Thursday, September 20, 2012

Exhibit to Showcase Accessible Tools and Products for Disabled People - October 5-6

In the first of its kind in the area, an Adapted Home Exhibit at the Independence Center will showcase the tools and products that help persons with disabilities live independently in their homes.

Adapted Home Exhibit Oct 5-6
Adapted Home Exhibit Oct 5-6The event is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 5 and Oct. 6 at the Freedom Financial Services Expo Center, 3650 North Nevada Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO 80907, United States.

The Adapted Home Exhibit is an event designed to educate the community on what accessible tools exist to keep persons with disabilities independent in their homes and communities. The home will showcase eight rooms filled with more than 1,000 tools that encourage and enable independent living.

“Everyone can benefit from this exhibit-not just people with disabilities,” said Patricia Yeager, CEO of The Independence Center. “We all know someone with a disability, whether it’s a child, our best friend or a parent getting older. The technology that will be presented in this amazing house will assist people with functional limitations of all ages and their caretakers and show them that they really can be more independent in their homes.”

The event will provide you with an overview of how you may be able to use and incorporate these products for every day living in your home. Some of the items include lighted phone call signalers, talking alarm clocks, accessible showers, garden equipment and kitchen. The items on display vary in cost and level of technology. Many of the items in the home will be on sale in the vendor fair. Accessible vehicles will be displayed.

For more information, visit The Independence Center, GAATES

Registration Now Open for September 28 National Forum on Disability Issues

Along with other aging and disability organizations, NCOA is co-sponsoring this historic nonpartisan event featuring the 2012 presidential candidates and candidates for the U.S. Senate seat from Ohio providing their positions on a wide variety of disability issues, including those affecting older adults.
The forum will be the only national event to focus specifically on disability issues.

Questions are expected to focus on “big picture” issues facing the broad disability community, such as employment, health care, long-term services and supports, education, transportation, housing, and research.

Registration now open! (September 28 from 12:30-3:30 p.m. ET Columbus, OH)
Source: GAATES

Travel Industry Could Do More to Help People with Disabilities

Despite the success of the London Paralympics, new research has revealed that 86 percent of persons with disabilities who responded to a recent survey think the UK travel industry is still not providing sufficient information about disability access and facilities.

The survey, which was carried out by Adapted Vehicle Hire, the UK’s largest supplier of rental vehicles for  drivers with disabilities and charity, Tourism For All UK, also revealed that 87 percent of respondents had been prevented from travelling because of their disability.

A further 77 percent consider disability access to be ‘very important’ when planning where to go on holiday.

London was identified as the part of UK with the best access and facilities but despite improvements made in the run up to the Paralympics, the Underground was singled out for criticism.

The UK’s airports and train stations also fared badly in the survey with respondents claiming more needed to be done to make them accessible for all.

However there was some encouraging news as over 92 percent of people thought that accessibility had improved overall in the past ten years – 28 percent thought that access was ‘significantly better’.
Lorraine Farnon, Managing Director of Adapted Vehicle Hire, said:

“The results of this survey clearly demonstrate that despite gradual progress, more needs to be done to make the travel industry more accessible for persons with disabilities.

“Following the outstanding success of the Paralympics which has brought disability issues increasingly into the mainstream, there is now an opportunity to make real improvements to access and facilities across the UK.”

Carrie-Ann Lightley, Information Officer from Tourism For All UK, said:

“Tourism For All has been campaigning for the past 30 years to improve the range of travel options and facilities for persons with disabilities Our view is that tourism is important to everyone and we support the government’s aim of making UK tourism the most accessible in Europe.

“We are heartened that most people feel that access and facilities have improved in the past ten years, but the survey also revealed there are big variations across the UK. Access to some rural and historic sites will always present more of a challenge for disabled visitors, but places like airports have scope for significant improvement to better meet the needs of travellers with disabilities.”

The survey results also identified Cornwall and Devon as the most popular holiday destination, followed closely by Spain and France.

Several venues from across the UK were praised for their ease of access and suitability for visitors with disabilities including National Trust properties and the Eden Project in Cornwall.

Source: Industry Today, GAATES