by Tiff -

Get Out and Enjoy Autumn with Adapted ATVing

When you think about it, an ATV is not much different than a power wheelchair, except for of course it’s exuberant amount of toughness and the fact that it runs on gasoline. ATVing can be one of the most fun adapted sports you’ll ever try. And the best part, just like a snowmobile, hand controls come standard.

The thing about ATVing though is that it can be quite controversial among people with spinal cord injuries. ATVing has been known to cause spinal cord injuries over the years, however so have cars, and that doesn’t mean we have to stop driving them too. Is done safely, ATVing can be very safe. Read on for three awesome adapted ATVing videos made by people with paralysis. Read this entry

by Tiff -

SCI Superstar: Tiffany Giddes

It’s not easy being fabulous and paralyzed, yet somehow Tiffany Giddes manages to pull it off.  An actress living in L.A. but a Southern girl at heart, Tiffany knows exactly what it takes to adapt to her surroundings.  She’s an actress, producer and the first person in a wheelchair to be on Sons of Anarchy.

When her injury occurred, she was like a cat too, and landed on both legs and kept moving forward.  From making skydiving a regular habit to producing and starring in her own original film, read on to learn about the amazing Tiffany Giddes, an actress determined to change how people with disabilities are portrayed in the media. Read this entry

by Tiff -

Lose Weight the Fun Way – Wheelchair Zumba

Zumba landed in the United States in 2001, and since then it’s been a hugely popular aerobic exercise.  It also highly adaptable, with many wheelchair-users across the country using it as a way to lose weight.  It’s part dance/part aerobics and it’s one of the most fun ways to burn calories.

And by the way, when we say Zumba is popular with wheelchair-users, it’s really popular, and the videos below explain why.  Dozens of cool adapted Zumba videos exist, and we found a few that really show off this version of adapted dance-Aaerobics to a tee. Read this entry

by Tiff -

FreeWheel Attachment: The Best Wheelchair Add-on Ever?

In the crazy expensive world of adaptive equipment, getting anything under $1000 for a significant piece of mobility equipment is unheard of, and that’s exactly why the FreeWheel Wheelchair attachment is getting so much buzz, and why we here at SPINALpedia have decided to dedicate an entire post to it.

For only $500, you can turn your manual wheelchair into an all-terrain wheelchair. Taking a mere 15 seconds to snap onto a manual wheelchair, the FreeWheel is a singular wheel that sits in front of your chair. It really is a brilliant design.  It lifts up the front casters just enough, and opens up the outdoors to manual wheelchair-users and making it possible to get through previously impossible train – sand, gravel, snow, even curbs.

And not surprisingly, thanks to its low price, thousands of wheelchair-users have been able to get one for their own, with many making videos showing the world what they think of this highly popular piece of equipment. Here are three awesome user-made videos showing what people have thought of the FreeWheel. Read this entry

by Tiff -

Developed by the American Association of Adapted Sports Programs in Atlanta, Georgia, wheelchair football, the American kind of football that is, has become a burgeoning adapted sport. Reason being – it’s fast and really fun. Players get to see a lot of action because there’s typically only six players from each team on the field at the same time.

The sport is definitely modified too. Tackling has been removed and players only play on a standard basketball court, not a full size football field, to make it easier for the players to wheel up and down without getting exhausted by the second quarter.

If you’ve never seen wheelchair football in action before, here’s your chance.  Check out three wheelchair football videos we love below. Read this entry

by Tiff -

SCI Superstar: Josh Cassidy

No, you’re not looking at Paul Walker in a wheelchair. You’re looking at one of the fastest wheelchair racers in the world, Josh Cassidy, winner of over 75 marathons and  breaker of the world record in wheelchair racing at the Boston Marathon last year.  Faster than a speeding bullet?  Almost. He can get up to 45 miles an hour going downhill.

And this fascinating athlete has quite the back story, learning how to push himself at a young age after overcoming a childhood illness. To learn more about the man who makes wheelchair racing cooler than school, check out our love fest on Josh Cassidy below. Read this entry

by Tiff -

Finally Learning Wheelchair Dance

We’ve seen videos of awesome wheelchair dancers before, but up until now there have never really been that many videos showing quite how it’s done. You can guess, maybe put two and two together if you took dance classes as an able-bodied person, but learning how to look really good while you dance in a wheelchair is no small feat.

That’s why we here at SPINALpedia love the internet. There are always new videos being published online, and a few recent ones finally show the world how to wheelchair dance.  If you’ve always wanted to learn, but don’t have classes anywhere near you, you will love the wheelchair dance videos below. Read this entry

by Tiff -

SCI Superstar: Victoria Arlen

“Rock your disability,” a famous quote by Victoria Arlen pretty much sums up the personality of this hardcore adaptive athlete, who was paralyzed by transverse myelitis when she was 11.

She made a giant splash in the Paralympic world last year when she won four medals in swimming at the London games breaking all kinds of records, and she also does modeling and motivational speaking on the side.

While some unfortunate drama has put Victoria Arlen back in the news disputing the permanency of her paralysis, Victoria Arlen has no plans to abandon her love of athletics. Read on to learn more about this 19 year old beauty from Exeter, New Hampshire who’s forged an amazing life since becoming paralyzed. Read this entry

by Tiff -

Traveling Like a Rockstar: Accessible RVs

Traveling for extended amount of time with a disability can be one of the most challenging things.  Finding everything you need – a roll-in shower with a Hoyer lift, an automatic bed, a kitchen with all of the appliances you need to cook, let’s be honest, that’s almost impossible.

And that’s exactly why accessible RVs have become one of the smartest ways for people with disabilities to travel. You get to bring everything with you, even if it does cost a pretty penny.   But let’s not talk about that small detail right now.

If you have the money and are traveling where it’s possible to take an RV, they are awesome, and we have four accessible RV videos to prove it. Read this entry

by Tiff -

Doing the Amazing: Wheelchair Crowd Surfing

For a lot of people who use wheelchairs, one of their favorite pastimes is going to concerts.  It’s something you can still do whether you’re standing or sitting.  As long as your ears work, heck even if they don’t, concerts can be one of those universally accessible things that is fun for everybody.

What I love most about concerts is that as a wheelchair-user, you’re not getting a pared down version of the experience or anything like that, which is so often the case. It’s a harsh fact of life we kind of get used to, but not with concerts.

We’ve uncovered three sweet videos of wheelchair-users enjoying concerts to the hilt.  Check out some wheelchair crowd surfing, and another musical gem you’ll never forget below. Read this entry