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ZoncoArm manufactures Mobil Arm Supports for people with upper-limb disabilities which can help with rehabilitation, and can add more freedom and independence to such activities of daily living as feeding, using a computer, and controlling the joy stick of a power wheelchair.

In 2013, the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia celebrates its 10-year anniversary as the museum of “We the People.” The Center demonstrated its ability to live up to that title last year when it marked a major milestone: the acquisition of Justin Dart Jr.’s wheelchair, which he used while sitting alongside the Reverend Harold Wilke, Sandra Parrino, Evan Kemp and the Center’s former chairman, President George H.W. Bush, as the president signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law in 1990.

When it comes to camps, kids with special needs have as many choices as other kids. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires all camps to make reasonable accommodations (such as the installation of wheelchair-accessible ramps) so that kids with special needs can attend. So, camps that previously couldn't host kids with special needs might now be on your list of possibilities.

James Beck is getting ready to graduate in May from Montana State University, but recently found he couldn’t turn in the graduation forms himself, because he can’t physically get to the registrar’s office. Beck, 25, a computer science major from Belgrade, has muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder that weakens muscles, so to get around he has to rely on his power wheelchair. The only way to reach the registrar’s office in historic Montana Hall is to climb lots of stairs. “I can’t get to the place everybody has to go,” Beck said. “I think it’s more ridiculous in this day and age to have small obstacles.”

Summer vacation will be here soon. When planning a vacation with a person who has special needs, accessibility is the name of the game: wheelchair accessibility, accessibility to medical needs, a positive sensory environment, accessibility to old interests and new experiences. Every destination on this list welcomes and accommodates visitors with special needs.  You’ve probably heard of some of these places before, but others may get you thinking about vacations in a whole new way.

“There will always be someone worse off and better off than you. Always.”I hear this repeated whenever we take our daughter with cerebral palsy to medical appointments, and we see children who are bald after grueling rounds of chemotherapy or families dealing with children’s emotional and behavioral issues.I count my blessings and say to myself, “Self, you are lucky.” I look at my daughter happily tooling around in her wheelchair the color and sheen of nail polish while I fight the urge to run from the repetitive questions and forms in triplicate to skedaddle in the direction of the nearest Krispy Kreme.There are times I forget how the world sees my daughter: a cute girl who walks with a strange gait, who most often is drooling and who uses a communication device to speak. I forget that she resembles a broken marionette that has snipped her strings and says so much with a smile. What I see is a strong, capable, intelligent, goofy and amazing child who lightens hearts and communities that are blessed to know her.

Stella Young is a comedian and journalist who happens to go about her day in a wheelchair — a fact that doesn’t, she’d like to make clear, automatically turn her into a noble inspiration to all humanity. In this very funny talk, Young breaks down society's habit of turning disabled people into “inspiration porn.”

A fully accessible college dorm opening this week is believed to be the most user-friendly in the country for students with physical disabilities, offering the tools to transition to independence. Dorm rooms at the new facility at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign come complete with lifts for residents to get in and out of bed and use the bathroom, not to mention a pager system to call for assistance any time. Light switches and thermostats are reachable from a wheelchair and roll-in showers make life a little easier with built-in seats. But what’s truly innovative, university officials say, is that rooms for 17 students with disabilities are on the first floor of a dorm that will house hundreds of other students. Traditionally, students with disabilities lived separately from their typically developing peers.

The first member of the House of Representatives with quadriplegia will preside over the governing body on Monday in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I think it odd that I am actually seriously celebrating and thinking about the 20th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities act. As a man who has spent well over half of his life in a wheelchair with a permanent spinal cord injury I can say that my feelings about this landmark law have generally been negative. For instance, the law famously began as a civil rights act enforced by alleged victims filing lawsuits to force compliance in individual cases. I wonder if racial desegregation in education would have happened at all if Governor George Wallace had confronted a civil complaint instead of the National Guard on the steps of the University of Alabama back in 1963. The ADA was sadly bereft of enforcement teeth when it was passed 20 years ago. There have been phased upgrades that have produced some improvements in certain kinds of workplace accommodations and in particular, the IDEA law has bolstered equality for disabled students since its passage in 2004. In general, though, the ADA’s quiet, seemingly ad hoc effort to achieve a justice and equality that I found absolutely clear and imperative in my life has been frustrating. 

This fall, a fancy new place opened in Vienna that will give him that level of care for $75 a night. Called Jill's House, it boasts a swimming pool, gym, music room, art center, suites with bejeweled ceilings that look like outer space and a playground so cool, I'd call it Seven Flags. There's a ceiling track that snakes from the bed to the bath, so that a guest can be carried, via sling, for bathing. There's the indoor-outdoor lock system, in case a guest bolts. Picture cards all over the place let the guests point to food, water or a toilet if they can't articulate a need. The indoor swimming pool, surrounded by Bahamian decor, has water-proof wheelchairs, a ramp, a sling and one lifeguard for every guest.

It is well known that people with special needs can accomplish amazing things despite their so-called disabilities. But in the annals of such heroics, a special place must be reserved for Joshua A. Winheld. On February 5, 2010, Winheld was awarded a Master of Arts degree in urban studies from Temple University in Philadelphia. For his thesis, he explored factors preventing local real estate developers from building more housing that is accessible to people with physical disabilities. Accessible housing was a subject that had interested Winheld since the age of 10, when he was forced into a wheelchair by Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Burnaby's Steven Cayer isn't even out of high school yet, but he's got his eyes on a future in film and his hands on some one-of-a-kind camera equipment.The 17-year-old Burnaby Mountain student has cerebral palsy and gets around in a power wheelchair. Cayer had a chance to try out a specialized video camera to film some Olympic-related festivities last week.

A first of its kind park offering rides, playgrounds and other amusement activities designed specifically for those with special needs is set to open this week in San Antonio, Texas. The $32 million facility called Morgan’s Wonderland is fully-accessible. One ride, for example, is an off-road adventure where park goers sit in vehicles designed to accommodate wheelchairs while traveling through the twists and turns of rocky terrain.

The AmeriGlide Achiever Scholarship is a program we offer to full time college students who use wheelchairs. Our goal is to help provide financial assistance for books or other school related supplies to deserving mobility challenged students. This $500 scholarship is available twice a year for the Fall and Spring Semesters.

See the third-grade boy having fun, playing with his classmates at recess? Sometimes his pals give his wheelchair a push, other times he wheels himself. Their teacher, Mr. McHale, arrives to escort his students back to class, and he calls out to the boy, “Hey, Hollywood, let’s round ‘em up and move ‘em out!” Hollywood grins, and his eyes light up behind his sunglasses.

Our host, Anthony Tusler, will interview Alice Sheppard, a wheelchair dancer for AXIS Dance Troupe. Date: Thursday, May 19, 2011 Time: 11:00am - 12:00pm Mountain

Jamie Barnes, fourth grade teacher at McKinley Elementary School, and her son Cole Barnes, 16, a Billings Senior freshman with cerebral palsy, have received a $10,000 grant to make their home more accessible for Cole's wheelchair.

Based in Denver, Colorado, Kids Mobility Network, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is changing the lives of children with disabilities by providing durable medical equipment ("DME") such as walkers and wheelchairs to children whose families are underinsured or uninsured.