About a year into my injury, I began speaking at churches and elementary schools. I would share my story and talk about what life was like for me as a wheelchair user. Even though it had only been a year since my injury, there was so much to cover yet never enough time. As a […]
Editor’s Note: Playing in bands and attending music festivals was a big part of Southern California native Austin Whitney’s youth. But when he sustained a spinal cord injury at the age of 18, his life changed dramatically. As is the case for most SCI survivors, the first few months of recovery proved difficult for Whitney. […]
Societal attitudes and behaviors have a significant impact on the inclusion of individuals with disabilities. Despite the Americans with Disabilities Act and various civil rights movements, the effects of negative perceptions of disability are still prevalent in structural and social contexts today. Because of these constructs, children with disabilities experience several challenges in classroom and […]
Editor’s Note: Both Donna Russo and Peggy Lane have been involved in the entertainment industry for the majority of their lives. Russo, who lives with Turner syndrome and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, has a degree in dance, toured with ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks,’ and has appeared in several TV shows and films. Lane modeled as a […]
Editor’s Note: When an orchestra performed at her school, 10-year-old Gaelynn Lea decided she wanted to learn to play the violin. However, as an electric wheelchair user born with osteogenesis imperfecta, she couldn’t hold the instrument the traditional way. With the help of one of her teachers, she developed her own unique method of playing […]
Editor’s Note: As an infant, Zully JF Alvarado contracted polio, but at the time, the villagers in her home country of Ecuador didn’t have the resources or knowledge to properly diagnose her condition. When a priest on a mission trip took interest in her, her parents allowed him to take her to the United States […]
When Wheel:Life learned that two Coloplast SpeediCath users would be featured on an upcoming episode of Access Health, we wanted to take the opportunity to share their amazing stories with the Wheel:Life community. Get to know Tatiana Lee and Kirk Ingram here first, and then tune in to Lifetime TV on August 15 and 22 […]
After my injury twelve years ago, there were many things I had always done throughout my life that I wanted to continue doing despite becoming a wheelchair user. One thing that had always been important to me was traveling. However, as a new wheelchair user, many fears came along with the thought of traveling; the […]
Editor’s Note: As the son of a military man and the daughter of a merchant seaman, both Bill and Joanne Hogan learned early on in life to adapt to frequent moves and ever-changing surroundings. As adults, they each chose careers that often required traveling to all corners of the world. Bill, following in his […]
Editor’s Note: When conventional medicine was failing quadriplegic Chanda Hinton-Leichtle, she knew something had to change. At just 59 pounds and chronically ill in her early 20s, her sister suggested trying integrative therapy. Thanks to those therapies, her health began to turn around, and she realized others in her situation could surely benefit from the […]
