With expanded opportunities for both seating & mobility professionals and the consumers who use that technology, the International Seating Symposium (ISS) will be welcoming attendees from across the world starting March 4.
The 30th annual event will be held in Vancouver, B.C., at the Westin Bayshore. It’s sponsored by Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children and the University of British Columbia’s Interprofessional Continuing Education.
Tuesday, March 4, is a pre-symposium day for full- and half-day educational sessions. The full-day session is “Measuring Wheelchair Seated Posture & Seating Supports: A Practicum,” presented by Kelly Waugh and Barbara Crane.
Starting Tuesday at 1:15 p.m., the exhibit hall and Demonstration Stage will open. The exhibit hall will be open to the public free of charge from 1:15 p.m. till 7:30 p.m.
The symposium officially kicks off on Wednesday, March 5, with opening remarks from event co-chairs Dave Cooper and Maureen Story beginning at 8:30 a.m. They’ll be followed by the keynote address, given by Dave Calver from the Vancouver Island Health Authority.
Calver’s topic is “Client to Provider: Spectrum of Health Care & Wheelchair Experiences.” Calver, a wheelchair user since incurring a spinal cord injury about 10 years ago, has a master’s degree in occupational therapy and has worked on international wheelchair development projects in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and India, according to an ISS biography. He also has worked in programs that help people with disabilities to participate in wilderness activities.
The keynote will be followed by two plenaries: “Wheeled Mobility & Social Participation,” presented by Ben Mortenson, and “Rising to the Occasion: Seat Elevators & Their Effect on Communication Patterns of AAC Users,” presented by Clara Fitzsimmons.
Poster presentations follow the plenary sessions, and after a break, the instructional sessions will begin. Lunch starts at 12:30 p.m. Simultaneous paper sessions start at 2 p.m.
Wednesday’s educational sessions continue till 5 p.m., when ISS hosts a welcome reception.
On Thurs., March 6, the exhibit hall opens at 8 a.m., with opening remarks by Bonita Sawatzky and Stephen Tredwell. After that, two plenary sessions are scheduled: “Micro Environments: AT, Ther Ex and Voc Rehab Walk Into a Bar” by Cole Galloway, and “3D Printing Technologies: The Future Backbone of Complex Rehab Product Design” by Richard Pasillas.
After the plenary sessions conclude, there will be a break for refreshments and exhibit hall time, followed by simultaneous paper sessions starting at 10:20 a.m. Lunch will be served at 11:35 a.m., and a poster session will begin at 12 noon.
Poster presenters will be available at that time to answer questions, though the posters will remain on display throughout the event.
Instructional sessions start at 1 p.m. and continue till 3:10 p.m. At 4 p.m., the ISS will present a plenary panel called “Efficacy & Effectiveness of Seating & Wheeled Mobility Interventions: Where Do We Go from Here?” by Cole Galloway, Maria Jones and William C. Miller, with Roslyn Livingstone as the facilitator.
The ISS adjourns for the day at 5 p.m., with the event’s 30th anniversary celebration, An Evening at the Aquarium, beginning at 7 p.m.
On Friday, March 7, instructional sessions start at 8:30 a.m., with a break for poster viewing and refreshments at 10:40 a.m. The 11:10 a.m. plenary by Maria Jones is “Motor Learning Strategies & Power Mobility Practice: Do They Make a Difference on Development & Function of Children & Adults with Developmental Disabilities?”
That session will be followed by an 11:35 a.m. plenary by Al Blesch called “Hope, Self-Worth & Inner Peace.” The final plenary session for the event will start at 11:55 a.m., when Geoff Bardsley will speak on “ISS 2014: To Infinity & Beyond….”
Dave Cooper and Maureen Story will end the 30th annual ISS with closing remarks at 12:25 p.m.
For a complete list of activities, times and locations, visit the official event site.
