Naidex 2010

Join us at Naidex 2010...the UKs largest disability, homecare and rehabilitation event held at the NEC.

Naidex is the ideal opportunity to raise your profile and get your message across to thousands of healthcare professionals and members of public with a disability.

Charities who have already booked a stand include the Disabled Living Foundation, British Polio Fellowship, Canine Partners, Guide Dogs, Health Professions Council, Holidays for All, Mobilise, Motability, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, National Trust, RNIB, RNID, Treloar Trust, Stroke Association and Vitalise.

This year was the most successful show to date with over 360 exhibitors and 10,978 visitors (ABC audited).

For Naidex 2010 we are growing the show even further and introducing a new Car Zone, Communication Village and Sensory Garden feature.
Over 70% of space has already been booked - so contact us now to find out about availability and book your stand!
Call Charlotte or Dean on 0207 728 4203 or email naidex@emap.com

"Sitting Down, Not Sitting In ... "

An Op/Ed Piece in The Springfield (MO) News-Leaderby Gary Presley

I watched through a 21-inch window illuminating a world in black-and-white as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the civil rights movement.I watched sitting down, not "sitting in."I watched from a wheelchair, newly crippled by polio, mesmerized as our nation took a few tentative steps along Freedom Road after being paralyzed by racial discrimination for centuries.It was a time when the n-word was not uncommon, when I was termed a "shut-in" and "an invalid confined to a wheelchair." And I too yearned not to be separate and unequal.And then Dr. King stood at the Lincoln Memorial and said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."Rotten segregation began to crumble.

But not for me or other people with disabilities. Most of us remained isolated by inaccessible architecture, minimal higher education and employment opportunities and a patronizing preference for segregation through custodial care."You know, being in a wheelchair is almost like being black," I sometimes thought. I was right. And I was wrong.A person of color and a person with a visible disability are both identifiable by appearance, of course. And I felt excluded, discriminated against not only because of lack of accessible opportunities but also because of perceptions based entirely on appearance: "Don't hire people in wheelchairs.

They're sick all the time."Even after I ventured out into the world and confronted prejudices generated by a visible disability, I understood no one would beat me, kick me out of a restaurant or deny me the right to vote. I had no understanding of the black experience. No one turned fire hoses on people with disabilities. Nor lynched us.But when African-Americans rose up and demanded to be heard, people with disabilities remained invisible. The lucky were supported by families. Others were warehoused in nursing homes or state institutions.King voiced his dream in 1963, and ten years later The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 provided the first step toward integration for people with disabilities.

Things became better with the passage of Americans with Disabilities Act in 1991, and we began to integrate ourselves into the educational sector, into businesses and professions, and even into the entertainment industry. And as more of us became visible, words and phrases like "confined to a wheelchair," "invalid" or "shut-in" began to disappear from the language.Today we remember Jim Crow, the lynchings, the riots, the bombs and the assassinations, and we celebrate the courage of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.I will join in, but I will also remember heroes whose names should be written in every history book -- advocates like Justin Dart, who worked tirelessly for the Americans with Disabilities Act; Wade Blank, who had been with King at Selma and moved on to found ADAPT; Ed Roberts, the father of the disability rights movement who fought hard for everything from curb cuts to access to higher education.There's work left, of course. And to paraphrase Dr. King, I say, "I have a dream that people with disabilities will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by what they can or cannot do but rather by the content of their character."

Seven Wheelchairs: A Life beyond Polio

Who better to report on the world of disability than someone who has been a citizen for close to fifty years?

My book (Seven Wheelchairs: A Life beyond Polio) was published this year. Writing it reminded me of a life lesson any one alive should learn early: Life is a grand thing, and it's all we know this side of Infinity, and all of us should be prepared to squeeze it dry. How? Seven Wheelchairs offers the opinion that we should greet each day with curiosity, with optimism, with passion, and then head out to release a little good karma in the world.

If you've been riding a wheelchair as long as I have, you realize attitudes toward disability have changed over the years, but we still get the occasional "Oh, I could never live like that" comment. The implication is that we should skulk off to a corner and cry.

I was reminded of another aspect of this victim attitude a few days ago when I was interviewed by the host of a syndicated radio show. It seemed to me that he constantly wanted to bring the conversation back to the issue of anger. When I returned home, I looked up the passage in the book that had sparked his interest. It relates to my perception of the transaction between me and attendants I've had over the years.
"And so I have always been openly grateful to everyone who assists me in accomplishing that which my body cannot do for me. "You're so polite," more than one attendant has said. At first, I was polite, biting down and swallowing anger, because it was in the power of the caregiver to neglect me. And neglecting me would kill me.

"Now I believe I am polite and grateful because I better understand the nature of the transaction. Such weak terms – politeness and gratitude – for what I strive to express, which is a potent cocktail of reciprocal love, embarrassment, guilt, gratitude, resentment, appreciation, anger, and bemusement, all blended to please the palate and poured out as a pretty peace-offering, something to swallow so that we each understand you feel both good and bad about helping me, and I feel bad and good about needing help."

I suppose we all rage, including also those who presently journey through the world not yet disabled, saints excepted. But I didn't begin the book to vent. I wanted to illustrate the reality of disability, but to do that, I wanted to write so that people with disabilities would be seen as ... well, real, for lack of a better word. We human creatures are a gloriously messy mixture of good and bad, strong and weak, happy and sad. The reverse of that coin is that no one with a disability should be assigned to play the role of "inspiration" or a "hero."

And from the feedback I'm receiving, I'm pleased that many readers have seen me as a whole person, one in whom disability is present but not dominant, And one who realizes anger, like disability, can define character but is wise enough to understand that there are other psychological, intellectual, and emotional elements that also shape character.




By Gary Presley

Book your stand at Naidex 2009!

Naidex is the national homecare, disability and rehabilitation exhibition. The event attracts healthcare professionals (occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nursing professionals) and members of the public with a disability, the elderly, their family and carers. All will be looking for the latest developments, advice and information to improve independent living.

This year the event had a 5% increase in visitor numbers to 10,799 (ABC audited) and 85% of space has already been taken! The next show takes place on the 28th - 30th April 2009 at the NEC, Birmingham. The event is getting bigger and bigger and is seen as the place to come to get all your information needs under one roof.
Over 350 exhibitors will be at Naidex 2009 including The Stroke Association, British Polio Fellowship, Whizz-Kidz, Wheelchair Children, Vitalise, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, the National Trust, the Blue Badge Network, Independent Living Funds, Ricability, ASBAH, Canine Partners and the Disabled Living Foundation - who run the show information point.

Naidex is the ideal platform to raise your profile, get your message across and meet thousands of healthcare professionals and members of the public with a disability face to face.

Please contact Stephen Illingworth for more details - 0207 728 3724 / stephen.illingworth@emap.com

We look forward to welcoming you to Naidex 2009!

Nine stars to watch at Beijing 2008

A SUMMER of sport beckons for dozens of North athletes who are competing in the Beijing Olympics and its partner competition, the Paralympics. Designed for athletes with physical, mental and sensorial disabilities, the Paralympics promises to be a medals feast for Team GB, which has 205 sporting stars competing in 18 of the 20 events. Coreena Ford takes a look at the nine athletes from the region who are heading to China.

On track for success

SUNDERLAND’S Hazel Simpson, 29, has been one of Britain’s most consistent sprinters for almost a decade, winning medals at Paralympic, World and European levels.

Hazel, of New Herrington, was 11 years old when she first discovered athletics and she won gold in the 100m sprint in Sydney 2000.

But Hazel, who has cerebral palsy, is taking a break from the sport after competing in the 100m and 200m sprint in Beijing because she’s planning on starting a family with her husband.

But the new bride aims to be back in shape for the London Paralympics in 2012.

Sprint king can’t wait

SPRINTER Stephen Payton is one of the most experienced members of Team GB’s athletics squad, and he can’t wait to get out on the track in Beijing.

Stephen, who was born in Tyneside but now lives in Uphall, West Lothian, has competed at almost every major disability championship over the last 10 years.

He trained at Gateshead while he was studying at Northumbria University but he now forms part of a trio of Scottish participants alongside young sprinters Libby Clegg and Neil Fachie.

The 31-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, will be taking part in the 200m and 400m sprint events.

At the sharp end of games

MIDDLESBROUGH’s Lee Fawcett has only been fencing for a short time, having switched from wheelchair basketball in 2005 . . . yet he is now the sole athlete representing his country in the sport this summer, in the individual sabre event.

Lee, 32, who is paralysed, already has two medals to his name. He won a bronze medal in the Team Sabre event at the European Championships in Spain in 2005 and this was followed by another Bronze at the World Cup in Italy in 2006.

Aiming for top

JAVELIN ace Kenny Churchill, 38, is a veteran of the Paralympics having taken part in the athletic event in Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney and Athens.

And the play worker, of Whinney Banks, Middlesbrough, will be journeying to China looking to defend the gold medals he won in the last three paralympics.

The Durham City Harriers member, who has celebral palsy, hopes he’ll be in the form of his life for Beijing, just as he was in Athens when he set a new world record with a throw of 48.09m.

Ace's hope

YORK table-tennis player Cathy Mitton was one of the first athletes to be named in the GB team for the Paralympic Games, and it was against all odds.

Cathy, 47, is one of 10 table-tennis players journeying to China a month after the Olympic Games’ razzmatazz takes place — the third time she has taken part in the Paralympics. It has been a real challenge for Cathy just to take up the sport.

Cathy, of Rufforth, has used a wheelchair since she was a youngster, having contracted polio at the age of two. She now excels at table tennis, but it took her years just to find a suitable venue which allowed wheelchair access, allowing her to play her chosen sport.

She confessed: “When I am competing I am actually a bag of nerves . . . I feel sick inside.”

Bid for net gains

AT only 25, Terry Bywater of Redcar, Teesside, is still one of the youngest members of the GB men’s wheelchair basketball team, yet he is also one of the most established squad members.

Terry was just 17 when he made his Paralympic debut in Sydney, when the team agonisingly missed out on a medal and finished fourth, when they were beaten by Australia 64-52 in the semi-final.

He returned to the squad in 2004 for Athens when the team clinched bronze in the dying minutes of a tough play-off with the USA and is expected to be a key player next week, having been top scorer for the team at the European Under-23 Championships in 2002 and 2004.

Setting sail for glory

SUNDERLAND sailor John Robertson, 36, is over the moon at being selected to compete as part of the three-person keelboat, the Sonar, along with Wales’s Stephen Thomas and Essex’s Hannah Stodel.

Robertson skippered this crew to sixth place in the last Paralympics, so this time the trio are hoping to go further.

He said: “It’s a pretty special feeling to get selected for the Games, especially for the second time.

“From our experiences in Athens, we’ve learnt how special the Paralympics is.

“We’ll go out there with the aim of doing as well as we can, but as is the way with sailing, it’s in the lap of the gods to some extent. We’ll give it Billy Beans and hope that it’s good enough to win us a medal at the end of the day.”

Throwing for gold

STEPHEN MILLER is a hot favourite for gold in the discus . . . but he says he’ll have to break his own world record to retain the club title for a fourth time.

The 28-year-old, of Cramlington, Northumberland, who has travelled to the training base in Macau with his parents, says the competition in Beijing will be stronger than ever.

Stephen works in the IT department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead and is secretary of Newcastle United Disabled Supporters Association.

He said: “Every Paralympics is different, and Beijing will definitely have a different feel from the other three I have competed in.

“I don’t think it will be as bad as a lot of people are suggesting, and I’m looking forward to getting out there.

“You have to adapt to everything . . . the culture, the food, the people and the places.

“It’s going to be very, very humid out there, and there will be a lot of smog as well, but the conditions will be the same for everyone.”

Fran going for new haul

CHAMPION swimmer Fran Williamson, 23, was absolutely terrified of the water when she was a child, according to her proud dad Duncan, but she’s certainly overcome her fears now.

Fran, who originally comes from Sunderland but now lives in Cambridge, helped Great Britain’s swim team to a tally of 52 medals at the Athens Paralympics — more than any other nation — and that was in her debut.

Fran, who has cerebral palsy, hopes she’ll be adding a second bagful of medals to her collection, having won three silvers and one bronze in Greece.

Pondering the Past, and Guiding Individuals Towards Their Future

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Thank you for inviting me to your school today, and to share with you a part of who I am. This afternoon, I will not only read to you a piece of my autobiographical book,” The Broken Hoof,” but we will move together in rhythm, while teaching, and, I will empower you with some videos of where I have come from and what gifts I’d like to give to all of you. I’d liked to help you learn that “Anything is Possible” if you put your mind towards it.

You are all sitting here before me now, because deep, down inside of your own heart, you believe in yourselves like no one else does or ever has. You believe in your own individuals gifts and talents. And you believe that you are very special, in a very unique way. Each and every one of you, just like me, I’m sure, has had to overcome challenges and extreme difficulties. We all have these difficulties and obstacles, however, not all of us have the courage and strength, to face up to them, accept them, learn from them, grow from them, and change our attitudes in a positive way, while becoming willing to do what ever it takes to reach the goal we desire so badly.

Today, we will find new techniques; new approaches, and new ways to bring about these changes within ourselves, our attitudes, our beliefs, and our lives. We will begin right where we are now. And we will do it with unconditional acceptance and kindness. We will learn to be gentle with ourselves and our feelings. And, we will learn to accomplish our challenges one at a time. Today we will have some fun exploring ourselves with some of these methods.

We as individuals, have the power to change, along with change the world around us, but only if we have that willingness. This willingness within, will take us on marvelous journeys, but only if we trust this power of belief, then and only then will our accomplishments be unlimited.

When I was your age, the young people who surrounded my world, were all disabled. Why, you might be asking yourself? Well, I’ll tell you. When I was five months old, I got very sick. It left me with the paralysis you see today on my left arm and leg. I could not go to a regular school, because I could not learn like other children my own age. I had a learning disability called dyslexia. This learning problem made it very, very, hard for me to read, write, and do math like the other children in my classes. Thus, I had to go to a school that had children with Cerebral Palsy, like me, polio, multiple sclerosis, down syndrome, and other disabilities.

These were the only young people that I knew. So I had to create different ways to learn. I had to motivate myself, and tell myself that I could pass a test. I had to learn to be open minded. I had to learn to believe in myself, and to believe that no matter what my outer appearances looked like, I could change it. I would keep telling myself that I could change my life and the world immediately around me.

The difference in having a disability now, verses when I was a child, was that the educational system did not have the laws that you have today. I was pushed into classes where I was not learning like the other children around me. And when my mother got the first special education teacher, by talking to the principal, I was put in a classroom, behind a screen, to figure things out for myself, while sitting all alone for hours at a time, to fend for myself.

Finding my dance teacher, Al Gilbert, changed my life completely. Through his caring, gentle, and poised composure, I learned by example what it took to give it to myself, and then, eventually to all of you. Everyone of you here today, are here because you want to be here, you want to change and make your life better, and, you want to find and develop your gifts and share them with the world. This is and can be possible. It is all encompassing.

I would like to share a little bit of the journey I took to try to change some of the attitudes about what people with my disability were able to do. I spent a lot of time trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle called learning. Just as dance had made my body and spirit strong, now I was on a quest to find the tools which would unlock the door for me. Inadvertently, I helped unlock the doors for all disabled people.

I understood intuitively, that I would some day have to ultimately care for myself completely. To do that, I needed a good job. To get that job, I needed a higher education. And, I needed to learn all the things I never learned in 12 years of my fundamental schooling. The people, who were supposed to be helping me, sadly didn’t see thing the same way I did. They felt I should settle for something less than I believed I was capable of. To make a long story short, I fought and won the first Civil Rights Case in California, this guaranteed my right to earn an Associate of Arts degree in English and dance. While I was at college, I found helpers who understood my desire to learn all the things I never learned before.

This now led me to succeed in many different areas. I became an adaptive fitness instructor, an advocate, a published author, and a public speaker. My book, which I am going to read from shortly, was published in 2006, but took over twenty years to complete. And, in its infancy, it won second place in the Kaleidoscope Literary Prose Fiction Art award of 1983. I know every one of you has something to offer and give to the rest of the world. It is all about unlocking it. My hope is that my story and my visit here with you today, is the key that unlocks a door of deep desires for you. My other hope is that you find the power within yourself to succeed and the ability to be positive in every way. I hope that by me speaking here today helps you to find the area, the talent, and the gift you so joyously feel within your heart to give and share with the world.

A Long time ago, I found a poem by a famous British amputee; William E. Henley. He lost both his legs at the age of 12. When I first read these words, in college, these words from Maya Angelou sung sweetly in my spirit. Angelou first sees this as a mark of paternalistic contempt. She is held by a white superintendent in school who has just told her class, to be content to be athletes and cotton pickers. She turns it into an anthem or song of praises for our people and hers. It goes like this… “It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishment the scroll. I am the master of my fate, the captain of my soul.

I leave you with these sweet empowering words- take them home with you today to conquer and triumph! Make a positive mark on this world and leave a path behind you that no one else has ever left before.

Thank you for allowing me to share this with you, today. I will now answer any questions that you may have or that cross your mind.