Inclusive Recreation

Less than one month ago, the Toy Like Me Facebook group laid down the gauntlet. Launched by a band of parents in the U.K., #ToyLikeMe issued a shout-out to toy manufactures: Make toys that our children—and the more than 150 million children with disabilities worldwide—can relate to. Photo credit Facebook “If toys are designed to educate us…

Making its second appearance at the Abilities Expo Los Angeles is the Emmy® submitted web series Donna On The Go starring Abilities Expo Ambassador Donna Russo. The show was first conceived of by creator Peggy Lane to raise awareness for people with challenges. Donna On The Go is a light hearted look at some of them. Funny…

By Annivar Salgado, United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Chicago Look Into My Eyes is a song that was written for children and adults with disabilities as a way to get all people to take a moment and look beyond the sometimes mangled wrappers in which we are all born. Look Into My Eyes: Origin Story The…

These days it seems like anybody whose anybody is covering or doing a parody of Pharrell Williams’s “Happy,” quite possibly the catchiest tune ever to grace the airwaves. And why not? Its funky, upbeat rhythm and ubber-positive message have been topping the charts worldwide. Lampooning musical icon Weird Al Yankovic couldn’t resist bestowing his signature…

By Dwayne Szot, Zot Artz Arts for All Ever since I was a kid living in a foster home with children of all abilities, I’ve been coming up with ways to utilize technology in order to allow people with disabilities to better engage and express their inner artist. Now, at Abilities Expo Los Angeles from February…

When that old English playwright said the pen was mightier than the sword, it’s safe to assume that he’d never considered the paintbrush. Especially not Dwayne Szot’s style of paintbrush. Because had the writer ever witnessed the profound effect on the children whose wheelchairs have been literally transformed into giant paintbrushes, that play would have gone…

It turns out that frustration is the mother of invention too. When Dianalynn Varin was diagnosed with CIDP, an autoimmune disease that affects the nervous system, she realized that she would have to drastically change her work habits. She needed to stay in a home environment where she could remain productive, while better accommodating herself, her…

By Isaac Zablocki, ReelAbilities Film Festival ReelAbilities: NY Film Festival is the largest festival of its kind in the country. The festival reaches a broad audience and has a mission to bridge gaps and share the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with different abilities across all spectrums. But over the past eight years of…

When that old English playwright said the pen was mightier than the sword, it’s safe to assume that he’d never considered the paintbrush. Especially not Dwayne Szot’s style of paintbrush. Because had the writer ever witnessed the profound effect on the children whose wheelchairs have been literally transformed into giant paintbrushes, that play would have gone…

By Cory Hunt, Magic Wheelchair Builder In May of 2015 I met a man who would help me change my life for the better. Ryan Weimer was at the West Coast Haunters Convention in Portland, Oregon with his son, Keaton. At first I had no idea Keaton was in a wheelchair. He was riding a giant Indominus…

By Mike Ervin, Abilities Expo Ambassador Samantha Feigenbaum specializes in what she calls “make and take” art projects. You make it and then you take it home. She also refers to it as recycled art since she incorporates into the artwork something that has been discarded and is not intended to be an art material.…

By Margarita Elizondo, Host of Wheel Talk Wheel Issues and Abilities Expo Ambassador Designers hire models that fit “their look” and that look often looks like something you can hang on a hanger or put on a standing manikin; it does not include wheels. Filmmakers hire actors that fit “their role” and if the role includes disability,…