From time to time I ask myself about my disability and wonder if I could deal any better if I spent my whole life this way.
Personally I think blindness would be the most difficult to manage. What if you could see for a long time in your life then it was gone never to return? You knew what colors are but now you can't find the right outfit in your closet. Or your blind your whole life, never seeing verdant fields of green grass, much less what color your clothes are. Watching a blind person barrel ass out into the world, on and off city buses never ceases to amaze me.
In regards to me... I lived 22 years as an a/b person, lived in more cities than most people do in their whole lives. I'm well travelled, self educated and as a matter of extreme irony I dove in the lake I broke my neck in 4 or 5 times before.
I guess that's why people call them accidents!
Summerville -- A tear slid down Kayla Beczynski's cheek as the words passed her trembling lips.
"I'm sorry." Her voice thin, below a whisper.
Her mother stroked Kayla's hand. "Oh, baby, no," Carrie Rhymer comforted. "Honey, you don't have anything to be sorry about."
Kayla blinked as more tears trickled onto her pale skin. Try as she might, she could not raise a hand to wipe them away.
At age 15, Kayla is a prisoner in her body, unable to move or breathe on her own. A former gymnast and cheerleader, she now spends her days tethered to a bed or a wheelchair, her limbs motionless.
In May, a teenager's trust and sense of adventure led her to join a neighbor for a ride in the woods on an all-terrain vehicle. The outing ended in a shuddering crash that left Kayla paralyzed from the neck down.
Rhymer, a single mom, left her job at a credit union to care for her only child. Her best friend, nurse Colleen Hodge, moved in to help. They spend their days working with Kayla and researching doctors and treatments that might help her regain use of her limbs.
Photo by Alan Hawes
The Post and Courier
Kayla Beczynski shares a smile with her mother.
Kayla's family refuses to believe her paralysis is permanent -- she beat the odds once by surviving the wreck; she can do it again.
Kayla's arctic blue eyes shimmered as she gazed at the street where she once played. A ventilator tube tugging at her throat, she struggled to mouth the words to voice her conviction.
"I'm going to walk again."
A terrible crash
The crash occurred in a sliver of time on a warm spring evening. Rhymer had left Kayla at their Chipping Sparrow Drive home while she dashed to Home Depot for landscaping supplies. The trip took 30 minutes.
While she was away, next-door neighbor Katrina Elsworth, 32, invited Kayla for a ride on an ATV. Why not, Kayla thought. It sounded like fun. So they climbed aboard the four-wheeler and Elsworth drove to a wooded area near the Sawmill Branch Trail.
They didn't wear helmets or protective gear.
Witnesses later would tell police the ATV was going "way too fast" as Elsworth approached a muddy spot along the trail where she'd gotten stuck in the past. As she swerved to avoid the patch, the 15-foot embankment gave way. The ATV flipped in the air, tossing the riders as it tumbled into the canal, coming to rest in a foot of water.
Police found Elsworth kneeling over Kayla's motionless body. The impact had broken Kayla's neck in two places and damaged an artery carrying blood to her brain. She turned blue as blood seeped from her mouth and nose.
Rhymer was at the store when Elsworth called from Kayla's cell phone: There's been an accident, Elsworth said. Go to Summerville Medical Center.
Rhymer raced right over, but no one would tell her what happened. When she finally persuaded hospital workers to let her see her daughter, she found two dozen doctors and nurses working feverishly on Kayla.
Rhymer was 19 when she gave birth to Kayla. They were like best friends. Now, she almost didn't recognize her bruised and bloodied child.
"I felt like someone had reached in and torn my heart out," Rhymer said.
Carrie Rhymer consoles her 15-year-old daughter, Kayla Beczynski, as Rhymer talks about the day in May that Kayla was left paralyzed after being thrown from a fast-moving ATV that crashed in a wooded area near the Sawmill Branch Trail in Summerville.
Beating the odds
As police questioned Elsworth about the wreck, an ambulance whisked Kayla to Medical University Hospital's pediatric trauma center.
Doctors told Rhymer that Kayla's body had shut down while paramedics were working on her and again in the emergency room -- in essence, she had died twice. Though medics revived her, they weren't hopeful. One doctor told the family they had only a few hours left to say their goodbyes.
Anne Hewitt, Kayla's grandmother, turned to the doctor and shook her head. "You don't get the last word on that."
Dozens of family members and friends kept vigil in the packed hospital waiting room. They hugged and prayed when Kayla made it through that night. Then another. And another after that.
They celebrated again after a successful operation to fuse her spine. Still, doctors cautioned them against expecting too much. They said Kayla probably would never be able to breathe or eat on her own. Brain damage also was likely. Walking? Unimaginable.
Kayla spent six weeks in the Charleston hospital as arrangements were made for specialized treatment at Shepherd Center, a catastrophic care hospital in Atlanta.
As they prepared for the journey, police moved in and arrested Elsworth on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Their investigation revealed she had been driving too fast on an ATV built for one rider. Tests also showed she had marijuana and prescription drugs in her system, according to an arrest affidavit.
Elsworth posted bail and went home the same day. Her husband said she could not be reached for this story.
The long road back
Kayla spent six weeks at Shepherd Center, emerging from a jumbled haze and learning how to live in an entirely different way. At first, she communicated by blinking her eyes. Then, slowly, words came. She talked, joked, recalled details from the crash and her life. Fears that she had suffered brain damage gradually diminished.
But her mother grew frustrated with the lack of physical therapy Kayla was receiving. The center seemed focused on teaching Kayla to live as a quadriplegic, not on helping her overcome her disability.
By the time they left the center in mid-August, Rhymer felt they had accomplished little.
Kayla and her family returned to Summerville and their two-story home beside the Elsworths' house.
Rhymer and her relatives spoke out in favor of legislation to better protect children from the dangers of ATV riding. They urged adults to be more responsible, as well, but avoided mentioning Katrina Elsworth by name. As much as possible, they kept their distance from her, not wanting to stoke the tension that had settled like an invisible wall between the two families.
Photo by Alan Hawes
The Post and Courier
Carrie Rhymer walks alongside her daughter, Kayla Beczynski, outside their home in Summerville on Monday. Rhymer and her boyfriend, Sebastian Spence, watch Kayla practice maneuvering her mouthcontrolled wheelchair in the cul-de-sac on their street.
A large "Welcome Home" banner greeted Kayla when she arrived. Friends soon filled the house, just like old times. Spunky, athletic, always ready with a joke -- Kayla had been a people-magnet her whole life. The old Kayla was still present in photos all over the house. Gazing out over a lake. Taking a break from roller skating. Sporting her favorite hip-hop hat and flashing a peace sign.
With her playful smile, hot pink fingernails and sandy hair pulled back in a barrette, Kayla still looks every bit the teenager. But appearances don't tell the whole story.
She no longer can scamper to her bedroom on the second floor. She splits her time between a hospital bed in the middle of the family's living room and a wheelchair she's learning to operate with her mouth. She requires around-the-clock nursing care. Without a handicapped-accessible vehicle, she needs an ambulance to make it to doctors' appointments.
"I get sad sometimes because I can't do things like I used to," Kayla said. When those times come, she watches television, reads or finds some other distraction to push the dark thoughts away. She has to stay focused, positive.
"She's lost a lot," her mother said. "But, you know, I think things happen for a reason, and I think things happen to people who can handle them."
Challenges remain
Kayla gritted her teeth as a canvas sling grabbed hold of her frail body and lifted it from a narrow bed with polka dot sheets.
Nurse Hodge cradled Kayla's head and held the tubes snaking from her throat as her mother worked the winch lowering her into a wheelchair. Her feet, clad in black Crocs, dangled from the sling. The ventilator controlling her breathing beeped insistently from the corner of the bed.
"Almost there, Kay," her mom soothed. "I've got you, baby."
Beads of perspiration lining her forehead, Rhymer straddled the chair and slid Kayla into an upright position. Hodge adjusted the brace holding Kayla's head in place as Rhymer wrapped towels around her daughter's elbows to prevent sores. Kayla offered a weak smile as they finished, the rhythmic, metallic hiss of the ventilator filling the room.
It's a routine they perform a few times every day.
Kayla's uncle Chris often stops by to help lift her from the bed. Otherwise, it's up to Rhymer and Hodge.
The pair have been busy researching treatments and programs to help with her recovery. They arranged for a physical therapist, who helped Kayla sit up in bed for the first time with assistance. They've also looked into a program in Miami that uses electrodes to try to reconnect the brain with paralyzed muscles. On Oct. 3, they have a meeting in Greenville to see if they can get Kayla into a Shriners hospital in Pennsylvania for advanced therapy.
They cling to stories of hope and the progress they see. Kayla's aunt, Kirsty Murray, met a woman on an online forum who fought her way back from paralysis and gave birth to three children. Maybe Kayla can do the same, they reason, because she already has come further than doctors expected. She is eating solid food again, regaining her voice, building strength in her lungs.
Fundraisers and benefits have helped support the family while insurance money has helped defray the cost of her medical care. They are grateful for the help and people's prayers. There's not much money for extras, but Rhymer doesn't care.
"We know this isn't a quick fix," she said. "As long as we have a roof over our heads and she's getting better, I don't care about anything else."
A simple wish
Rhymer and her mother stood at the foot of the driveway, cheering as Kayla maneuvered her wheelchair around the cul-de-sac by manipulating a special tube with her mouth. She moved tentatively at first, jerking forward and gliding in short bursts. Then she got the hang of it, spinning the chair in a circle for a small victory lap.
"She is still so full of life," her grandmother said.
Kayla already is thinking ahead to her first steps. She sees herself walking down the road, heading to Burger King and having lunch with her friends.
S0urce: Glenn Smith - Courier and Post
"Yeah, we've seen a self-balancing unicycle before, but the brand new U3-X from Honda takes it to another level. A creepy-sterile, awesomely futuristic Honda level, to be precise.
What makes the U3-X particularly interesting is it has the regular large wheel of a unicycle, but that wheel is actually made up of several small wheels in a series, which can rotate independently, meaning that the device can go forward, backward, side-to-side and diagonally, all being controlled with a simple lean. Honda credits its ASIMO research for this multi-directional capability, though we're not sure we see it -- ASIMO is biped, after all -- but far be it from us to discredit an excuse to keep up the good work on the ASIMO front.
Right now the "experimental model" of the U3-X gets a single hour of battery and weighs under 22 pounds, with a seat and foot rests that fold into the device for extra portability.
No word of course on when the thing might make it to market, but Honda plans to show it off next month at the Tokyo Motor Show. A devastatingly short video of the U3-X in action is after the break."
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VETERAN ATHLETES FOCUSED ON ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE HEADLINE NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY SKI PROGRAM
Canada’s cross-country ski athletes are sprinting into the highly-anticipated Olympic and Paralympic season replete with veteran leadership and podium potential.
On the heels of the team’s first official training session at the Canmore Nordic Centre, Cross Country Canada kicked off the 2009-10 season by unveiling a stellar lineup of 12 athletes that will don the maple leaf at World Cup and Para-Nordic World Cup competitions around the world.
“We have assembled a unique and experienced group of athletes that have made huge progress, and have demonstrated the ability that Canada is now ready to contend with the best athletes in our sport,” said Tom Holland, director of high-performance, Cross Country Canada, who added that 10 of the 12 athletes named to the senior squads have won medals at the World Cup and Para-Nordic World Cup levels. “For many of our athletes, Torino was their first trip to the Olympics and Paralympics. Building on that experience, we have celebrated many successes over the last four years, but will continue to follow the plan of peaking in Whistler this February.”
Three-time Olympian, Sara Renner of Canmore, Alta., and multiple World Cup medalist, Devon Kershaw, of Sudbury, Ont., will lead the charge for the Canadian contingent on the World Cup. Renner, who began her international medal haul in 2005 when she finished third in the sprint race to become the first Canadian to reach the podium at the World Championships. The Olympic silver medalist has also captured four World Cup medals throughout her 14-year career.
Renner will be joined on the women’s team by Olympic gold medalist and fellow Canmore native, Chandra Crawford, on the World Cup circuit, along with rising young star Perianne Jones, of Almonte, Ont. Crawford is ready to hit the start line this season after taking most of last year off to recover from injury, while the 24-year-old Jones will look to feed off the momentum gained from her strongest international result last year when she teamed up with Renner to finish sixth in the World Championship team sprint.
Devon Kershaw will lead the strongest men’s team that Canada has ever assembled for the World Cup. Kershaw, who made his Olympic debut in Torino, has since collected three World Cup medals while evolving into one of the most consistent skiers in all disciplines on the international circuit. Kershaw will be joined by 29-year-old Ivan Babikov of Canmore, who captured a gold medal in the final stage of the Tour de Ski last season. George Grey, 28, of Rossland, B.C., and 21-year-old Alex Harvey, of St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., who teamed up to shock the world by finishing third in the team sprint at the World Cup at Whistler Olympic Park in January 2009, round out the men’s contingent. Harvey, who captured three Junior World Championship medals in his career, also claimed the bronze medal position on the World Cup podium in the men’s 50-kilometer race in Trondheim, Norway to complete his rookie season on the top cross country skiing circuit in the world.
“This is truly one of the most talented World Cup teams in our history, which is a testament to the continued strength and growth of our national program,” said Tom Holland. “Through the generous support and leadership of Own the Podium, along with our corporate partners, we can now deliver the world-leading resources our athletes need to gain a competitive advantage, and better prepare to reach our goal of regularly competing for the podium with the leading nations in our sport.”
The Para-Nordic World Cup Team has also benefited from additional resources, which has resulted in Canada developing one of the strongest teams in the world.
Brian McKeever, along with his guide and brother Robin, who have won nearly everything on the table in Para-Nordic sport including seven Parlaympic medals, will lead the team of five athletes.
Legally blind with Stargardt’s disease, which is a form of macular degeneration that affects central vision, Brian McKeever is continuing his quest to become the first winter-sport athlete to compete at both the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. If he meets his goal, it will make him only the second athlete ever in the history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to accomplish the feat. Three years ago, Brian finished 21st in an able-bodied men’s 15-kilometer skate-ski race at the World Championships.
Joining the McKeever duo on the Para-Nordic World Cup will be eight-time Paralympic medalist, Colette Bourgonje, who is one of the few athletes ever to win multiple medals in both the Paralympic Summer and Winter Games. The Saskatoon resident competed in wheelchair racing at the 1992 Paralympic Summer Games, and sit-ski racing in five Paralympic Winter Games.
Multiple Para-Nordic World Cup medalist, Robbi Weldon and her guide Brian Berry of Thunder Bay, Ont., will be looking to make their Paralympic debut in Whistler with Jody Barber, of Smithers, B.C., and Mark Arendz, of Springton, P.E.I., who round out the national team.
“Canada’s Para-Nordic skiers have been winning medals over the last decade, but hosting a Paralympic Games at home presents a unique opportunity for us to showcase our sport and encourage more athletes with a disability to try cross-country skiing,” said Holland. “With Brian and Colette continuing to steer the ship, the younger athletes on our Para-Nordic Team will continue to benefit from them having the best skiers in the world at their side.”
The World Cup Team will head to Mammoth, California for a three week altitude training camp, September 28, while the Para-Nordic Team will participate in a three-week camp of their own starting September 27 on the Dachstein Glacier in Austria, before moving to Vuokatti, Finland.
Canada’s World Cup Team will participate in its first World Cup of the season, November 21, in Beitostolen, Norway. Canada will also host a World Cup one week prior to the Olympics at the Canmore Nordic Centre, February 5-6, 2010. The Para-Nordic Team will hit the start line for Haywood NorAm competitions in Canada in December before heading out on the World Cup in Europe, January 25, 2010
As Bauer underwent rehabilitation, several Vietnam veterans suggested he try skiing. He hadn’t been released from the hospital, and he wasn’t confident in his ability to perform.
“You’re learning how to ski today,” Disabled Sports USA leaders told Bauer. “But a year from now, you could be racing. Here’s how you do it.”
Four decades later, Bauer is spreading the same message that motivated him to begin ski racing with help from U.S. Paralympics, which hopes to create more opportunities for the disabled through an adaptive sports seminar this week at the Olympic Training Center.
About 30 million Americans, including 2.6 million under 21, have physical disabilities or visual impairments, yet participation in 100-plus Paralympic sports clubs remains limited, and 24 Paralympic teams are lacking depth compared to their European counterparts.
“We don’t have to say anything,” said Bauer, executive director of Disabled Sports USA. “All we have to do is expose that young kid to a Paralympic athlete who is going 60 mph down a slope on one leg.
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Today is Superman's birthday, and it is my belief that the science of today would not have been without him. Today we have an exo-skeleton that will allow it's wearer to walk, arm prosthetics that are hard wired to their person, and last but definitiley not least leg prosthesis that nearly got a man to the Olympics!
I believe that in ten more years "dis"-ability will be an uncommon word. If you can please donate to the foundation that funds so much of this research and development. If you really look at it, it's you helping you!
'Radu Litiu: Call it I, Robot meets reality. Had you walked around the Convention Center in downtown Seattle over the past few days, you couldn't have stopped from noticing the relatively large number of people wearing prosthetic legs and arms. They were attending the 2009 AOPA National Assembly, the premier annual conference and trade show of the prosthetics and orthotics industry.
Some of their prostheses looked robotic and futuristic. Some of them were surprisingly anatomically correct -- and surprisingly functional.
Most of these people were not mere attendees. They were in fact employees of the conference exhibitors -- from technicians to sales reps to founder/CEOs. Being a prosthesis user myself, this seems to be a great career choice.
What better way to channel your energy and to fulfill your professional aspirations than to work on a product you'll be a direct beneficiary of? What better way to "dogfood" your product and to provide a short feedback loop than to use the product yourself day-in-and-day-out and to direct all the customer feedback to the guy in the cubicle next to yours?
Although prosthetic technology has come a long way from the days of Captain Ahab (wooden leg and pirate hook), the prosthetic devices currently available commercially have not really kept up with the technology advancements.
As a technologist, I often ask: What has caused this evolutionary gap?
Why is it when the chip in my prosthesis failed, it cost $5000 to have it replaced? (The chip takes some sensor data, runs an algorithm with a few variables to select one in small set of commands, then sends it to the motor powering the joint). Could a commodity smart phone chip not do this work? Also, why are wires going around everywhere, at a time Bluetooth, ZigBee, and other short-range wireless communication technologies are commonplace?
The i-Hand from Touch Bionics
The companies presenting at the AOPA event are working on addressing some of these problems.
Today's prostheses are high tech mechano-electrical devices incorporating advanced technologies in the areas of lightweight and durable materials, low-powered, low-noise motors, computerized control, sensors, short-range wireless communication, haptic feedback and battery technology.
The products on display, some of them still in research prototype stage, hold great promise for the near future.
Among the exhibitors were the prosthetics industry heavyweights, such as Liberating Technologies, Ohio Willow Wood, Ossur, Otto Bock, Touch Bionics and Utah Arm. They showcased some of their current product lineup as well as a few of the novel devices they are working on, such as leg braces with automatically locking knee joints.
Great innovation often comes from smaller companies, though.
In terms of hand prostheses, the most functional product currently available seems to be the i-LIMB Hand from Touch Bionics.
Over the past few years, the DARPA Revolutionary Prosthetics program has injected new blood (a.k.a. money) into arm prosteses R&D efforts. I had the opportunity to get a preview of two of the success stories benefitting from this program -- including a very exciting presentation of the DEKA Arm.
Contineo hand from Orthocare
Seattle's own prosthetics company, Orthocare Innovations where I work, showed a research prototype of a hand with full finger motion. They also demonstrated lower limb developments funded by NIH such as the Compas Bluetooth sensor and software system for optimizing balance and dynamic function of prosthetic legs.
The AOPA event made me realize once again that improving healthcare and the general health of our population will not come only as a result of the healthcare reform we've been hearing about lately in the news.
Also, huge opportunities for unleashing creativity -- and for technological advancements -- are not only in the next social network or the best way of doing video advertising'
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"WHAT. New York Mets welcome teams from Queens, Long Island, the Bronx, Boston, Chicago and Denver for their ninth annual Wheelchair Softball Tournament. In partnership with the New York City Department of Education, more than 100 students with special needs will participate in a softball clinic led by the players.
WHO: More than 100 wheelchair softball players
John Franco, Mets all-time saves leader
Mr. Met
WHERE: Parking Lot A (North Lot at 126th Street and 35th Avenue)
Citi Field
WHEN: Friday, September 25
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Mr. Met will appear at the clinic at 11:00 a.m.
John Franco will cheer on the players starting at 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, September 26
Tournament play begins at 9:00 a.m.
Championship game at 12:00 p.m.
NOTE: The Mets are sponsoring two teams in the tournament from Queens and Brookhaven, Long Island. The Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies and New York Yankees will also be represented in the two-day event organized by the Wheelchair Sports Federation. Wheelchair Rugby Gold Medalist Nick Springer will play for the Mets team from Queens. Springer won the Gold at the Beijing Paralympic Games in 2008."
"A racer for Middlebury College, Chris Waddell broke his back in a ski accident in 1988. Within two months he bravely returned to school and, shortly thereafter, began ski racing again, single-handedly revolutionizing the sport of mono-skiing. Waddell is the most decorated Paralympian, winning 12 medals for both skiing and track racing. And while he serves as an inspiration for many, Waddell is more interested in shattering stereotypes connected to the term “disabled.”
This week, Waddell, and an eight person team, will attempt to ascend the highest freestanding mountain on the planet—Mt. Kiliminjaro. Waddell, equipped with a one-of-a-kind rig called a Bomba (Swahili for “cooler than cool”), will tackle the 19,341 feet of elevation one crank at a time on his handcycle, propelling himself over boulders, across scree, and up steep terrain with his arms.
Waddell Cranking His Bomba
“One Revolution” is Waddell’s motto for his unassisted climb, which will also be documented by a film crew.
“We’re hoping to change the way people view people in a wheelchair, the way people view me and other people like me,” explains Waddell.
In addition, Waddell ’s foundation will deliver the gift of mobility by donating funds to a local wheelchair manufacturer in Tanzania.
You can follow his adventure on Outside’s blog. For more information or to support Waddell’s vision, visit One Revolution. Check out Waddell on CBS.
Wandermelon applauds Chris Waddell’s incredible tenacity and vision. Whether he makes it to the top or not we think he is bomba for trying and spreading such an important message!"
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Most of the general population does not truly understand what Tort Reform means or how it might impact their lives. The “reformists” will lead you to believe that “these frivolous lawsuits” and the attorneys who file them are the problem and we need to STOP THEM before they bankrupt this country and continue to clog our court system. They further argue that these cases are the source of the high cost of medical malpractice insurance, not the attorneys or the law suits they file.
On Sunday, September 20, 2009, on 60 Minutes there was a segment on a new bionic arm, the DEKA arm, a $100 million Pentagon program called “Revolutionizing Prosthetics”. American soldiers who lost limbs in various wars were highlighted as they tried out the new prosthetics. The DEKA arm is a huge improvement over what was previously available that was developed during World War II. "Nobody ever wants to put a price tag on making a soldier or a Marine whole again. But, you're talking about $100 million," Scott Pelley, 60 Minutes correspondent remarked. "It's a big number."
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"Henrietta, N.Y. — The ESL Sports Centre is now the official training site of the USA Paralympic Ice Hockey Team and will be hosting three game exhibitions with the Japanese Paralympic team as both teams train for the 2010 Paralympics.
The first practice is Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 3:30 p.m. and 8:10 p.m., and Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 11 a.m.
Team USA will play Japan in three exhibition games on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7 p.m.
All practices and exhibition games to be played at the ESL Sports Centre on the Monroe Community College campus at 2700 Brighton-Henrietta Townline Road.
The USA Paralympic Team sled hockey was designed in an effort to allow participants with physical disabilities to play ice hockey. It is currently one of the most popular sports in the Paraylmpic games. The USA team includes 18 players and they are the current World Champions. Visit www.usahockey.com for more information.
The ESL Sports Centre is a multi-purpose arena located on MCC’s campus. Constructed in 1998, it is the home of hockey teams ranging in age from youth to semi-professional. It also offers dry floor events such as car shows, cheerleading competitions, and concerts."
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"Anna Konda, the fire-fighting snake robot has spawned three babies – Aiko, PiKo, and Kulko, which are smarter, more agile, and can take decisions on their own "
"While the US and Japan pursue the development of robots specialised in healthcare, social interaction, and artificial intelligence, scientists at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have for the last six years dedicated their research efforts to create the most advanced snake robots in the world.
“They may be put into pipes in order to locate faults. They can get into strange places, or dangerous ones, like fires. We believe there is a market.” said Erik Kyrkjebo, the lead research scientist at SINTEF. It all started with Anna Konda in 2005, which was based on an idea that a hydraulic system could equip a fire hose to move on its own using strength of the water flow. Anna Konda could crawl into a burning house and put out a fire by itself, and would be capable of climbing stairs, sneaking around corners to perform lifesaving missions.
After four years the team have still not reached their goal, but Anna Konda has had three babies since – Aiko, PiKo, and Kulko.
The family has grown because the robot scientists needed more knowledge that could be transferred back to the original model.Aiko just weighs seven kilos as compared to Anna Konda’s 75, and serves as a experimental platform for testing mathematical equations and new electronic components.PiKo, the climbing robot differs from the other members of the snake family in that it moves on wheels, although, like its siblings, it is jointed. Specialised in vertical movement, it can climb up tubes, and propel its way up a pipe-wall.
The cybernetics experts have been working on its propulsion system, while optics researchers have given the little robot “vision”. A 3D camera, combined with map and position recognition enable it to compare the two parametres to check whether it is on the right track.“PiKo is designed to be able to cleanse ventilation systems and check leakages in pipework with diameters as small as 20 cm, both vertically and at junctions,” explains Jens Thielemann, scientist at Sintef.Now Kulko has arrived and will function as a platform for implementation.“Kulko is not quite as stupid as the others,” says Erik.
This robot is fitted with power sensors that measure all its contacts with its environment. This enables it to adapt its progress according to what it “feels”, and it has the potential to become more intelligent and learn to make its own decisions, according to its tutors.For the scientists at NTNU, it’s not sufficient for the robot to be just capable of moving forward and getting past obstacles. It also needs to be able to move independently around in its surroundings.In order to do so, the robot needs to compare the visual impressions that it captures with images and memories in its “experience base”, the researchers said.
The database would house the memory and decision-making circuitry and interpretation of sensor-data. In the database, maps and images are connected up to create an action that the robot has been trained to perform. When it checks whether it has seen a particular image before, and the answer is positive, the appropriate action immediately takes place"
Thats beyond cool. Imagine a camera fit - miniaturized version able to be fit on a human mounted application and able to "snake" it's way into all kinds of places. Cars, plumbing, especially, and in a fitting way complex electrical work. It's great and I'm looking forward to future versions.
"I've spent a lot of time on the bike this summer. I had some issues with my knee, just kind of getting a little old and warn out with some cartilage issues," Meier said. "I've tried to spend a lot of time on the bike whether it's a mountain bike, road bike, or stationary bike."
Meier shows no signs of discouragement, though. Taking time off snow in stride Meier is ready for winter and is excited to get in the gate.
"At this point, because of my knee, I didn't partake in any of the summer camps this year. I've been off snow for the whole summer. It was a tough decision the doctor and I made, but in the end I'm feeling really strong right now," says Meier. "I feel like my batteries have been recharged. I'm really anxious to get on snow.”
A veteran on the adaptive Team, Meier is hoping to make his fifth appearance in the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics in March. Approaching the season, Meier has made some adjustments to his game plan in hopes of hanging a medal around his neck.
"Strategies have changed a little bit, this will be my nineteenth season, and I learned to work smarter not harder on some things and know when I should push and when I should back off. The hardest part for me is to take it easy," admits Meier. "It's a matter of listening to my body more and not over working it, but at the same time work to get to the level I want to be when I'm competing."
With all Meier's hard work he is confident that this season will be a success and is looking forward to Vancouver.
"I feel confident about where I am this season, the conditioning that I've been doing all summer, and I'm anxious to get at it," states Meier. "My goal is basically to stay healthy. Ultimately, of course, I would like to end my career on the podium, but to make that a reality I need to make sure that I'm diligent about taking care of my body, listening to my body, taking time off when I need to, hitting it hard when I need to."
Meier is finishing up the summer, with some plyometrics and agility drills in order to make a sound return back on snow this fall. However, Meier can't help but to look ahead.
"Just anxious for the 2010 Paralympics," stresses Meier"
Source
"The decision came only days after Jerrod Fields, a United States Army corporal on a 2005 reconnaissance mission in Baghdad, had his left ankle and foot mutilated by a roadside bomb. After managing to drive his four troopmates back to base — valor that earned him a Bronze Star — Fields woke up in a hospital in Germany with a choice: have surgery and be discharged, or amputate and stay a soldier."
"Librado Romero/The New York Times
Jerrod Fields became a top prospect after losing his lower left leg to an injury sustained in Iraq.
“Cut it off,” he said he told doctors. “I want to go back to Iraq.”
But the next medal Fields accepts could come in London. Four years after taking his first tentative steps on a prosthetic foot, Fields now sprints so fast that he is considered a top United States prospect for the 2012 Paralympic Games — someone who just might knock off Oscar Pistorius of South Africa.
“From the moment I started walking,” Fields said recently, “I was ready to run.”
Fields belongs to the Army’s World Class Athlete Program, which allows soldiers to train for the Olympics and the Paralympics while on active duty. Trading Army green for Paralympic red, white and blue would cap Fields’s rise from Chicago-project orphan and gang hopeful to hero soldier and elite athlete.
Fields, 27, grew up in a South Side neighborhood he recalled as “flooded with gangs and drugs” and hazed in negativity. His mother died of lung cancer when he was 5. His father was shot and killed when he was 11.
“They said he was murdered outside of our home in Chicago,” Fields said. “Six shots, I think. It was intentional — it was something planned. We never found out the killer or why it happened. Anything.”
Fields became a fringe member of the Gansta Disciples but focused enough on sports and school to attend Tennessee State University for two years. He then enlisted in the Army and was deployed to Iraq in January 2005. A month later, reports of a dead dog on a Baghdad road — animal carcasses were often booby-trapped with explosives — led his platoon to drive in to investigate.
The dog itself was harmless, but still a trap. A small bomb went off nearby. Fields laughed; he thought he had dropped a grenade. Then another explosion destroyed his lower left leg.
Fields kept his wits enough to drive his Bradley armored vehicle and fellow troops out of danger. But when he eventually came to in a hospital in Germany, he was so disoriented that he tried to choke his nurse. (“The last thing I remembered was fighting,” he said.) Doctors explained what had happened, and told Fields they could rebuild his leg by grafting muscle and fusing his ankle.
“With that type of injury, there’s nothing you can do,” Fields said, alluding to the active combat he preferred. “It would have done me more harm mentally trying to get back out there and seeing that I couldn’t do it. So I went with just getting it amputated. Everything that hurts now is gone.
“And it would have been around now that I would be just starting recovery. I would have just been getting crutches, just getting out of bed. And I’ve had an active four years since this happened.”
Indeed, Fields acclimated to a prosthetic foot so quickly that he found himself barely missing the real one. He ran swiftly and even did standing backflips. Fields had never heard of the Paralympics at that point, but a fellow soldier suggested that he apply to the World Class Athlete Program. Two days before being redeployed to Iraq in August 2007 — he had worked himself back into combat shape — Fields was accepted and immediately stunned his new coach, Al Joyner.
“He’s a baby — he’d never run any track,” said Joyner, the former Olympic gold medalist who works with Paralympic and able-bodied sprinters and jumpers at the United States Olympic training facility in Chula Vista, Calif. “He’s made leaps and bounds with his mechanics. When he learns more about his body, he’s going to explode.”
Within a year, Fields was running 100 meters in 12 seconds flat. Running that fast on a Cheetah foot, a long, carbon-fiber blade that mimics the spring and power of the human lower leg, required Fields to understand the unique demands of amputee sprinting. His hip flexors had to learn to balance legs of different weights and feet of different lengths. The nerve receptors in the stump below his knee had to figure out how to sense the track beneath his artificial foot.
“I was there the first day Jerrod ran, and he went boom, right on his face,” said Marlon Shirley, a two-time gold medalist in the Paralympic 100 meters who also trains in Chula Vista. “For him to run 12 flat in such a short amount of time, less than two years, that blows me away.
“The thing about Jerrod is his spirit and love for life. His spirit is probably bigger than anybody I’ve ever met before. It’s infectious. He’s the type of person you want to emulate because of how much he loves life.”
Decreasing his time to 11.2 or 11.3 seconds, which would get him to the Games, will be even harder than running 12 this soon, Shirley warned. But the top United States sprinter Brian Frasure has retired, and Shirley has sustained major knee and Achilles’ tendon injuries. So Fields and the Paralympic veteran Jerome Singleton could become the top United States hopes to run an 11.1 or lower, which could beat Pistorius, a double-amputee who runs so fast on two Cheetah feet that he almost qualified for the Olympic 400 meters.
Joyner said Fields could ultimately run faster than Shirley — the most decorated United States track-and-field Paralympian — in his prime. Shirley said that was possible, too, if Fields could learn the nuances of top-caliber sprinting and then perform in now-or-never competition. The indoor season begins next month.
“We don’t know what’s in us until we get the opportunity that pulls it out of us,” Fields said. What drove that vehicle out of Baghdad could drive him straight to London"
Super music and great clips. BTW.....It's not today, it's on July 12th.
"TRYING to buy a packet of discount biscuits was a whole new adventure for Ron Bishop Thursday as he took part in the Disability Action Week Shopping Challenge at Hinkler Central.
Usually towering over displays and able to reach top shelves with ease, Mr Bishop discovered that for people in wheelchairs, a trip to buy the weekly groceries can present a minefield of obstacles.
“I was sent out to get the home-brand TimTams, and all the home-brand stuff was on the top shelf where I couldn't reach,” Mr Bishop said.
“All the expensive products were right at eye level, but I was on a budget.”
The experience might have been an unusual one for the competitors, but it is an everyday fact of life for people like Chris Grimes who need a wheelchair to get around.
Mr Grimes struggles to reach some items at the shops, but also finds it hard to read prices and displays which are not at the right level.
Other community members were mentored through their shopping trips while using earplugs to simulate deafness, and goggles for vision impairment.
Even seemingly simple tasks became a struggle when it came time for a contestant with “visual impairment” to buy a can of Heinz tomato soup - and could not tell the different brands apart.
YMCA Bundaberg chief executive officer Ian Rowan found some people lost patience with him as he carried out his shopping expedition in a hearing-impaired state.
“A few picked up that I couldn't hear, and gave me things to read, but a lot of people just talked over me to my support worker,” Mr Rowan said.
“Deafness is a disability that is really difficult, because people don't pick up on it quickly and they can be quite impatient.”
A Disability Directory was launched on Wednesday at a morning tea as part of the Disability Action Week events, offering a guide to local services."
Source
Lorie Hutchison is running 18 marathons over 18 days. The 45-year-old started her journey on Thursday and is scheduled to finish the 465-mile trip on Oct. 4.
The LifeFlight nurse for Intermountain Healthcare is trying to raise money for San Diego-based Challenged Athletes Foundation, which provides grants for prosthetics and adaptive equipment for athletes who are amputees.
Hutchison also hopes to inspire youth across Utah to exercise more. She is partnering with Intermountain's LiVe campaign and wants children to exercise for 26 minutes for 18 days straight."
Source
“When I question myself,” Baskis said, “I think about my buddy who didn’t make it and some of my other buddies. They’re not going to have the opportunity to live their life.”
The U.S. Army specialist has discovered new meaning to a life that nearly ended, driven by a fast-rising career in road cycling 16 months after an insurgent attack in Iraq left him blind, limited his mobility and damaged his motor skills.
Part of a four-person security patrol, Baskis, 23, of Chicago, was riding inside an armored vehicle in May 2008, when a roadside bomb detonated near Baghdad. It sprayed his body with shrapnel and killed another soldier.
His eyeballs were blown from his sockets. He severed an artery in his left arm, disrupting circulation and causing nerve damage, and his right leg, triggering arthritis and joint pain. Bleeding on his brain required 10-plus surgeries.
Baskis rides with a sighted pilot — his performance this week during a U.S. Association of Blind Athletes camp in Colorado Springs a steppingstone to the 2012 Paralympics.
Injured soldiers and people with disabilities might one day benefit from a hydraulic hand that doubles finger strength. Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory say a "mesofluidic" hand could be used to remotely disarm explosives and manipulate IEDs.
Mesofluidics is the study of applying pea-size hydraulics to applications requiring significant power in a limited space.
(Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory)So far, the team at the Tennessee laboratory has developed an artificial finger made up of 25 moving parts. It can deliver 20 pounds of pinch force, about double that of a human finger, while remaining lightweight and rugged.
Key innovations were a small, 200 psi hydraulic pump that produces about 30 watts of hydraulic power, as well as miniature high-performance valves that control motion.
The next stage in development is a full hydraulic hand. It could have prosthetic applications similar to DARPA's Revolutionizing Prosthetics Program--described in this "60 Minutes" video--which aims to create an artificial arm with full motor and sensory functions.
Prosthetic technology hasn't advanced much in decades, but current wars and new technologies are changing that. Prosthetics maker OrthoCare Innovations is working with the Oak Ridge team to use mesofluidics for boosting strength in weakened elbows and knees.
But a more intriguing use would be telerobotics. Though robots have been developed for mine detection and disposal, the hydraulic hand could have unparalleled dexterity as a remote-controlled device.
The Oak Ridge scientists are designing a glove with a mesofluidic exoskeleton that will be linked to a remote hydraulic hand with force feedback. Users would be able to roughly feel what the remote hand is manipulating.
That might save some lives--and prevent some expensive robots from getting blown up.
Alcohol cost Cameron Clapp both legs and his right arm eight years ago but it could not prevent him from dancing in front of students in a St. Ursula Academy classroom Thursday.
The 23-year-old California native, in Cincinnati to mentor other double-leg amputees at University and Shriners hospitals, delivered a heart-felt and unflinching presentation to two sophomore health classes at the East Walnut Hills high school.
"Impossible is an opinion, not a fact," said Clapp, wearing blue shorts and a short-sleeved golf shirt to reveal his prosthetic legs and arm.
Accompanied by video, still photographs and audio, he detailed his injury, recovery and interests and challenged the students to set goals, overcome obstacles and reap the benefits of positive choices and realize the consequences of negative ones - messages all rendered genuinely.
"He never lost his California surfer-dude attitude," was what impressed Lauren Harper, a St. Ursula sophomore from Golf Manor.
The first obstacle he had to overcome, Clapp said, was his parents' divorce, even before his accident. He showed a photograph of his family, including identical twin brother Jesse.
"He's a good-looking guy," Cameron said.
The brothers were active, playing soccer and baseball and surfing and running in their hometown of Pismo Beach.
But they made a bad choice Sept. 15, 2001. They were 15 at the time and went out for a night of under-aged drinking. They got home, "intoxicated," he said, and decided to walk to the beach, crossing railroad tracks they'd crossed thousands of times.
"I didn't hear or see the train," Clapp said. "The train took me out." It cut off both legs and his right arm, the dominant one he wrote, ate and threw with.
His head and organs were not injured.
"It is a miracle that I survived and can recognize the consequences of my actions," he said.
The first doctor treating him told Clapp and his family that the teen-ager never would walk again.
"We bailed on that dude," he said.
He showed a photograph of himself bandaged and in bed. Then, he showed one with his stumps and scars uncovered.
"That image will stay with me," said St. Ursula sophomore Katie Woebkenberg of Montgomery. "To see him now, you realize how far he has come."
The family found a doctor and a company that could help him. Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics, which custom-made prosthetic legs that fit Clapp's residual leg limbs, cut off right above the knee. The process was slow and especially arduous, perhaps the most difficult period in his recovery. His doctor and therapists told him that for him to truly learn to walk he would have to give up use of his wheelchair.
"Ditched it," Clapp said as he clicked on a photograph of himself on the beach at sunset, his artificial legs silhouetted and the wheelchair overturned at his side.
"I fell right after this picture was taken," he said, laughing.
Sophomore Sophie Rupp of White Oak was inspired by the photograph. "That's when it seemed he turned his life around," she said.
Clapp would fall many times. He showed video of himself tumbling off his new legs but getting back up. He had to walk backward up ramps and inclines at first. Clapp smiled and laughed at himself in the video.
"I could never have done that," said Abbie Grause, a St. Ursula sophomore from Cleves.
Hanger Prosthetics, which sponsors many of Clapp's trips and presentations, developed multiple legs for him, including ones with a microchip in the knee that allow him to set the knees in various positions that allow, among other activities, him to drive a car without hand controls and run.
"Got to be able to trust the knee to be there," he said while running from one corner of the classroom to another. "I can do things without thinking about it."
Custom-made flippers and a paddle at the end of his artificial arm allow him to swim, which addressed the problem of muscle atrophy on the right side of his upper body.
Initially, his father, a surfer, had tossed him in a pool without prosthetic limbs. With flippers and the paddle, Cameron Clapp has since completed swims of 1.2 and 1.4 miles in triathlons for athletes with disabilities.
"Charged out into the ocean like a little seal," he said.
He likes to golf, paint, play music as a disc-jockey and act. He has met and befriended actors Will Farrell and Robin Williams. Clapp landed a bit part in the film "Stop Loss," in which he plays pool with a wounded soldier. He was featured in an episode of the television series "My Name is Earl," in which he played a double-amputee boyfriend. of a single-amputee woman whose car was stolen by Earl. Clapp's character runs down Earl and beats him with a political yard sign.
"Good things, extraordinary things, have happened to me," he said. "My good choices have resulted in rewards that are priceless."
He is in contact and has mentored other amputees, including U.S. soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. One wounded soldier, who loved to hike, resigned himself to life in a wheelchair. Clapp met him and has become a friend. He showed video of the two men negotiating trails over rocks on their artificial legs.
"He doesn't own a chair any more," Clapp said.
His next goal is to learn to cycle.
Running always has been a passion.
Clapp runs the 100 meters in 17 seconds - a time that is improving, he said - on specially designed sprint feet that feature ultra-lightweight hydraulic knee units.
"Like flying," he said.
His athletic achievements won Clapp the 2005 Shining Star honor from Just One Break Inc., a nonprofit organization founded in part by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1947 to recognize a person for overcoming a disability. Past winners include singer Ray Charles and actor Christopher Reeve.
At the end of his presentation, Clapp showed a film clip of himself running a 400-meter race in the Endeavor Games for disabled athletes. He trailed in the sprint and tripped trying to make up ground, landing hard on his left shoulder and head. He struggled to get up two or three times before finally rising to his feet. He finished the race.
"I got `er done," he said.
His twin, Jesse, Cameron continued, didn't.
"He tripped and fell down (in January 2008) and couldn't get back up," Clapp said. "He got into drugs and over-dosed. It killed him.
"That's reality. If you make bad choices bad things will happen. Jesse never got to learn from his mistake. I have been able to."
He made this appeal to students, the same one he made on previous stops this week at a hospital and two high schools in Columbus.
"Don't beat yourself up," Clapp said of inevitable mistakes. "But now is the time of your lives when you are vulnerable. The choices you make affect everybody close to you. My brother is not with me physically. He is in here."
(The Enquirer/Gary Landers)
« Shop For A Cause
United Spinal Association Tel 718 803 3782 ext 205
National Headquarters Fax 718 803 0414
75-20 Astoria Boulevard publicaffairs@unitedspinal.org
Jackson Heights, NY 11370-1177
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
2009 Accessibility Open House
Bethpage, NY––Accessible Vans & Mobility present the 2009 Accessibility Open House, a free 2-day event highlighting the latest in assistive technology, including modified vehicles, ultra-modern wheelchairs, adaptive sports equipment, and universal design ideas for your home.
United Spinal Association’s Able to Travel, VetsFirst and Wheelchair Medic divisions will offer workshops on accessible travel vacation planning, veterans’ benefits and services, and free wheelchair and scooter tune-up clinics. Other workshops include tips on remodeling your home, bathroom or kitchen to provide greater accessibility, how to protect your financial assets, and wheelchair sports demonstrations from players and coaches.
United Spinal Association CEO and President Paul J. Tobin said, “This is a terrific opportunity to attend free workshops that can improve your independence and quality of life.”
Dan Bussani, Vice President at Accessible Vans & Mobility added, “Mobility doesn’t only mean vehicles, mobility is a lifestyle. This open house is an event that gives the community a vision of products and services available to them along workshops on asset protection, trust funds, accessible travel, home modification displays and wheelchair sports.
Other participating organizations include the Nassau & Suffolk County Offices for the Physically Challenged, Long Island Center for Independent Living, and Canine Companions.
The Open House will take place at 500 Central Ave in Bethpage, NY on Friday, September 18th from Noon to 6pm and Saturday, September 19th from 10am to 4pm.
Old news, but new to me.... Can you believe that Spain's 2010 Gold Medal winning basketball was forced to return their medals after 10 of their team were found to be able bodied?
MRS. OBAMA: Good afternoon, everyone.
AUDIENCE: Good afternoon!
MRS. OBAMA: Awww. (Laughter.) We're thrilled to welcome all of you to the White House today as we honor some of America's top Olympic and Paralympic athletes and express our excitement about the opportunity to host the 2016 Summer Olympic/Paralympic Games.
I want to thank Mayor Daley for that warm and heartfelt introduction, but I also want to thank him for his outstanding work to prepare Chicago's bid, and for his visionary leadership to move a city to great places, a city that is so near and dear to my heart, to our hearts, to the Obama family.
And I want to say a special hello to all these wonderful young people who are here that so politely said hello to me -- (laughter) -- who've come here from our local schools in our area. Hey, guys.
AUDIENCE: Hey!
MRS. OBAMA: Hey! I think it's safe to say that everyone here is really feeling the Olympic spirit today, right?
AUDIENCE: Yeah!
MRS. OBAMA: That's right. (Applause.) Yeah! We can do this. (Applause.) And I know that we are pretty eager to see some judo, right? We're going to see some gymnastics today. And what else? Fencing. You should have seen the President in there fencing. (Laughter.) It was pathetic. (Laughter.) But he passed the baton really well.
And I want to recognize the Olympians, the Paralympians, and the coaches -- not just for their extraordinary athletic achievements, but also for taking the time to inspire young people today here at the White House, and every day communities across this nation. You all make us so proud.
As we can see from today's event, the Olympics isn't just about what happens in one city every two or four years. It's not just about those weeks when we watch the greatest athletes in the world push themselves to new heights of achievement. It's also about how a nation is transformed during the years leading up to the Games, and it's also about the legacy that lasts in those cities long after the closing ceremonies are over.
The Olympic charter states that, by "blending sport with culture and education," the Olympics aims "to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example."
And that's what I'm reminded of today -- how the Olympic Games teach important lessons and set an important example for so many young people.
I'm reminded of the commitment to excellence that the Games embody -- the belief that no matter where you're from, or what your background is, that if you dream big enough and work hard enough, ther/e are no limits to what you can achieve.
I'm reminded of the lifestyles that the Games promote -- the commitment to physical activity and nutrition that are so important for a healthy life, and that we're working so hard for to reach in this nation.
I'm reminded of the mission of the Paralympic Games that it fulfills, opening the highest levels of athletic competition to anyone with the talent and drive to succeed -- men and women who refuse to let their disabilities limit their horizons.
And I'm reminded of the example of citizenship and service our Olympic and Paralympic athletes are setting every day all across the country. More than 2,500 of those athletes have already signed up to be athletic ambassadors for Chicago 2016's World Sport Chicago Initiative. They're committing to work as coaches and mentors, and holding sports clinics to encourage young people to stay active. They've already reached more than 30,000 children in just Chicago alone. And they're planning to take this initiative across the nation, including right here in D.C. What you guys were doing today -- you went out to some of our local schools and you talked to young people about what's important about athletics and nutrition.
I re-did the section in bold so the credit would be emphasized on the real subject. Our president, much like Bill Clinton can be VERY long winded.
Source and much, much, more
Since the loss of his legs, Zanardi has returned to limited racing in the German and European Touring Car Championship.
Alex made his hand cycling debut in the 2007 New York City Marathon where he finished in fourth place at the age of 42, Since then he has finished 14th in last week's individual time trial at the Para-Cycling Road World Championship in Bogogno, Italy, where he finished 4 minutes, 45 seconds just behind Oz Sanchez of the United States, who won gold at the Beijing Paralympics
My honest objective is to be at the level of the best Italian bikers, waiting for a dream that could come true in London in 2012," Zanardi said.
If his car racing pedigree carries over to hand cycling I'm sure he will do great. Here's some stats. He has won two Champ Car (CART) Championships,In 2003 Post-Amp Zanardi won his first world series race since his accident at Lausitzring, and further wins at Istanbul in 2006 and Brno in 2008 and 2009.
Paralyzed Veterans' Americana Gala Honors Outstanding Leadership, SpotlightsImproving the Quality of Life for Veterans with DisabilitiesWASHINGTON, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --
Paralyzed Veterans of America(Paralyzed Veterans) will hold its annual Americana Gala, Wednesday, September16, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center inWashington, DC.
Gala mistress of ceremonies will be ABC News chief foreign correspondent, Martha Raddatz.Awardees include U.S. Representative Chet Edwards, former Deputy U.S.Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon Mansfield, Invacare CEO Mal Mixon and theU.S. Paralympics.
Presenters include the U.S. National Security Advisor,General James Jones, and former U.S. Senator Max Cleland."Imagine an America where paralyzed veterans and their families haveeverything they need to thrive.
Through their leadership, the people andbusinesses we honor at the Gala are helping Paralyzed Veterans make thisvision a reality," said Paralyzed Veterans' National President Randy L. Pleva,Sr.
The inspirational annual fundraising event both honors extraordinary leaderswho work hard 24/7 to help our nation's paralyzed veterans and their familiesand highlights the vital role that Paralyzed Veterans' programs have inimproving the quality of life for veterans with disabilities.
More than 300 guests are expected to attend this year's Gala. Our great nation is home to 25 million brave veterans and 54 million peoplewith disabilities -- with 12,000 new spinal cord injuries reported annually.
Paralyzed Veterans works around the clock to create an America where veteransbenefits and health care are fully funded; where everywhere is barrier freefor everyone; where wheelchair sports are mainstream; and where our scientificcommunity is amply funded to strive for new treatments and cures.
This year's honorees are: Outstanding Service to Veterans Award The Honorable Gordon H. Mansfield Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Access Through Architecture Award, American Institute of Architecture Students, Sports and Recreation Award, The U.S. Paralympics Congressional Award, The Honorable Chet Edwards, U.S. House of Representatives Corporate Leadership Award, Mal Mixon, CEO Invacare, Invacare Corporation.
Paralyzed Veterans was founded by a band of spinal cord injured service members who returned home from World War II to a grateful nation, but also toa world with few solutions to the challenges they faced.
They made a decisionnot just to live, but to live with dignity as contributors to society. Theycreated Paralyzed Veterans, dedicated to veterans service, medical research,and civil rights for people with disabilities,and for more than 63 years,Paralyzed Veterans and our 34 chapters have been working to create an America where all veterans and people with disabilities, and their families, haveeverything they need to thrive. We represent thousands of veterans in all 50states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Proceeds from the Gala will benefit the Paralyzed Veterans of America, a501(c)(3) nonprofit, congressionally chartered veterans service organization.To learn more about our work, go to www.pva.org.SOURCE Paralyzed Veterans of America
"I feel that yes I've come along way with staying in shape," said Jonathan. "Not many people can do that especially with a physical disability to overcome."
Jonathan was born without hands or feet. He was adopted from Croatia when he was a little more than a year old.
"He's a child who sees that he is just like everybody else," said Linn Heider, Jonathan's mother.
"I used to tell people that there's hardly anything he cannot do and it's true."
Jonathan learned how to swim as a child and starting competing at age 11.
"I like to be more independent. I don't like really being in a wheelchair or things that'll slow me down. I like just being myself without prosthetics or a wheelchair or anything like that, and that's one of the sports that I can do that with," said Jonathan.
Although Jonathan has more than 30 medals, he's not quitting anytime soon. His goal is to compete on the 2012 U.S. Paralympics team.
"I think competition-wise I want to see the world by swimming and try to beat down some of these better international athletes that are still ranked higher than I am," said Jonathan.
And it's something his swim coach thinks he can do.
"I hope we can make it and I say we because I want to be a part of that," said Dave Korst, Jonathan's coach and director of competitive swimming at the Green Bay YMCA. "I want to help to push him everyday to help him do things that are going to make him swim faster and keep him motivated, get him the right competition that we can get him in the state and we'll get him there."
"It began as protecting him in the water so he could survive if he would accidentally fall in or something," Linn says of her son's swimming. "And we've just encouraged him to go as far as he can go with it, because it's a life long skill."
Jonathan Heider has also competed in sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball. He tells us he is ranked 9th in the world in the 50 meter free style competition."
Source
I'm working on adding sidebars with drop down menus so the blog opens faster. It's a real bugger with the width problems, but I think it's sorted now. Other than that...... BBC Radio 1 on Sat. Radio and implementing the codes.
Mike Royal, US Disabled Water Skiing member
"The U.S. Disabled Water Ski Team won the overall gold medal at the 9th Disabled Water Ski World Championships, Sept. 3-6, in Vichy, France. The United States tallied 9,341.73 points in winning the gold medal for a record fifth time at the biennial event. Italy earned the silver medal with 9,240.23 points and France earned the bronze medal with 5,748.02 points. Australia (5,622.60 points) and Great Britain (4,497.86 points) rounded out the top-five placements in the 18-team field."
Source
In yesterday's post about the quad building a catamaran I mentioned the Jubilee Sailing Trust for disabled people.
"The Jubilee Sailing Trust is a registered charity whose mission is to promote the integration of people of all physical abilities through the challenge and adventure of sailing tall ships on the open sea.
There are two elements to the JST's mission: one is to overcome prejudices and misconceptions about disability amongst able-bodied people and the second is to enable people with a disability to show to themselves and to others what they are really capable of when the environment is designed to be inclusive.
In the UK there are over 10.8 million people with a disability, 6.9 million of whom are of working age - which equates to just over 18%, almost 1/5th, of the UK's entire working age population*.
Looking at the numbers, and considering that one-in-four of us is close to a person with a disability, it is amazing that there is still that element of prejudice, misconception about ability and a lack of awareness of the things that can make life inclusive. The JST is here to build the bridges of awareness and understanding and by using two fantastic, specially designed tall ships, break down barriers for a better, more inclusive world."
Our ships have been specially designed and built to acheive our mission. They are an example of what can be done to enable people with very different levels of physical ability to participate fully. They are also a reminder to people of how important simple design changes can be to making an environment inclusive. The ships have flat wide decks, raised markers on hand rails, lifts between decks and gangways that are wide enough for a wheelchair: all considerations that enable people to get around unaided. Equally there are speaking compasses and hearing loops on both ships.
Times have changed since the JST came to life in 1978 . While legislation has forced changes, positive role models such as Dame Tanni Grey Thompson and other paralympic athletes have helped to show everyone - regardless of physical status - what can be achieved with determination and some adaptations in equipment. Clearly we can't all emulate these superbly talented and dedicated athletes. The point is that with the right equipment and with small adjustments, everyone can take part in the same activity. Being a part of a mixed-ability crew sailing Lord Nelson or Tenacious demonstrates this beyond doubt."
"50% of the crew may be physically disabled, 100% are actively involved.
We believe that's just the way it should be."
Lord Nelson and Tenacious are pioneering tall ships. They are the only two Class A tall ships in the world to be designed and purpose built to enable people of all physical abilities to sail side by side on equal terms.
Although the term "tall ship" may evoke an image of a ship from a bygone era, both Lord Nelson and Tenacious are equipped with modern communication systems and navigational aids, as well as a host of additional features such as flat, wide decks which facilitate access for wheelchair users, lifts between decks for those with limited mobility and a speaking compass to enable blind and visually impaired crew to take the helm.
Don't forget that you can also join us for maintenance click here for more information
Don't think you can sail with the JST? Check out the number of people with different disabilities
or conditions who already have.
Man that looks like FUN!
On tbe US Open today Esther was mentioned as having stats that blew the A/B players away. I have been working on those stats for awhile now and here they are!
British Open Nottingham singles 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 1999, 1996, /
British Open doubles 2009, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 2001, /
Wimbledon doubles 2009, /
Roland Garros singles 2009, 2008, 2007,/
Roland Garros doubles 2009, 2008, 2007,/
Australian Open singles 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, (l 2000)/
Australian Open doubles 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, (l 2002), 2000,/
NEC Wheelchair Masters singles 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998,/
NEC Wheelchair Masters doubles 2002, 2001, 2000, (l 2000),/
Camozzi Doubles Masters 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003,/
Mercedes Open singles 2008/
Mercedes Open doubles 2008/
Belgian Open singles 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, (l 1998), (l 1997), (l 1996)/
Belgian Open doubles 2008, 2007, (l 2006), 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, (l 1996)/
BNP French Open singles 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005./
BNP French Open doubles 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005,/
Japan Open singles 2008, 2007, 2004, /
Japan Open doubles 2008, 2007, 2004,/
Florida Open singles 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, (l 2000), 1999,/
Florida Open doubles 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2000, 1999,/
Pensacola Open singles 2008, 2006, /
Pensacola Open doubles 2008, 2006,/
Sydney International singles 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, (l 2003), 2002, 2000, /
Sydney International doubles 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, (l 2002), 2000, /
US Open (USTA) singles 2007, 2006, 2005, /
US Open (USTA) doubles 2007, 2006, 2005,/
Atlanta Masters singles 2007, 2006, 2005,/
Atlanta Masters doubles 2006, 2005, /
US Open New York singles 2007, 2006, 2005,/
US Open New York doubles 2007, 2006, 2005,
Daimler Open singles 2007, 2006, 2004,
Daimler Open doubles (l 2007), 2006, (wo 2004),
Amsterdam Open singles 2007, 2006,
Amsterdam Open doubles 2006,
Cajun Classic singles 2007, 2006,
Cajun Classic doubles 2007, (l 2006),
PTR Roho Championship singles 2006, 2005, 2003,
PTR Roho Championship doubles 2006, 2005, 2003,
USTA Roho Indoor singles 2006, 2005,
USTA Roho Indoor doubles 2006, 2005,
Swiss Open singles 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 1999, (l 1998), 1997, (l 1997)
Swiss Open doubles 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 1999, 1998, (l 1997)
Wheelchair Classic 8's singles 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002,
Wheelchair Classic 8's doubles 2006, 2004,
Dutch Open singles 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, (l 1997), 1996, (l 1995)
Dutch Open doubles 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, (l 2000), 1999, (l 1998), 1997, (l 1995)
Merwede Amsterdam singles 2005,
Merwede Amsterdam doubles 2005
Brasilia Open singles 2005,
Nasdaq 100 singles 2005, 2004, 2003,
Nasdaq 100 doubles 2004, 2003,
Citta Livorno singles 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001,
Citta Livorno doubles 2004, 2003, (l 2002), (l 2001),
Invacare Team Cup singles 2004, 2003, 2002, (l 1999)
Invacare Team Cup doubles 2003, 2002, (l 1999), 1998,
Kobe Open singles 2000,
Kobe Open doubles 2000,
US Open singles 2003, 2002, 2000, (l 1999), 1998,
US Open doubles 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999, 1998,
Lakeshore World singles 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000,
Lakeshore World doubles 2003, (l 2002), (l 2001), 2000,
Jesolo Euro Cup singles 2003
Polish Open singles 2003,
Polish Open doubles 2003,
French Open singles 2002, 2001, (l 2000), 1999, 1997, (l 1997), (l 1996)
French Open doubles 2002, (l 2001), (l 2000), 1999, (l 1997), (l 1996)
Italian Open singles 2001,
Italian Open doubles 2001,
DiSporta singles 2000,
DiSporta doubles 2000,
Ericsson Championships singles (l 2001), 2000,
Ericsson Championships doubles (l 2001), (l 2000),
Austrian Open singles (l 1999), 1998
Austrian Open doubles 1998,
Lipton Championships singles (l 1999),
Lipton Championships doubles (l 1999),
Sportement singles 1998, (l 1997), 1996,
Sportement doubles 1998, 1997, 1996,
Kiwanis Amsterdam 1998, (l 1997)
Kiwanis Amsterdan (l 1997)
Belgium Open singles (l 1995)
Paralympics singles Beijing, Athens, Sydney
134 titles
100 consecutive singles titles 2009/2003
339 consecutive matches 3 sets 25 times 65 sets 6-0 Dutch Open 2003 6-0
26 losses
871 matches won
Esther Vergeer's overall Winning pct. is 97.101 better than every WTA Player ever, Margaret Court is the closest, she had a 91.37 winning percentage
WOW!
"British quadriplegic yachtsman Geoff Holt took the helm of a newbuild catamaran last month which has been specially designed for The Adventure Help & Opportunities for Youth (AHOY) Centre in London.
The ‘Personal Everest’ solo sail around Britain hero, who is currently planning a solo crossing of the Atlantic, skippered the newbuild AHOY Powercat 40 from Weymouth to Lymington as part of a UK South Coast delivery voyage en route to its official handover and start of work on London’s River Thames.
The £200,000 boat will be skippered and crewed by people with disabilities to enable them to enjoy boating as well as to inspire other disabled people. The craft with special equipment on board enables them to handle and sail a boat, demonstrating that with the right equipment they can do anything a fully able person can.
Starting at Falmouth, the craft visited Falmouth, Plymouth, Weymouth, Lymington, Cowes, Southampton, Brighton, Eastbourne and Ramsgate on its way to London. It is crewed and skippered by volunteers who have been taking out 36 people with disabilities each day during the inaugural trip.
Built in Newhaven UK, this stable GRP catamaran has an overall length of 12.3m and can carry up to eleven wheelchair users with ‘anchorage’ points. For maximum manoeuvrability and ease of control, the craft is fitted with a twin UltraJet 305HT propulsion system using an Ultra Dynamics JetMaster Joystick control system for steering, reverse and sideway movements. Power is provided by Twin Iveco diesel engines rated at 330 bhp at 2,850 rpm.
Clive Ongley, who is a volunteer and Chair of Trustees of AHOY, said that the Powercat 40 has met the design expectations and achieved 21 knots during sea trials.
The boat is specially outfitted with two wheelhouse lifting platforms, together with a helm position lift for extra height, plus a rear ramp for wheelchair access to shore. To assist the crew members who have little movement within the shoulders and neck, a special six point inboard/outboard camera and Jotron intercom system has been fitted with a monitor at the helm position to enable them to communicate with other crew members. Fold down benches, convertible to berths, allow up to five sailors to participate in overnight trips.
This special vessel will be based in London after completing a winter programme of training. For further information or to become involved, Email Lacie Cole, AHOY development manager."
That ranks right up there with the Jubilee Sailing Trust Ship!
"TAIPEI, Sept. 8 (MNA) -- Iran defeated Spain in the 21st Summer Deaflympics Taipei 2009 on Tuesday.
In the match held at the Yingfeng Stadium, Iran beat Spain 3-0. Iman Mohebi scored twice as Mazaher Shirzad opened the goal once.
Before this Iran was beaten by Germany 2-1 and held to a goalless draw by Nigeria.
The Iranian outfit is scheduled to play Ukraine on September 10.
The Deaflympics is one of five international events recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) (along with the Olympics, the Paralympics, the Special Olympics and the Youth Olympic Games, which will be held for the first time in 2010). Its events are similar to those of the Olympic Games and are governed by the same rules.
The 21st Summer Deaflympics in Taipei has brought together about 4,000 athletes from 81 countries around the world.
The games will feature 20 sports: athletics, badminton, basketball, bowling, cycling, football, handball, orienteering, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball, water polo, freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, karate, judo and taekwondo"
Source
After last night's very cathartic post I went to bed and laid down to think some more about my problems. I really think that a big part of my issue with not contacting my son is that I didn't want to disclose all of my families problems to him and maybe discourage him from being the best he could be.
I'm fairly sure he knows all about his mother's drug problems, and that he abandoned him. I also don't believe she is in his life at all. I didn't abandon him, as I said last night I didn't know about him until he was 7.
In one sense not knowing is better than knowing, especially when your a child. I didn't know much about my dad until I was just about his age. Who knows, only the future will tell.
I thought that getting my grant and all my equipment was the greatest success of my life, so why am I not working, or even posting here? The awful truth is that even with all that success I was recently diagnosed with a serious depression problem. It's bi-polar manic depression to be exact.
Last week I was hospitalized for a few days with a stress related near heart attack, than an addititional week in the hospital's clinical psychiatric unit.
The psychiatrist has prescribed me two medications to treat my brain, Depakote and Symbiax and I have to start seeing a psychologist this week. Even with all the achievement I know that the depression is coming from some issues I'm having right now with my son.
Some say that "History is doomed to repeat itself" and right now is truth in my experience. I never knew my own father, only met him once in my whole life, and this scenario is being repeated with my own son. He's going to be 13 in November and I have never met him, in fact I didn't even know about him until 3 years after my spinal cord injury, when he was already 7 and his mother was being imprisoned for a heroin charge.
Since then he has been raised by his mother's parents and they are, to the best of my knowledge, really good people. Just a few months ago my eldest sister had an urge to go to church and she saw their names on the service pamphlet as Deacon's of this church. She approached them and spoke with them about this situation and found out that Jacob (my son) had started asking questions about me. The who, what and where's about my life. They live in Maine, I'm in Florida so the physical distance could not be much greater.
I have spent so many of these past years conflicted about what to do that my own mental well being is now shot to shit. My father was a drug addict and alcoholic (death by DUI), his father was an alcoholic (death by liver cirrohsis) and his mother is a junkie. I'm a cripple and I had thought that by getting my grant and starting to be productive I could enter his life positively. Not having a father of my own I have no idea how to be one I guess I thought leaving him with his grandparents was the best thing for him.
Now I want him, but I can't physically take care of myself, my lawyer is giving me hell about going to an inpatient rehabilitation hospital and the house of cards is falling. I'm telling this to you all to let you know that I'm not giving up, I'm going to continue until I get my shit in order than I think all will be well.
Wish me luck
