Rick Edwards, Ade Adepitan, Iwan Thomas and Lucy Shuker check out all things Parasport as they begin the countdown to Channel 4’s coverage of the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Check out what the guys get up to in the first programme:

“One of Britain’s best rowers, Sam Scowen, allows cameras to follow her punishing training regime and encourages viewers, via the Channel 4 Paralympics website, to help her find a new rowing partner in time for the 2012 selection process.

Rick tries out wheelchair tennis, with a little help from Ade, Lucy and British Number Two Jordanne Whiley; Ade and Iwan explore the sport of goalball; and there’s the first instalment of regular feature ‘Pimp My Chair’, in which trike and paint specialists customise wheelchairs with everything from bling and sat navs to game consoles and speakers.

And this episode’s special guest, Celebrity Big Brother winner Alex Reid, has a lesson in dressage from nine-time Paralympic gold medallist Lee Pearson”

But wait for it that’s not all…

Inside Incredible Athletes (Sunday 29th August, 9pm, Channel 4)

Inside Incredible Athletes takes an in-depth look into the lives of some of Britain’s elite athletes. They examine their demanding training regimes and the skills they require to make them excel in their field.

Some of the athletes featured include, blind football player David Clarke, wheelchair rugby players Mandip Sehmi and Steve Brown, equestrian dressage rider Lee Pearson and sprinter and long-jumper Stefanie Reid.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4sp62DDBHs

Inspired by Diabetes is a national competition which encourages individuals who have diabetes and their families to express their own personal experiences of the condition through the medium of art and photography!

The awareness initiative is being undertaken by Lilly, a pharmaceutical company with a heritage in the area of diabetes, working with the Diabetes Federation of Ireland (DFI)

This is aimed at children and adults, twelve winning entries will be chosen for the Inspired by Diabetes 2011 calendar that will be launched on World Diabetes Day on 14 November 2010 and sold by the DFI, a registered charity, to raise funds.

The deadline is Wednesday 30th September 2010

Following the success of Elephant Parade, they reached 13,000 signatures but need to reach a new target of 100,000 to call on government for securing a viable future for the endangered Asian elephant. This iconic animal is on the brink of extinction due to massive habitat loss. It is simply running out of space and time – so show your support by signing the petition and sharing their video!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YrnaMYb7fg

RTÉ One’s Room to Improve architect, Dermot Bannon was faced with a design challenge on this week’s show to help Peter and Lisa O’Shea remodel their Rathfarnham home to suit their needs. Lisa was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and her brief for Dermot was “accessibility, flexibility and mobility” and to create a beautiful home for all the family. Check out what challenges he faced and the changes he made to the house on the RTÉ Player. This is a great example of how universal design can really make a difference to someones life!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcNmiJh1TJs

This got me thinking about how disability is currently represented on the tv. This is an issue that raises a lot of difficult questions and there has been numerous debates on the topic. One debate is, is it appropriate that non-disabled actors play the role of a disabled character as is the case with the actor in Covert Affairs.

As disability is never going to be a homogeneous group can it ever be properly represented? Often the debate is framed by a representation being positive or negative but what do we mean by a positive representation of disability? In terms of the way disability is represented is some representation better than none or do some of these depictions do more harm than good??

Obviously there is no easy answers to these questions but we believe it is important to keep on asking them. We would love to know what your thoughts are ? Feel free to join the conversation on our Facebook page and tell us what you think?

Everyone is talking about Ireland’s Jason Smyth , not only is he the first paralympic athlete to compete in the European Athletics Championships but he has topped off his achievement by finishing fourth in the 100m semi-final.

Jason is 23 years old, from Derry and is partially sighted due to a disease called Stargardt, a genetically inherited degeneration that causes progressive loss of vision and can lead to virtual blindness.

We would like to congratulate Jason on making a name for himself among the world class sprinters. He was quoted in the Belfast Telegraph saying:

“I don’t mind what way people remember me but I’m coming here and performing well as a mainstream senior international and I’m trying to move forward to qualify for London 2012.

At the same time I am a Paralympic athlete, so you’ve also got to look at that as well I suppose”

Is the gap beginning to narrow between Olympic and Paralympic athletes? Are athletes with disabilities starting to get recognised for their talent rather than their disability?

Kanchi are delighted to announce that Caroline has been selected as one of only 25 Social Entrepreneurs from around the world to participate at the Ashoka Globalizer. Caroline was selected from over 2,500 individuals and more than 70 countries…what an achievement!

The Ashoka Globalizer is a new initiative that brings together the most advanced social entrepreneurs with leading business entrepreneurs on a yearly basis. Caroline and 24 other social entrepreneurs are meeting this weekend, August 1st at the Hofburg palace in Vienna, Austria, to help them globalize their projects.

Caroline’s goal is to take the Ability Awards global and this weekend she gets the chance to meet business entrepreneurs such as Jim Barry, where they will share their insights into strategies for rapid growth, and draw on their own experiences to help the social entrepreneurs ask the right questions, formulate the best strategies and create the proper partnerships.

Good luck Caroline – Lets take these awards global!

What is Ouch?
Ouch! is a website from the BBC that reflects the lives and experiences of disabled people. It has articles, blogs, a very busy messageboard and an award-winning downloadable radio show – The Ouch Podcast. It’s aimed at those with a stakehold in disability: family, friends, professionals and, rather importantly, disabled people themselves – without whom all this would be a bit meaningless.

The Creative District is an award winning interactive agency, which deliver innovative digital experiences for their clients and customers. They share Kanchi’s passion for inclusive technology and accessible media and will be working closely with us over the coming months and years to roll out a number of websites and services. We are thrilled to be partnering with such a dynamic company!

Visually impaired social entrepreneur and founder of disability organisation Kanchi, Caroline Casey, today joined Ireland’s Ambassador to Spain, Justin Harman and César Alierta, Chairman of Telefónica, to launch the Telefónica Ability Awards in Spain, the first country outside of Ireland licenced to run the awards programme based on the O2 Ability Awards model created and operational in Ireland since 2005. The expansion to Spain marks the first franchise of the Ability Awards internationally and is an historic achievement for Kanchi, highlighting the strength and innovation of Irish social entrepreneurship.

The Telefónica Ability Awards, like the O2 Ability Awards, will recognise organisations throughout Spain for best practice in the inclusion of people with disabilities as employees, customers and members of the community. The auditing and benchmark templates created in Ireland will be used to assess organisations that enter the programme in Spain. Kanchi is currently in negotiations with several pan-European organisations to establish the Ability Awards programme in countries throughout Europe and beyond. The application process in Spain opens today with the first Awards taking place in November 2010.

Since 2005, over 130 businesses and organisations in Ireland including Superquinn, McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland, Bank of Ireland, Kerry County Council, Aura Sport & Leisure, AIB Group, Eircom and Microsoft have been selected as O2 Ability Award organisations. Managed by disability organisation Kanchi, the O2 Ability Awards are the first business awards in Ireland for best practice of the inclusion of people with disabilities, both as employees and as customers. This year’s O2 Ability Awards will take place in Dublin on 12 May.

Kanchi founder, Caroline Casey said: “I am very proud that a small social enterprise like Kanchi from Ireland is leading the way on disability in Europe by bringing the Ability Awards to Spain. With Telefónica’s support and commitment, Spanish organisations will now have the opportunity to showcase best practice in employing people with disabilities and targeting people with disabilities as customers. The ongoing support of Danuta Gray and O2 over the past five years has opened the door for this fantastic awards programme to be rolled out throughout Europe”.

Ireland’s Ambassador to Spain, Justin Harman said: “I am delighted to be associated with the launch of the Telefónica Ability Awards, a ground-breaking Irish initiative now being implemented in Spain. In celebrating best practice and progressive attitudes to the inclusion of people with disabilities, the Ability Awards have been challenging individual organisations and indeed society as whole to see beyond any disability and to value individuals and employees on the basis of the unique strengths they bring. I would like to congratulate Caroline Casey and Kanchi on their work in developing the model for the Awards and to pay tribute to O2 for supporting the Programme in Ireland since 2005 and to Telefónica for becoming involved here in Spain.”

Speaking at the launch of the awards programme in Madrid, Chairman of Telefónica, César Alierta said: “The Telefónica Ability Awards demonstrate a firm commitment from Telefónica for the inclusion of disability in the world of business as it aims to give recognition to these companies and institutions that integrate people with disabilities, whether as employees, suppliers or clients”.

Danuta Gray, CEO, Telefónica O2 Ireland said: “It is with great pride that we watch Caroline and Kanchi launch the first Ability Awards outside of Ireland in Spain. The Awards, which we are very proud to have supported since 2005, have come a long way since then and given the success they have enjoyed in Ireland, it is right and proper that they are now being sought after further afield. Telefónica in Spain understands the enormous benefits that this unique initiative brings to their business, from an employee and customer perspective and ultimately from a business perspective”.