Matt’s Blog

I recently had a chance to hang out with Scott Sands - a fellow blogger with Duchenne - at  Sea World. We took some photos together of the seals and sea lions at Pacific Point Preserve. I also wanted to see his new camera setup.

Scott showed me his new Canon Powershot G10. It had some advantages such as being able to use a screen to compose your picture, rather then looking through the small viewfinder, which is hard to do with a limited range of motion. I cannot do that with my current setup. But you lose the ability to change your lenses like with an SLR. If you’d like to get into photography, though, I would highly recommend the Canon PowerShot G10 camera that Scott uses because of the ability to look at the screen.

I guess I should mention my camera setup. I use a Canon Digital Rebel DSLR, with a custom switch and mount, that my brother made me. For more information, please read my past blog about this.

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Here are some pictures from my recent trip to North Carolina.I went to the Outer Banks.

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I just went on a summer trip to Niagara Falls.  One of things that I always wanted to do was ride a helicopter. So when I was in Canada I saw a company advertising flights over the falls so I got a crazy idea to try it.  I was nervous in How I would transfer to the helicopter but the staff was trained in how to assist in transferring.  It was definitely exciting and scary at the same time.

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I finally got around to updating my blog here are some of the things that I was have been doing this winter. The first thing I like to talk about is my recent cruise. In a future blog I will discuss my adventures in Florida.

This winter I went on a cruise to the Western Caribbean aboard the Disney Magic. The ports of call were Key West Florida,Cozumel Mexico, Grand Cayman,and Disney’s private island. The rooms are very large which is great for a wheelchair. The rooms on Disney cruise ships are larger than most other cruise ships. There are not that many rooms that are wheelchair accessible so it is important to book early I got one of the last rooms available.

The first place that we went to was Key West Florida. The ship lets you off right in Mallory Square which is easy to get around, I didn’t spend very much time here because it was a very windy day. We decided to try to walk down Duval Street. Getting there was not as easy as I thought; some of the curb cuts are not very good. On the way walking to Duval Street we saw that Key West was having an art festival and they closed the road which made it easier because I could walk on the road. The art festival, which is held the last weekend in January, was very nice; I would highly recommend it. When we finally made it to Duval Street it was very crowded and many stores have steps. On the way back to the ship we decided to take a tour of the Island. The next day we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico.

Donkey on Street 

The streets in Cozumel can be very crowded and the sidewalks are narrow in some places. But in my opinion it was still worth going down some of the streets to get the feel of what Mexico is like. When getting off the ship you are very close to an outside shopping mall which is very easy to get around and I would definitely recommend looking at some of the stores. The prices are probably higher here but it’s much easier than going to some of the stores if you have a very low endurance level.Cozumel is a very pretty place. I wish I could have seen more of it.I was unable to find an accessible van to travel to other parts of Cozumel.The next day the ship went to Grand Cayman. I decided to stay on the ship and relax that day since you have to use a tender in order to get to the island. The final destination that we went to was Disney’s private island Castaway Cay which does not require a tender. There are paved walkways which make it easy for a wheelchair to get around. They have sand wheelchairs which allow you to go on the beach. They don’t have headrests which are very important for someone with limited neck strength. They serve a great lunch on the island and you can enjoy a fabulous day there.

Castaway Cay Island

Castaway Cay is a highlight of the Disney Cruise. Going back to the ship, we stopped at the Post Office and mailed some postcards to friends with the beautiful Bahama stamps.

The Disney Cruise ship is fantastic. There are many dining options, including room service. The staff is more than willing to help you. The food is good and the portions are huge; the desserts are absolutely delicious! The shows have Disney themes and are great. All in all, there is always something to do - a great vacation experience!

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I recently rode the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. I always heard it was wheelchair accessible, but I never gave it a try . I was very surprised how accessible the train was for wheelchairs. The train has one car that is accessible and it has two wheelchair lifts so that you can exit on either side of the train depending on what side the station is located. The seats can fold up to make space for wheelchairs. In order to ride the train in a wheelchair you will need to make reservations with the railroad. We went on the scenic limited trip which is a 1 and 3/4 hour trip that goes through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. You get off from where you started.

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Are you looking for a good microphone for speech recognition I would recommend the

Plantronics DSP-400.

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