EXPO HIGHLIGHTS AT A GLANCE

WCD Expo features more than 150 exhibits and over 80 presentations. Here are just a 0few of the highlights:

The Road to Freedom, an awareness campaign and year-long 35,000mile cross-country RV tour kicks off in Washington , D.C. on November 15th. It will make its first slop at WCD Expo and will spend three days focusing on the ongoing need for equal access to healthcare, transportation, education, employment and more. This is the only visit to Pennsylvania until 2007.

The tour is designed to expose mainstream audiences with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the history of disability rights movement. It will bring attention to the ongoing need for equal access to healthcare, transportation, education, employment and more. Despite passage of the ADA in 1990 and advances in accessibility technologies, people with disabilities still face uphill battles. The Road to Freedom tour goals are to increase public awareness and get closer to a mission of equal access to the American dream.

N Freedom Lift will unveil its automatic transport and retrieval system (ATRS). Its proof of concept was presented at WCD Expo in 2005. The revolutionary product allows individuals to transfer from power wheelchair to driver's seat of a mini-van. The power seat automatically returns to the back of the vehicle, docked and stored for transport. For the first time, a person can drive without having a huge van and van conversion, which represents an expense of $45,000 to $120,000. The ATRS is priced from $25,000.

A qualified WCD Expo visitor will be selected by an independent panel of healthcare professionals to participate in Freedom Lift Beta testing. This means the individual will receive a $25,000 ATRS in return for being a Beta tester.

Accessible Vans Mobility will present a special $500 discount toward the purchase of a new or pre-owned accessible vehicle.

Allsup Inc., recently honored with a Better Business Bureau World Class Customer Service award, will help individuals navigate the Social Security Disability Insurance application process. Since 1984, the company has fought on behalf of thousands of disabled persons and achieved a 97 percent success rate.

American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation, an association of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, will offer information on its Adapted Aquatics Credentialing course and Adapted Physical Activity Council workshops.

N Advance Mobility will show Independence , its new pusn cnan, vv

fold technology that is the only one-hand, one-step system in the market today. Developed for passengers with physical disabilities, the Independence holds up to 100 pounds and weighs only 29.

N Angelman Syndrome Foundation, Inc. will present a preview of its upcoming Biennial Conference and Scientific Symposium to be held in July 2007.

The Benedictine School for individuals aged 5 to 21, who have cognitive disabilities, will present its educational programs, share successes and offer inspiration through the many victories celebrated by those it touched over the years.

Epilepsy Foundation of Eastern Pennsylvania will offer new materials concerning epilepsy and seizure disorders.

Flexiciser International will exhibit its second generation of durable medical equipment, which provides movement therapy for physically challenged individuals. The products were initially created by Ken Richardson to assist his father who had Parkinson's disease.

Independence Technology, a Johnson & Johnson company, will introduce its newly patented iBOTs 4000 model, which allows the user to maneuver easily when seated at a table or desk and during entry and exit from the company's Mobility System. The IBOT also gives people the independence to climb stairs with or without assistance and to move through many types of terrain.

KeepingPace will show how two mothers with children who have cerebral palsy found a solution that provides functional, durable, comfortable and fashionable shoes for youngsters who need orthotic support. Their frustration derived from having to purchase shoes that were two or three sizes larger than the natural foot in order to accommodate braces led them to develop a line of specialty footwear designed for children's bracing.

The world's smallest wheelchair will be featured by Mobility 4 Kids at the Innovative Products, Inc. booth. The customized wheelchair allows kids to go from sitting to standing. Innovative Products' youngest customer was 23 months old.

National Multiple Sclerosis Society will offer programs and services to help individuals with MS and their family members, friends, employers and colleagues better understand and manage the disease.

NDI Medical will introduce ODFS Foot Drop Stimulator, an external functional neuromuscular stimulator in use in Europe since 1995 and new to the U.S. this year. The ODFS provides ankle dorsiflexion in individuals with dropped foot following upper motor neuron lesions, such as stroke and MS. It is a brace-free alternative providing dynamic gait improvements.

Nomac Euro-Peds will be presented by Pontiac, Michigan-based North Oakland Medical Centers. This therapy is blends a variety of established treatment methods and techniques that allow children with cerebral palsy to learn new motor skills including rolling, crawling and walking for the first time. Strength training is a main focus of the program, which was first developed in Europe .

M Rifton Equipment will show its Rifton Anchor, which provides hand and arm stabilization for increased function of the free arm and hand. The Anchor, which is new this year, helps children and young adults experience success with table and tray activities, such as eating, working or playing.

Shake-A-Leg, Inc. will share its second phase residential therapy program for individuals with spinal cord injury and other neurological disorders. Held in the summer months in Newport , Rhode Island , it combines traditional and non-traditional therapies with adaptive recreation/sports modules to assist participants in reaching the highest levels of independence and community involvement as possible.

U-Can Do, Inc. will offer a look at an Adaptive Recreational Rehabilitative Device that looks like a pinball machine, but it actually allows a person with physical disability to compete in a game as an equal with others. The custom console adaptive pinball empowers the physically challenged.

M Wheelchair basketball, soccer, rugby, fencing and dance will be presented by Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in the Sports & Recreation Activity Center .

MossRehab will exhibit pieces from its permanent collection of works by professional artists with disabilities.

Janet Fiore, CEO of The Sierra Group, Inc., will be featured during Disabilities Career Fair on Friday. She will present "Fitting In - Today's Educational Experience & Disability" at 1:00 p.m. and "The Workforce of the Future - High Tech, High Touch, High Rate of Turnover" at 3:00 p.m.

For a complete list of exhibits, symposiums and presentations, visit www.wcdepo.com