Los Angeles based Cityzen, has a message, and Tobias Forrest won’t let you forget it. Disaboom has a great feature article with the quadriplegic frontman of this talented and charismatic band. Check it out!

“I’m very passionate about not showing the world people with disabilities but instead showing people with disabilities the world. We all have the potential to be beautiful, wonderful and talented people,” singer Tobias Forrest says, “I just want to sing.”

And, sing he does. Forrest is the lead singer of the band Cityzen in Los Angeles.

The band offers a great sound and is building a following in clubs and on http://www.myspace.com/CITYZENLA.

“I started the group with Jeff Line. We played in a band in college before my accident. I was almost 23 when I became a C5 quadriplegic. It was May 1998 and I was diving off a waterfall in the Grand Canyon. It was the time of El Niño and the water level was lower. I was told it was safe to dive there, but it was too shallow. I did a little drowning, I did a little dying, but I said Heaven can wait,” Forrest explains with a laugh. “I didn’t lose my sense of humor.”

Cityzen’s tour schedule and music can be found at their mySpace page. Mad talent.

Music and pets have long been known to provide solace and inspiration to those facing daily challenges in living. Chamber Music Today has posted an article about assistive technologies available to elderly and disabled people which aid them to continue their musical inclinations and activities.

The piano bench or chair that is the destination for the ‘to’ transfer is another issue altogether. Most benches or chairs have a poor center-of-gravity and are too prone to tipping over. A local machine shop or cabinetry maker can be engaged to make different legs for your mother’s favorite piano bench or chair, to attach ballast weights at floor level (say, 5 kg steel or lead weight per leg) with ‘block’ feet 10 cm square or more so that the chair will not tip. You may want to have a ‘grab bar’ added to an existing bench that you have, so that there is an obvious and reliable grip for your mom to aim for as the transfer proceeds. (Grabbing the piano around the keyboard is obviously not safe or reliable.)

These Nova Scotian children never give up. Through the use of assistive technology, the War Amp program encourages disabled children to continue to participate, and even compete, in sports and the arts.

This was the message of encouragement the War Amps presented Friday during the first session of this year’s Atlantic child amputee seminar at the Westin Nova Scotian Hotel in Halifax.

“It’s really important to have that positive outlook and be able to share experiences like we’re doing here at the seminar this weekend,” said Annelise Petlock, a War Amps public awareness official.

“It makes all the difference in the world.”

Ms. Petlock, a 21-year-old graduate of the group’s child amputee, or Champ, program and recent University of Ottawa graduate, hosted the session.

The Champ program aims to reach amputees at a young age and provide them with the necessary encouragement and resources to lead a happy and healthy life.

A cornerstone of the program is the Winner’s Circle. This concept encourages young amputees to develop confidence and further their rehabilitation through sports and other recreational activities.

We’re going to put together a list of killer music, products, books, and DVDs. And then we’re going to share them with you here!