The Derby City Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association Network- Serving Kentuckiana.
Message From the President
Dear Members & Friends-
As of this writing, no speaker has been scheduled. If one is not available, a video will be shown. Pizza and soft drinks will be provided. Please note the meeting location change in the calendar. We are now meeting in the 10th floor dining room.
July's meeting will be dinner at Kingfish River Road. See calendar for specific address and time.
- David Allgood
MS. WHEELCHAIR KENTUCKT 2007 PAGEANT
The Ms. Wheelchair Kentucky 2007 Pageant will be held Saturday, November 11, 2006 at the Rudd Heart & Lung Center in Louisville. Application and entry fee must be in by Monday, September 11, 2006. Call Stephanie Sharp at (207) 302-2054 or email her at jane19828@hotmail.com. You can also visit www.mswheelchairkentucky.com to learn more about the program.
From Reader's Digest, January 2006-ed
THE INVENTOR
Determined to create the world's cheapest wheelchair, Don Shoendorfer, a mechanical engineer from Orange County, California, tinkered in his garage for three hours every day before work. The chair would have to traverse mountains, swamps and deserts, and endure heat and frost. Around the world many of the poorest people live on less than $2 a day and could never dream of buying a Western-type wheelchair. Finally, one day he hit on just the right design: the ubiquitous white plastic lawn chair, with two sturdy bike tires.
Today the chairs can be shipped anywhere in the world for just $41.17. Sheoendorfer's nonprofit group, Free Wheelchair Mission, has delivered more than 75,000 to people in Angola, India, Peru, and even Iraq. With more than 100 million disabled poor in developing countries, he says, “I have a small goal. Twenty million chairs given away free by 2010.”
From the Internet -ed.
TRAVELERS TIPS FOR TRAVELERS WITH DISABILITIES
First, ask your friends with disabilities for referrals, then ask other friends friends. Getting a good recommendation could help you avoid novice agents and/or those who know nothing about disabilities. Visit at least two of the agencies and interview the agents about their knowledge of your chosen destination(s). Veteran agents are more likely to remember a hotel with an elevator or recall a museum's access. But remember, travel agents are there to book hotels and flights, not to measure bathroom doors. (Source: Global Access - A Network for Disabled Travelers)
Traveling with a Disability takes a great deal of planning. First, decide what you need on a daily basis but on a much smaller scale. If you are an ambulatory traveler, try to manage with just one carry-on piece of luggage. If you're a wheelchair traveler, take an additional carry on for wheelchair parts, charger, etc. and a wheelchair backpack. If you do use a wheelchair, take the narrowest one you can find. If you can cope without a Motor chair, your luggage will be minimal. If not, you might want to consider a motor add-on device that fits your lightweight chair. Major chair parts can
