Because I sit in my wheelchair most of the day, my trunk muscles are not strong enough to steady my gun. Standing in my EasyStand helps me to steady my hand, making it easier to hit my targets.
One of the many activities I enjoy while standing is target practicing in from my patio. By utilizing my EasyStand Evolv stander, I feel it gives me the true position needed to target practice.
First of all, Iʼm in a standing position. Second, the tray on top of the standing frame helps steady my shot. Third, I have a better view. Finally, the support and balance the standing frame gives me is by far the most beneficial.
With all things considered, the stander helps prepare me for the real hunt. Thanks to EasyStand for improving my quality of life as a T5 paraplegic.
To read more about Jadian Foley, his activities, and standing routine, read his EasyStand customer story.
Does standing help you perform tasks or activities that are otherwise more difficult when in a wheelchair? What activities do you do while standing? Share with us in the comments of this post and we will pick one random winner of a back pack! (Therapists or suppliers, you can tell us what your clients or customers have done while standing).
Comment before Sunday, November 30, 2008. Winner will be selected on Monday, December 1st and has 7 days to reply before a new winner is selected.
Popular Mechanics Magazine recently recognized a wheelchair invention as one of the Top 10 Innovations of 2008. The wheelchair was invented by some engineers from California who were brainstorming with students and professors from Guatemala. Utilizing wheels from mountain bikes, their wheelchairs are less expensive and more durable to withstand the potholed streets and rugged roads in Guatemala.
They have formed a nonprofit organization called Intelligent Mobility International, which designs, produces, and distributes affordable and durable wheelchairs to help people with disabilities find sustainable employment, and new hope in their lives. They have also partnered with Transitions, a Guatemalan charity, who employs mainly wheelchair-bound people to build the chairs.
What do you think of this wheelchair, created for the developing world?
Did you see this video on 60 Minutes? It features a guy with ALS and a lady with a stroke who are both completely paralyzed and nonverbal. Neuroscientists have found a way to tap into the thoughts in their brain, and make them into actions performed through a computer. The gentleman with ALS is able to communicate by choosing letters on the screen, and the woman was able to move a cursor around the screen and even operate a power wheelchair with just her brain power. They also showed a monkey who actually controlled a robotic arm with his brain.
The hope is that the technology can help people with disabilities to communicate and control mechanisms like a wheelchair. See for yourself!
Now, with the election behind us, and new President-Elect Barack Obama ready to take over the office in a couple months, the United States is bracing itself for change. Barack Obama plans to empower people with disabilities through these key positions:
Provide the educational opportunities that Americans with disabilities need to succeed
End workplace discrimination and promote equal opportunity
Increase the employment rate of workers with disabilities
Support independent, community-based living for Americans with disabilities
In Obama’s acceptance speech on November 4th, 2008, he specifically mentioned “people with disabilities”.
Barack Obama has a plan to empower people with disabilities.
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.We are, and always will be, the United States of America.” – President-Elect Barack Obama, Nov. 4, 2008
What do you think of Barack’s plans to empower Americans with Disabilities?
Hi!My name is Ginny Paleg and I am a pediatric physical therapist in Maryland.My specialty is getting children with severe gross motor dysfunction (GMFCS Level IV and V) to take steps in gait trainers.To get to this goal, I use passive standing, body weight supported gait therapy over a treadmill, and am investigating passive/assisted cycling and vibration platforms.My “dissertation” (final project for my DScPT) was a systematic review on passive standing and a webinar presenting what I found.I sorted the articles by level of evidence, clinical outcomes, diagnosis, type of stander, and length of standing time.
I hope the flow charts can help folks decide how long to stand, which type of standing device to use, typical complications of standing, as well as appropriate measurable attainable clinical goals of standing.I included research studies on standing combined with oscillation, vibration, electrical stimulation and exercise programs.
I ran across this video on Youtube showing Matt, a young man who has ALS- Lou Gehrig’s disease, using the EasyStand stander. Shartrina is Matt’s wife and caregiver, and demonstrates how she transfers Matt into the stander and gets him into the standing position. She also has some tips on making it more comfortable, adapting it for use with a ventilator, and more.
Matt and Shartrina have an inspirational website called the Matt White Cure ALS Foundation where they have documented their story and are educating others on ALS. I encourage you to check out www.cureals.org to read about their story.
What do you think of the video? Do you know a person who has ALS?
Bill Fertig and I are proud to have raised $6596.00 for the NSCIA
As you know Bill Fertig and I raced in the Marine Corp Marathon on Sunday. I had my personal best of 4:03:48 but I know I could have gotten below 4 hours if all those people would of just gotten out of my way. This was Bill’s first time hand cycling a marathon and he did it in 3:04:45. Here is what he had to say about it, “It was big fun as you say! But I was humbled by the experience of competing next to so many combat injured solders who returned as single or double amputees. I haven’t been addressed as ‘sir’ so many times in my life as I was by the many hundreds of Marines who worked the MCM!”
The most moving sight for me was a group of three runners with the US Marine Corp and MIA full size flags running ahead of me. Just as I was catching up to them they suddenly turned off from the race and stopped at the Vietnam Memorial to bow their heads in respect for about one minute, then continued running.
Many runners had pictures or messages on the backs of their shirts, stating they were running for brothers or sons killed or injured in the line of duty. This made me think about the reason I was running, for the many more people in civilian life that have also suffered, from SCI/D. This stopped me from whining about the pain and helped me get through the last six miles. It is an experience I will never forget.
Ryan has Cerebral Palsy and uses a power wheelchair for mobility, but doesn’t let his disability slow him down. He does fun therapy in his standing frame, walker, and bike to keep his muscles strong for other activities. He goes horseback riding, skis, swims, and does many other things that able-bodied kids do. His mom, Luann, shares how Ryan stays healthy and active through daily standing therapy and a variety of other great activities.
When you see Ryan, you see a glowing kid, full of potential. Ryan started standing in an EasyStand Magician-ei when he was only three years old; he worked his way up to an EasyStand Magician Comfy and is a third grader already! We had the pleasure of meeting Ryan at his home during a photo shoot with the new EasyStand Bantam. In this video, you see Ryan standing in the Magician-ei, Magician Comfy, and Bantam.
What do you think of Ryan’s story? What activities do you do for fun?
I discovered GoodSearch after learning about it in an email newsletter for an organization I support. GoodSearch is a search engine like Google that is powered by Yahoo Search. Every time you run a search, GoodSearch donates to the organization of your choice. Over 67,000 organizations and schools are already listed in Goodsearch, including many disability-related organizations like the National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA), UCP- Wheels for Humanity, Miami Project, and many more. You can change your charity at any time, so it is easy to give to more than one. Plus new organizations are added daily, and you can even suggest new ones.
You can also shop though GoodSearch. At the GoodShop, shop your favorite stores like Amazon, Target and eBay, and a percent of your purchase cost will be donated to the charity that you select. I use this feature too because it allows me to use my shopping addiction for a good cause.
Goodsearch gives me the opportunity to support my favorite charity without shelling out the bucks. It’s user friendly, and I added it to my toolbar to make it even easier. Go ahead..try a new search engine! See what GoodSearch has to offer & start supporting your favorite charity now!
Have you tried GoodSearch? What charity do you support?
Find topics and personal stories on life in a wheelchair and disability, healthy living, the benefits of standing, and what's happening with EasyStand.
