accessibility

Five finalists remain in the running for the $1 million prize being offered in the Mobility Unlimited Challenge, a global competition to promote the development of innovative solutions for personal mobility devices. A panel of expert judges selected the finalists from among 80 applications submitted by teams from 28 countries.

  It’s happened to me, and if you fly with a scooter or a wheelchair, I bet it’s happened to you, too: a busted or missing set of wheels on arrival.   On a flight from Washington, D.C., to Venice, my scooter went to Copenhagen. On a flight from…

I’m writing again about someone with MS who was blocked from a handicapped parking spot by someone who isn’t handicapped. I know, it happens all the time. But this time was a little different. The spot was blocked by a television news crew. And that struck a nerve…

Flying isn’t what it used to be, as everyone who’s taken a flight in the past 15 years or so knows. Flyers with disabilities can have a particularly challenging time dealing with airports, airlines, and aircraft. Airports are crowded and stretch forever. Airplanes are crowded, their seats are small,…

Sorry, this story is definitely parochial and about being disabled, rather than narrowly focused on having MS. It also turns out to be somewhat celebratory — albeit starting from a criticism. Before I get to that, a bit of history. The black cab is an international symbol for London like…

Is getting from home to a healthcare appointment a pain in the butt for you? Do you have to search for someone to take you? Do you haul yourself into your car and hope that you can find a nearby parking spot? Is public transportation impossible to find where…

We all know how difficult it can be to find an accessible parking spot — one that allows us to park and get from our car to where we’re going with a minimum number of steps. There aren’t many of these spots in most parking lots, and sometimes the…

Researchers at the University of Missouri found that a lack of appropriate clothing designed for people with disabilities, caused by accidents or chronic diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), can be a barrier to participation and a sense of inclusion in the workplace. Because workplace attire can be specific and…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently cleared the myBioness mobile app, designed by Bioness, to be used with the L300 Go System to improve muscle strength in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) or other conditions that affect walking. The L300 Go System is approved to help…

The United Spinal Association will hold a webinar this week to seek ideas for making air travel better for wheelchair users, including multiple sclerosis patients. One focus of the event will be the problems wheelchair users have encountered at airports. Another will be bills in the U.S. House and Senate…

So many of us are affected by disabilities, and day-to-day we strive to live our lives the best we can. The struggles due to these disabilities can consume a lot of our precious and sparse energy. Anything that can be modified in the home, at businesses, or anywhere we choose…

My knee was jerking the other day. It wasn’t my MS, it was my knee-jerk reaction to the passage in the U.S. House of Representatives of a bill called the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017 (HR 620). Before the vote, people with disabilities demonstrated inside the…

It’s nice when a negative experience can be turned into one that’s positive. I think that’s the result for a wheelchair-using MS patient following a problem she had at the Mall of America a few days before the Super Bowl. For those not familiar with the Mall of America,…

I never thought I’d find a subject for this MS column in the technology magazine Wired. But, what do you know? A recent article suggested that the same technology being used to create self-driving cars could (and should) be used to create self-driving wheelchairs. Artist and…

Though I don’t always use it, I take my cane with me every time we go shopping. I can still shuffle to the cart pickup and drop-off without it and the cart doubles as my walker. Canes can be clunky, aren’t easily stored, and I simply…

For those of us in the workforce, our MS can sometimes make a workday challenging. The Americans with Disabilities Act allows for an employee to request reasonable accommodations from their employer. Included in the act are three broad accommodation categories. One focuses on the hiring process, and…

I live at the beach, but I can’t get onto the beach — not easily, anyway. My MS means that I need to use a beach buggy; sort of an electric wheelchair with super-big tires, to get around on the sand. For others who are not as fortunate as…

Accessible housing is not optional for people with disabilities. Poverty and disability too often combine for too many people. It is one thing to know this double whammy exists intellectually. To see the impact in a person packs a visceral punch that cannot be denied. Think of how profoundly…

My disability rights activism includes housing issues. Affordable housing gets a lot of attention (no solutions, but attention, at least). Accessible housing, not so much. Like the invisible symptoms of multiple sclerosis, the need for affordable ACCESSIBLE housing remains hidden. Accessibility needs to be part of the dialogue I…

What makes housing accessible? I thought I knew all of the features that would make a dwelling accessible. Turns out I didn’t. The Department of Housing and Urban Development report on housing stock in America has a table that covers an extensive range of…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) and others with spinal cord injuries and disorders will speak at the United Spinal Association’s upcoming 6th Annual Roll on Capitol Hill, which takes place June 11-14 in Washington, D.C. Andrea Dalzell, Ms. Wheelchair New York 2015, will be among those advocating for greater access to complex rehabilitation technology.

Have you ever been on a New York City subway? I grew up in the Big Apple, and I used to love riding the subway as a kid. I’d travel all over the city without a problem. Not so today. Not so since MS changed my track.

You might think that the Fair Housing Act required multifamily buildings to have elevators, but no, it doesn’t. A multifamily dwelling of four units that does not have an elevator is not required to have one. However, the ground floor units must be fully…

Being disabled by MS does not have many advantages. One — free city street parking in California — is likely to end soon. In the rush to garner parking revenue, though, the lack of concurrent discussion about providing dedicated handicapped parking (DHP) is troubling. The widespread abuse…

Riding and other activities with horses can help adults and children with the balance, gait, and psychomotor disorders that are hallmarks of multiple sclerosis, according to review of 16 studies. The review, “Therapeutic Effects of Horseback Riding Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis,” was published in the …

Lost in the delights of the library; 10 minutes over meter limit Yes, they chalk-marked the tires and I got a ticket. I was furious. Once again,…

My first encounter with “Why bother?” was in 2011. My whole family had met in Maui to celebrate my daughter Amber’s wedding. It also was my first travel since my 2010 primary progressive multiple sclerosis diagnosis, and my first trip with a wheelchair. I didn’t realize when you fly…

B-Temia announced the launch of its “b-Klinic Mobility” business unit, offering clinical services, information, training, and ongoing support to patients and healthcare professionals who use the company’s Keeogo walking assistive device. Keeogo is B-Temia’s first product in the class of dermoskeletons, designed to assist persons with mobility-related challenges that limit…

It’s happened to us all.  You arrive at a business and discover there are steps at the entrance. A few years ago my wife and I arrived to check-in to a 4-star hotel near The Wheel in London, and discovered that there were a dozen steps at both of…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for marketing Adapta Medical’s PerfIC Cath, an intermittent and easy-to-use urinary catheter that was designed for patients with limited dexterity by a doctor who is also a quadriplegic. Urinary tract symptoms can trouble people with multiple sclerosis (MS). In fact, according to the National MS Society,…