In late March, a TikTok video by @ezbruhhspinz showed a small boy in his ultralightweight wheelchair pointing to a poster in a Target store. “There’s a girl in a wheelchair, just like me!” he says of the poster’s artwork. The video racked up 26.7 million views. Maybe it also sparked conversations on how important it…
Commentary: Everyone Wins When People with Disabilities Are Accurately Represented in Media
United Spinal Announces Advocacy Partnership with M.A.R.C. Network
The M.A.R.C. Network includes an app for members to share resources, experiences, and news.
United Spinal Association is partnering with the M.A.R.C. (Mobility Awareness Resource Community) Network “to celebrate collaboration, inclusion and the power of storytelling.” The new partnership will include a disability-focused podcast called Stronger Together, United Spinal said in an April 24 announcement. “This is more than just a podcast launch,” the association said. “It’s a movement…
Jean L. Minkel to Deliver 2025 Colin McLaurin Distinguished Lecture in May
The lecture on mobility equity will be presented as part of RESNA’s conference at RehabWeek.
This year’s Colin McLaurin Distinguished Lecture, presented by the Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA), will be delivered by industry legend Jean L. Minkel, PT, ATP, as part of RehabWeek in May. Minkel, senior vice president of rehab and mobility services for Independence Care System in New York City, will be…
Defying Gravity: Wheelchair skills can enhance riders’ opportunities
Clinicians examine the abilities that can make environments more accessible for power and manual wheelchair riders.
Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) is defined by individualized configuration: Every seating and wheeled mobility system fits one person only. The owner of that system is also unique — not just in personal goals and function, but also in how well and how fully that person uses that device. For every rider who casually pops wheelies…
Pride Mobility Launches Jazzy Ultra Light Folding Power Wheelchair
The new power chair was designed to be easily transportable.
Pride Mobility’s newest transportable power wheelchair weighs just 33 lbs. without its battery. The foldable Jazzy Ultra Light has an all carbon-fiber frame “durable enough to withstand all your customers’ travels, but light enough to make every trip a cool breeze, whether through airports, on cruise ships, or just around the block,” Pride said in…
Commentary: Will New ‘Wicked’ Movie Defy Wheelchair Stereotypes?
For the first time, Nessarose, aka the Wicked Witch of the East, is portrayed by a real-life wheelchair rider.
I’ve always loved The Wizard of Oz movie (flying monkeys notwithstanding), and I’ve seen Wicked, the musical prequel about the unlikely friendship between Glinda/Galinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, several times on stage. But I’ve always felt conflicted about Wicked because of how Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose, is portrayed. She’s…
Abilities Expo Announces 2025 Dates, Venues
The first 2025 show will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in March.
As the final 2024 stop on the national Abilities Expo tour approaches — Dec. 6-8 in Dallas — the consumer show series has released its 2025 schedule of dates and venues. The 2025 schedule kicks off at the Los Angeles Convention Center on March 7-9. That event is followed by the New York Metro Abilities…
Briefly: CMS Adds Inclusion Body Myositis to Seating Consideration List; Nonprofit Debuts Caregiver Website
Featuring NCART, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and I AM ALS.
CMS Adds Inclusion Body Myositis ICD-10 Code for Seating Considerations The National Coalition for Assistive & Rehab Technology (NCART) has reported that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has added the ICD-10 code for inclusion body myositis (G72.41) to the Group 2 and Group 4 lists for consideration for a skin protection and/or…
Commentary: 3 Takeaways from the DOT’s $50 Million American Airlines Fine
Why this historic penalty could change the way airlines treat wheelchair riders and their equipment.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) has fined American Airlines $50 million, saying in an October announcement that the carrier “failed to provide safe, dignified, and prompt wheelchair assistance and mishandled passengers’ wheelchairs.” This is hardly the first time airlines’ poor treatment of wheelchair riders and their equipment has made the news. But this particular DOT…
American Airlines Fined $50 Million for Mistreating Wheelchair Riders, Mobility Devices
Department of Transportation fine is the largest penalty assessed against an airline for violating disability regulations.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has fined American Airlines $50 million for mistreating passengers using wheelchairs, and for mishandling those passengers’ wheelchairs and other mobility equipment. The DOT made the announcement in late October and noted that the fine “is 25 times larger than any previous DOT penalty against an airline for violating disability…