disability
why I take drugs good journalism on the topic of drugs isn’t hard to find, but it’s still almost never reflected in public policy (in the usa and canada). for example, harper drug policy put my access to medical cannabis into legal limbo and made it much more costly. this was done…
renovations for disability after many months of power tools, dust, painting etc.. I finally have the wheelchair accessible apartment I’ve always wanted. my desk and kitchen has been upgraded to create more usable room and increase functionality for me. lost of decorative choices too of course, but mostly the changes were designed…
climbing with ze belgians a crew from Belgium found the me via the “boosting” news stories and planned a trip to come climbing in squamish. they chanced the weather for mid October but we got lucky, very lucky. that’s what I remember most about any of our big climbs, constantly checking the…
home automation for disability this has been a very messy few weeks, months even, but finally I have the perfect home-theater/workout-out .. living room. i can do my pulls and watch movies through the rainy months in great comfort (and no excuses not to exercise daily). great effort was required to get…
BACK TO THE WALL chronicles the 10-year journey of a quadriplegic rock-climber, Brad Zdanivsky, as he pursues his dream of climbing the 1700-foot vertical wall of the Squamish Chief. But sheer desire it not enough. An epic attempt like this also needs passionate support and a strong team to make it happen,…
So, things break and need repairs. My Dad has always said.. “don’t repair, fit the spare”, but this part hasn’t been available a long time. I looked, made calls, sent emails, got calls back.. but no luck. The board is simple, just a few AC Power relays, but it is the controller…
workouts at home Winter has been pretty kind with sunshine thus far, but the rain is coming. Days where I can’t wheel on the seawall, I do more “pulls.” Getting ready for climbing the chief climbs I spent hours on this simulator at home. (see notes on performance boosting) After many versions,…
Here is a short video of us testing the elevation wheelchair with the disk brakes we designed. This project has been both frustrating and rewarding. The tiny details add up quickly. The disk brakes require a bit of extra chair width, and this can be deal breaker for most users. It can…
For people with poor hand function the gesture recognition on most laptops is impossible to use. I have to turn the two, three finger and swipe commands off all together. This makes scrolling a pain (many pages and browsers hide scrollbars now also), but this is easy fix with css. First enter…
disk brakes for wheelchairs it’s been a braking with software (on board arduino or android). As a quadriplegic I don’t want to take my hands off the wheels to apply the brakes because this throws off my balance (especially on uneven ground or with muscle spasms to contend with). When adding power…
c4 meet the superhumans from envy post on Vimeo. About bloody time I say. Please no more of the warm and fuzzy videos of Paralympic games. In the past these ads have been simply vomit inducing and don’t do the athletes any justice. Finally the marketing people are getting it — these…
Jonah Lehrer: The Origins of Creative Insight & Why You Need Grit Do we sometimes pay too high a price for our dreams? Or worse, pick the wrong ones to follow? I remember having many conversations like this while making all the gear for rock climbing. It was NOT at all a…