Knoxville, Tenn., school program provides socialization classes for students with Asperger's

From The Knoxville News:

The praying mantis ate all the cicada except for its legs, just like 8-year-old Baylor McCubbin said it would.

He told his grandmother Lynn Oravitz the mantis would do this and then he experimented.

Baylor's love of bugs, gemstones and discovery led Oravitz and her family to find some way to indulge his knack for science.

Their answer came at the beginning of the school year when Jeff Knox spoke to parents at Baylor's school, St. John Neumann Catholic School, about a new program.

Knox, an adapted physical education teacher for the Knox County school system, began School Support in September to offer after-school enrichment classes in science, math and art for kids across the county who excel academically.

"The end of the day is 3 o'clock, and a lot of kids are wanting more," Knox said. "Kids who are very good athletes, there is a lot to choose from."

Students who have a talent for music also have activities.

But Knox asks what about the kid who loves doing math problems or building things or picking up strange bugs? He said there wasn't much offered in Knox County.

"There is a lot for remedial, but not for the student who loves science so much," Knox said. "My brother was identified as someone who excelled at math and science at an early age, but he had the same classes as everyone else."

Since the fall, about 30 kids from several different schools have joined Knox's classes, which run weekly for an hour. They cost about $25 for the hour, and teachers around the district who have the same passion for a subject teach them. Each class has only six students.

School Support also offers a socialization class for students with Asperger's syndrome, which Knox also felt was needed. Asperger's is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction.

The classes are for third- through fifth-graders, but Knox hopes to bring them to middle school students in the future.

They are taught at St. John Neumann, because that is where Knox found space to hold the classes.

He knew the principal, Bill Derbyshire, and went to church there. He said Derbyhire had been looking for the same type of program.

Baylor recently bragged to Derbyshire about getting to "blow something up" as soon as the classes start back after the first of the year.

During the exploratory science class, students learn to work and think like real scientists. They design their own experiments based on their own questions and don't just follow directions. The experiments are catered to each child's interests.

"Three students will be doing a chemistry experiment while the other three are doing ecology, picking leaves out back," Knox said.

In advanced placement art, students learn painting, drawing and ceramics, but after the first of the year they will choose their favorite medium to complete a project that Knox hopes to submit to contests.

The advanced math and science class combines the two subjects just like they are linked in a laboratory or engineering firm.

"In our education society, we wait until after high school graduation to specialize, but we can identify children's strengths as early as kindergarten or first grade," Knox said. "We should steer their education toward their strengths and interests instead of everyone fitting the same mold."

He said the district has a great curriculum, teachers and programs, but he wanted to do something to support the curriculum and enrich students who wanted it.

Teachers only have seven and a half hours in the day, Knox said.

"The same as the basketball player who wants to make the team or the music student who wants to make first chair in the band, they find the resources, classes and people to help them get there," Knox said. "I am providing that academically."

During socialization class, which Knox admits is different than the others, students learn how to look people in the eye and compete fairly, along with other life skills.

"These kids don't learn socialization through observation," Knox said. "Kids with Asperger's can learn it, but you need to do it directly."

Knox hopes to offer School Support at another location in the future.

Baylor, who takes the science and math courses, is making concoctions and learning short cuts for math problems. It's made him more comfortable with math and given him an outlet for his curiosity, Oravitz said.

"He is learning so much," Oravitz said. "There's been a number of things he really, really enjoyed. It has expanded his excitement about science."

Facebook helps reunite wheelchair user and his service dog

From WOFL-TV:

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The search for a dog who is more than just man's best friend ended happily Tuesday night thanks to a posting on Facebook.

A Golden Retriever named Bentley and a Rottweiler named Toby went missing the day after Christmas and their owners feared the worst.

Bentley, a service dog from New Horizons Service Dogs , is literally the eyes and ears for Russell White who is wheelchair bound. Toby is a rescue dog and his owners say the two dogs are like their children.

A woman found them and posted their pictures on Facebook and soon White and his fiancé got the happy reunion they were hoping for.

Trainers say it costs up to $20,000.00 to raise and train service dogs like Bentley.

A civil war within psychiatry that is the DSM-5

From NPR:

The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, or DSM, updated roughly every 15 years, has detailed descriptions of all the mental disorders officially recognized by psychiatry. It's used by psychiatrists, insurance companies, drug researchers, the courts and even schools.

But it's not without controversy: The proposed changes suggested this year have sparked a kind of civil war within psychiatry.

In a small condo on the beach in San Diego lives Allen Frances, who blames himself for what he calls the "Epidemic of Asperger's." Frances edited the last edition of the DSM, and he's also the new DSM's most prominent critic.

Frances is the one who put the word Asperger's in the DSM in the first place, thereby making it an official mental disorder.

In the editions before Frances was editor, there was an entry for autism, but it was defined by severe symptoms. Frances says doctors felt the diagnosis for autism didn't cover a more mild disorder they were actually encountering.

"Pediatricians and child psychiatrists would see kids who could talk but who had social discomfort — severe social discomfort — and awkwardness and a very restricted and impairing level of interests and activities, and they wanted a diagnosis for this," Frances says.

A study was done to figure out how common Asperger's was, and the results were clear: It was vanishingly rare. Then Frances put it in the DSM, and the number of kids diagnosed with the disorder exploded. Frances remembers sitting in his condo reading articles about this new epidemic of Asperger's that was sweeping the nation.

"At that point I did an 'oops,' " he says. "This is a complete misunderstanding. It was distressing. Quite distressing."

It's not that Frances doesn't think that Asperger's exists and is a real problem for some people; he does. But he also believes the diagnosis is now radically overused in a way that he and his colleagues never intended. And why, in his view, did Asperger's explode? Primarily, Frances says, because schools created a strange unintentional incentive.

"In order to get specialized services, often one-to-one education, a child must have a diagnosis of Asperger's or some other autistic disorder," he says.

"And so kids who previously might have been considered on the boundary, eccentric, socially shy, but bright and doing well in school would mainstream [into] regular classes," Frances says. "Now if they get the diagnosis of Asperger's disorder, [they] get into a special program where they may get $50,000 a year worth of educational services."

Frances worried this might cause a misallocation of school resources. And Frances points to another change he made — which, for him, has had even more disturbing consequences. Essentially, Frances and his colleagues made it much easier to get a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. And he says that created this incredible opportunity for drug companies.

"Drug companies got indications for treating bipolar disorder," Frances says. "Not just with mood stabilizers, but also with the newer antipsychotic drugs. And they began very intensive ubiquitous advertising campaigns. So the rates of bipolar disorder doubled. And lots of people got way too much antipsychotic and mood stabilizing medicines. And these aren't safe drugs."

And for Frances, the lesson of these experiences is clear. Once you put a new diagnosis in the DSM, there is no controlling what will happen to it. So there's only one thing to do:

"Anticipate the worst. If something can be misused, it will be misused," Frances says. "If diagnosis can lead to overdiagnosis and overtreatment, that will happen. So you need to be very, very cautious in making changes that may open the door for a flood of fad diagnoses."

As far as Frances is concerned, the new DSM is proposing too many diagnoses that are written in too broad a way, meaning that ultimately a huge number of new people will be categorized as mentally ill.

William Carpenter, one of the people behind the new DSM, disagrees. Carpenter works with the sickest of the sick at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. And from where he sits, this issue of overdiagnosis is a minor affair.

All around the waiting room of his office, people suffering from psychotic disorders sit in thick clothing, eyes wide, staring silently. These are the people Carpenter sees day after day — people whose problems have been misidentified and mistreated for years. That's why one of the changes Carpenter has proposed for the new DSM is a diagnosis he thinks will help identify people with psychosis when they are in the very earliest stages of their disease, long before they ever get to his waiting room.

"If it identifies a lot of people who otherwise would not be identified, then I would think that would be a positive good," Carpenter says.

Carpenter believes that putting this new diagnosis in the new DSM will prompt research, which ultimately could produce effective treatments.

"So there's a potential very positive benefit," he says. "It's possible that it can make a remarkable difference in the long-term trajectory of their life."

The final draft of the DSM-5 won't be published until 2013. In the meantime, people like Allen Frances will agitate for the number of diagnoses and their scope to be reduced. And the small group of people in charge will face the difficult question of what to put in — and what to leave out.

Florida school begins program to give iPads to autistic preschoolers

From UPI:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- U.S. researchers say iPads may aid learning among preschool children with autism.

Researchers at Nova Southeastern University's Mailman Segal Institute in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., have started a program to supply new iPads to the university's Baudhuin Preschool -- a provider of services to children with autism spectrum disorders.

"Autism is a lifelong disability that affects the way children communicate and relate to others and the world around them," Roni Leiderman, dean of the institute said in a statement. "We are grateful for the incredible generosity and support of our donors, who are responsible for the success of this initiative."

The preschool's 18 classrooms will be equipped in 2011 with iPads -- tablet computers made by Apple -- with applications, like Proloquo2Go, designed for those with special needs.

The researchers say the iPads will be used to provide an alternative means of communication with teachers for children with communication challenges.

Maryland center for people with intellectual disabilities sees drop in clients over the years

From The Cumberland Times-News in Md.:

CUMBERLAND, Md. -— The Joseph D. Brandenburg Center isn’t closing, but the number of people who live there and use the services offered at the center has declined rapidly over the past dozen years.

The numbers seem startling — 15 years ago, the Brandenburg Center helped 57 intellectually disabled residents at the center; today that number is down to eight. The decline has nothing to do with the quality of care, transfers to another facility or changes in the number of intellectually disabled people in the population, said Cathy Marshall, the CEO of the Brandenburg Center and the Potomac Center in Hagerstown. Instead, the declining numbers reflect changes in law, public policy and attitudes toward the disabled, she said.

“Admissions are very few and far between,” Marshall said. “Nothing is a cookie-cutter anymore. It’s person-centered planning.” Karen Black, the director of public relations for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which runs the Brandenburg Center, confirmed that there are no plans to close the center in response to an inquiry by the Times-News.

Both state-owned centers serve the intellectually disabled, who in the past might have been classified as mentally retarded. The centers represent an older notion of caring for the intellectually disabled, which is institutionalization in a 24/7 living facility, Marshall said. Nationwide, the number of government-run care facilities for the intellectually disabled is in free-fall, Marshall said, because institutionalization is being abandoned as a long-term solution for the disabled. Instead, individuals stay with their families, in an assisted-living facility or live on their own.

Most of the people who live at Brandenburg and Potomac are people with both intellectual limitations and mental illness and are placed in a facility by a court order, she said. “It’s not a lifelong thing anymore,” she said.

“Any time you are living with family, with support, there is much more freedom,” she said. “The focus is quality of life and a more fulfilling life.”

Eight states and the District of Columbia no longer operate institutions for the intellectually disabled and the average daily population at such facilities across the country has dropped from 131,345 in 1980 to 33,682 in 2009. That’s a 74 percent drop, according to a study by the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota, Marshall said.

In 1960, there were 354 large state institutions; by 2008, the number was down to 162, she said, citing the same study. Brandenburg has followed the national trend. In 1995, there were 57 residents; by the turn of the century the number was 43; and that number was halved to 20 by 2006, said Marshall.

The changes were driven by two factors, said Marshall. In 1978, federal law was changed to guarantee every child, regardless of disability, a public school education. A second change was a movement that also began in the 1970s, spearheaded both by families who wanted to keep their disabled children at home, and changes in thinking about the best way to help the intellectually disabled lead full lives.

This meant it made more sense for intellectually disabled children to stay at home and attend local schools and that adults with mental disabilities should be allowed to make choices about their own lives when possible, Marshall said. Funding moved away from institutions to families of children with disabilities and to the disabled themselves once they reach adulthood.

Oversight exists to protect people who live outside state institutions, Marshall said. The state Office of Healthcare Quality makes regular site visits to the places where intellectually disabled individuals live either with families, on their own or in alternative living arrangements. The alternative living arrangements often involve several individuals in the same home or apartment building.

Since Brandenburg needs fewer employees than previously, some positions were eliminated over the past few years by attrition. Layoffs also occurred about a year and a half ago, said Marshall. Brandenburg now has 18 staff members and about a dozen contract workers. The Potomac Center has 130 full-time staff and 54 residents. There is no plan to move the residents at Brandenburg to Potomac, she said.

Brandenburg’s staff is excellent and their reviews by the Office of Healthcare Quality have been deficiency-free, she said, which means the center is 100 percent in compliance with state and federal standards.

That’s no surprise to Delegate Kevin Kelly, who said that when he once toured Brandenburg with then-Gov. William Donald Schaefer, that Schaefer had “tears running down his cheeks” as he observed the love and compassion with which staff treated the individuals they served. “The level and quality of care was unsurpassed,” said Kelly.

Empty space at the center is being used for a school for autistic children operated by the Sheppard Pratt Health System, which is not run by the state, Marshall said.

How to plan for college when you have a learning disability

From U.S. News & World Report:

Most of the 3 percent or so of teens who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities struggle so much in high school that they give up on hopes of college, setting back their job and career prospects, according to statistics compiled by the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

But there are reasons for hope for anyone with attention deficit disorder, dyslexia or other common learning challenges. College admissions officers and learning disability counselors recommend these steps:

Start preparing early: Many students, parents and high school officials think struggling students should be shifted to easier classes. But starting freshman year, anyone hoping for college should try to stick with college prep classes, says Dianne Rogers, director of learning differences at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa.

"Avoid the temptation to retreat to lower track classes," she says. College courses are hard. Students who have been waived from high school algebra and other tough courses probably don't have the knowledge or skills to be admitted to four-year colleges. Those who skip rigorous classes in high school could have to spend a couple of years in remedial courses in community college, she says.

Experiment with technology: From simple spell check and calendar software programs to dictation software, screen readers and high-tech recording pens, there's a growing abundance of tools to help students retain information and finish homework on time, says Rogers.

Be creative: Students who can't succeed in some required courses can seek substitutes. For example, those whose learning disability makes it hard to keep up in foreign language classes could switch to something like American Sign Language, says Nancy Singer, assistant director for admissions and recruitment for the Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques Center at the University of Arizona.

Put the student in charge: High schools develop special learning plans for students with documented disabilities, but colleges don't typically provide any special help unless students — not parents — know exactly what they need and know how to ask for it. "Students have to be ready to have an adult conversation about what they need," such as note takers or special software, says Jane Daigneault, coordinator of disability services at Clark University in Worcester, Ma.

Research college options: Be sure the college fits the student's learning style. Singer recommends "The K&W Guide to Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder" ($29.99) and "Preparing Students With Disabilities for College Success" (Paul H. Brookes, $34.95).

Wheelchair user sues businesses in Selma, Alabama, for ADA violations

From The Selma Enterprise:

Five Selma businesses have been sued by a wheelchair-bound man who says the businesses broke a federal law because they lack proper restrooms and parking spaces, plus other accommodations for the handicapped. The lawsuits were filed against Foster's Freeze, the Mostly 99 Cent and Discount Cigarettes store, Bitter Properties, Town and Country grocery store and McCall Village Investors Corp.

It's not known whether other Selma businesses have been sued. McCall Village Investors Corp. owns the shopping center at McCall and Dinuba avenues where Town and Country operated before it recently closed. Bitter Properties owns part of the shopping center at McCall and Rose avenues where the 99 Cent store is located.

Some of the Selma businesses have committed to spend thousands of dollars to settle the lawsuits out of court and make changes to satisfy the federal law, the Americans with Disabilities Act. Others are considering whether to fight the lawsuits.

One business owner calls the suits "legalized extortion."

The man filing the lawsuits, Fernando Rubio, is represented by the Moore Law Firm of San Jose. Rubio got polio when he was 9 months old and has been confined to a wheelchair for more than 30 years, according to the lawsuits.

The lawsuits don't say where Rubio lives, and the Moore Law Firm did not return two phones call seeking comment.

That firm is reportedly involved with similar lawsuits against businesses in other Valley towns, including Fresno, Clovis and Reedley. A Reedley newspaper reported in November that the Bobby Salazar's restaurant in Reedley closed after a lawsuit was filed against it for alleged violations of the disabilities act.

Settling the lawsuits out of court is common sense, said Jessie Wright of Torrance, owner of McCall Village Investors: "It's the same as speeding. When you get caught, you have to pay the ticket."

Wright and Ben Park -- owner of the Foster's Freeze -- say there's no point in fighting the lawsuits because there are no loopholes in the disabilities act. Congress passed the act in 1990 to prohibit discrimination against people with handicaps.

Wright and Park said getting into a legal battle will only cost them more money, and they'll lose in the end anyway.

Wright settled the lawsuit out of court for an undisclosed amount of money and Park said he's in the process doing the same thing.

Wright said the settlement agreement he signed prohibits him from saying how much he paid. However, he said, the amount is less than the $100,000-plus originally sought in the lawsuit.

Some of the alleged violations in the parking lot at Wright's shopping center are spelled out in exacting detail in the lawsuit. It states, for example, that each handicapped parking space isn't identified by "the correctly reflectorized sign permanently posted immediately adjacent to and visible from each stall or space, consisting of a profile of the International Symbol of Accessibility in white on a dark blue background."

The lawsuit also cites several alleged violations in Town and Country's restroom, including this one: "The top of the toilet seat is less than 17"-19" from floor surface measured to the top of a maximum 2"-high toilet seat."

Wright said he will spend about $25,000 on the parking lot and that Town and Country -- even though it's closed -- is responsible for improving the restroom. Town and Country was still open when the lawsuit was filed. However, Wright said, "to the best of my knowledge" the store didn't close because of the lawsuit.

Town and Country owner Phil Lowe blamed the bad economy for the store closing. He could not be reached to comment for this story.

Wright, who has owned the shopping center since February, said he didn't know the center's parking lot or Town and Country's restroom violated the disabilities act.

In fact, he had the parking lot resealed and restriped in the last year, but that work didn't satisfy the act, he said.

No other businesses in the shopping center at McCall and Dinuba were named in the lawsuit. "Everything else is in compliance," Wright said.

He refuses to get angry or emotional about the lawsuit or its cost even though the expense is not covered by the insurance he had when the suit was filed.

Park (Foster's Freeze) feels differently. "If I didn't say I was angry, I would be lying. But I have to deal with it instead of staying angry," he said.

Park bought the Foster's Freeze -- which he said was built in 1964 -- in 2005. He believed the building was exempt from the disabilities act, which was incorrect.

Park said the lawsuit originally wanted about $200,000, but he will pay "significantly less" by settling out of court. His insurance won't cover the cost.

Park estimated he will spend an additional $30,000 to make changes in the building because of the lawsuit. The changes include making the handicapped space in his parking lot bigger, repainting the space and installing three signs about violators and related issues.

He also plans to lower a portion of his indoor and outdoor counters and convert two small restrooms with narrow doorways into a larger, unisex restroom to accommodate people in wheelchairs.

Park said he will have two years to make the changes.

He added that none of his regular customers who are handicapped had complained about the building. "Anything we can do to accommodate them, we are already trying to do," Park said.

Meanwhile, Robert Bitter -- who owns a portion of the McCall-Rose shopping center -- is weighing whether to fight the lawsuit (he's the one who calls it "legalized extortion").

Bitter faces a number of alleged violations about the center's parking lot, including the absence of a warning sign that lists the penalty for parking in handicapped spaces. He said he made improvements to the lot shortly before the lawsuit was filed that he believed would satisfy all laws.

Bitter -- who was born in Selma and graduated from Selma High in 1956 -- has hired an attorney for advice.

Parmjt Singh at the 99 Cent store referred questions about the lawsuit to Bitter. The suit said violations in the store included aisles that aren't wide enough, but Bitter said Singh has corrected the problem.

Officials at Selma City Hall have tried to help business owners by having two free workshops on how to meet requirements of the disabilities act. One piece of advice: Business owners should hire a certified access specialist to write a plan showing what changes would be made to comply with the act.

Such a plan provides business owners with some protection. If they get sued, they might not be responsible for the other side's attorney fees for the first 90 days of the suit, said Rebecca Hellwig of Lars Andersen & Associates of Fresno. Some lawyers charge about $400 an hour so the 90-day exemption could result in a big savings, Hellwig said.

New book follows British blind man's travels around the world

From The Evening Post in Bristol, UK:

When it comes to venturing around the globe, many would be nervous of tackling the world's most exotic regions as a lone traveller – but Tony Giles takes a life of solo travelling in his stride, despite being blind.

The 32-year-old, from Weston-super-Mare, has spent the past decade travelling to places such as America, South-East Asia, Africa, Australia and every corner of Europe, despite losing his sight at the age of 18, and also suffering substantial hearing loss.

"I just love travelling," says Tony, who has published a travelogue, Seeing The World My Way.

"People often ask why a blind person would want to travel the world when you can't see anything when you get there. It is a good question from a sighted-person's perspective, but travelling is about more than just seeing beautiful scenery, it is about engaging with a new place with all your senses – meeting the people, tasting the food – the sounds, the smells, the atmosphere – I can take it all in."

Tony was diagnosed at a young age with cone dystrophy, a rare degenerative eye condition, and photophobia, an extreme sensitivity to light. He maintained some vision until the age of 18 when he lost all sight except for his ability to recognise bright sunlight.

At the age of six, Tony also developed nerve sensory hearing loss that has progressively worsened over time.

Despite this, Tony gained an American studies degree from Northampton University in 2001 and a masters degree in Transatlantic studies from Birmingham University in 2003.

It was while studying the culture of the United States that he had his first real opportunity of solo travelling.

"For part of my degree course I went over and studied in South Carolina," he says. "It was while I was there that I decided to take a trip by myself – to New Orleans. I had a fantastic time. I used to drink quite a lot – like many students – and I discovered that it didn't take me too long to make friends in the city's bars."

Indeed, Tony pulls no punches in his book – confidently telling of near-the-knuckle experiences for any traveller, ranging from numerous drunken stupors, to an indulgent evening spent in a brothel while travelling through New Zealand.

"I'm very honest about everything that's happened to me," he explains. "And I'm lucky enough to have a particularly good memory.

"I don't keep a diary when I'm travelling, but I remember things so well, I don't need to. I think my memory is simply so well-exercised during the normal course of my daily life, it tends to work better than most people's memory. When you're blind, you rely entirely on memory to know where everything is in your house."

Since leaving university, Tony has spent most of his time travelling abroad – living frugally, and surviving on a modest legacy left to him by his late father.

"I love getting out there and meeting new people around the world – you're never alone for long," he says. "People are always fascinated by the way I travel alone, but for me it's the only way. I'm a very independent person.

"When I was growing up I went to boarding schools where there were lots of disabled children who had far more debilitating conditions than me, so from a very early age I decided I wouldn't let my lack of sight and poor hearing stop me from doing things.

"It's remarkably easy to find your way around, even when you're blind. You know when you've got to a tourist attraction, because you can hear all the tourists.

"People are generally happy to speak English everywhere, and strangers have always been incredibly helpful."

But if the solo travelling wasn't adventurous enough, while making his way through New Zealand in 2001, Tony had his first experience of bungee jumping.

"I thought I should give it a try, and I loved it," he says. "I have the distinct advantage of not being able to see the ground. But it's still such an attack on the senses to feel yourself dropping down through the air. It is a great exercise in trusting people though," he adds. "Because I have to take their word for it that they have attached the rope.

"But I was delighted that I did it. In fact, it was such a thrill, I've done more than a dozen jumps since."

■ Seeing The World My Way, by Tony Giles, is out now, published by Silverwood Books, priced £8.99. It is also currently being translated into Braille, and will be available through the RNIB next year.

To keep up-to-date with Tony's world travels, follow his blog at www.tonythetraveller.com.

Disabled filmmaker in Australia named national finalist in short film competition

From The West Australian:

Proving disability is no barrier to creativity, wheelchair-bound Fitzroy Crossing man Aquinas Crowe (pictured) has been named a national finalist in the short film competition Reel Australia.

Run by the Australia Day Council of NSW, the competition asked entrants to visually articulate in two minutes their ideas about who we are as a nation.

In his short film, Crowe, 25, pondered what the "real Australia" meant as simple scenes of his life played out, such as rolling through the pindan in his wheelchair and hanging out with elders, his cousin and children.

"I'm a proud man to have two languages," he said. "My culture is really important - for me to learn how to speak my language, to learn my kids and to learn their kids.

"What is Australia? For all the people to come together, learn their cultures, learn how to look after your country and look after all the people who come from overseas."

In 2006, Crowe was identified as an emerging talent after winning a $3000 Healthway scholarship to develop his skills in Perth.

The winning Reel Australia film will screen at Australia Day events across the nation after the victor is announced on January 23.

In naming him a finalist, the judges said Crowe showed a "rare openness" in reflecting on his experience of Australia.

Funeral arrangements for Paraquad founder Max Starkloff announced

Funeral Arrangements for Max D. Starkloff (pictured) will be Tuesday, January 4th 2010 at 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. The Funeral Mass will be at St Francis Xavier College Church at Saint Louis University, 3628 Lindell Boulevard, Saint Louis, MO 63108

The public is welcome. Accommodations for individuals with disabilities: Sign Language Interpreters; Ramped entrance from Grand Avenue to lower level of Church and elevator up to Church; designated seating for people with mobility disabilities.

People with mobility disabilities are encouraged to arrive at the church between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. to allow time to get up into the Church.

Visitation immediately following mass until 2:30 p.m. Wool Ballroom on the lower level of the Busch Student Center (across the street from Church), 20 N. Grand Blvd. St. Louis, Mo. 63103, 314-977-2222.

Refreshments will be served. A private internment ceremony will follow.

The National Council on Independent Living honored Starkloff on its blog:

The Independent Living Movement celebrates the life and achievement of one of its greatest leaders. Our dear friend Max Starkloff passed away early Dec. 27 due to complications with the flu, however his legacy of caring and fight for civil rights has changed the face of a nation, and helped America define what independence means in the 21st century.

Max was a giant in the Movement and embodied the spirit of independence and determination. He co-founded Paraquad with his wife Colleen in 1970, and established it as one of the original 10 federally funded Independent Living Centers in the nation. Max would later go on to establish the Starkloff Disability Institute in 2003 with his wife Colleen.

He served as the first president of the National Council on Independent Living from 1983 through 1985. In 2007 on the 25th anniversary of NCIL, then NCIL President Kelly Buckland honored Max's cumulative work and contribution to the Movement by dedicating an award in his name: The Max Starkloff Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is given to recognize people for a lifetime of achievement in the Independent Living Movement. Max has served in numerous critical positions and has received several awards for his work, including:

-- President's Distinguished Service Award - President George H. W. Bush
-- Community Leadership Award - Leadership St. Louis;
-- Commissioner's Distinguished Service Award - Rehabilitation Services
Administration, Washington, DC;
-- Mayor's Arch Award for leadership in disability rights - St. Louis, Mo.
-- Annual Civic Service Award - Maryville University
-- Human Rights Award - United Nations Association, St. Louis, MO;
-- Humanitarian Award - Human Development Corporation, St. Louis, MO;
-- St. Louis Award;
-- Sold on St. Louis Award;
-- Sword of Ignatius Loyola Award, St. Louis University's highest honor, St. Louis, MO.
-- Missourian Award - Missouri Hall of Fame;
-- Doctor of Humane Letters - Webster University, St. Louis, MO
-- Doctor of Humane Letters, University of Missouri, St. Louis, MO.
-- Recognized by National Council on the Handicapped and St. Louis Unit of
NASW.
-- "Max Starkloff Lifetime Achievement Award" - National Council on Independent Living, Washington, D.C.
-- St. Louis Walk of Fame, Induction, June 20, 2008

Max lives on through his important work, in our hearts, and especially through his wife Colleen and their children. He will forever be considered as part of the soul of the Movement, and will be remembered in the pages of American history as a civil rights icon.

Dec. 28 NCIL celebrates our brother Max as a pioneer and soldier in America's fight for equality. Max Starkloff will be dearly missed, and will never be forgotten. Please send memories you have about Max to austin to be shared at his funeral services. As we get more details about the services we will forward those on to you.@ncil.org

The family has requested that in lieu of flowers people make donations to the Max Starkloff Disability Institute at:

The Starkloff Disability Institute
133 S. 11th Street, Suite 500
St. Louis, MO 63102

Cards and correspondence should be addressed to:

4446 Laclede Avenue
Saint Louis, Missouri 63108

Deaf artist from Malaysia creates TIME's cover this week

From The Star in Malaysia:

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia --- The man behind WikiLeaks may not have been TIME magazine’s pick for Person of the Year, but he has indirectly helped “expose” the work of a Malaysian artist to millions worldwide.

New York-based deaf artist Leon Lim’s portrait artwork of Internet activist Julian Assange appears on TIME’s latest issue (Dec 27-Jan3), which recognises individuals or groups who made the news over the past year.

Lim, who has never met Assange, used the text of a leaked cable to create a “new” face for the Australian journalist who has turned the diplomatic world upside down by exposing government secrets through his whistleblowing website.

He spent three days making six different versions and sent a copy of his “transformative work” to the magazine early this month.

“I wanted to share my thoughts on why Assange should be the person of the year. I certainly didn’t expect to see my portrait of him in print as the magazine has its own design team for artwork,” Lim said in an e-mail interview from Manhattan.

The dramatic portrait (pictured) apparently caught the eye of the magazine’s managing editor Richard Stengel, who recommended that it be used with an article on Assange.

Assange, who has become the world’s most talked about man in recent weeks, was third runner-up in the magazine’s list of newsmakers but emerged as Readers’ Choice in a poll conducted by TIME.

Lim was a bit disappointed that Assange was not the top pick of the magazine’s editors but was nonetheless happy that the award went to another big Internet name — Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

While he admired Zuckerberg for helping to connect people around the world, he praised Assange for his courage in exposing government secrets to “set things right”.

Getting his work published in TIME is a dream realised for Lim, who has been reading the magazine since he was 11.

The artist has been deaf since birth.

“As a kid who never heard any sound or music, I was always attracted to the magazine’s bold colours, pictures and graphics,” he said.

Lim, who left his Alor Setar hometown for the Big Apple 11 years ago on an art scholarship, has made a name for himself, having held several exhibitions in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Last year, he was one of 17 artists featured in the calendar for the Mayor of New York City.

Lim’s public art installations, which explore socio-political and cultural themes, have been exhibited at the World Financial Center in New York, the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul and CAFA Art Museum in Beijing.

People with disabilities in NJ face major cuts in SSI

From The Star-Ledger in N.J. In the picture, Raymond Mendenko, right, talks to his grandson Ian Davis, 5, left, at his home in Wrightstown on Thursday. Next month, elderly and disabled residents will have their Supplemental Security Income checks reduced due to state budget cuts. Raymond Mendenko, who lives in a trailer with his wife Debbie, is unable to work due to a spinal cord injury. His SSI checks will be reduced from $350 to $96 a month.

TRENTON — When head trauma from a car accident left Lorraine Bordo unable to work as a real estate agent, she turned to the government for help. For almost two decades, she has received Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, which helps the elderly and the disabled make ends meet.

But now that help is drying up. Bordo is one of about 5,970 New Jerseyans whose SSI payments will be cut next month because the state eliminated $6.7 million in subsidies. The average cut per person is $209 monthly.

"I can’t pay my mortgage; I don’t have enough money," said Bordo, 63, of Berkeley Township. "I’m going to be in foreclosure. My whole check was going to my mortgage payment."

Supplemental Security Income, a federal program run by the Social Security Administration and handled by the Department of Human Services in New Jersey, includes both federal and state payments. Years ago, the federal government reduced benefits to couples when one of the spouses is ineligible for SSI benefits, said Nicole Brossoie, a spokeswoman for Human Services. So New Jersey decided to cover the gap with state money.

But when state officials faced an $11 billion shortfall while patching together this year’s budget, they decided to reduce the state supplement. It’s another example of how the state’s budget crisis has imperiled safety nets for the poor and elderly.

"A review of surrounding states’ supplement programs revealed that none appeared to have a ‘couples with ineligible spouse’ option," Brossoie said. "Therefore, as New Jersey faced a mounting budget crisis, the reduced supplement to this category of SSI was among many difficult choices made by the department in order to sustain other direct services."

Senate Budget Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) said it shows how some funding cuts are only being felt months after the budget was approved in the summer.

"This was a group of folks who did not realize they were being squeezed," he said. "The worst thing is, it affects some of our most vulnerable citizens."

In New Jersey, 170,520 people are expected to receive SSI payments in the current fiscal year, a 4 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. Because of the increased caseload, the state is required to pay 3.2 percent more, or $21.15 million, to the federal government in administrative expenses, according to Human Services.

But the state’s total SSI payments are dropping 9.3 percent, to $52.68 million, due to the cut in payments for people with ineligible spouses. About 80 percent of the couples affected are now receiving $1,036 a month; next month they will start receiving $827.

Sarlo said the cut was "non-negotiable" with the Christie administration.

"This was a budget decision, much like the hundreds of difficult ones we made amid a budget crisis," Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said. "It certainly was not a preferred result, but cuts occurred everywhere."

Bordo said she was furious when she learned about the cut to her SSI payment, and drove to the Toms River Social Security office to ask an employee there what happened.

"I said, wait a minute, who authorized this?" she said. "She said, ‘Christie.’ "

Bordo’s husband, who is 65, receives $358 a month in Social Security benefits. But he’s not eligible for SSI, which is why Bordo’s payment is getting reduced. Her current monthly payment is $871, but the state’s cut will reduce it to $662.

Bordo is luckier than some. About 760 couples are already receiving less than $209 in state money in their SSI payments. In those cases, the cut reduces their payment to zero.

Raymond Mendenko, 55, of Wrightstown, is also facing a loss of benefits. He said he received about $350 in SSI this month, but is expecting that to drop to $96.

He said he suffered a serious concussion while playing high school football. Over time, the injury developed into spinal cord problems, making it impossible to keep his job as an auto mechanic.

"I couldn’t even deliver parts. I couldn’t even hold onto a steering wheel," Mendenko said. "I wish I could work, believe me."

With his wife also out of work, he’s not sure where else they can find financial help.

"We go to the food banks," he said. "We’ll be eating a lot of rice and French fries and applesauce."

The Department of Human Services urges people facing benefit cuts to call 211 or visit www.njhelps.org for information on other assistance programs.

Japanese citizens stepping up to serve as legal guardians of disabled or elderly people with no family

From Yomiuri Shimbun:

"Citizen guardians" are ordinary citizens who serve as legal guardians of adults who have no blood relatives or little income and, due to dementia or other reasons, require help with daily life.

These everyday people have no professional training in legal issues or social welfare, but look out for the physical and financial well-being of people to whom they are not related.

Ten years ago there were very few citizen guardians, but the number is rising. More people are living alone, family ties in general are weakening, and legal and welfare professionals are not always able or willing to help out. Some local governments are even running training programs for people willing to become citizen guardians.

One afternoon in the middle of September, Tomoe Hoshino, 38, visited a 66-year-old woman in a hospital in Utsunomiya. The woman's eyesight is nearly gone, and she is unable to eat or go out by herself. She has no relatives to take care of her.

"Hello. How are you feeling?" asked Hoshino. The woman replied, "Yeah, I'm all right."

Hoshino used to be the woman's nurse, and they developed a deep personal relationship. In December last year, upon the woman's request, Hoshino was appointed her citizen guardian by a local family court.

During her about one-hour visit, Hoshino chatted with the woman and read aloud to her. Hoshino gave the woman a pack of tissues and some cans of coffee she had bought on her behalf.

Hoshino visits the woman at least three times a month, and manages about 100,000 yen a month of her pension--the woman's only income--to pay her hospital fees and buy daily necessities.

Hoshino said, "I'm always thinking about how to make her life more comfortable, even by a little bit."

Citizen guardians' responsibilities are similar to those of any legal guardian--they manage their ward's assets, sign contracts on their behalf for nursing care and other services, and provide general assistance in their daily lives.

In 2000, 94.1 percent of people acting as legal guardian of an adult were that person's spouse, child or other blood relative. But with more people living alone and the weakening of family ties, that figure plunged to 63.5 percent as of 2009.

Increasingly, lawyers, judicial scriveners, social welfare counselors and other professionals are acting as legal guardians for adults, but there is a limit to how much they can or are willing to do.

Noriyuki Yagashira, senior director of Seinen Koken Center Legal Support, an association of judicial scriveners, said: "There's a limited number of professionals around, and their approach tends to be too businesslike. Ordinary citizens are more in touch, and can communicate in a more personable way."

A government welfare official said: "Professionals sometimes don't accept requests unless they can expect a certain level of reward. But an increasing number of people have no blood relatives and no assets. So there's a need for a new type of person who's willing to accept the role of guardian."

There are no official statistics, but it is estimated that nationwide there are about 100 to 200 people working practically full-time as citizen guardians of adults.

The city government of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 2007 began a citizen guardian training program. After a written test and interviews, the participants--many of whom are retirees--attend at least 20 classes about guardianship and other welfare programs. They also receive practical training from supervisors who have worked as guardians of adults. In all, the training takes about 18 months.

An official of the city government's health and welfare division said: "[Guardian of an adult] is a difficult job. That amount of training is needed to confirm someone's suitability."

The governments of Osaka city and Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, provide similar training programs.

Koji Miyauchi is a guest associate professor of the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo, which is implementing a citizen guardian training program in cooperation with the University of Tsukuba.

Miyauchi said: "Ordinary citizens are very well suited to being guardians. It's a big resource pool, and their perspective on life is close to the perspective of the people they'll be helping. We should take advantage of this and actively foster highly qualified guardians."

One of the motion picture recordings of American Sign Language selected for National Film Registry

From WILX-TV:

BALTIMORE -- "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Saturday Night Fever" are among the 25 films selected for preservation this year by the Library of Congress.

Each year, the library adds 25 films to the National Film Registry to preserve films with artistic, cultural or historical significance. There are now 550 films in the registry, which began in 1989.

This year's selections were announced early Dec. 28. They include one of the first motion pictures ever made, a clip of a young man swinging Indian clubs, which were an exercise aid. The film was made in 1891 at the Edison Laboratory in West Orange, N.J.

Also selected was a 1913 film called "Preservation of the Sign Language," one of the first motion picture recordings of American Sign Language.

"The Empire Strikes Back" joins "Star Wars" in the registry.

A list of the 25 films being added to the National Film Registry, as announced Tuesday by the Library of Congress:
-- "Airplane!" (1980)
-- "All the President's Men" (1976)
-- "The Bargain" (1914)
-- "Cry of Jazz" (1959)
-- "Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB" (1967)
-- "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980)
-- "The Exorcist (1973)
-- "The Front Page" (1931)
-- "Grey Gardens" (1976)
-- "I Am Joaquin" (1969)
-- "It's a Gift" (1934)
-- "Let There Be Light" (1946)
-- "Lonesome" (1928)
-- "Make Way For Tomorrow" (1937)
-- "Malcolm X" (1992)
-- "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971)
-- "Newark Athlete" (1891)
-- "Our Lady of the Sphere" (1969)
-- "The Pink Panther" (1964)
-- "Preservation of the Sign Language" (1913)
-- "Saturday Night Fever" (1977)
-- "Study of a River" (1966)
-- "Tarantella" (1940)
-- "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1945)
-- "A Trip Down Market Street" (1906)

Fort Worth, Texas, continues to pursue fines against veteran for attacks by pit bull he says is his "therapy dog"

From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

City officials will continue to pursue thousands of dollars in outstanding fines against a disabled Fort Worth veteran who has been accused of misrepresenting his military record to gain public favor to save his so-called therapy dog, accused of attacking a man in the summer.

A municipal court judge ruled in October that Steven Woods' dog Mimi (pictured) was dangerous after finding evidence that she was involved in an attack on an 84-year-old man in July. Woods was also cited in three other incidents involving pit bulls, including another attack.

With help from an attorney, Woods quickly raised more than $17,000 through appeals on the Internet, claiming that the animal was a therapy dog helping Woods overcome injuries suffered in Iraq.

But WFAA/Channel 8 reported Monday that Woods served in the Arkansas National Guard and that Veterans Affairs has no record of him having served overseas.

Woods did not respond to phone calls seeking comment Tuesday, though he has previously denied that he told anyone the dog was his.

His former attorney, Randy Turner, declined to comment other than to say that as of Tuesday morning his firm no longer represents Woods.

The city, which found itself in a public relations quandary, maintained that Woods' status as a disabled veteran is irrelevant to enforcing a city ordinance on dangerous dogs, officials said.

"It's unfortunate that somebody would misrepresent that -- I guess it's alleged," said Councilman Jungus Jordan, a Vietnam War veteran.

"I'm not here to challenge his record whatsoever. That's really not germane to the role the city of Fort Worth animal control has, and the bottom line is the responsibility to protect public safety: Do his dogs and his containment of those dogs have any impact on public safety?"

Jordan said his office handled about 400 e-mails in November regarding Mimi, and city spokesman Bill Begley said the city has received hundreds more, many bashing the city for a perceived grievance against a veteran.

Mimi was to be euthanized if Woods did not comply with the dangerous-dog ordinance, which requires that it be spayed, kept in an enclosed area or on a leash and muzzled whenever outside. Woods must also carry $100,000 in liability insurance.

Woods, who said he lives on about $780 a month in disability, made the necessary upgrades after Turner's pleas on the Internet found a favorable reception.

"It didn't change because of any e-mails the city got," said Brandon Bennett, Fort Worth's code compliance director. "I was never asked by the mayor or by any council member, the city manager or anybody else to do anything different than what was required by the court order.

"The reason the case ended the way it did is because Mr. Woods complied with the court order."

From April to June, Woods was cited three other times because of his dogs, the city said. In one case, a 64-year-old woman was attacked and seriously injured by four pit bulls. According to witnesses, Woods left his house and kicked one dog to stop the attack.

In another instance, two police officers reported having to use pepper spray against two aggressive pit bulls that they said Woods acknowledged were his. According to a police report, Woods became "belligerent" when a neighbor confronted him about his dogs chasing a group of children and the neighbor feared "he would have ... to shoot the dogs."