Abilities expo showcases latest tech for disabled community

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- People are traveling to Los Angeles to view the latest and greatest technological advances in helpful devices. It is all part of the Abilities Expo, an exposition for people with disabilities, their family members, seniors, veterans and healthcare professionals.

The throngs of people going through the Los Angeles Convention Center gets bigger every year.

One woman, Sheridan Jones, walks with the help of a bionic exoskeleton. Before the exoskeleton, she was wheelchair-bound.

Jones became paralyzed below the hips at the age of 14 when she got into a car crash. She uses the exoskeleton, which is called a Re-Walk, to get around. She punches what she wants to do into what looks like a wristwatch that instructs the exoskeleton to help her walk.

"I feel like I'm on top of the world. Truly life changing," she said.

Another man said his new power chair made him feel in control of his life.

At the expo, it is more than just ramps, lifts and wheelchairs that draws in a big crowd. What attendees see is their future and possibilities they never imagined.

When Michael Seale, Jr. was born, he weighed less than 3 pounds and suffered from cerebral palsy. Now he is a businessman who sells his abstract art. He calls himself "The Bossman."

"I don't want people to pity me or feel sorry for me. Just respect me and pay me," he said.

The aging population also makes certain items a growing market, according to the co-owner of the Abilities Expo, David Korse.

"There about 55 million people in the United States, about 16 percent of the population that are technically covered by the American's with Disabilities legislation," he said.