People In Motion

Every June the People In Motion exhibit comes to Toronto, and over 100 companies and service providers show us what they have to offer people with disabilities and special needs. This year was the 19th annual show, and I was able to talk to more exhibitors this time than I did in previous years. Since I’m blind I needed someone to go through the show with me and describe all the exhibits. In previous years I had a helper for only a short time, and some years I had no help at all. But yesterday I went with a fellow volunteer from the Tetra Society, and he described all the exhibits around us.

So while we were giving the exhibitors information about Tetra, I also got to ask for more info about their companies or organizations. It was great to hear about the new technology being developed for people with various disabilities, as well as some of the services out there. It was also great to hear my associate giving a couple of the manufacturers tips on how they could make their products even better. My only regret was that I didn’t have time to get to the wheelchair manufacturers. I would have loved to talk to those guys and give them some friendly suggestions for their power chairs.

And I have to give the PIM organizers credit, not only for putting on the show and having the list of exhibitors in braille, but also for providing manual wheelchairs for people who needed them. I think the loaner chairs are a new feature, and I’ll bet they got a lot of grateful users. My power chair broke down last Monday, and although I can walk my bod gets sore and tired very easily. So on the ride to People In Motion I really wondered how the hell I was going to get through the show. When I asked at the info table if they had any chairs to loan people, I was VERY relieved and pleasantly surprised when the lady got one for me.

So as my co-volunteer pushed me in the chair I handed out Tetra brochures to people, and we both picked up some really good info and contacts. By the way, in case you’re wondering what Tetra is, the Tetra Society of North America is a volunteer organization that designs and builds assistive devices or adaptations for people with disabilities. If you want to learn more just visit http://www.tetrasociety.org/.

People In Motion has a website at http://www.people-in-motion.com/ where you can find out more about the show. They post a list of links to their exhibitors every year, and the new list for 2008's show should be posted within a couple of weeks. To go directly to the list of exhibitors visit http://www.people-in-motion.com/related.html.