by Tiff -

Wheelchair-users on trampolines!

Walking and jumping; two things I thought I’d never do again until a cure came around. Turns out I jumped the gun a early on the jumping part.

Wheelchairs and trampolines…never in a million years would I have thought these two worlds would, or could, collide.

The first video comes from a really cool paraplegic from California, Andrew Angulo, who makes videos showing how he does nearly everything, and in this 5 minute video showing how he ‘jumps’ on a trampoline will certainly get your brain churning.

I never thought a paraplegic could do what he does, and then I saw his trampoline video and was schooled. Read this entry

by Tiff -

Podcast 89: Judith Smith – Artistic Director of AXIS Dance

In podcast 89, Tiffiny is joined by Judith Smith, the artistic director of AXIS Dance Company.

She is a C6 quad from a car accident in 1977 and moved on to a life of dance after her injury, much to her own surprise (she was into horse riding growing up, definitely not dance).

They discuss her journey, discovering the healing aspects of integrated dance, how AXIS was founded…

by Tiff -

Push Girls Episode 14 Review: Breaking Back In

In episode 14, the season comes to a close with the premiere of Auti’s new film (and she invites her long lost Dad). Angela finally lands her dream modeling gig, but brings new boyfriend as her caretaker for the 3 day shoot in NYC. Does it end up being a good idea?

SPOILERS AHEAD ***

The episode begins with Angela sitting at her kitchen table with her caretaker Judy, looking through headshots and putting together her modeling portfolio. She gets a phone call from her casting agent and is told she just landed a modeling deal with Nordstrom. Dude!

by Tiff -

SCI Superstar: Aaron Fotheringham

“Just when you thought sitting was safe” is Aaron Fotheringham’s awesome tagline. Touring with the Nitro Circus (an extreme sports tour), speaking and doing demos at events and at school, such is the life of your-not-so-average 20 year old from Las Vegas, the very brave soul behind the world’s first wheelchair back flip.

Aaron was born with Spina Bifida, but could never just sit. Wasn’t his thing. After being adopted into a close-knit family as a baby (they adopted 7 kids in total), they’re the reason he’s the extreme adapted athlete he is today.

One of his brothers was into skating, and Aaron would always come along and watch…

After watching everyone have all the fun, at 8 years old Aaron decided it was time to stop watching and he gave a quarter-pipe a taste of his wheels. Sure he fell, but the rest is history. Read this entry

by Tiff -

Push Girls Episode 13 Review: In The Deep End

In episode 13, Mia swims her first meet (and it’s against all able-bodied swimmers), Auti and Eric finally get some deep conversations going on having kids and Tiphany rolls a 5k. And you gotta watch Tiph do her faux chair “run” in Angela’s kitchen.

And good news! Push Girls has been renewed for a second season! (look for it in 2013)

SPOILERS AHEAD ***

The episode begins by checking in with Mia at the pool, whose doing her last practice before her swim meet, and we get another melodramatic over dub of Mia’s story, and she talks about how hard it was to not be able to swim anymore (and now she’s worried about failing).

Her trainer Kevin, who trained several Paralympic athletes, has her doing different turns in the water. He tells the camera she needs to get over her emotional blocks if she wants to succeed.

After she gets out of the pool, she tells him how slow she feels when she’s swimming, which I’m sure is a big change from how it felt before. “I’m still so far from the level I used to be at,” she says. “The meet is only a few days away, but I really don’t feel ready.”

by Tiff -

SCI Superstar: Zack Weinstein

Are you a fan of Glee?  If so, you may already be familiar with Zack Weinstein.  He’s the only person with paralysis in real life to be on the hit TV show Glee yet, and he’s slowly been making a name for himself in Hollywood since.

Zack always knew he wanted to be an actor. We all know how a crazy accident can totally sent us off course, but Zach refused to let that happen.

Despite an injury that could’ve made him change his entire life, Zach couldn’t let his passion go.

Why he’s fearless

After only one year into his schooling at Skidmore college, studying theater arts, Zach found himself lying in a nearby river with a broken neck at the C4-6 level.  He broke his neck canoeing in Maine with some friends.

Despite taking a one year break from college to figure out how to live as a quadriplegic, Zach went right back into college afterwards, and refused to change his major.

Zach said that some of his professors tried to get him to change his major after his accident. Read this entry

by Tiff -

‘Iconic’ project needs disabled models

Have you ever wanted to try modeling and live in the UK (or can get there easily)?

There is an upcoming photography project looking for you, searching for disabled models (and absolutely no experience is necessary).

Elizabeth Waight, an able-bodied photographer in London, is the creative mind behind this exciting project which she has beautifully called ‘ICONIC?’ (the project has been copyrighted).

The purpose of the project: “To subvert the current obsession with physical perfection” by recreating iconic photographs (from the last 100 years), but using people with disabilities instead.

So far Elizabeth has already created a couple of images to get the public excited about her project.  My favorite is her recreation of the famous Steven Meisel black and white image of Madonna (where she’s lying on a white sheet, nude, smoking a cigarette).

She used Kelly Knox, a disabled model born with only one arm forearm, as the disabled representative of this image, and it turned out stunning. Read this entry

by Tiff -

Push Girls Episode 12 Review: Moving On

In episode 12, Mia and Tiphany go accessible apartment hunting so little miss Mia can get out of her grungy apartment and into a sexy “grown up” apartment she can be proud of. Not easy in LA, but is it anywhere really?

Watch the girls visit the Rose Bowl farmer’s market to find Mia some stylish new things for her place. Also, Chelsie’s back story with her dad gets spotlighted, with her beginning to feel some reluctance in doing her “don’t do what I did” speeches at high schools.

SPOILERS AHEAD ***

This episode begins with Mia in her apartment feeding her parakeet Chirpy.  We get the back story on Mia’s apartment. It’s “grungy;” has stained carpets from living there for five years and she can’t shut the bathroom door when she goes to the bathroom. “It doesn’t feel very inviting.  I don’t even like to be there,” she says.

Tiphany arrives to see Mia’s apartment for the first time.  You get to tour Mia’s apartment as Tiph rolls through, and if you ask me it’s really not that bad (except for the Persian rug over the carpet of course).

Mia tells the camera she’s not had people over because her place, “it’s not something I want to share with people.”

by Tiff -

Breaking barriers with wheelchair breakdance

Back in the year 2000, all you’d see online about wheelchair dance was wheelchair ballroom dance videos or maybe something on wheelchair ballet, but not anymore. Oh no.

Wheelchair dance has come a long way in the last decade, and Auti Angel of Push Girls, one of the best paralyzed hip-hop dancers in the world, has definitely helped make it more popular than ever. So we’ve uncovered a few others.

Mobile phone technology is the reason so much more wc-dance info is online, including the dozens of adapted dance videos that are available.

I’m always searching for videos that prove you can still be a dancer to be reckoned with even if you use a wheelchair, and these following videos do just that.

The first video profiles a young man from France paralyzed in a car accident.  He was a self proclaimed “b-boy” before his injury, so figuring out how to adjust his moves to his body wasn’t something he even needed to think about.

He has invented this leg-crossing method to get into some very cool moves. Watch him perform to Michael Jackson’s “Beat it” and do one of his coolest moves – a wheelchair somersault. Read this entry