The Martinez Family from Mesquite, TX!!!  The Martinez Family is excited to be able to take their daughter, who is in a wheelchair, to Morgan’s Wonderland.  Congratulations and thank you to all who entered the contest!

The mission of the TK Martin Center for Technology and Disability is to ensure that persons with disabilities are able to continually benefit from technological solutions and advances in the field of assistive technology.  In order to empower individuals with disabilities through leading edge technologies the TK Martin Center maintains a state of the art clinical, research, and training program focusing modern technologies, in a comprehensice and integrated manner.

The TK Martin Center provides comprehensive, multi-disciplinary evaluations to remove these limitations through the application of assistive technology, allowing individuals to participate in educational, vocational and leisure activities to the fullest degree they choose.  The comprehensive nature of the services offered ensures that the correct solutions are achieved efficiently and effectively, with needs being met in a one-stop shop.  The staff consists of a specialized team of Speech-Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Special Educators, and Rehabilitation and Biomedical Engineers.  Facilities at the center include adaptive computer laboratories, design and fabrication workshops, a vehicle augmentation lab, a seating and mobility center and specialized evaluation rooms.  The fusion of modern facilities and resources with a staff dedicated to the realization of untapped human potential ensures a comprehensive approach with integrated, composite outcomes for persons with disabilities.

The TK Martin Center is unique in the field of Assistive Technology because it is a direct clinical service center located on the campus of a major research university.  This allows academic programs the opportunity to experince first hand the benefits of assistive technology as well as promote interdisciplinary research crucial to the application of assistive technology.  The clinical service aspect of the Center also provides a site for practicum, internship, and cooperative study placements of students from Mississippi State University as well as other universities and training programs.

The center is very well known in the area of driving evaluations, transportation, and safety.  The driving evaluations include input from a number of professionals, including a Certified Driver Rehabilitation Specialist (CDRS), and consists of a clinical driving evaluation and a behind-the-wheel assessment.  Services may result in a recommendation for driving or further training, and when appropriate, will include specific recommendations regarding vehicle modifications and adaptive driving equipment.  The Center has a sedan and both a wheelchair accessible minivan and full-size van available for assessments and training.

For more information about the TK Martin Center or the Driving Program please contact:
Dan Allison: MS, OTR/L, CDRS, ATP
(662) 325-1028
www.tkmartin.msstate.edu

This year, Richard May of United Access was nominated for this award in the Central Midwest program.  Through his hard work and dedication, Richard has evolved United
Access into what it is today, an industry-leading provider of wheelchair accessible vehicles, driving systems, mobility seats, wheelchair and scooter lifts, and other vehicle modifications.  With over 30 years of experience, he continues to provide a level of customer service that others in the mobility industry strive to achieve.

Congratulations, Richard, and may the successful growth of United Access continue for many years to come!

But Doug Eaton, among others, intends to make them blend-polishing and pumping up minivans to appeal to young disabled consumers looking for something with more sizzle.  More is at stake than matters of taste.

Thousands of young disabled veterans are returning home from wars in the Middle East, and the minivan remains the most practical vehicle to make wheelchair-accessible — a $20,000 process.

“But they just don’t want minivans,” says Eaton, President and chief executive of Vantage Mobility International in Phoenix.  “The problem with a minivan is just that–it’s a minivan.”

VMI, one of the largest producers of wheelchair accessible vehicles, has developed a modified Honda Odyssey with flashy wheels, leather seats and even a carbon-fiber dashboard cover.

“With young veterans coming back, and with our being in Texas, trucks are popular wheelchair-accessible vehicles”, said Laura Klaus, marketing manager of the United Access dealership in Garland, which carries vehicles from VMI, BraunAbility, and Eldorado.  “Minivans are not.”

The limited-edition van, which VMI calls its “25th Anniversary” Odyssey is aimed largely at Gen Y buyers who frequently prefer modified pick-up trucks to minivans-though the trucks are more often difficult to use.

“Our client base is older and they don’t mind minivans,” Eaton said.  “But we’ve also got to deal with this shift to young veterans.  We’re trying to bring a little bling to the table.”

These are  unusual times in the business.  Like the larger auto industry, the growing wheelchair-vehicle business is being shaped by two huge population groups with different interests and needs — young Gen Y-ers and aging baby boomers.

For decades, the practical-minded wheelchair-accessible industry served a largely older
population who appreciated the practicalities of a van. But when Stephen Willoby returned home from Afghanistan four years ago as a quadriplegic, the last thing he wanted was a minivan.

Willoby, who broke his neck in a diving accident while in the Air Force, said he was “already dealing with the loss of identity from the injury.”  ”I joined the Air Force at 19, and I was going from high-performance cars and jets to a minivan,” said Willoby, 28, of Phoenix, owner of Second Chance Enterprises. “On top of everything else, you say, ‘I’ve got to get a minivan?’”

He bought a modified Chevrolet Silverado pickup instead — and has struggled with it since.

“I have not come along physically as quickly as I had thought, so transferring from the lift [on the truck] to the driver’s seat is difficult,” he said.   Willoby, who acknowledges
that the VMI anniversary van enticed him to take a second look at minivans, plans to buy a van but keep his pickup for towing purposes.

May, whose United Access dealerships employ 80 people and generate $30 million in annual revenue, said Gen Y buyers are just one of the issues with minivans. The segment is fading. Over the last decade, its overall annual sales have plummeted from a high of 1.4 million to fewer than 500,000 last year. And the crossover, SUV-like vehicles that are supplanting minivans can’t be easily made wheelchair-accessible. “It’s a big concern,” May said. “Plus, cars are getting smaller and smaller.”

‘Something more’

VMI is building only 25 of its anniversary vans, which typically cost about $75,000. That expense includes the cost of a new Honda Odyssey minivan, its conversion and accessories such as a custom grille, 20-inch Londrina lightweight wheels, Hankook tires and two-tone leather interior.

“Here’s the bottom line: There are lots of people who want to buy something different,” said Charlie Lincoln, owner of Austin Mobility Solutions, the first dealer in Texas to order one of the special VMI vans for its lot. “Why should that be limited to able-bodied people?”

Depending on the severity of a veteran’s injury, federal programs will pay as much as 80 percent of the cost of the vehicle — though many of the appearance options on the VMI van would probably be excluded, Lincoln said.

“Most people in this market are content to say it’s a minivan I’m buying and it is what it is,” Lincoln said. “But a growing number want something more suited to their wants and needs, and it’s good to see VMI working on this.”

Although several companies are developing better wheelchair conversions for pickups, the minivan is likely to remain the business’s primary vehicle for years.

“There are some good alternatives being developed,” said Dave Hubbard, chief executive of
the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association. “But we hope to see the minivan around for a good long time.”

You can enter BOTH of these contests in one place by visiting the United Access Facebook page and clicking on the “Win Vans & Cash” tab or visiting our website and clicking on the Mobility Awareness Month icon.  Videos and stories for the Free Van contest can also be submitted on www.MobilityAwarenessMonth.com.   Get your entries and story submissions in today so you can be the big winner!

Every “Like” counts…so don’t wait, “Like” now!

For more information about University of Illinois Wheelchair Athletics please click here!
To “Like” United Access on Facebook please click here!

This is a hot-button issue for every wheelchair user, and the reactions are all over the map . . . from outright hostility to treating it as a “teachable moment.”  What do you do when it happens?  If you had the chance to teach the public that these extra-large spaces are a necessity and not a luxury, how would you go about it?

As part of their 40th Anniversary celebration, BraunAbility is sponsoring a “Respect Blue Spaces” contest on Facebook.  Send in a catchy slogan or concept that will make someone think twice before parking in a blue parking space.  Make it funny or serious, polite or inject a little attitude . . . just make it noticable and memorable. The top three entries will be chosen and Facebook fans will vote for their favorite.  The winner will receive $1,000 cash, and another $1,000 will be donated to the disability-related cause of their choice.  You have ’til May 10, 2012 to enter. Go here to see the rest of the rules and submit your entry:

Enter the Respect Blue Spaces Contest

Your slogan may end up on bumper stickers, window clings, t-shirts and a few other places we haven’t even thought of yet! Good luck!!

About United Access: We offer the finest products the mobility industry has to offer. We offer new wheelchair accessible vans, used wheelchair vans, wheelchair van rentals, scooter lifts, hand controls, mobility seats and transfer seats, wheelchair ramps, and accessible equipment for all abilities.  We are a member of the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association and a nationally accredited Quality Assurance Program (QAP) dealer with nine locations across the Central United States. They are committed to giving back to the communities they serve through volunteer time, event sponsorships and donations.  Where Freedom and Independence Meet, you will Find United Access.    

To find out more about the mobility equipment, wheelchairvans and other solutions offered by United Access, visit http://www.UnitedAccess.com.

About United Access:  We offer the finest products the mobility industry has to offer. We offer new wheelchair accessible vans, used wheelchair vans, wheelchair van rentals, scooter lifts, hand controls, mobility seats and transfer seats, wheelchair ramps,  and accessible equipment for all abilities.  We are a member of the National Mobility  Equipment Dealers Association and a nationally accredited Quality Assurance Program (QAP) dealer with nine locations across the Central United States. They are committed to giving back to the communities they serve through volunteer time, event sponsorships and donations.  Where Freedom and Independence Meet, you will Find United Access.