Tag: wheelchair

Re-Thinking Halloween Costumes

by caste551, posted in Uncategorized

As Halloween approaches, and I get ready to celebrate the trick-or-treating season with my son, I started thinking about Halloween for me when I was a little girl. I remember the year my mom took me trick or treating. I must have been about 6 years old or so. I was a witch and she painted my face green and spray-painted my hair. I remember it was a lot of fun. Other than that, I didn’t really celebrate Halloween again until I went to college.

In the past couple of years, I’ve noticed an increase in accessible costumes. Kids with disabilities are being included, it seems more often in advertising, so they can get in on the trick or treating fun too. I’m not sure this is a new trend because, it very well may not be but, it’s certainly a wonderful and welcomed one. Not only can all kids enjoy the Halloween fun but, it’s something they can do with their family and friends.

There are so many great and creative ideas I hadn’t even thought of as costumes. You could make your daughter’s wheelchair turn into a magical carriage if she’d like to be a princess. I remember I had casts up my legs once and my mom turned me into Wonder Woman! My casts were my boots because she put socks over them for me! That was great too. I don’t think I went trick or treating that year but, I’ll never forget how cool my casts looked! Suddenly, if you can make the assistive devices your kids use part of their costume, not only will Halloween be a lot more fun for them, it might make them look at their cane, wheelchair, cast or other device, in a different way.

All it takes is some creative thinking and a bit of planning to make their Halloween loads of fun and something they’ll probably never forget.

What ideas do you have for costumes this Halloween?

For more information you can check out the link below:

http://www.mychildwithoutlimits.org/act/family-life/halloween-costume-ideas-for-the-physically-challenged/

Thanks for reading..

cr

Access Lynx Passenger Almost Arrested

by caste551, posted in Uncategorized

I’ve been a client on Access Lynx on and off, for as many years as I’ve lived in Orlando. They’re the para transit service run by the local bus service that helps people who’re disabled get around town. As with other share-ride systems that pick up multiple people at a time, it encounters problems related to scheduling, and other issues.

I was appalled this week when I saw the story of Joyce Rosa on the news. Ms. Rosa had a stroke, and uses a wheelchair as a result. The driver of the van Ms. Rosa was riding in called 911 on her because she was a dollar short on her fare. The article says Ms. Rosa refused to get off the bus but, honestly, in order for her to get off the bus, the driver would’ve had to help her.

The driver could have used their discretion and not called 911. I’ve been on the bus before and have seen people not have the right fare. As a result, the driver didn’t call the police on them.

The newscast also talked about the drivers receiving additional training because of this incident. While I understand passengers need to pay the fare to use the service, some sort of common sense should be exercised by the driver in each situation.  Since the majority of clients are repeat customers, they could implement a procedure where the person signs a sort of “IOU” for the next time they use the service. They’d probably use the service again very soon, like to get home, for example.

I’ve also had to file complaints against Access Lynx. Although, as with everything else, there’s a process that needs to be followed, it’s the best way to get your issues with them resolved. Either way, I hope they come up with a viable solution to this problem, so that if it happens again, there’s a more logical resolution than calling the police on the passenger.

If you’d like to find out more about this story, check out the link below:

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/lynx-driver-calls-911-disabled-passenger-over-1-di/ngTj3/?ecmp=social_20140627_26876706

Thanks for reading..

cr

Orlando Science Center and Sensitivity to All

by caste551, posted in Uncategorized

I thought this week, I’d change things up and give a review of a trip my son and I took.  We went to the Orlando Science Center’s “Sesame Street” Exhibit “The Body”.  I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I’ve been to the Science Center before and always enjoyed myself.  He loves “Sesame Street”, so I knew he’d enjoy himself too.  Before we arrived, I didn’t realize the amount of information they made available for kids that young to learn.  This time, I discovered I may even be a bit of a science nerd myself.

As I’ve said in previous posts, “Sesame Street” has always been an inclusive show.  They’re always showing different groups of kids playing together.  That’s the beginning to acceptance of diversity.  These exhibits weren’t any different.  We started out seeing exhibits on how the lungs and heart worked.  These were cool because it was totally hands on, and he had a blast!  Then, we came upon an exhibit showing how people with vision impairments use their fingers to read Braille.  There was also a virtual  obstacle course that had different variations of transportation.  There was a rowing machine and a spot people could run in place to complete the course too.  The next compartment had  a wheelchair to get through the course.  I saw this as a way to help others understand different ways people get around.

Praise goes to “Sesame Street” yet again, for planting the seeds of acceptance of diverse populations early on in life.  And thank you to The Orlando Science Center for making the exhibit available for people to see.  Not only was it a fun experience that we both enjoyed but, when my son and other children get to see what life might be like for anyone else, when they interact with people during different phases of their lives, I’m sure kindness and willingness to know others as people first will touch anyone they meet.

What other activities could help children begin to have exposure to different groups?

Thanks for reading..

cr

Dolls for Downs

by caste551, posted in Uncategorized

While browsing the Internet the other day, I saw a story about a doll that’s fashioned like a disabled child.  To be a bit more specific, a child with Down Syndrome.  While I was growing up, I used a wheelchair.  Although I knew most of the kids at my school didn’t have a disability, it didn’t bother me.  This isn’t necessarily the case for all disabled kids.  I think having dolls with differences is a great idea for children with disabilities so they’re less likely to feel left out when it comes to their non-disabled peers, which can sometimes be the case.  If there are dolls with different eye, skin and hair colors, it only makes sense to have dolls with different disabilities too.  It’s great that dolls can be made representative of real life.

Having these dolls available can help kids feel like they’ve got someone to identify with.  They can also help build self-esteem.  It’s a great idea for children with out a disability to have a chance to be exposed to these dolls too.  That’s because it could help them become sensitive to others no matter their circumstance.

When I started thinking about this, I remembered that when I was about 17 years old, Mattel came out with the first Barbie doll in a wheelchair.  It was really cool to see that a toy company seemed to be catching up with the rest of the world, but then, it kind of disappeared from the market.

I really like that this doll encourages things like occupational therapy.  I remember when I was younger, I was really not interested in doing the exercises that were assigned to me by my physical or occupational therapist in the least.  Maybe these dolls can help make a not so fun thing a little bit more fun to do.  All in all, I feel like these dolls have the potential to make an impact on many people.

What do you think about creating different dolls to exemplify the differences of people in society?

Thanks for reading…

cr