Mormon Featured in Documentary on Wheelchair Life
 

Mormon Featured in Documentary on Wheelchair Life
Ernie Wallengren died in 2003, but his image lives on in a documentary that will air on public television in Utah later in January. “Rolling,” produced by physician and filmmaker Gretchen Berland, has won multiple awards for showing what daily life is like for individuals in wheelchairs.

Wallengren is one of three individuals followed in the film. In her filming, Berland utilized cameras on top of the wheelchairs of those featured, filming life as they experienced it—at a level that would be waist-high to most people.

Prior to his two-and-a-half year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, Wallengren was a writer, story editor, and producer for a number of popular television shows. The many series that he worked on include “Touched by an Angel,” “The Waltons,” “Little House on the Prairie,” and “Doc.” He also wrote the teleplay for “Mr. Krueger’s Christmas,” a holiday show produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as “the Mormons”) featuring Jimmy Stewart as a lonely widower who finds the true meaning of Christmas. Wallengren was also a producer for early episodes of “Baywatch,” but he pulled out of that project when he disagreed with the direction the show was taking.

Wallengren, a member of the Mormon church himself, found strength in his faith when his health failed him. His priorities, of necessity, had to change from finding worldly adventures to finding inner peace. "I became more spiritually oriented,” Wallengren said, as reported in the Salt Lake Tribune. “My inner sense of peace increased. . . . Taken as a whole, body and spirit have never been in better health in my entire adult life."

ALS is a condition that attacks nerve cells in the brain; it is crippling and eventually fatal. But Wallengren continued his work as long as he could. Among his finest achievements during this time were episodes for “Doc” and “Touched by an Angel” that featured characters with ALS and portrayed their struggles.

In a statement written by Wallengren and distributed at his funeral in 2003, he said, as quoted in the Tribune:

"The world is a slippery place…I have done more than my share of sliding to the bottom, but I have also learned the value of picking myself up and tackling the mountain all over again. I have learned that the mountain flattens out considerably if I don't try it alone. God's hand is always extended to us. All we have to do is take it in our own."

Among those who have echoed this sentiment is Elder W. Craig Zwick of the Quorums of the Seventy (a Church priesthood leadership body; they preach the gospel, help the Church membership, and are witnesses of Jesus Christ) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . Elder Zwick has said: “Every one of us needs to know that we can go on in the strength of the Lord. We can put our hand in His, and we will feel His sustaining presence lift us to heights unattainable alone.” (W. Craig Zwick, “The Lord Thy God Will Hold Thy Hand,” Ensign, Nov 2003, 34)

By Katie Parker on 01/14/08 at 02:41:35 pm. Blog: News . Category: Church Members in the News
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Rolling: This documentary offers insightful perspective of wheelchair users
Imagine what the perspective on life is like for somebody who uses a wheelchair.

That’s the subject of a new documentary aptly titled
Rolling.
http://www.thirteen.org/rolling/index.php/

The perspective is authentic, as it was filmed by cameras mounted on the wheelchairs of three Los Angeles residents who agreed to have them affixed to their chairs as they went about the daily tasks of life. The viewer gets to see how life is viewed at their homes, work, the doctor’s office, and general everyday situations. The footage was filmed over a two-year span and was originally more than 200 hours, but has been condensed into a one-hour showcase of life from their vantage point.
This novel and insightful film is slated for showing on many public broadcasting stations during the next month.
(Click here to see if it is airing on your local PBS affiliate.)

I was a little disappointed to see that KUHT, the Houston-area PBS affiliate, was not among that list, as I’d really like to check it out.

However, if you’d like, the documentary’s official web site does have a link that will let you view a fairly long clip of the film , just to give you a taste of it. Do check out the film’s official web site linked above, as it has a few more related links to check out that are useful and informative, as well as information about the film's producer.

http://www.thirteen.org/rolling/index.php/
A special thanks to the
Disability Nation blog
For the above information.

http://accessability.blogspot.com/20...nsightful.html

Thought-controlled wheelchair
 

Thought-controlled wheelchair
Posted on: September 09, 2007



http://www.ubergizmo.com/photos/2007...wheelchair.jpg



Sounds pretty much far fetched, but this thought-controlled wheelchair is actually reality. Kinda reminds us of Professor Xavier and his floating wheelchair, eh? Ambient founders Michael Callahan and Thomas Coleman are the brains behind this invention known as Audeo which can be controlled via thought. It does this by monitoring neural signals for specific words which function as commands to go forward, reverse, and turn. Hopefully they'll choose obscure words that aren't used in everyday thought processes else you could be talking about yesterday's dinner while your wheelchair responds to excerpts like "the food at that restaurant made by stomach turn".

http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives...elchair_1.html