Abilities Expo kicks off its series of 2012 events at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, February 17-19. The nation’s largest event for people with disabilities is expecting more than 3,000 individuals with disabilities, their family members, caregivers, health care professionals, and others to attend, according to the press release.
For more than 30 years now, Abilities Expo has provided exhibits, workshops, and events showing the latest products and services available to people with disabilities of all ages. Admission to the exhibit hall is free for all attendees, as are all the workshops discussing an array of subjects from traveling tips to innovative new therapies to inspiring life stories.
Two celebrity encounters at the Atlanta show will appeal to young people especially. On Saturday, February 18, author Angela Ruzicka will read Wendy on Wheels Takes a Stand for the first time in a public setting. This is the fourth book in Ruzicka’s popular Wendy on Wheels series, which she began in 2010 to provide a positive and empowered lead character for children with disabilities.
In the new story, 10-year-old Wendy confronts bullying behavior in her school. Ruzicka will use the book as a springboard for an open discussion on how children can cope with and overcome examples of bullying in their own lives.
Each of the three days will close with a demonstration of the Horse Boy Method by Rupert Isaacson and Iliane Lorenz. Isaacson is the author of the 2009 bestselling book, The Horse Boy, in which he attempts to improve communication with his autistic son, Rowan, through his love of horses. The family’s quest, also an award-winning documentary, takes them to Mongolia for shamanic rituals in a culture that reveres horses above all other creatures. Following the demonstration, attendees will have a chance to get up close to the horses and have photos taken.
The Assistive Technology Pavilion is sure to draw a crowd with the latest and greatest equipment for work and play. Georgia Tech will demonstrate a Tongue Drive System technology it has developed that enables individuals to operate wheelchairs, computers, and other devices through a magnet that responds to slight movements of the tongue. Dr. Maysam Ghovanloo offers a demonstration in this short video:
Applications of the tongue-drive system could open more job opportunities for people with disabilities in the workplace, and is sure to crossover into the “Accommodations in the Workplace” presentation by Raj Pagadala, the program director for assistive technologies in the Georgia Department of Labor Vocational Rehab program. It’s fitting that this workshop kicks off the entire Abilities Expo at 12:00 noon on Friday; just the day before, a rally will take place on the capitol steps in Atlanta in observation of the 14th Annual Disability Day. As we mentioned earlier this month, the state government is looking to capitalize on a resurgence in its manufacturing sector with tax incentives that will bring more jobs related to manufacturing, assembly, fulfillment, packaging, and shipping.
Abilities Expo will visit six U.S. cities in 2012, including Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Chicago, and San Jose. It will also go international for the first time with an event in Singapore, November 2-4.
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Image by ArtBrom, used under its Creative Commons license.