Alabama Mom is on a Mission for Special Needs Kids

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 6, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Drew Ann Long, the inventor of Caroline's Cart, a grocery cart designed to allow people with special needs to be a part of the shopping experience, is also a mom on a mission. Long, along with daughter Caroline, is headed to Washington, D.C., March 12-14, to meet with policy-makers and other elected officials to educate them about two initiatives designed to promote assistance and access for people with special-needs. 

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130306/CL71613)

Mrs. Long will join Easter Seals in support of the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act. The ABLE Act is a bipartisan piece of legislation that seeks to encourage and assist families in saving private funds for the purpose of supporting individuals with disabilities.  Much like the popular 529 college savings plans, the ABLE Act would create a separate 529 savings vehicle to which individuals and families can contribute to help those with disabilities pay for future essential expenses, such as medical care, assistive technology, job training and education. The Long family has been advocates for Easter Seals and disability services since daughter Caroline was born with multiple disabilities. In 2012, Caroline served as an Easter Seals Youth Representative.

Long will also introduce Caroline's Cart, the shopping cart currently being offered by grocers in 17 states, that incorporates a comfortable seat into a traditional cart for the transporting of special-needs children and adults. 

"Every day, thousands of special-needs families find that getting into their favorite store is only half the battle," says Long.  "One of the biggest struggles is maneuvering a wheelchair and traditional shopping cart at the same time. Our hope is that retailers will add Caroline's Cart as an option for those needing mobility assistance, similar to what they've done with scooters and wheelchairs with shopping baskets."

Long will speak to the National Council on Disabilities and will provide a presentation to the Access Board of the United States, a federal agency committed to accessible design, to raise awareness of Caroline's Cart as a new addition for retailers seeking to make their stores more accessible.

About Caroline's Cart

Caroline's Cart is a shopping cart created for special needs children and adults. It provides parents and caregivers a viable option to transport a child or adult through a store while grocery shopping, without simultaneously having to maneuver a wheelchair and a traditional grocery cart. It is named after Caroline, the special needs daughter of Drew Ann and David Long, founders of Parent Solution Group, LLC. For more information, visit www.carolinescart.com.

About Easter Seals

Easter Seals is the leading non-profit provider of services for individuals with autism, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities and other special needs. For more than 90 years, Easter Seals has been offering help and hope to children and adults living with disabilities, and to the families who love them. Easter Seals also has provided critical community-based supports and services to military service members, veterans and their families since World War II.

Through therapy, training, education and support services, Easter Seals creates life-changing solutions so that people with disabilities and military families can live, learn, work and play. Support children and adults with disabilities at www.easterseals.com.  

SOURCE Caroline's Cart