Keep Pushing Inc was founded by Dan Mancina, an accomplished skateboarder who happens to be blind. Dan also holds a Master's degree in Vision Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT), which helps to teach adaptive life skills to those dealing with vision loss. Keep Pushing is a non-profit that combines Dan's two passions by introducing the blind/visually impaired (VI) community to the inclusive culture of skateboarding. Through his own journey with vision loss, Dan has found the lack of accessibility in current skateparks.
The goal of his foundation is to build the first fully adaptive skatepark and to host skateboard workshops for the blind and VI using what he has learned on the skateboard and through his VRT training. Dan has teamed up with an experienced skatepark design company, New Line. Using New Line's design expertise and Dan's knowledge of adaptive skating to create the safest and most accessible skate park ever!
Using adaptive methods, such as increasing the size of obstacles, adding contrast to obstacles, tactile ground, auditory cues for echolocation, 3-D models, and a spacious layout. Once the facility is built Dan plans to host monthly skate workshops and skateboard lessons for local youth/adults who are blind and VI, annual adaptive contests to help push for skateboarding the Paralympics, as well as use park adaptations to influence future public skateparks.
