Ryan Chalmers is attempting to push himself across the country from Los Angeles to New York in 71 days…in a wheelchair. This hour on Focus, we talk with Chalmers about why he’s doing it and how it’s going.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign grad, PADI divemaster and US Paralympian Ryan Chalmers has pushed himself more than 2,000 miles in the last few weeks, journeying the length of three to four full length marathons every day. He’s trying to cross the US in his racing wheelchair in 71 days, a distance of nearly 3,000 miles. He arrived in Champaign around 3:00 on Wednesday, and this hour on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with Ryan about his trek and what inspired him to do it. We'll also talk with Ryan about his career as a wheelchair athlete - at the UIUC, in marathons around the country and the 2012 Paralympic games in London.
An estimated one out of every five Americans has been diagnosed with one or more psychological or physical disabilities. That makes disabled Americans one of our largest minorities. And yet, most of our history books pay little notice to the role the disabled have played in our nation’s past. We’ll discuss the contributions of the disabled to our laws, policies, economics, popular culture, and collective identity, with Kim Nielsen, author of A Disability History of the United States.
With Jean Driscoll, M.S. (Associate Director of Development, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois), and , and Brad Hedrick, Ph.D. (Director, Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services, University of Illinois)
With Lyn Jones (President and CEO, United Way of Champaign County), and , and Brenda Davis Koester (Coordinator of Programs at the Family Resiliency Center, University of Illinois), and , and Dale Morrissey (CEO of Developmental Services Center, Champaign)
