The new year is in full swing and so is the 2014 schedule of Abilities Expos! Our Los Angeles show is only a month away on February 28 – March 2 followed closely by the Expo in Atlanta on March 14 -16, 2014. Pre-register today!
This issue, the Buzz gives a tip of the hat to some amazing people who have triumphed over adversity. You'll "meet" a teenaged filmmaker who is blind, a mother who kept her family together after a catastrophic accident, a woman whose creativity has sparked a movement and more!
At each of our shows, it is our goal to provide as many products and services as possible for ALL disabilities. If there is a particular product or company that is not represented at our events and you feel it should be, please let us know!
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Blindness and Cerebral Palsy Can't Keep Teenaged Filmmaker from her Hollywood Dream
Fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Harrington has a vision.
Born with anophthalmia—without eyes—her vision does not depend on her ability to see. It is not hindered by her cerebral palsy or her eye prosthetics. Instead, this vision is what drives her to fulfill her Hollywood dreams and what caught the attention of award-winning independent filmmaker Tim Greene.
Elizabeth's current film project, directed by Greene, is a documentary entitled Hollywood Here We Come which chronicles her journey to Hollywood to make a short film and walk the infamous red carpet.
For Elizabeth Harrington being completely blind will not stop her from pursuing her dream of becoming the next greatest Hollywood film director.
Elizabeth was born with anophthalmia which means without eyes, her eyes are prosthetic. However, this doesn't stop her from following her dreams. At a very young age she has directed a children's film called 'Super Kids Super Heroes' and has been credited as assistant director. Her dream is to become a spokesperson for children with disabilities.
Elizabeth is believed to be among the youngest blind filmmakers worldwide. The young director joined award winning Hip Hop filmmaker Tim Greene and journalist/producer Kevin Wilson for a new documentary. The making of the film is on its final stages and to finance the finishing touches they launched “Here We Come” a Kickstarter and Indigogo projects where backers pledge money in exchange for great gifts. For the dreamers, their goal is to turn this movement into an inspirational and motivational series “that will send smiles around the globe and help give voice to the voiceless”. The proceeds will finance the finishing touches, soundtrack and post production of the documentary.
Aside to the backing projects, the directors have open auditions for “Oscar worthy” musical talents with disabilities. They're providing a platform to undiscovered musicians regardless their physical conditions, featuring their talent on the soundtrack of the documentary. “Together we can find the next Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles. We know the musical talent is out there and together we will provide a platform for them to shine” said Tim Greene.
Please visit Tim Greene's website for more information on this new documentary or to learn more about Tim Greene works. If you know someone with disabilities that wants to be considered for the documentary's soundtrack send the video links and biography to timgreene2012@yahoo.com. If you'd like to contribute with this inspirational project please visit Kickstarter or Indigogo.
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Product Spotlight: Eco M
Eco M from EcoCentre will be featured at the Los Angeles Abilities Expo on February 28 – March 1, 2014.
Small footprint, BIG impact.
The M is for Mobility, and EcoCentre's latest venture, the Eco M, is primed to revolutionize the accessible vehicle industry when it hits the market sometime in the second quarter of this year. EcoCentre was established in 2012 as the nation's first automobile dealership network dedicated to economical, environmentally friendly fleet and consumer vehicles.
Now, with the advent of the Eco M, their goal of providing high-quality, affordable electric vehicles to everyone really does mean everyone.
Wheelchair users can easily access this stylish, compact car through an adjustable rear ramp and no transfers are required. They roll in, lock down and drive off!
Ramon Alvarez, president and CEO of EcoCentre and a 34-year veteran of the automotive biz, is ecstatic about the independence and freedom that this vehicle will provide to people with disabilities everywhere.
He had first-hand experience of the Eco M's effect on people at the Abilities Expo last year. "People would round the corner of our booth and stop in their tracks," he recalled. "If wheelchairs had ABS brakes, you would have heard them screech on the floor!"
"I was already excited about bringing this game-changing vehicle to market. But when I saw the looks on people's faces, it became personal for me," he continued. "I got a whole new perspective on what this car will truly mean to each wheelchair user that drives it. It actually brought tears to the eyes of a 17-year-old girl who rolled into it."
Perfect for driving on local streets at speeds up to 25 mph, the Eco M means no more waiting for hours for accessible public transportation pick-ups. When people with disabilities need to get to the store, doctor, workplace, mall, or just feel like a leisurely drive, they won't need to rely on assistance to make that happen.
Alvarez is especially looking forward to working with wounded veterans to help them understand what this car can do for them.
For more information on the Eco M, visit www.ecocentre.us. If you are a dealer interested in joining EcoCentre's mobility dealership network for this vehicle, contact Ramon Alvarez at ramon@ecocentre.us.
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En Garde!
By John Martin, Fencing Star Academy
Wheelchair fencing will be a featured event at the Atlanta Abilities Expo.
One of the first sports to be included in the Paralympic program, Wheelchair Fencing made its debut in England in 1953 in the Stoke Mandeville Games, a competition especially for war veterans. The first countries to develop the sport were precisely those with a tradition in world fencing: England, France and Italy.
When it was introduced in the 1960 Paralympic Games in Rome, the program proposed included only saber events. Based on the regulations of the International Fencing Federation (FIE, in French), two more weapons were introduced—foil and epée—in the Tokyo Games four years later.
Only people with locomotor disabilities may compete in Wheelchair Fencing; the most common are amputations, paraplegia, congenital malformations and strokes. Categories are divided according to each athlete's balance in the wheelchair, and the condition of the arm which will wield the weapon.
The difference compared to Olympic fencing is that the athletes' chairs are anchored to the ground by fixing devices, which limit the game space and allow athletes to fence without moving the chair. If one of the fencers moves his chair, the combat is stopped.
The equipment required for the sport includes a mask, jacket and protective gloves. In a foil match, there is a protective shield for the chair's wheels. In epée disputes, a metal apron is used to protect the competitor's legs and the wheels of the chair.
The competition area is 4 meters long by 1.5 m wide. Using special sensors, the fencers are connected to an electronic counting system, which indicates whether a touch is valid and, based on this, the referee decides whether or not it earns a point, and for which athlete in the case of a double touch.
Each of the weapons used has its own scoring area: the foil is limited to the trunk, not including the arms and head, while in epée touches are valid from the waist up, including the arms and mask. With the saber, touches are allowed with any part of the blade (tip and edges) and the valid target is the entire surface area from the waistline up, including arms and mask.
The southeast United States has a large and competitive fencing community and has seen extremely rapid growth in the past 10 years, with numerous clubs operating in most any metropolitan city. High-level fencing competitions can be found on any given weekend within three to five hours drive from Atlanta, but rarely do these events include wheelchair fencing. The goal of Fencing Star Academy, currently operating in Marietta, Georgia, is to create an Atlanta-based center that not only trains athletes, but also holds competitions for wheelchair fencing from youth to Olympic-level fencers.
Atlanta's community of people with disabilities is ripe for the exciting sport of wheelchair fencing! Not only have the academy's organizers worked with Paralympic Head Coach Maestro Les Stawicki, two of the Paralympic assistant coaches and current team member reside locally and are eager to groom the next generation of wheelchair fencers.
While most of the competitive U.S. wheelchair fencers are veteran age fencers, who either started later in life or had a background in fencing, the Fencing Star Academy is passionately committed to expanding the reach of this vibrant sport. They have picked Atlanta to create the first youth-oriented fencing program in the United States specifically for the development of world class fencers. Wheelchair fencers would train right along with other youth and club members and compete nationally.
If you are in the Atlanta area, come to Abilities Expo on March 14-16 and try your hand at fencing. As you and your friends learn to thrust and parry, we hope to garner enough local interest and support to allow Fencing Star Academy to bring wheelchair fencing to Atlanta permanently. We look forward to the opportunity to train the area's athletes with disabilities to master wheelchair fencing!
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The Life and Times of Chris Rohan
What do you do when your whole life changes in an instant? How do you cope? What about your sense of self when everything is changing? Where can you turn? Ask Chris Rohan. She knows, because it has happened to her again and again. Just look; she has the stubborn grin to prove it.
"I had always wanted to be a nurse. And I was, for a while. And an aerobics instructor. And I worked at the desk there. I always liked the people, wherever I worked. I always wanted to learn more about them."
Chris met the love of her life, Jim Rohan, in a pizza bar in Norwalk a mile from Cerritos College. They married in 1970, the poster children for flower-child hippies in love. Together they lived wherever Jim was working at the time, raising their two boys, Robert and Matthew, only 22 months apart. Bobby was the athlete; Matt was the student.
In 1989, Bobby was training with dreams of competing in the Ironman Triathlon in Kailua-Kona. The accident was a freak one, and happened only a mile from their home. It was 1:30 in the afternoon, not a busy time of the day for traffic. As Bobby rode his bike in the bike lane on that particular day, a school bus was illegally parked in the very spot that Bobby needed to go. The bus driver had abandoned her bus to buy lunch at Taco Bell, and Bobby, avoiding another car changing lanes, could only slam into the back of the bus. That fast, Bobby became a quadriplegic.
"I was working in the orthopedic surgeon's office on March 27, 1989. I knew someone had been hurt. I didn't know at first that it was my son Bobby who had the accident," Chris remembers. "He was brought in right next door to us."
Jim and Chris Rohan pose for the camera.
Next door meant that the office building where Chris worked was mere steps from where Bobby was doing his rehabilitation at Northridge Hospital. Chris could keep an eye on her son, making sure he was getting the best care and learning a lot about the new world they had just been forced to join.
"He was in the hospital for six months and he never ate hospital food once." Chris remembers with a smile, "I would stop at McDonalds on my way to work, bring him breakfast, you name it."
Jim and Chris had always welcomed their boys' friends, so the fact that Bobby's new friends came along with wheels and service dogs didn't faze the Rohans a bit. There was always an open door at their home for a poker game or the traditional Christmas Eve Chinese food dinner. It wasn't long, however, before Bobby was self-sufficient and Chris found other people and projects to occupy her imagination.
In August of 2001, Jim and Chris bought the franchise rights to the California, Nevada and Arizona Disabled Dealer Magazine. According to Chris, "We didn't go looking for a magazine to buy and neither of us had any writing, printing or advertising experience. What we did know is that this magazine would reach a lot of disabled people."
When Chris bought Disabled Dealer Magazine's West Coast franchise, she transformed the magazine from a place to buy and sell accessible equipment, into a journalistic enterprise overflowing with heart. Chris taught herself how to use the computer programs she needed. She gathered together talented friends and induced them to write articles for her fledgling paper, searching out and finding topics of interest to her readers and herself. One of these included Karen Kain, who wrote about the profoundly involved, difficult and spiritual world parenting a special needs child in her Disabled Dealer column, Unique Tips for Unique Parents.
A Copy of Disabled Dealer Magazine "I know so many awesome people through Chris," says Kain. "She connects everybody but she does it through her heart."
Kain credits Chris for encouraging her to write and even for introducing her to the publisher of her first book A Unique Life, Fully Lived, which debuts next month.
Ellen Stohl, writer, actress and the first paraplegic Playboy model wrote her own column for Chris' magazine, a life and travel column entitled Gimpin' It!
Monique McGiveny from VMI wrote her monthly column Monique's Mobility, answering questions readers would pose about accessible transportation. None of these columns were in the paper when the Rohans bought it; they were the brainchild of Chris Rohan. Eventually, she was able to put together her own covers to the magazines as well.
"I have always been proud of my women," Chris stated. "My Mothers' Day issue was one of my favorites."
It was in that issue that Chris introduced her readers to the Rossiter family and their children, Kamden, Briley and Ainsley. The children's book Born an Angel was written by Briley about her sister Ainsley, born with a rare and fatal disease. Her doctors gave her a life expectancy of only 5-10 years, but Briley's book brims over with the life and love and triumph of running races while pushing Ainsley—being the feet for her sister, her angel.
These are the people and the stories Chris loves. As one talks to Chris, she will suddenly look up and say, "Oh there's my friend Dick Hoyt. I've been tracking his triathlon as he carries his son with him the whole way." Chris is not one to get involved in long discussions of ideas and theories. She will fix you with her piercing blue-eyed gaze and tell you the story of a friend of hers, another friend who is doing amazing things. You see, Chris collects people. Then she and Jim bring them together and see what develops.
So what's next for Chris Rohan? When the price of the paper became too overwhelming, Jim and Chris found themselves subsidizing the Disabled Dealer Magazine. What began as an income-producing project became a labor of love. It was unsustainable, however, and in 2013, Chris had to give up her beloved magazine. The free publication that brought the community together was suddenly gone, leaving a huge, jarring gap in its wake. Where can you sell your van, find used exercise equipment and read about the action in the immediate community? Disabled Dealer was the link that brought together the disparate parts of the community, and suddenly it is gone. The community feels its loss. So do Jim and Chris. But what now?
Within a week of announcing the magazine's closure, Chis Rohan became a good will ambassador to the Los Angeles Abilities Expo. She brings people together, educates them about the Expos and connects ordinary people who are doing inspiring and amazing things. She still writes, discovers and collects people. And we can't wait to see what is on the horizon for Chris!
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Abilities365.com Features Molina Healthcare
Molina Healthcare is not your average managed care organization.
When emergency room physician C. David Molina noticed the volume of low-income, uninsured people coming to the ER for general healthcare services, he opened a clinic in Long Beach, California with the idea that every patient deserves to be treated like family.
Today, though Molina serves more than 1.8 million people in multiple US states, their mission to promote health and wellness for all of their patients—including seniors and those with disabilities—hasn't changed. In fact, their Bridge2Access services were created to ensure that these important members of the Molina family don't fall through the cracks.
Wheelchair Doctor
"One of the things that make Molina Healthcare truly unique is our Bridge2Access program," said Lisa Hayes, Director of Disability & Senior Access Services. "For example, if you are a wheelchair user, you need a doctor with a height adjustable exam table. We can do that. If you have low vision or are blind and are require materials in large print or Braille, we take care of that. If you are deaf and use ASL, we can make sure there is an interpreter at your doctor visits to ensure you are getting the healthcare that you deserve."
It all starts with facilitating the patient's ability to find the right provider to meet his or her access needs. Molina ensures this through trained member services support and an online and written directory complete with access indicators.
But it doesn't stop there. Bridge2Access allows their extended patient family:
Improved access in Molina Medical Clinics
Height adjustable exam tables
Wheelchair scales
Assistive listening device
On-site material in alternate formats
Better Communication Access
Sign language and foreign language interpreters at no cost.
Materials in other formats (Large Print, Braille and Audio, etc.)
Integrated Care Team. A Care Manager Transitions Coach:
Enpowers you to manage your health
Helps you transition from hospital to home
Coordinates services with other agencies
Helps you stay in your own home
Meeting the healthcare needs of seniors and people with disabilities is paramount to Molina Healthcare and they have put these systems and more in place to make that happen. For more on Molina Healthcare, click here.
Check out more great products on Abilities365.com!
Abilities365.com is free to join and is an incredible resource for people with disabilities, caregivers and industry professionals. It's a website that allows you to not only find the latest information on companies like Molina Healthcare, but also to peruse products and services that appeal to the full spectrum of disabilities. There are white papers, webinars, videos, product discounts only available to Abilities365 members, and easy-to-use filtering which makes it simple to access the information that is specifically relevant to you.
But this site isn't designed to just be a passive research tool, it's a community. Interact with us, with companies, with non-profits and with other visitors. Weigh in on products and let the community know what you think! Have questions? Ask away! If it's product-related, the manufacturing company can help best. If your query is more general in nature, we have a team of ambassadors from the community whose wealth of experience could provide the answers you need. And all you have to do is join now.
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A Mother's Journey Affirms There is No Limit to a Mother's Love
What started off as an ordinary day in the life of Lisa Brodeur in November of 1997 took a turn for the devastating when a drunk driver claimed the life of her husband and paralyzed her 10-year-old son, Kyle.
When that split second of impact inexorably changed the Brodeur family's life, it set in motion a roller coaster of events that pushed Lisa physically, psychologically and emotionally farther than she ever thought she could go. Her new memoir, A Mother's Journey: Through Faith, Hope and Courage, chronicles the heart-wrenching aftermath of the accident including Kyle's surgeries and fight for his life, her young daughter's trauma and her own determined efforts to hold the family together.
"I think my book will appeal to readers because it's a true story, a story about survival, having faith, hope and courage to not give up," Lisa writes. "It's an inspirational story, a love for your children to guide them in the right direction. A book to show you what happens when bad choices are made but also, how to try to overcome it."
The following except is a heartfelt stream of consciousness that will resonate with parents everywhere. In a few words, it conveys raw emotions, fears and joys that a mother has for her little boy.
A Mother's Journey: Chapter One
Feeling sick to my stomach, not knowing what is wrong, feeling nausea, know vomiting, thinking could it be? Filled with joy, hoping this is real, realizing soon that it is. The excitement and fear of what is ahead, little flutters getting stronger and stronger turning into kicks that wakes me up at night. How I loved to rub and hold my belly like never before, forming a love of no other kind.
Pain is starting, turning into long hard painful contractions, waiting to be told it's time to push, the burst of energy after 15 hours of labor, out comes a little face, a handsome little baby boy with little fingers and toes. Looking at mommy for the first time, crying, just wanting to be held close and feel the warmth of my body. Little cries, of hunger day and night, waiting to be fed, loving to be held and nurtured, knowing I am so loved by mommy and daddy. His little hands are growing, sucking his thumb, holding his bottle, clapping and sitting up, crawling getting into everything, before I know it, he's walking, starting to talk, saying juice at the refrigerator. Wondering where daddy is?
Getting older, hearing his footsteps running around, his cute little voice so soft and gentle, his little arms reaching around my neck and holding me tight giving me a kiss like no other. What a joy, the love of my life, how did I get so lucky. Waiting by the windowsill, waiting for daddy to come, crying because he never came. Heading to pre-school, fear of separation from me, not knowing what to expect. Realizing soon mom will be back and fear has diminished, knowing he was having fun and making friends.
Toddler years at an end, growing into a kind and soft hearted youth, playing T-Ball, soccer, basketball, cub scouts, anything he could get his hands on, forming great coordination, stunting with his bike and rollerblading. This child so full of life and adventure. Watching him full of excitement, coming home full of mud, catching a bull frog in the river across the way.
What a son I have, feeling blessed as he teaches his young sisters the love of nature and life. So innocent realizing life was also painful. Missing his father, not understanding why he won't be in his life, crying behind a dumpster, thinking what did I do so wrong? Knowing he was loved and loved by a man that was raising him as his own, feeling blessed to have him, but still confused.
Youth now become adolescent years, still wondering why, but knowing he's loved by his mommy and a man he calls daddy, loving his dad like no other, a friend, playmate, teacher, but most of all the love they shared, so special a bond that could not be broken. Taking Kung-Fu, hockey along with his other sports, keeping us very busy, enjoying his sisters and family in between going to school. Growing into a fine young boy realizing Santa is not real and the fantasy was only a fantasy.
Turning the big 10 years old now, going into fifth grade, having Kyle walk to school with his friend, crying not wanting to leave me, afraid of separation at times. Coming home after school and realizing his new school was fun and his teacher was awesome.
Enjoying a day of shopping with his sisters, daddy and I. Full of excitement to get home and show off his new rollerblades to meme. Getting in the van putting daddy's CD on, singing daddy's soft music, going around a corner, not realizing what happened, a crash, a big bang, Kyle getting weaker and weaker, his heart getting slower by the second, not knowing what is happening. How could this be? All he wanted was to try his rollerblades!
Now fighting for his life like never before.
A Mother's Journey: Through Faith, Hope and Courage is available electronically and in print.
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Making a Difference: Annie Hopkins' Story and Vision for the World by Chris Rohan, Abilities Expo Ambassador and Former Publisher of Disabled Dealer Magazine
Annie Marie Hopkins took the world by storm during her short stay on earth.
She made her presence felt when she was here, and her legacy and vision—embodied in her company 3E Love—continue to touch many lives throughout the world. What Annie may have lacked in physical ability, she more than made up with her entrepreneurial spirit and love for life!
In the eyes of the people who knew, she was:
An Entrepreneur – Sister – Friend – Enthusiast – Granddaughter – Cousin – Niece – Daughters– "Roll" Model Activist – Educator – Counselor – Lover – Fighter – Cuddler – Co-worker – Socialite – Legend – Author Fan – Boo – Workaholic – Singer – Dancer – Drama Queen – Flirt – Starbucks' Addict – Diva – Celebrity Mac Mistress – Taylor Street Folk Lore – Oprah's Next Big Thing – Chipotle Connoisseur
In her own eyes, she was Miss Independent. Here she is showing the world what can be accomplished with a spoon and determ<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/C-K1e7fOHb0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>ination.
The journey of 3E Love actually began in 2004 when Annie created the "wheelchair heart symbol" for a dorm t-shirt while she and her brother, Stevie, were undergraduate students together at the University of Illinois. At that time, neither of them had any clue what they had stumbled onto nor fully grasped the potential and meaning of Annie's creation.
As a community health major with an interest and passion for disability studies, Annie used the symbol on her shoulder for a permanent tattoo. Friends, family and peers in the disability community were instantly drawn to her new tattoo, and many even got it themselves. The potential behind the symbol was clear!
3E Love Logo: Embrace, Educate. Empower. Love Life.
When Annie and Stevie incorporated 3E Love in 2007, the wheelchair heart or "International Symbol of Acceptance" became the company's trademark and the drive behind much of its goals and products. It is a symbol of society accepting people with disabilities as equals and a symbol that people with disabilities accept their challenges and even embrace them. Annie felt that by replacing the wheel with a heart, the stigma of the wheelchair is also removed, and it can be a symbol for people with any disability or impairment. It represents the person, not society's perception of him or her.
The wheelchair heart is the attitude and a lifestyle that Annie epitomized. She encouraged others to accept their abilities, rally around that diversity and turn it into strength. Her graphic creation inspired others to love and live life to the fullest no matter who you are and what you look like, no matter what you can or cannot do.
"3E Love is more than living disabled but is simply about living. Everyone has the freedom to live their life. We challenge you to do what you love, because you'll meet some amazing people along the way, and that, our friends, is how you'll enjoy this ride that 3E Love calls, life," Annie had said. "Embrace diversity. Educate your community. Empower each other. Love life."
In Annie's mind, her wheelchair heart was a positive alternative to the traditional handicapped symbol, where the focus is person's differences and a wheelchair. The traditional symbol screams, "Beware. Someone different parks here," or "Pity them and give them charity."
That is one thing the logo is not—an emblem of pity. One of Annie's greatest fears was that the meaning of her symbol would be related to charity, or the quest for a cure. She never wanted someone to see the wheelchair heart and automatically asks, "Where do I donate?" She and Stevie attached it to their business, entrepreneurship, and products to make the statement that, if 3E Love is successful from a business perspective, than others with disabilities can also achieve things without a handout. Behind the wheelchair heart is a company started by people with disabilities, with pride, joy and passion for who they are and what they could achieve. If other insist on calling Annie's life's work a "cause," she wouldn't have minded, as long as that cause has nothing to do with wishing for change to who she was. Instead, she strived to change to how she and the rest of the community are perceived.
Find Annie's legacy, 3E Love, online at www.3elove.com, on Facebook and on Twitter.
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Upcoming Expos
Los Angeles
Feb. 28-Mar. 2, 2014
Los Angeles Convention Center
Atlanta
March 14-16, 2014
Georgia World Congress Center
New York Metro
May 2-4, 2014
New Jersey Convention & Expo Center
Chicago
June 27-29, 2014
Schaumburg Convention Center
Houston
July 25-27, 2014
Reliant Center
Boston
September 5-7, 2014
Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
Bay Area
November 21-23, 2014
San Jose Convention Center
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