Texas disability advocates say Regional Transportation Authority board needs more diversity, like its bus riders

From the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in Texas:

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — If you were unemployed, without a car, and looking for a job cleaning office buildings at night, could you rely on a Regional Transportation Authority bus to get you to and from work?

Or if you were disabled, would every bus stop in Corpus Christi be accessible to your wheelchair?

The answer to both questions is no, according to current and former members of the authority’s board of directors. Some of those board members say there is at least a partial explanation.

Many of the RTA’s riders are poor, disabled, elderly or any combination of the three. Those characteristics do not describe the board of directors that governs the transportation authority.

“We don’t have anybody on the board who uses the bus,” said Judy Telge, a board member.

Telge and former board member Abel Alonzo (pictured), a wheelchair user, say that if the board had more diversity, it might offer different types of service to meet the needs of those who need the bus most.

Some board members say many options for expanded service are dependent on new funds.

Telge points out that most of the fixed line routes go through the city’s Westside, which has a large population of bus users. But service stops in the evening, meaning some workers in lower-wage jobs, in restaurants, as security guards, as office cleaners, might not have access to transportation.

“I don’t think that at any point in its 25 years the RTA board has reflected its ridership,” said John Longoria, a member of the RTA board and CCISD trustee. “But it reflects the majority of the community.”

He said many of the decisions the board makes are constrained by funding.

“It’s a factor of dollars,” Longoria said. “It’s geared toward the bulk of ridership. There’s no governmental entity that can commit to every demand.”

The transportation authority estimates 74 percent of its riders don’t own a vehicle and 41 percent of riders use the service to get to work.

Of the 11 RTA board members, the city appoints five, one of whom represents the interests of the transportation-disadvantaged. The rules, however, don’t say the representative must actually be poor or disabled.

Telge fills that role because, as founder of the Coastal Bend Center for Independent Living, she has a professional history of advocating for people with disabilities. She said the RTA has made giant strides in serving disabled riders. But she said the board only began paying significant attention to those issues when her predecessor, Crystal Lyons, joined the board in 2004. Lyons has a son who uses a wheelchair and is now chairwoman of the board. When she joined, she was appointed to advocate for the transportation-disadvantaged.

All buses in the RTA’s fleet can accommodate people with disabilities. But not all stops can do so. The result is that some people with disabilities rely on the more-expensive para-transit service because they cannot get to a bus stop.

Telge credits Lyons with being the first to address this problem.

Lyons said that in some cases, that isn’t the RTA’s fault that patrons can’t get to the bus. It’s the city’s fault.

The RTA formed a plan to coordinate access issues with city officials. The organization is using half of its $6.3 million in federal economic stimulus money to pay for that plan. The organization also will spend about $3 million more from another federal source.

Alonzo says having one appointee represent the interests of the transportation-disadvantaged isn’t enough. He has lobbied state lawmakers to change the law so that as many as three people come from that category.

Appointees have tended to be politically connected. When Democrats controlled the Nueces County Commissioners Court, the county’s three appointees tended to have some connection to U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi. Now that Republicans have a majority, two of three appointees are GOP activists.

Alonzo said he had hoped with the transition in Nueces County, commissioners would appoint people with an interest in public transportation. But, he said, those board spots are part of the spoils of victory, and he can’t blame Republicans for doing what Democrats did for two decades.

Lyons said she values the board members because they are active in the community.

“Diversity is fine, but you have to have people who will represent and be active,” Lyons said. “They need to be effective. Sometimes a mother of a person with a disability might be better than a person with a disability.”

Turkey starts up employment Web site for disabled people

From Today's Zaman in Turkey:

A major step was taken in Turkey with the Disabled Law, passed in 2005, which states that every company with more than 50 employees has to adhere to a 3 percent quota for disabled employees.

In order to encourage companies to hire more disabled people, the state also meets half of the insurance premiums for every disabled employee hired in addition to the required number. A Web site has recently been created to bring together job-seeking disabled people and companies looking for disabled employees. While aiming to promote the employment of disabled people, Turkey's first and only human resources Web portal for the disabled -- engelsizkariyer.com -- also aims to provide equal opportunities to the disabled, who face obstacles in the business world most of the time.

As engelsizkariyer.com General Manager Hasibe Kızıltaş notes, engelsizkariyer.com, meaning career without handicaps, was founded in February 2008 after four years of preparation. Offering high quality accessibility software technology specific to every disabled group, the site enables companies to access the best applicants as quickly as possible. According to data provided by Kızıltaş, the site has CVs of more than 4,000 disabled people.

“Having seen that employers were not able to access disabled applicants fast and effectively in other human resources Web sites, we decided to create this site,” stated the founder of the Web portal, Mehmet Kızıltaş -- a handicapped person himself -- in an interview with Sunday's Zaman. Polio-disabled Kızıltaş has directed several TV programs in addition to writing books and articles to raise social responsibility among the public regarding the disabled.

“Being employed plays a critical role in resolving a number of difficulties handicapped people face in their daily and social life. That is why disabled people need to be employed more when compared with others,” Kızıltaş said. Noting that employers are generally reluctant to hire disabled employees since they see them as a burden even if they are well educated, Kızıltaş said disabled job applicants generally have a lower chance when compared with others as the employer sees it an extra responsibility to arrange a working environment for the disabled. “It should not be forgotten that the disabled can be integrated into society with the support of people in addition to their families and the state. It is in the hands of employers to turn the disabled into individuals contributing to society rather than being a burden,” he added.

Despite the general public opinion that hiring handicapped people has negative effects on a company, Kızıltaş said employing handicapped staff is financially advantageous for employers. He recalled the legal obligation for employers to hire handicapped employees to some extent. Noting that hiring more disabled people than the required number brings significant economic advantages to employers with the government incentive, when staff expenditures are taken into consideration, Kızıltaş said: “However, such important incentives are being ignored due to prejudices against the disabled. Research has revealed that disabled employees make great contributions to the success of their companies since they perform very well given newfound responsibilities.”

Stressing that companies used to waste large amounts of money and effort in their search for qualified disabled employees, he said engelsizkariyer.com helps companies overcome this problem. “If an employer fills its 3 percent quota with unqualified disabled workers so as just to fulfill the legal requirement, the company loses efficiency. However, if the employer hires handicapped applicants in the correct positions in accordance with their career, education and potential, it will bring efficiency and success to the company. Engelsizlariyer.com offers this opportunity to employers as the site provides detailed information about job applicants for employers,” he notes.

Apart from bringing employers and disabled employees together, engelsizkariyer.com also provides assistance for the disabled when they face difficulties in the business world. “Most disabled people face mobbing, which in the workplace involves hostile and unethical communication that is directed in a systematic manner by one or more individuals, mainly toward one individual. Those exposed to mobbing can contact the site via e-mail or phone. A group of experts including psychiatrists listen to the complainant and decide whether it is mobbing or not. Once they decide it is mobbing, they lend support to the mobbing victim until they find a solution,” Kızıltaş says.

According to the latest report issued by the Prime Ministry's Directorate for the Disabled in cooperation with the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat), nearly 13 percent of the Turkish population -- approximately 8.5 million people -- has either physical or mental disabilities.

Malaysia's first disabled legislator dies

From Bernama:

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- The country’s first disabled senator, Prof Datuk Dr Ismail Md Salleh (pictured), died on a flight from China to Singapore. He was 61.

An officer at the Malaysian High Commission in Singapore said Ismail was pronounced dead on arrival at the Singapore General Hospital at about 8 a.m. August 27.

He was laid to rest at the Sungai Kantan Muslim cemetery in Kajang. Ismail leaves behind wife Datin Hasnah Wahab and six children between ages of 12 and 26.

The visually challenged Ismail became the first person from the disabled community to be appointed senator in December 2007.

Born in Pasir Mas, Kelantan, he was totally blind since he was 13, but the limitation did not stop him from getting his degree, masters and PhD, all in the United States.

His achieve-ments were recognised by the Gui-nness Book of World Records, which na-med Ismail as the first blind person to receive a doctorate.

He also held various key positions, including Twintech Inter-national University College vice-chancellor, Twintech Holdings Sdn Bhd chief executive officer and National Association of Bumiputra Private Colleges president.

He was a member of the National Implementation Task Force in the Prime Minister’s Department and former deputy director-general of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies.

EEOC sues UPS for violating the ADA by limiting workers' medical leave

From Bloomberg News:

United Parcel Service Inc., the world’s largest package-delivery company, violates federal law by limiting workers’ medical leave, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a lawsuit.

UPS since at least 2002 has had an inflexible 12-month leave policy, which doesn’t provide for reasonable accommodation of employees with certain disabilities, the government said August 27 in federal court in Chicago. The policy violates the Americans With Disabilities Act, the EEOC said.

The agency, which is responsible for enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws, said the litigation was prompted by a complaint filed by Trudi Momsen, a UPS worker with multiple sclerosis who was fired.

Norman Black, a spokesman for Atlanta-based UPS, said the company has a “generous and flexible” leave policy and the lawsuit is “surprising and misdirected.”

“The employee in this case never asked for an accommodation under the Americans With Disabilities Act,” Black said in a statement. “Following nearly a year’s leave of paid absence, she returned to work after being released to return to her regular job without restrictions. After returning to work for just 18 days, she then, in essence, abandoned her position without ever providing management any medical documentation justifying additional time off.”

The company in July won reversal of a class-action certification of a suit filed on behalf of employees who claimed they were discriminated against for trying to return to work after taking leave for medical reasons. The workers now must sue individually if at all.

UPS fell 24 cents to $53.71 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have fallen 2.6 percent this year.

The case is U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. United Parcel Service Inc., 09-cv-05291, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).

Sentencing of British woman who killed her mother delayed to determine if she has Asperger's syndrome

From BBC News:

The sentencing of a woman who battered her mother to death has been postponed after doctors said she suffered from a form of autism.

Lisa Brown, 21, was found guilty of murdering Anne Brown at her home in Ayrshire last October.

Her boyfriend John Wilson, who helped dump the body in a nearby burn, was convicted of culpable homicide.

Judge Lord Matthews ordered a medical report after hearing Brown had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.

Both Brown and Wilson had been due to be sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow following an earlier trial.

Brown's defence counsel, Frances McMenamin, QC said the condition explained why a social inquiry report found she showed "no signs of upset or regret".

Ms McMenamin said the prison authorities had called in a psychiatrist after becoming concerned about her lack of emotion.

Brown, who continues to deny murdering her mother, did not appear to be grieving for her and spoke about her in the present tense, the court heard.

The defence team sought the assistance of both a psychologist and a psychiatrist, who concluded Brown had Asperger's syndrome.

Prosecutor Gary Allan QC said medical reports obtained before the trial had identified "eccentricities" but that there had been no diagnosis at that time of Asperger's.

Lord Matthews deferred the case until Tuesday, when he will hear evidence from a doctor who diagnosed Brown's Asperger's syndrome.

Hollywood columnist defends? the R-word

From Desson Thomson's column in The Wrap:

This is really about my inner clod, who wants the right to burp, drink beer and enjoy the word “retard” once in a while.

In the 20 years since “Rain Man,” our movie culture has evolved into ever more sensitive appreciation for the various mental, emotional and psychological issues that take us away from being the people we’d love to be. There’s a lot of sensitivity floating around, with regard to autism, Asperger’s syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder and other psychologically or emotionally based conditions.

Witness the romantic comedy, “Adam,” in which a young man with Asperberger’s (British nerd-hunk Hugh Dancey) tries to negotiate his way through the rocky seas of love. He is obsessed with astronomy -- a classic signifier of his condition. And he’s not too swift with the empathy thing.

Or watch “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard,” a comedy about used-car salesmen that features Rob Riggle as a 10 year boy trapped in a man’s body. He’s metaphorically an Adult with Issues, as he struggles to cope with the attention of a woman who wants to have hot animal sex with him. And we laugh at that implication in parenthesis.

The list is long. There was 2007’s “Snow Cake,” featuring Sigourney Weaver as a bereaved woman with autism who loses a daughter but gains Alan Rickman. There was also 2005’s “Mozart and the Whale,” based on a real-life relationship, about two people with Asperger’s in love.

The 2007 documentary “Autism: The Musical” followed the lives of five autistic children involved in a stage production.

“Elling,” Norway’s 2001 entry for Best Foreign Language Film, was about two men with compulsions and phobias who try to live as roommates in a state sponsored apartment. In 1997’s “As Good as It Gets,” Jack Nicholson got into the act, as an obsessive who falls in love with a relatively “normal” woman while avoiding all those cracks in the sidewalk.

And we must also mention Forrest Gump, who isn’t touched or retarded or anything but he sure comes close.

The point is, we are becoming used to a movie universe of characters who are casually -- and vaguely -- afflicted with/touched by/struggling with Something. This para-reality seemed to come full circle in the faux-documentary “Paper Hearts,” which stars the odd duck Charlyne Yi as a faux-reality TV version of herself, who finds it impossible to fall in love.

For the legal record, I am not saying she is mentally retarded. But I am saying she may hail from the planet Quirk-a-tron in some distant pocket of the galaxy. Her persona -- a mixture of her real self and the play-acting version she affects for the camera -- seems to be missing empathy. She seems to be missing a lot of things.

She’s another of the vaguely touched. But this doesn’t seem like acting. Yet no one in this mocku-doc raises the question. We are expected to accept her as the normal center of the movie.

I thought about introducing her to Adam.

My inner clod sat up inside me and whispered, “Nuclear retard.”

Yes, I know as much as the next sensitively wired person that “retard” refers pejoratively to anyone whose emotional issues and other life-coping skills are way too complex for such a reductive term. But all this sensitivity -- ironically -- gives the term a new volatility.

It gives “retard” a sort of morally guilty pleasure. Gives it a mischievously cathartic sound. You can say it to your friends. Like: “Mike you are such a retard.” Or it’s your sister, good naturedly shaking her head at her prankish brother and good naturedly calling you the same thing.

The implication is, we are all just about one shaky mental stumble away from the abyss of insanity. We’re precariously stuck on the high ledge of a skyscraper. Laugh about it, take a glimpse Down There -- but don’t jump.

Luckily we have comedy as our moral safety valve -- to utter the taboo and get away with it.

Who can forget the scene in “Tropic Thunder” in which Robert Downey Jr., playing a “black” movie actor Kirk Lazarus, cautions fellow actor Tugg Speedman (played by Ben Stiller) never to go “full retard” when playing a character with mental or emotional issues.

Sean Penn, he says, went “full retard” when he played the title character in “I Am Sam.”

In “There’s Something About Mary,” a deeply insensitive character played by Matt Dillon, tries to impress a woman (Cameron Diaz) by declaring “I work with retards.” He speaks of one kid called Mongo, with “a forehead like a drive-in movie theater” whom he liberated from his cage by giving him a clothesline leash so he could “run back and forth” with “plenty of room for him to dig and play.”

Wicked. Socially indefensible. Funny. No excuse for it. Just sayin’.

You know, I’ve already typed the R-word so much -- this is the most ever in one sitting -- I am beginning to feel that I could finally let go of the word.

If I wasn’t such a …..

University of Miami School of Medicine receives $20 million for research into autism, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's

From The Miami Herald:

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine announced August 27 that it received a $20 million gift that will be used for research into the causes, prevention and treatment of autism and other common but complex diseases.

The gift is being made by the John P. Hussman Foundation.

As a result, the Miami Institute for Human Genomics will be renamed the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, UM officials said.

On hand for the announcement was UM President Donna E. Shalala, Miller School Dean Dr. Pascal J. Goldschmidt, Dr. John P. Hussman of the Hussman Foundation and Dr. Margaret Pericak-Vance, director of the Miami Institute for Human Genomics.

UM officials said Dr. Hussman and his foundation have a long-standing partnership with Dr. Pericak-Vance and the human genomics institute to identify genetic factors involved in autism.

The money is also expected to bring jobs to Miami-Dade County.

``The new financial support will allow the world-renowned genetic researchers to accelerate autism research through the use of the very latest in genotyping technology,'' UM officials said in a prepared statement. ``Using the next generation of advanced genomic analysis platforms, the researchers will sequence regions of DNA from families and individuals with autism.''

UM officials said the funding also will be used to do research into the genetics of other diseases, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

Hands-free call system aims to provide Britain's buildings with emergency evacuation for disabled people

From Safety and Health Practitioner in the UK:

PEL Services Ltd has launched its Refuge Call System to help building occupiers comply with British standards and the Disability Discrimination Act.

Under BS5588 part 8, all buildings over a single storey must provide a ‘refuge’ for disabled persons in an emergency situation, says PEL. Furthermore, under the DDA, service-providers that allow public access to their premises may have to make reasonable adjustments to their premises to overcome physical barriers to disabled people. 

However, undertaking major building work to make emergency escape routes accessible to everybody may be unnecessary because the Refuge Call System has been designed to enable the safe evacuation of those in need of special assistance.

A specialised intercom, the PEL Refuge Call System consists of a modular control panel, which is installed at a control point in the building, connected by an independent telephone link to remote slave units located at each refuge point. The slave units are available in handset-style or ‘hands-free’ operation, and can be surface or flush-mounted.

In its simplest configuration, lifting a handset or activating the ‘handsfree’ unit will cause the relevant button on the control panel to light up and the master telephone to ring. When the master telephone is answered, normal two-way conversation takes place, enabling the disabled person to alert the central station to their predicament and allow for appropriate action to be taken.

"Sopranos" star goes to Iraq to "Stomp the Stigma" of mental illness

From uStream.tv:

Actor Joe Pantoliano, best known as Ralph from "The Sopranos," has gone to Iraq and will be broadcasting live on Ustream leading up to and during his trip. The first 30-minute live webcast will be August 29 at 11 a.m. PST from the United States.

The stream can be viewed and embedded from:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nkm2

As part of the Stomp the Stigma tour, with his not-for-profit organization No Kidding, Me Too! (NKM2), Pantoliano will utilize Ustream's interactive features to answer fan questions in real-time, and discuss his preparation for his upcoming trip to Iraq. The Stomp The Stigma Tour has been designed for U.S. troops deployed overseas to not only remove the shame and humiliation attached to mental illness, but to also provide military personnel serving abroad with valuable and informative materials on the subject.

From August 31 until September 10, Pantoliano will also be periodically streaming from military bases in Iraq.

Mother of boy with autism who was voted out of kindergarten class sues school district, teacher

From TCPalm.com in Florida:

A federal lawsuit filed August 27 by the mother of the kindergartner voted out of his classroom more than a year ago goes beyond the events of May 21, 2008.

The incident traumatized Alex Barton (pictured), damaging his self-worth and feelings toward school and people, the lawsuit said.

“It’s been difficult,” said Alex’s mother, Melissa Barton. Alex is in therapy to deal with the incident at Morningside Elementary, she said. He second-guesses himself and his first questions with his new teacher were about how discipline is handled, she said. The lawsuit says Alex hides under a table when someone new comes to his home.

The lawsuit further claims retaliation against Melissa Barton because she spoke out when her then-5-year-old son Alex was voted out. The teacher’s union objected to Alex’s placement in a union member’s classroom and blocked Alex from transitioning to a different public school in St. Lucie County, according to the lawsuit.

The retaliation from the district and parents caused Barton to move her family to Martin County. She said she no longer feels safe in St. Lucie County.

Last school year, she filed a police report claiming another parent had threatened her while she attended a Morningside school program involving her oldest son. No charges were filed against the parent.

The lawsuit names the St. Lucie County Classroom Teachers’ Association as one of the defendants.

While the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, Barton and her attorneys say the lawsuit isn’t about money.

“This is a case about every child who attends school in Florida,” said Barton’s attorney Paul Sopp.

Sopp said the lawsuit focuses on the violation of Alex’s civil rights.

In May 2008, Alex’s teacher Wendy Portillo asked his classmates to vote as to whether he should be allowed back in the classroom. Alex was sent out of the classroom earlier because of behavior issues. As Alex stood in front of the room beside Portillo, students told him how his behavior made them feel. Alex then was voted out of the class, 14 to 2.

Alex, who since has been diagnosed with a form of autism, spent the day in the nurse’s office. It was his last day in a St. Lucie County public school classroom. Last year, Alex got homebound services from the district. This year, he started second grade in a private school.

Barton, who is the beginning of early labor with her third child, attended a news conference with her attorneys at their offices in West Palm Beach. She said she believed in defending her children, which she hoped would ultimately result in helping all children.

Portillo originally was suspended for one year and her tenure was revoked. Although an administrative law judge upheld Superintendent Michael Lannon’s recommendation, the School Board reversed itself and gave Portillo back her tenure. The one-year unpaid suspension ends in November.

Also named as defendants in the lawsuit are the St. Lucie County School Board, Lannon, former Morningside Elementary administrators Marcia Cully and Patricia Gascoigne, Portillo and exceptional student education director Bill Tomlinson.

School District spokeswoman Janice Karst said the district does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit alleges intentional discrimination, gross neglect and abuse and describes the voting incident as a “Survivor-style” vote, in reference to the reality TV show.

The lawsuit alleges school officials knew Alex had a probable disability and did not follow proper procedures.

The lawsuit alleges the voting incident resulted in Alex “suffering from severe emotional distress, feelings of self-worthless and withdrawal with (Alex’s) behavior beginning to spiral out of control.”

The suit states Alex would not sleep in his own bed and when he was in bed he was overheard saying “I’m not special” over and over. He also says things to himself such as “I’m an idiot” or “I’m stupid” and “I’m disgusting” over and over.

“Instead of an education based upon academics, (Alex) was given an education in bigotry and discrimination that will forever have a traumatizing effect on his life and the lives of those who knew him,” the lawsuit says.

Barton said Alex still remembers the vote and gets therapy to work through those issues. He talks about how people don’t like him, she said.

“It’s not going to disappear. This is something that is going to affect him the rest of his life,” she said.

Sopp said a victory in the case would help other students.

“What we’re trying to do is ensure that no one in the St. Lucie County School District is denied education based upon their disability,” Sopp said.

Nerve stimulation prosthesis helps those with MS

From The Desert Sun:

Talk about a troubling midlife crisis.

Pushing 50, Linda Barnard noticed subtle yet progressive bodily changes she knew weren't simply the inevitable result of time's ravages.

She'd squat to pick up something and find she had no strength in her quadriceps to get back up. She'd walk on the beach and suddenly get so fatigued she'd have to stop.

Strange, too, because the Sacramento resident had always been athletic, playing basketball as a youth and being a lifelong golfer.

The diagnosis, multiple sclerosis, hit Barnard hard.

As central nervous system damage brought on by the disease worsened over the past decade, walking became increasingly difficult. She saw her fitness level drop and her weight rise. The nerve controlling her right leg ceased to function, which resulted in a condition called drop foot.

She fell — often — breaking her ribs “too many times to mention” because she lacked proprioception — the sense of the position of her body in relation to the space around her. She had taken to using a cane.

“Just walking from the car to my house was a struggle,” said Barnard, a family therapist. “I'm going to be 60 in October, so falling is starting to be a real health issue.”

In the past four months, however, the falls have stopped, and Barnard's halting gait has vanished. It's all because of a wireless device strapped to her right calf, just below the knee, and another in the sole of her shoe, which send an electrical pulse to her peroneal nerve and stimulate muscles to properly lift the foot.

Her device is called the NESS L300, one of two wireless prosthetic stimulation aids on the market. The other is WalkAide, which uses similar technology with a few mechanical differences.

Both products received Food and Drug Administration approval in 2006 for use by patients with motor neuron injuries such as stroke, some spinal cord injuries and central nervous system diseases such as MS and cerebral palsy. It does not work with patients who have complete paralysis or severed nerves.

Both devices have been on the market for more than two years, but the $5,000 to $6,000 price tag and lack of most insurance companies' (including Medicare) coverage for the cost so far has limited widespread use.

Barnard found the closest rehabilitation center to Sacramento offering the product by Bioness Inc. was at Lodi Memorial Hospital.

Despite the cost, Barnard says her literal stimulus package is worth every penny.

“How can you put a price tag on being able to live your life the way you want to?” she asked. “For me, it was a no-brainer, even though my insurance wouldn't cover it and my neurologist wouldn't even write a prescription for it.”

Though the FDA has given the devices full approval, acceptance by the medical community at large has been slow.

Physical therapist Linda Muhlenkamp, Lodi Memorial's clinical coordinator, said she and her colleagues were initially skeptical about the efficacy of the device.

“When we first saw it, we thought, ‘This is pretty cool, but does it work?'” she said. “But we've found it works not only for patients with some ability to walk, but we're using it with patients who don't walk at all to try to retrain the muscles in hopes of resuming walking.”

Barnard also admits being skeptical. She had viewed promotional videos about the devices but wondered whether they “exaggerated claims and overdramatized it.” When she first tried the device, she was taken aback by its effectiveness.

Disability activists in Britain take their concerns to the Prime Minister

From Community Newswire in the UK:

Disability campaigners knocked on the Prime Minister's door August 27 to remind him that while he enjoys substantial support from many quarters in his everyday life, hundreds of thousands of disabled people in the UK do not.

The group of six campaigners, from national disability charity Scope, delivered a box containing thousands of postcards to Mr Brown, to highlight the acute need for more support to enable disabled people to live independently.

Campaigners are contrasting the substantial resources and entourage Gordon Brown has at his disposal to the lack of support experienced by the vast majority of disabled people who because of this, often cannot take part in everyday life activities.

Today's protest was part of a move to lobby the Prime Minister to support the Disabled Persons (Independent Living) Bill and call for more funding for local authorities to provide adequate support to disabled people.

One of the campaigners who went to Downing Street was Scope fundraiser Martyn Sibley. He said: "Many disabled people lack the support they need to participate in everyday life activities. Today was all about bringing to the attention of Gordon Brown, how vital the Independent Living Bill is to disabled people.

"I genuinely hope the Government will listen to, and act upon, the petition received today, making independent living a reality for all disabled people."

Rosemary Bolinger, a Scope trustee, mother and former nurse who has cerebral palsy, added: "Disabled people are simply not getting the support they need to lead their lives they want.

"While it may not always seem like it, Gordon actually has a lot of support - certainly in terms of staffing and resources. However, hundreds of thousands of disabled people in Britain have very little or no support to enable them to take part in everyday activities."

Campaigners will also be highlighting disabled people's concerns around the future of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA). They will be emphasising the vital support provided by these entitlements and how they should continue regardless of future reforms to the social care system proposed in a recently published Green Paper.

Rosemary added: "The Independent Living Bill must not be put to one side. This Bill is crucial if disabled people are to be able to live where they want and have more influence over many other major decisions that affect their lives."

The Disabled Persons (Independent Living) Bill is a Private Members' Bill introduced by Lord Ashley of Stoke and Roger Berry MP.

The Bill covers some of the issues addressed in the recently published Green Paper on social care such as greater personalisation of services. However, it goes further, looking beyond social care to issues such as housing and access to advice and information. It focuses on areas where radical improvements are needed if disabled people in the UK are to achieve greater independence and enjoy more choice and control in their lives.

A key area highlighted in the Bill is to make it unlawful to force a disabled person, against their will, to live in a care establishment or other institutional setting. Another is to place a duty on local authorities to provide a list of accessible housing, keep a record of disabled people requiring such properties and provide a matching service.

The Bill, which also seeks to establish disabled people's right to accessible information about the support and services they receive, was introduced in December 2008. It has gone through the House of Lords and is due for a Second Reading debate in the House of Commons on October 16 2009.

Scope is a national disability organisation, with a focus on children and adults with cerebral palsy and people living with other severe and complex impairments. Scope's Time to Get Equal campaign aims to raise awareness about the barriers disabled people face. To find out more about the campaign visit: www.timetogetequal.org.uk.

Maryland disabled people confront governor over budget cuts that they say will hurt disability programs

From WJLA-TV. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is pictured.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Two brothers fighting cerebral palsy say Md.'s budget cuts could make life tough for them and people like them.

Aaron Kaufman has watched the state budget cutting process more closely than most. He was born with cerebral palsy, so was his older brother, Jay.

Kaufman says that possibly every Marylander with a developmental disability is going to suffer because of the cuts approved in Annapolis.

"It's hard to fathom every consequence because the decisions have just come down...but it promises to be dire," Kaufman said.

Among the 450 million trimmed from Maryland's budget, in addition to employee layoffs and furloughs, are funds for the Developmental Disabilities Administration.

Aaron says day programs and groups homes like the one where his more severely affected brother live will suffer.

"The governor's decision today cuts those wonderful group homes, those miracle workers that give them a since of dignity every day," he said.

Kaufman, who has graduated Magna Cum Laude from Montgomery College and starts this week at the University of Maryland, fears that the 19,0000 Marylanders with disabilities now waiting for day or residential programs may never get in, leaving aging parents as the primary caregivers.

"I have come to the sad conclusion that the governor doesn't feel people with disabilities are a priority," he said.

Judge denies advocacy group's bid to prevent pregnant women from receiving flu vaccines with thimerosal

From The AP:

WASHINGTON — A judge on August 26 denied an advocacy group's bid to prevent the government from giving pregnant women flu vaccines with a preservative that contains mercury.

Leaders of the Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs say their effort took on a new urgency when a government advisory committee recently recommended that pregnant women be among the first people to get swine flu vaccinations when the vaccine becomes available this fall.

A small amount of the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal is in most influenza shots, including swine flu vaccines, but some are produced thimerosal-free. The coalition argued that pregnant women should only get the thimerosal-free version because of a risk that the mercury in the shot could poison a fetus and cause medical problems, including autism.

But U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled against the group's request for a preliminary injunction because he said the group couldn't prove that pregnant women they represent would get vaccines containing thimerosal.

Walton said he would consider further written arguments in the next month about whether the lawsuit can continue.

Thimerosal used to be used in a number of vaccines, but manufacturers began removing the preservative from all routine child vaccines in 2001 as a precaution. But numerous large studies have shown no link between thimerosal and autism, or other health problems.

British 9-year-old becomes the youngest person there to receive sign language qualification

From The Telegraph in the UK:

A nine year-old girl, Tayla Reynolds (pictured), has become one of the youngest in Britain to gain a sign language qualification so she could communicate better with her hearing impaired mother.

The youngster successfully learnt more than 600 gestures in British Sign Language because she wanted to communicate better with her mother Debbie.

It is thought she has become the youngest person in Britain to complete the Level 1 British Sign Language tests.

The youngster, who does not have any deaf friends at school, undertook lessons with 14 adults during a 23 week course.

Tayla asked to study it after watching her mother, 35, practise it in the mirror.

Mrs Reynolds, who is hearing impaired, has difficulty hearing Tayla and younger daughter Natasha, eight, who is due to start a similar course next week.

Tayla has appeared on 'This Morning', voiced a character in ITV animated show 'Creature Comforts' and finished in sixth place in the international Linguist of the Year competition.

Tayla, who attends St. Paul's primary pupil in Blackburn, Lancs, said: "I saw my mum practising in the mirror one day and it looked like something really fun to do.

''The lessons were really hard but it's a good feeling to know I can help people chat with each other.

"My favourite sign is the one for blue where you point towards the veins on your wrist due to their colour. I think that's really clever."

Lessons will begin again next month for the Level 2 certificate which could make Tayla fluent enough to become an interpreter.

Her mother, who operates the School of Sign Language in Blackburn, said: "I'm extremely proud of my daughter and its wonderful to see her saying 'I love you' in sign language.

"I only wish I'd started learning at her age. If I had begun then I'd have been fully trained by the time I was 20.

"When I was a young girl I was hard of hearing but there was no way that I would admit or except it. I didn't want to be different so I would try to cover it up.

"Now with every person who passes the tests, we get closer to getting rid of the horrible label I had to live with, growing up deaf and dumb."

She said for children such as her daughter learning sign language helps with their school work because they learn how to finger spell.

''She has been coming home with 10/10 for her spelling exams," she said.

"I have a lot of deaf friends, I am hard of hearing but not deaf. When the girls shout to me from upstairs I can't hear them so they have to come down to me.

British Sign Language was recognised by the government as an official language in 2004.

The language in its modern form, however, can be traced back to Charles-Michel de Epée, who founded the first public school for deaf children in Paris.

A spokesman for society the British Deaf Association said: "We would like to congratulate Tayla on achieving her BSL level 1 at such a young age."

British Sign Language, used by the majority of Britain's deaf population, has between seventy thousand and a quarter of a million speakers.