Paraplegia
Sometimes I wonder if I'm as famous for my wheelchair and disabilities as I am for my discoveries - Stephen Hawking
image by: RIOgaleão - Aeroporto Internacional Tom Jobim
HWN Recommends
What Not to Say to Someone in a Wheelchair
My husband is a paraplegic. He's also a great father, a loving spouse and an occasional marathoner. He gets around independently in a manual wheelchair. He has what is known as a T4/5 complete injury, but that's not something most people need to know. The main thing they need to know is he can do almost anything. He may not do it the same way you do, but he does it nonetheless.
An online acquaintance of mine recently used the term "wheelchair bound," a phrase all too frequently used, but scorned by the disabled community. I explained to her not only the fact that it wasn't politically correct, but that there are plenty of people with disabilities who are far from bound to their chairs.…
Resources
Exoskeletons are Coming, Even Walking to Town
Paraplegics walking again is not as far-fetched as you think!
Bionic Suit Puts Paraplegics Back On Their Feet
A powered exoskeletal suit is giving paraplegics a new lease on life, allowing them to walk on their own - even up stairs. The ReWalk is the latest example of a developing technology that might one day make wheelchairs a thing of the past for spinal cord injury patients.
Ekso's Exoskeletons Let Paraplegics Walk, Will Anyone Actually Wear One?
Ekso Bionics builds robotic exoskeletons that can help paraplegics leave their wheelchairs. All CEO Eythor Bender has to do is create a market for a product that no one knew they wanted.
Finding My Own Rescuer
After his world fell apart at 16, he rebuilt it, year after year, and now he is a fortress.
One Parent's Twitter Campaign to Get Her Daughter a Wheelchair
With #ellaneedswheels, a mother took on the insurance company that wouldn’t cover her mysteriously paralyzed child.
Paraplegics Show Gains in Study of Spinal-Cord Stimulation
Patients regain voluntary movement in legs even years after their initial injuries.
Robotic Legs for the Disabled
Parker Hannifin pushes into medical devices, but can it get FDA, insurers to back its invention?
What Not to Say to Someone in a Wheelchair
I could go on and on about the things you should not say. Most of it is really common sense.
Ekso Bionics
Ekso Bionics uses the power of smart exoskeleton technology machines to empower people. Our therapeutic devices can help stroke patients during rehabilitation learn to walk again and provide those with spinal cord injuries the chance to stand and walk.
ReWalk
ReWalk is a wearable robotic exoskeleton that provides powered hip and knee motion to enable individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) to stand upright, walk, turn, and climb and descend stairs*. ReWalk is the first exoskeleton to receive FDA clearance for personal and rehabilitation use in the United States.
Spastic Paraplegia Foundation
The Spastic Paraplegia Foundation, Inc. (SPF) is the only organization in the Americas dedicated to finding a cure for Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) and Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS). We are a not-for-profit voluntary organization.
How iRoll
How I Roll is a unique approach to informing, educating, and entertaining people about living life confined to a wheelchair. The site is an informational resource for green (new) paraplegics.
My Journeys as a paraplegic
At 25 ,this South African female was told that she could never walk again; now she opens up about her journeys thus far,hoping to assist those struggling to deal with the disabilities of their loved ones, newbies in the disability community and society at large.
Paraplegia - My Experience
Having been afflicted with Paraplegia in April of 2006, this is a venue for me to catalog, vent and share my experiences with the affliction and the Ontario Canada health system.
Paraplegia 101
Life is different with a disability, some things take more planning, some take more time. Not that you can't do everything - travel, marry, cook.... but adjustments are made. This blog talks about all those adjustments, and special activities that most people don't know about, as well as some of the fun life brings.
The Wheelchair Mommy
Welcome! I’m Priscilla. I am mom to 3 boys and wife to Charlie. I blog about my every day ordinary life on wheels so I can show the world that life doesn't have to stop just because it was turned upside down!
BrainandSpinalCord.org
Paraplegia results when an injury to the spinal cord is below the first thoracic spinal nerve. This results in the loss of feeling and movement, to some degree, of the legs. Paraplegics can experience anything from impairment of leg movement to complete loss of leg movement all the way up to the chest. Paraplegics are able to move their arms and hands.
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