Welcome to our 17th episode of  the disabilitymatch podcast.  We are now in Summer 2017 and I am preparing for my Summer break.  I will be away from desk for a bit although I will be available on twitter @disabilitymatch or by email david@podcast.disabilitymatch.co.uk.  So in this podcast we have a catch up chat with Martyn Sibley from disabilityhorizons and a look at a very exciting development in rehab for spinal injuries.  Let me apologise that some of the sound quality is not great which I put down to some gremlins in our recording system – my techs are investigating.

Martyn Sibley

It is a great time to catch up with Martyn Sibley as he has recently been chosen as the 3rd top person on the disabled power list which he truly desrves.  If anyone in this community of ours deserves a ‘gong’ he would get my vote.  It is for this reason I am happy to be a cheerleader for Martyn’s new idea to be a supporter of his work and make a positive contribution to developing his amazing community resource.  I encourage you to visit his special page to pledge a small financial amount to help disability horizons continue to grow and help you, the UK disabled community.

Rewalk in action.

Our technology report this month focuses on a truly innovative company called Rewalk which sums it up in a word.  Based on Israeli research and technology their product enables people with spinal cord and lower body disability to get up from their wheelchair and walk.  Ok, it is not cheap (around £60k) but normally it is provided as part of an insurance settlement after an accident or through sponsorship.   Because it contributes a great deal towards to an overall improvement in health this offsets many ongoing medical costs and makes the price more realistic.  The rewalk team will help potential clients put together appropriate finance and provide videos and health assessments that can be used in insurance cases.  They also offer a free examination to see if the system would be suitable in each case.

On a more general note I would mention an article I just wrote for the ambitious about autism site all about dating with autism, a subject dear to my heart.  I have been blogging for many years and through the power of the internet I like to think that I am making a contribution to helping our community get more fun out of their disability lifestyle.