by Tiff -

My behind the wheel therapy

When I’m behind the wheel of my vehicle, no one can tell I use a wheelchair (no disabled plate, only a placard). And I gotta say that feeling is pretty hard to beat

But the anonymity of being just another driver on the road is one of several reasons driving my has become the best form of therapy I‘ve ever run across.

When you’re disabled and depressed, doctors tell you to take pills, or to meditate, but no one ever mentions the therapeutic benefits of getting behind the wheel and being fully in control of a car (and for the life of me I can’t figure out why!).

They’ll mention you’ll be able to drive again, and they’ll tell you the steps you need to make it happen, but no one ever tells you driving can be used as a secret weapon for people with disabilities against the blues. Read the rest of my blog

by Tiff -

My dream kitchen has landed

I’ve seen some gorgeous accessible kitchens in my day. Beautiful, custom kitchens to lust after with cut-outs under the counter tops for plenty of knee space, huge slabs of granite cut-out to fit the countertops perfectly, stainless steel appliances with bottom loading freezers and pull-out shelves to reach things easier.

But going from point A, a completely inaccessible kitchen to point B, a fully accessible kitchen where everything is thought of from top to bottom, usually takes a qualified ADA building expert or some kind of universal accessible consultant. And if you don’t hire one of these people, the likelihood of forgetting an accessible feature is almost guaranteed.
This is why I am completely in love with the Skyline Lab Kitchen, a wheelchair accessible kitchen made by Italian kitchen manufacturer, Snaidero. Read the rest of this post…
by Tiff -

Aussie wheelchair tennis players explain the game

I’ve been blogging for SPINALpedia.com, a very cool video site that contains thousands of spinal cord injury-related videos, for a couple of months now. What I love about this site (other than it wass founded by my friend Josh Basile, a really smart C4-5 quad from Maryland who’s studying to be a lawyer) is that the videos are categorized by movement – full hand movement, partial hand movement, no hand movement, and for all the other body parts too, making it easy to find a video that would actually work for you without wasting too much time (gotta love that).

My latest post for SPINALpedia.com highlights some of my favorite sports videos on their site. If you’ve ever wondered about wheelchair tennis, watch this video of two top Aussie wheelchair tennis players (one who is a low quadriplegic) having a ball, as they create a 6 minute video explaining everything about wheelchair tennis. You can watch the video here