Josh Dueck using a Sit Ski

Back in 2004, a flip on skis gone tragically wrong broke Josh Dueck’s back and left him as a T11 – full paraplegic. For the past 8 years one of his dreams has been to do a flip on snow again. On February 3, 2012, Josh became the first person to perform a back flip on snow in a Sit Ski.

See his  amazing story here: http://www.salomonfreeski.com/us/freeski-tv/season-05-episode-13.html

“Thanks so much for the great evening we had at the Houston Rockets game.  Randall and I really enjoyed having a night out.  It has been over 10 years since we have been able to go to a game.  Better yet, my mother was able to go with us.  She is 88 years old and just had a knee replacement on January 3rd.  With the wheelchair you loaned us, she cruised right in to the game. Mother is a HUGE Rockets fan and doesn’t miss a game on TV.  Her eyes sparkled all night, even though her team lost.  All three of us had a wonderful night. ADA is an awesome group of people.  Everyone has been very professional, extremely friendly and has gone out of their way to help us.”

Members of Team ADA at the Auto Show

The 2012 Houston Auto Show brings the automotive world to Texas ever year. With over half a million square feet of showroom space at the Reliant Center, consumers across the region have the chance to see, touch, drive and experience the automotive industry’s latest offerings – including the latest in accessible vans. Adaptive Driving Access proudly displayed a variety of BraunAbility & VMI vans, as well as an assortment of Bruno products.

For the ninth year in a row, the team at ADA showcased mobility products at this premier venue. With over 500,000 visitors, it’s a great opportunity to show “the masses” what automotive choices are available for people with physical disabilities. “We continue to meet new people every year who are amazed by these products and are excited to see these options for their friends and family members,” said ADA owner Tom Poole.

“We hear from people all year long that met us at the show,” said ADA’s General Manager James Norris. “They didn’t need our service at that time, but due to events in their lives…they suddenly need our help.”

Like many of ADA’s customers, the visitors at this show may not think they’ll ever need our product (and hopefully they don’t!), but thanks to ADA and the Houston Auto Show – they’ll at least know these mobility solutions exist.

Some of you may have noticed the “old school” wheelchair I have next to my office (big wheels in front, large casters in back and wicker seat). I always wanted an old chair – just to remind me how difficult things used to be for some. In order to better judge the age of the chair, I started researching the history and progression of the wheelchair. Here are some interesting facts that I discovered.

Wheelchairs seem to have been around for over 1400 years. Historians believe that human ingenuity most likely designed the first wheelchair in ancient Greek and Roman Times. The first visual documentation of a wheelchair is on the sarcophagus (casket) of a rich merchant. This dated back to around 500 A.D. – suddenly my idea to be buried in my chair doesn’t seem so crazy. Another documentation dates back to 1600 when an artist drew King Phillip II of Spain sitting in his “wheelchair”. Later King Louis XIV of France used a “roulette” to move about while recovering from an operation. In 1783 John Dawson of Bath, England invented a chair with two large wheels in the front and one smaller/center wheel in the back. This was the most popular design throughout the early part of the 19^th century. A patent in 1869 showed a design of big wheels in back and two smaller wheels in the front (this design wouldn’t become popular for another 100 years). From 1867 to 1881 patents were filed with hollow rubber wheels, metal rims and finally for self-propulsion push-rims. By 1894 the first manual wheelchair patent design that we know today was registered in the United States. In 1932 Herbert Everest, a paraplegic from a coal mining accident and  Harold Jennings, a mechanical engineer,  teamed up to produce the first folding wheelchair design that is still used in hospitals today – Everest & Jennings. E&J revolutionized the wheelchair design by using lighter metals and wicker that made the chair easier to produce and self propel. Since the Everest & Jennings design there have been a number of changes and transformations from folding “X” frame chairs to the rigid, light weight popular manual chairs to date.

On June 24th of this year, I will celebrate 32 years of using a wheelchair. I am amazed how my chair has become such an extension of my body. I realized this even more last year when I was in the hospital. My first night while I slept, one of the staff members moved my wheelchair from my bedside to the other side of the room. When I awoke, I realized how uncomfortable and anxious I felt not having my chair close to me.  After negotiating with hospital staff and convincing them I would not get out of bed, they kept my chair close to me for the remainder of my stay. My wheels have become my legs and I would have never thought to thank a rich man from China, a few Kings, an injured coal miner, a disabled U.S. President and a lot of wheelchair athletes that helped to advance the engineering and design of my new legs.

By: Jason Roberts, Mobility Specialist for ADA

Come see Adaptive Driving Access at the 2012 Houston Auto Show!

Date: January 25th-29th

Show Times:
Wednesday: Noon – 9:30 p.m.
Thursday: Noon – 9:30 p.m.
Friday: Noon – 10:00 p.m.
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Sunday: 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Location: Reliant Center

Visit the Houston Auto Show website for more information & coupons!
www.houstonautoshow.com

This month we have chosen Forgotten Angels! Forgotten Angels is a non-profit organization providing exceptional care and support to children and adults with special needs including those with mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, spina bifida and other developmental and physical disabilities in group homes and foster care providers’ homes as well as through a day habilitation program — all of which provide the means and encouragement for them to reach their full potential. For more information, please visit: http://forgottenangels.org/

May 2012 will be the first-ever National Mobility Awareness Month, and NMEDA (nmeda.com) and its partners will be using those 31 days to teach the public about adaptive automotive equipment and the professionals who make up the industry. The awareness month project is far ranging and ambitious in scope, one that seeks to turn a national spotlight on an industry and a segment of technology that can do so much to bolster consumers’ independence, but remains unknown to the general public.

The idea began, says NMEDA’s Executive Director Dave Hubbard, with the organization’s cooperative awareness program, which has been pooling participants’ contributions and spending the funds to generate awareness for mobility products. “We ran that program for about a year doing some traditional advertising,” Hubbard says. “And what we found from our research is because of the amount of money we were able to generate, we were having very little impact in traditional media.”

Deciding it needed a way to get more bang for the group’s bucks, NMEDA members began brainstorming. One member suggested the industry needed an awareness week. “A week didn’t seem like long enough,” Hubbard says, “so it ended up being a month.” During that month, NMEDA is urging everyone in the industry to get involved in educating the public. “We want our dealers to participate, to send out press releases to the local papers and local media, radio, television,” Hubbard says. NMEDA, meanwhile, will be making those same marketing efforts on a national level.

The awareness month’s biggest splash will be a contest to award adapted vehicles to consumers who submit their life stories. “The contest really becomes the center point,” Hubbard says. “It focuses on encouraging people to deal with their disability, and it promotes life.” Contestants will be able to upload videos on Facebook, then encourage friends to vote. Winners will receive vehicles built and fitted by NMEDA members to the required specifications. And since potential voters need to visit a mobility dealer’s Web site or store to receive a code in order to cast a ballot, NMEDA hopes people will learn more about the adaptive automotive specialty.

Toyota, Hubbard says, has already donated a vehicle to give away, and other manufacturers are considering similar donations. NMEDA’s goal is to give the vehicles away on national TV shows, such as Good Morning America or Ellen.

The National Mobility Awareness Month will be a big topic at NMEDA’s national conference, Feb. 22-24 in Phoenix. “We will be having a press conference there,” Hubbard says, “and are devoting an entire workshop to explain this to the dealers. When they leave the conference, there will be dealer kits waiting for them.”

While the vehicle contest is likely to draw the big national headlines, ultimately the hope is that NMEDA members can also make lasting impressions in their own backyards. “We want the dealers to have open houses, media days and that kind of thing,” Hubbard says. “Open it up to the public and put a display out there. Have a weekend to do something special and invite people that wouldn’t have normally been invited.”

Much effort has already been invested in National Mobility Awareness Month, and stakeholders are looking forward to what comes next.“It’s a lot of work,” Hubbard says. “But it’s really exciting.”

Source: http://mobilitymgmt.com/articles/2012/01/04/natl-mobility-awareness.aspx?s=emob_050112&admgarea=emob

From Impact A Hero:

“After finalizing all the income and follow up donations from our 2011 5K, you once again allowed us to reach our goal! As you may recall, our goal was $353,610.  The 2011 fundraising total was $358,158!!! Of course the significance of that goal was for the Impact A Hero 5K to reach $1,000,000 in raised funds – AND YOU DID IT!!  Our slogan for 2011 was “Thanks A $1,000,000!!!” and that was a double purpose slogan.  Thanks a million to our Heroes and their families for the sacrifice and service to me and you.  It was also a thanks-a-million to our sponsors, participants, volunteers and contributors for helping us make a significant impact on these Heroes and their family members.  You have truly Impacted A Hero.”

For more information, please visit their website: http://impactahero.org/

ADA thought this would be a great story for the holiday season.
It makes such a difference when you give to those in need.

Merry Christmas from Adaptive Driving Access!

Pictures speak louder than words and numbers talk – put those two adages together, and you have an infographic, the nifty little visual representations of data that you see online and in newspapers from time to time.

You’re probably familiar with these illustrative chart hybrids from time-to-time. They’re perfect for giving an at-a-glance look at a trend or particular topic. We’d never seen an infographic on disabilities, so BraunAbility decided to create one.

You can find our infographic at this link: Disability in America. What you’ll see is a closer look at who exactly the Americans with physical disabilities are – their age, their education, etc. As you’ll see, employment is a significant challenge for individuals with disabilities – only 20% of wheelchair and walker users are employed. On the flip side, we’ve improved transportation to get to work. In 1995 only 62% of buses were equipped with ramps compared to 98% in 2007.

The description “individuals with disabilities” is used so often in the general media and our industry…BraunAbility and Adaptive Driving Access want to make sure all of Texas knows who this phrase represents. You can find the complete infographic at this link: Disability in America.

ADA offers wheelchair van rentals to serve our customers and those who may be visiting the Houston area that require handicap accessible features on their rental van. Our wheelchair van rental service is provided through Accessible Vans of America (AVA)and is located at both of our ADA locations.

AVA is dedicated to providing quality rental vans with handicap accessible features. The AVA organization is a group of independent wheelchair van dealers who are all committed to  improving the transportation options for people requiring adaptive equipment. All of our wheelchair rental vans are regularly inspected to ensure that you receive a vehicle that is reliable and comfortable.

Through AVA, Adaptive Driving has a fleet of vehicles with wheelchair ramps and adaptive driving controls. Vehicle availability fluctuates with the normal season and holiday demand. Please reserve a van ahead of time to guarantee that a vehicle meeting your needs is available.

For more information and rates, please visit our website:
http://adaptivedriving.com/rentals.htm