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Wow – the people and what they can do! The Summit really opened my eyes to the amazing things people can do and want to do to live their lives. The Shake-A-Leg people were also phenomenal.
Bill
Grand Rapids, Michigan

Media Highlights from No Barriers 2009 At Shake-A-Leg Miami

PN magazine - March 2009

(excerpt)
The Power of Collaboration
Weihenmayer sees events like No Barriers Festival 2009 as necessary forums where end users and researchers can come together to create new products and innovations. He says, “Lots of people will introduce technology in a bubble, but we at No Barriers believe there is no way to separate technologies from challenges. You have to give people the ideas they are looking for and, at the same time, give them a challenging environment where they can test them out. So, the whole idea behind No Barriers is to give people an active challenge so they know these technologies and ideas will work and that they can apply them.”

Dr. Herr adds, “The idea of the No Barriers Festivals and our scientific forums is that you bring together all parties, including end users, for discussion and exploration. If you have everyone in the same room talking, you can apply a better vector toward innovation and direct research and development in important areas.” When this happens, Herr concludes, the possibilities become endless.

No Barriers Festival 2009 at Shake-A-Leg Miami Sea Base, June 4–7, will be the first of its kind to combine land and waterbased adaptive sports with cutting-edge techniques and technologies that enable people with challenges to live as actively as possible. The Festival will take place primarily on the campus of Shake-A-Leg Miami, in Miami, Fla., and will include events on Biscayne Bay, in the Everglades, and at various other locations within Miami, Dade County, and the Florida Keys.
                            
The Festival will also include music, art, and cultural programs. More than 650 participants are expected to attend. The bulk of the No Barriers Festival participants are spinalcord-injured paraplegics and quadriplegics, amputees, people with visual impairments, and those with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Many are injured veterans returning from the current conflicts, but the audience goes beyond more traditional disabilities to include those who believe they are too old, too heavy, or too disadvantaged in any way.

The No Barriers Festivals in 2004 and 2005 were in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, in the heart of the Italian Dolomites, and No Barriers Festival 2007 took place in Squaw Valley, near Lake Tahoe, Calif. No Barriers Festival 2007 brought together more than 600 scientists, inventors, artists, athletes, outdoor enthusiasts, and pioneers—most with disabilities—as well as approximately 50 disabled veterans from the recent conflicts. To learn more about No Barriers USA and the No Barriers Festival 2009 at Shake-A-Leg Miami Sea Base, visit www.nobarriersusa.org or call 952-472-2400.

The Miami Herald
Posted on Wed, Jun. 03, 2009

Technology has redefined what it means to be `disabled'

BY JAMES H. BURNETT III
Before last month, Erik Weihenmayer, 40, had never seen his young daughter. But through technology once limited to the imagination of science fiction writers, Weihenmayer, born sight-impaired, now catches glimpses of people and things he previously had only been able to touch or hear.

The technology is called BrainPort, and this weekend it will be one of several jaw-dropping devices on display in Miami at the No Barriers Festival, an international gathering of physically limited athletes, wounded soldiers, disabled kids and hopeful parents, and the scientists and doctors who develop the technology that lets them match the able-bodied step for step.

''I can't tell you how amazing and surreal it has been,'' Weihenmayer, of Colorado, says of his BrainPort -- one of just three prototypes in existence. ''This sort of technology is not just ahead of the curve, it's miles ahead of anything we've seen before,'' said Weihenmayer, president of No Barriers USA, which created the festival.

Weihenmayer, who has been completely blind since age 13, is not seeing in high resolution or color, but the images are clear enough to make out words, reach out and pet the dog or see the silhouette of his 8-year-old daughter Emma and engage in simple pleasures like playing tic-tac-toe or rolling a ball back and forth with her.

Along with the BrainPort, the festival's Innovation Village and symposiums will showcase advanced GPS devices for the blind and ''smart'' prosthetic limbs that read and react to brain signals like real nerve endings -- the latter being the creation of MIT professor and festival co-chair Hugh Herr, who has used them in recent years to resume his rock-climbing hobby. Also on hand: Molly the ''amputee'' pony.

More than the ''wow'' factor, experts say, the technology behind the devices is changing the meaning of ''disabled'' and redefining “able-bodied.''
'There was a time not that long ago when most people might see someone like me -- a paraplegic in a wheelchair -- and automatically assume `disabled,' '' says Harry Horgan, a sailor and founder of Shake-a-Leg Miami, the nonprofit aquatic and sailing center in Coconut Grove that is hosting No Barriers.

For all the hope and buzz the BrainPort may generate, some No Barriers attendees are otherwise preoccupied. ''I'm really looking forward to the hand cycle,'' says Juan Carlos Gil, 27, a sailor and champion hand cyclist who was born with cerebral palsy and has limited use of his legs.

Gil, who volunteers at Shake-A-Leg Miami, is referring to a new type of cycle that with the flip of a switch can stand upright. That's important, Gil says, because traditional hand cycles have such wide bases they can't fit through doorways and other narrow spaces. “So you have to rely on other people to carry your cycle outdoors and then help you out and help you into your cycle. This is another step toward independence for us.''

Kerry Gruson, a regular at Shake-A-Leg Miami, will also be presenting in a symposium at the festival. Gruson, 61, a retired New York Times reporter partially paralyzed in 1974 when a Vietnam Veteran she was interviewing suffered a traumatic flashback and strangled her, can't move her legs. Her arms have a short range. Her head is permanently cocked to one side. Still, she holds several world sailing titles, including a few won in competitions against able-bodied sailors.

Her technological aid? A lightweight, custom-designed chair and pulley system that allow Gruson to slide with ease from one side of her boat to the other, giving her quick access to sails and rudder. ''Sailing is as much about thinking and strategy as it is the physical,'' she said. “And that's why I win.''

Another presenter at the festival, Dr. Mark Nash, associate professor of neurological surgery, rehabilitation medicine and physical therapy at the University of Miami's Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, works to physically strengthen paralysis patients while cures are sought.

Last week, he worked in a small room at the center with Rodolfo Prinetto, who sat in front of the green screen and reached high with both hands, stretching up to grab some invisible object. He then leaned over to set the object down.

''There is no cure yet for paralysis, true,'' Prinetto says, breathing heavily after the round of volleyball. ``But I can tell you that most people in my situation aren't looking each day for a cure. They are looking for ways to be independent. You don't think of it, but these machines have done so much for my upper body strength and my overall circulation that I am almost completely independent. I can move my chair. I can drive. I can do so many things without help.''

If disability is a matter of not being able to commit certain acts, then Weihenmayer is arguably more able-bodied than most people with working eyes. Among other things, he captained his high school wrestling team and is a world-class mountain climber who has scaled the legendary Seven Summits. He got married on the side of Mount Kilimanjaro.

''I know it sounds like a feel-good cliché,'' Weihenmayer says. “But I don't feel disabled. I feel like I'm doing the best I can with what I have. And at the same time, like everyone else -- no matter their physical status -- I'm integrating into my life tools that help me be more proficient. ''So No Barriers is about all of it, the physical, the mental, the psychological,'' he says. “The technology is important in the sense that it helps ensure that the name of our organization isn't just wishful thinking.''

Associated Press - June 6, 2009

Wounded warriors explore destinies at Shake-A-Leg: Soldiers who were disabled in battle traveled to Miami for four days of exploring their potential at Shake-A-Leg's Miami base.
Army Specialist Chris Miller was injured in Iraq last fall and has since had his right leg amputated below the knee along with part of his left foot. He hadn't been to a beach in three years. He used to play ice hockey and wants to get back to doing that. Until then though, he will settle for a little scuba diving.

Miller and a group of 17 service members joined hundreds of disabled people Friday for a four-day No Barriers Festival, which includes classes in scuba diving, sailing and an appearance by an amputee pony with a prosthetic leg. It is being held at the Shake-A-Leg Miami Sea Base in Coconut Grove.

YEAR-ROUND SPORTS

The service members were brought to the festival by the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project, which provides year-round sports programs for severely wounded service members and veterans from recent conflicts. ''Basically the objective is to give them a sports experience after their injuries,'' said project manager Julia Ray. “We want to bring them and show them what they can still do.''

Miller went scuba diving in a pool filled with 15,000 gallons of water along with fellow soldiers, some of them from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. ''It was great. I would like to do it out in the ocean,'' he said.

Erik Weihenmayer, the head of the festival, and himself blind, said the idea behind the festival was to share ideas and shatter personal barriers. The idea was for the disabled soldiers to ''determine their own destiny more than they thought they could,'' he said. To point is to help them figure out how to go forward with their lives, he said. ''Ultimately, they're in charge of the quality of their life,'' he said.

BOAT FOR THE BLIND

Lawrence G. Euteneier, from Ottawa, Canada, came to the festival to promote a 90-pound plastic boat he created for blind people to go fishing. It has talking GPS and sonar that helps avoid obstacles. He will instructing the adaptive fishing class during the festival. ''Fishing is a perfect sport for blind people because you don't see the fish until they are caught anyway,'' said Euteneier.

American Airlines – Jetnet (employee online magazine) - June 2009

No Barriers in Miami
In June, hundreds of people living with disabilities hit the beach in Miami. They were out to prove that no matter what disability you may have, sight impairment, a prosthetic limb or other challenge, there really are no barriers in life. More than 30 AA volunteers supported the participants by setting up boats for boat races, organizing fishing boat excursions, driving the boats, taking tickets at the official dinner and many more activities.

The "No Barriers Festival" is held in a different city every other year. This year participants also enjoyed rock climbing by the beach, swimming with dolphins and horseback riding at a nearby ranch. AA Recreation Committee Member Kevin Aronoff said, "I really came back from the festival motivated. It made me want to do more in life. One speaker there was paralyzed from a surfing accident. He still surfs now - just lying down."

Sight-impaired world-class mountain climber/inspirational speaker Erik Weihenmayer (the motivational speaker at AA's 2008 Leadership Conference) was a featured speaker at the event. "No Barriers places a high importance on the human spirit," said Weihenmayer. "Our goal is to spark in people an attitude which leads them to confront their formidable obstacles head-on, to believe they can solve their own challenges - and ultimately to determine their own futures. I want to personally thank American Airlines and all the AA volunteers who took part in supporting our mission. No Barriers isn't only about disabled people; it conveys a universal message, that despite our backgrounds, circumstances, or abilities, we all have a spark for adventure and a hope for the future."

The O & P Edge Magazine - July 2009

No Barriers Festival Gathers Inventors, End-Users
In a time when adaptive technologies and techniques are improving rapidly and empowered consumers are hungry for knowledge, the No Barriers Festival, Miami, Florida, offered a unique opportunity for innovators and end-users to come together. The June 4–7 festival, sponsored by No Barriers USA at the Shake-a-Leg Miami, Florida, aquatic activities center, saw approximately 550 participants come together to share the newest adaptive technologies, abilities workshops, and equipment.

“The thing that’s really so unique about No Barriers is that we bring scientists, inventors, and researchers together with the end user,” said Nicole Deters-Spader, No Barriers USA executive director. “I think it really inspires what is possible both in the commercial field of adaptive devices and technologies as well as what is possible in our personal lives.”

Lisa Strong, a recent quadruple amputee, took advantage of a workshop, and learned to swim freely for the first time since an infection took both of her arms and legs. She told The O&P EDGE, “It was really enlightening to be around so many other people with disabilities. It was my first time getting out and seeing all these people with disabilities and realizing that I don’t have to sit in the house all the time—I can get out and be physical.”