While I'm aware that there are medical conferences and academic conferences and engineering conferences that focus on disability issues, I had never imagined that anything like an exposition or convention aimed at the disabled and their caregivers exited. But in the course of hunting up information for my research, I came across their announcement and made plans with a friend of mine to attend.
I wasn't sure what I expected from the pictures and news stories... in some ways, I expected it to be larger. In truth, it was fairly large, with around 200 vendors including artists, artisans, medical equipment companies, organizations, vendors, and room for a demonstration area and two workshop areas. There was plenty to see, including wheelchair and mobility vendors with their line of latest equipment.
The subtle (or perhaps not so subtle) message of the event was "you can do it!" -- pictures of many different disabled people out enjoying themselves and occasionally doing some unusual things, like playing wheelchair tennis or hunting in a track-wheeled wheelchair (it looked like a cross between a wheelchair and a tank. Its color options are "cammo" and "cammo" and "still more cammo.")
With so many vendors there, my friend (who is in the process of buying a replacement power chair) could go back and forth between the vendors and compare stories and prices... and check the literature for all the specs that they forget to tell you about. She wants a type of nonstandard seat, and it was interesting to see how one company tried to persuade her to change to a different kind of seat while two others said that they could probably get it manufactured for her.
I think that because they were aware that their competition was right there in the same location, the companies were more responsive to her
Most of the front area was devoted to companies that make lifts and ramps for vans (well, one company... another one had a booth midway on the left) and the big sponsors had plenty of floor space so that you could cruise around and see everything at the display.
The floor area was moderately well spaced, though with so many wheelchairs around, things could get very congested.
There was a lot of new technology on display, from collapsible wheels to a "ratchet" type handle for powering manual wheelchairs.
And someone there was cruising around in an I-bot... the two-wheel balancing wheelchair from Segway (the one that they no longer make.) They also had standing wheelchairs (chairs that would hold you erect) on display along with a variety of walkers and rollators.
My absolute favorite item was the robotic arm, which is joystick controlled. With it, you could reach out and pick up a glass (or fork) and bring it to your mouth. It's prohibitively expensive but the company wants to get it to people using a community "crowdfunding" model (in other words, ask companies to sponsor someone in need) and once there's a demand, use the money to move into mass production and bring the price down.
I liked the very egalitarian atmosphere. People were comfortable with each other, and I found it interesting that people would approach others to ask about wheelchairs and walkers ("do you like yours? What kind is it?" questions. I'd never seen this before and wondered if it was just something here in the South or whether this is a place that has people so comfortable with themselves and each other that they allow themselves to be curious.
It was interesting and I hope to attend another one someday.