordially invite exhibitors to post news about their products and services and welcome media registrants to attend one of the Abilities Expo events.

• Event press announcements
• Exhibitor and sponsor press announcements
• Press registration
• Public relations opportunities for exhibitors

For questions & PR/media inquiries, please contact:
Kevaleen Lara
310.210.3138
klara@shomex.com