Happy 100th Anniversary, Easterseals!

Today, the 100th anniversary of Easterseals and its National Day of Giving are being observed. Edgar Allen, a businessman, lost one of his sons in a car accident in Elyria, Ohio, in 1907. The following year, a children's hospital for which Allen raised funds opened. He founded the National Easter Seal Society 11 years later. Nowadays, the organization now known as Easterseals serves 1.5 million people with disabilities through its programs. I went to physical therapy and took swimming lessons at an Easterseals facility when I was a child. For more information about the nonprofit, go to https://www.easterseals.com/.

Easterseals logo

(image via easterseals.com)

Accessible Trails and National Parks

Since it is spring, now is the time to enjoy the outdoors. Throughout the United States, there are wheelchair accessible trails, which were recently built or modified to meet accessibility standards. These multiuse trails or shared use paths were designed with wheelchair users in mind. If you're looking for a longer adventure, you can try going to a National Park. This is the perfect opportunity to do so because the second Free Entrance Day of the year is tomorrow, April 20, the first day of National Park Week. To find a National Park near you, go to https://www.nps.gov/findapark.

National Park Service logo

(image via nps.gov)

Spotlight: ASK US Florida

With April being National Autism Awareness Month, an appropriate nonprofit to feature in this blog today is Autism Spectrum Kids, United Support (ASK US) Florida, Inc. Founded in 2015, ASK US Florida informs others of resources for those with autism and answers questions about the disorder. The organization, which aims to empower and inspire, has two Facebook pages: a parent/caregiver online support page and an events page. ASK US Florida hosts inclusive outings and events such as its annual conference and resource fair followed by a family-friendly concert. For more information, go to https://www.askusflorida.org/ on which there is a shop.

ASK US Florida logo

(image via brightfeats.com)

Spotlights: Ben Carpenter and Kate Nelson

Yesterday morning, wheelchair users were featured twice on WESH 2 News. The first news story was about 22-year-old Ben Carpenter, the captain and starting midfielder of the Tampa Thunder, a United States Power Soccer Association (USPSA) team. The team consists of people with physical disabilities who use wheelchairs to move the soccer ball on a basketball court. Carpenter, who has spinal muscular atrophy, was not expected to live past age three. Despite the progression of his disease, he plans to compete at the 2021 USPSA World Cup in Australia. For more information about the Tampa Thunder, go to https://www.tampathunder.org/.

Ben Carpenter

(image via nbcnews.com)

The second news story was about Kate Nelson, who became the first model in a wheelchair to participate in Fashion Week in Denver, Colorado. Nelson, an accountant, was two years old when she became paralyzed from the waist down during a car accident that took her father's and brother's lives in 1979. Going down the runway with bedazzled wheels, she wore a ring that belonged to her mother, who recently passed away from cancer. Being a part of Fashion Week was a dream come true for Nelson. For more details on this story, go to https://abc7ny.com/community-events/model-takes-fashion-week-on-in-wheelchair-in-denver/5232263/.

Kate Nelson

(image via denver.cbslocal.com)