Blade Runner competes in the British 400m!

Earlier this month, Molly Littleton, the director of the assistive technology center at Signal Centers was honored with the Thomas Morales Leadership in Accessible Technology Award. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has an interesting and in depth interview with the honoree.

The armed forces have long been innovators in the development and use of technology with many programs eventually having a trickledown effect into the lives of normal citizens. This phenomena has been seen in everything from air travel to ballpoint pens. The exoskeleton concept is nothing new to the community of people interested in mobility challenges, and the US Army appears to be on the fast track to getting something into production rather quickly. After a prototype is developed, deployed, and released we can expect to see civilian impact fairly quickly.

We ran across an interesting article today about social missions becoming a more and more common business impetus for technology based firms. Something between a traditional for-profit and non-profit business…a business run for the social good, without the red tape for the most part. We found it very interesting in regards to ReEnabled.org because it echoes what we hope to turn ReEnabled.org into in the future. We’ve a great desire to solicit discount goods and services for registered users of this site, perhaps even donations and gratis assistance for those things that just make life easier — even if insurance won’t cover it. At any rate, here’s the link to the article in the New York Times (registration required).

When you hear about a musical group that has been approached by filmmakers and television executives, has a new custom tour bus and a tour schedule so full they have to turn gigs away, Bon Jovi or Aerosmith might come to mind. However the band that’s getting all this attention is FLAME, a group from upstate New York, made up of people with developmental and physical disabilities, including paralysis, autism, Down’s syndrome, mental retardation and blindness. For the band from Lexington Center, Fulton County Chapter, NYSARC, Inc., their fame is growing fast but their message remains the same.

When you hear about a musical group that has been approached by filmmakers and television executives, has a new custom tour bus and a tour schedule so full they have to turn gigs away, Bon Jovi or Aerosmith might come to mind. However the band that’s getting all this attention is FLAME, a group from upstate New York, made up of people with developmental and physical disabilities, including paralysis, autism, Down’s syndrome, mental retardation and blindness. For the band from Lexington Center, Fulton County Chapter, NYSARC, Inc., their fame is growing fast but their message remains the same.

Mark Steidl, a 12 year old technology afficionado, has used assistive technology for years to be what his mother describes as ‘a pretty typical kid’. He loves music and going outside to play with friends, reads books, and composes songs. The Post Gazette has a fabulous piece on this extraordinary young man, the winner of this year’s “Yes I can!” award from the Council for Exceptional Children.

Oprah.com has a fabulous feature on caring for aging parents. Extensive and thought provoking, and ultimately, uplifting. The key, say experts, is to get ahead of the 8-ball and stay there. Don’t deny what will happen, and plan for the eventualities while they are still just that.

Let me propose something radical: The biggest advances for mobility challenged individuals won’t be coming from the medical community or the research community. They are going to come from computer gamers.

Iraqi veterans return to the slopes in this video of brilliant skiing. No limits, no boundaries.