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Must-see: London 2012 Paralympic website

Apr 12 05:39

London is the site of the Summer 2012 Paralympics and for us with disabilities, that’s a mighty fine thing. The U.K., despite not being very wheelchair accessible because of the old architecture (the inner-city of London isn‘t that bad, and I‘m sure they‘re ramping it up now), is a country that’s one of the best in the world (next to the US), when it comes to promoting disability rights, providing equal-employment opportunities and putting positive disability imagery in the media. And the brand new site for the London 2012 Paralympics shows just what I mean.

If you’re like me and can only dream of going to the Paralympics as a Bucket List addition to cross off before you die, because hey - who can afford to travel when you have a disability? (not many) - the official website for the London Paralympics 2012 is the next best thing. Other than offering a direct link to Paralympic Sport TV, which is the place to go to watch video of Paralympic events (which are sadly rarely shown on TV. Boo TV producers, boo), the site also offers these flashy short 1 minute videos explaining each Paralympic sport (they can be complicating!) that are surprisingly fun to watch.

Want to know more about Wheelchair Tennis? Simply click the sport and you’ll be brought to a video. Each video is full of slick animations and video clips, giving even the most dense able-bodied person a great idea of how the sport goes down. As a longtime person with a disability who’s (ashamed to admit) not very educated on Paralympic sports, especially their exact rules, these videos totally opened my eyes, and now - thank you very much flashy Paralympic videos - I have an incessant desire to try wheelchair fencing or wheelchair archery. Or both.

Whoever created these videos deserve serious mad props. They make the sports look as exciting as they are in real life, which is always needed when you’re trying to promote adapted sports to the masses. And be sure to check out the Wheelchair Rugby video (my personal favorite). Crazy crashes, intense competition….“Chair contact allowed” but “No body contact.” Ooh baby, can’t wait to see the top teams in the world battle it out this August.

Will you be attending the London 2012 Paralympics? Which sports are you most excited to see?

- Check out the London 2012 Paralympic site

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1. wendy | Apr 13 11:57

Next week is the Paralympic test series in London for wheelchair rugby, Apr 18-19 you can watch online. 4 of the best teams in the world play. My son plays for Canada

2. Tiffiny | Apr 16 01:41

Very very cool, Wendy! Right on the site then you can watch? Hope your son does well! (who is he?)

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By Tiffiny Carlson

Tiffiny Carlson Disability buzz, travel, fashion and dating — fun things to amp up everyday wheeling life.

Tiffiny Carlson is freelance writer and writes the “SCI Life” column for New Mobility. She's also a C6 quad from a diving accident that occurred when she was 14 years old. A lifelong resident of Minneapolis, Tiffiny has been a writer in the disability community for over 10 years and writes for several publications and blogs, as well as her personal blog BeautyAbility. Her work has also appeared in mainstream publications such as Nerve.com and Playgirl.