A Lubbock County jury on May 25 decided Texas Tech should pay a former professor more than $500,000 for discriminating against him because he is deaf.
Michael L. Collier, Ph.D., a deaf, tenure-track assistant professor hired to teach American Sign Language and other courses relating to deaf culture, was abruptly dismissed in October 2006.
The jury found Collier's disability was directly related to his termination.
Collier and his legal team beamed after the verdict.
"We wanted to show Tech it's wrong to bully a disabled person," said Bob Schmidt, one of Collier's attorneys.
He said the damages and pay the jury awarded Collier made it clear it is not OK for the university to treat disabled professors like second-class citizens.
"This is their way of showing them it's not right," Schmidt said.
The jury found that Collier's disability was a motivating factor in Tech's decision not to reappoint him and that Tech would not have made that decision in the absence of his disability.
They awarded Collier $47,651 in back pay, $100,000 in front pay and $400,000 in past compensatory damages.
"We're disappointed and surprised by the verdict," said Tech spokesman Chris Cook. "We didn't think the facts merited a decision against Tech."
Cook said Tech encourages diversity in faculty, staff and student populations and that the university does not discriminate.
Schmidt said ostensible diversity doesn't preclude discrimination.
"It's one thing to hire a deaf person and think 'this is going to be a feather in our cap - a deaf faculty member,'" Schmidt said. "But then it's a totally different experience to sit down and work with that person and accept them for who they are when they have differences."
Collier sued Tech in 2008, accusing the university of discriminating against him because of his disability.
The case centered primarily on the way Collier was treated by his supervisor and how he was fired.
Frederick Suppe, Ph.D., the chairman of the language department, never met with Collier face-to-face, nor expressed any displeasure with his performance until he informed Collier he would not be reappointed.
This does not comply with university policy.
University policy states that Tech will follow a "progressive disciplinary action program for employees, which begins with an 'informal talk,' and includes disciplinary counseling, letters of unsatisfactory work performance and suspension with or without pay."
Policy also mandates: "Supervisors should review with employees with disabilities whether additional reasonable accommodations would resolve work performance deficiencies prior to taking aggressive disciplinary actions."
Suppe informed Collier that his contract would not be renewed halfway through his second semester with no prior counseling, discussion or opportunity for corrective action.
Suppe wouldn't give Collier an explanation as to why he was being dismissed.
"They basically fired him out of the blue - a sucker punch," Schmidt said. "They wouldn't meet with him, wouldn't talk with him; (they) put him under the supervision of lower-ranked people and treated him like a second-class citizen."
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Texas Tech must pay former professor, who is deaf, $500,000 for terminating him because of his disability
From The Avalanche-Journal in Lubbock, Texas:
UK movie theatres have little captioning for deaf community
Imagine the following scenario. You go to the cinema, buy your ticket and your popcorn and after taking your seat, sit through 20 minutes of trailers and adverts before the start of the film. But, as the opening scene begins, you realise the sound's not working, and you can't understand a thing. The cinema staff run around fiddling with wires before deciding they can't fix it and, with that being the last screening of the night, you toddle off home with an apology and a free ticket for a future show. You'd feel gutted, wouldn't you? I mean, how often does that happen? Maybe if you were a glass half-full kind of person you'd figure that you were unlucky – you caught them on a bad night.
For deaf people, the chain of events I've described isn't just a one-off – it's happened to nearly every deaf cinema-goer I know. Except it's not the sound that goes missing, it's subtitles. Which we need to understand the film. Right now, deaf film fans have very little trust left in cinema chains, and many people I know have stopped bothering; they prefer to watch DVDs (or, ahem, downloads) at home.
Information about subtitled screenings is often inaccurate on cinema chains' own websites, so deaf people rely on a website called Your Local Cinema (which compiles accessible cinema times across the country) for the right times and dates. But deaf customers are still advised to check whether the subtitled screening is going ahead before they actually turn up. Even when you've confirmed the screening, asking to see a scheduled subtitled film once you reach the box office usually results in frantic phone calls to the projection booth. There's nothing quite like being responsible for holding up a queue of people to get your evening off to a pleasant start. You end up holding your breath until the opening credits roll. Sometimes the subtitles appear, sometimes they don't. I know people who have a drawer full of free vouchers, so often have they been let down.
The name of a new Facebook group with over 700 members – Deaf people are alive 7 days a week, not just Sunday/Monday/Tuesday – hints at another issue deaf people feel angry about, the times and dates when subtitled screenings are scheduled. They are usually on off-peak days at off-peak times – hardly ever on Friday or Saturday nights.
Tyron Woolfe, who started the Facebook group, told me the reason screenings aren't arranged at peak times is because "the consensus among cinemas is that they will lose money because they think hearing people do not like subtitles". I asked Woolfe why he set the group up. "My hearing partner and I are never able to watch movies at normal peak times or days. We were in Scotland recently, and could we go to a cinema? No, simply because we were there on the wrong day of the week. Digital technology should mean that any deaf person can go to any cinema screening and ask them to switch the subtitles on."
Another of the group's members, Martin Griffiths, told me that three out of his last four visits to his local cinema in Cardiff ended without him seeing the advertised subtitled film. While his ticket was refunded, his travel and time were not compensated for.
Missing a film might not seem like a big deal, but I know deaf people who've been let down on special occasions, or couples who've booked a babysitter so they can have their first night out in months, only to return home early, disappointed. As Woolfe says, "the reluctance to improve the service for deaf film fans is extraordinary. It's almost a 'like it or lump it' attitude. We have a right to much better access."
Another form of access that helps deaf people enjoy films is loop systems, which offer the chance to hear the soundtrack directly, without background noise. Except cinemas don't always get that right, either. Last week, a deaf film-goer in Newcastle reported being told three times that his local cinema had an induction loop – only to discover, on closer inspection, that it, er, didn't.
Ultimately, cinemas will only know the true potential size of the deaf audience when they give us reliable information, dependable technology, regular subtitled screenings (at decent times) and far better customer service. It's not only about complying with disability legislation – with one in seven people having some level of deafness, cinemas could take a positive view, and look at nurturing the deaf audience as a business opportunity.
Until attitudes change, for deaf people, a visit to the cinema will remain a lottery. You might get lucky and have a great night, but there's a high chance you'll find yourself disappointed.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Blind mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer to compete on new ABC reality show, "Expedition Impossible"
"EXPEDITION IMPOSSIBLE" ANNOUNCES THE 13 TEAMS OF THREE VYING FOR VICTORY IN THE BIGGEST ADVENTURE OF THEIR LIVES
Show Shot on Location in the Kingdom of Morocco
ABC's exciting new summer series, "Expedition Impossible," announces the show's 13 teams of three who will find themselves racing in a fun expedition across vast deserts, over snow capped mountains and through raging rivers in the beautifully exotic, fabled Kingdom of Morocco. Each week a new stage of the expedition will be revealed to the teams. Will they crumble under the pressure of having to think clearly in the wilds of the great outdoors, or will they find a way to work together to complete the expedition? After 10 stunning legs of competition with drama, comedy and great characters, one team will cross the finish line first to claim victory. Each winning team member will receive $50,000 ($150,000 total for the team) as well a new Ford Explorer.
"Expedition Impossible," full of high adventure and human drama, premieres on TUESDAY, JUNE 21 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. Adventurer, zoologist, big cat trainer and all around risk taker Dave Salmoni hosts.
The 13 teams of three are:
CALIFORNIA GIRLS
Christina Chin (24) Davis, CA Corporate PR
Brittany Smith (24) Rancho Murieta, CA Aspiring Pro Golfer
Natalie Smith (25) Woodland, CA Teacher/Coach
These brainy beauties not only carry the burden of being both gorgeous and smart, they also happen to be talented athletes. Christina, Brittany and Natalie met at UC Davis, where they were all recruited to compete for the Aggies. These ladies are always up for adventure and aren't afraid to get a little dirty.
THE COPS
Robert Robillard (43) Concord, MA Police Lieutenant
Dani Henderson (34) Marlborough, MA Police Officer
Jim Vaglica (49) Billerica, MA Police Sergeant
The camaraderie that is shared between police officers is hard to replicate anywhere else in life. The level of trust that's necessary to work together is amplified when you're putting your life in someone else's hands - which is something these three Massachusetts officers do every day, and will put to good use during their Moroccan expedition.
THE COUNTRY BOYS
Nicholas Coughlin (28) Clinton, MS Internet Marketing/ Entrepreneur
Jason Cronin (37) Pensacola Beach, FL Business Owner/Entrepreneur
Chad Robinson (27) Bolton, MS Real Estate Investor
Hailing from the country backwoods of Mississippi, Nick, Jason and Chad are true Southern cowboys who know a thing or two about surviving. Jason has survived cancer, Crohn's disease and the West Nile Virus, and was told he would only have six months to live... three years later he's still going strong. All standing over 6'3", these athletic country boys are ready to use size to their advantage and dominate the competition.
FAB 3
Ryan Allen Carrillo (36) Los Angeles, CA Business Owner
Kari Gibson (26) Los Angeles, CA Model
AJ Gibson (30) Los Angeles, CA Mortgage Consultant
Sister and brother Kari and AJ moved from small town Ohio to the big city lights of Los Angeles, and shortly thereafter AJ met Ryan. Ryan is AJ's former partner and now best friend. Together this team has a deadly combination of insanely good looks, killer smiles and innate athleticism.
THE FISHERMEN
Gus Sanfilippo (48) Gloucester, MA Fisherman
Nino Sanfilippo (43) Gloucester, MA Fisherman
Joe Sanfilippo (44) Gloucester, MA Fisherman
Ready to represent the storied Northeast fishing community of Gloucester, Massachusetts, Gus (the captain), Nino (the engineer) and Joe (the deckhand) are three old-school Italian fishermen with small town values and big time hearts. Bonded together by blood (Gus and Nino are brothers, Joe is their cousin), they also work side by side as crewmates aboard the Captain Dominic. They believe their experience working together under pressure and routinely risking their lives while out at sea gives them an inherent "toughness" that will help them win.
THE FOOTBALL PLAYERS
Akbar Gbaja-Biamila (31) Los Angeles, CA Broadcaster
Robert Ortiz (27) Solana Beach, CA Business Owner
Ricky Sharpe (31) Costa Mesa, CA Health and Fitness Consultant
These three former NFL players met while playing football for San Diego State University. Akbar was a linebacker for the Oakland Raiders and later the San Diego Chargers. Robert also played for the Chargers as a wide receiver, and Ricky spent several seasons with the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins. They consider themselves to be hyper competitive and willing to do what it takes to win under any circumstances.
GRANDPA'S WARRIORS
Dick Smith (69) Normal, IL Store Owner
Steven Smith (48) Savoy, IL Store Owner
Samantha Smith-Gibbs (23) Thomasboro, IL Store Manager
This team represents three generations of Smiths - grandfather, son and granddaughter. Patriarch Richard "Dick" Smith started the outdoor specialty store Wild Country, where his son and granddaughter are employed. Both father and son were U.S. Army Officers, served in the Special Forces and are Airborne and Ranger qualified. And although Sam may be a little prissy, she definitively has a competitive spirit.
THE GYPSIES
John Post (25) Pensacola Beach, FL Sustainable Farmer
Taylor Filasky (31) San Diego, CA Video Producer
Eric Bach (26) San Francisco, CA Entrepreneur
Though they're a bit wacky and lovably free-spirited, these friends take competition very seriously. Collectively they've worked, volunteered, lived in and traveled to over 40 countries. Despite their escapades, they've never been on an adventure like this, and are excited to show what they can do.
LATIN PERSUASION
Dashia Imperiale (44) New York, NY Fitness Instructor
Raven Garcia (30) Bronx, NY Freelance Writer
Mai Reyes (38) New York, NY Manager
Excitable, determined and full of spice, these three Latinas know how to liven up any event and come fully equipped with a "win at all costs" attitude. Friends and co-workers, these ladies are a competitive force to be reckoned with.
MOM'S ARMY
Ellie Vanderbeck (52) Reading, PA Bookkeeper
Ruthie Vanderbeck (28) Reading, PA Realtor
Abbie Vanderbeck (30) Norwalk, CT Nanny
Eleanor is the matriarch of this family. Her daughters, Ruthie and Abbie, both served their country in the U.S. Army National Guard. Although they don't consider themselves a physically strong team, the three women are problem solvers, which may help give them a leg up in the competition.
NY FIREMEN
Kevin Coursey (39) Belle Harbor, NY Firefighter
Rob Keiley (34) Rockaway Park, NY Firefighter
Mike Egan (34) Rockaway Park, NY Firefighter
For all the reasons you would think - the nature of their work, the risks they take, how they have to depend on each other to quite literally stay alive - Kevin, Rob and Mike consider themselves "brothers" and will always be there for each other. Competitive by nature and willing to take risks, this team will be a force to contend with.
NO LIMITS
Erik Weihenmayer (42) Golden, CO Motivational Speaker/Writer (pictured)
Jeff Evans (41) Boulder, CO Motivational Speaker/Physician Assistant
Aaron "Ike" Isaacson (33) Topeka, KS Soldier
These friends stick together in good times and bad. Erik became blind at an early age, but he didn't let that get him down. In 2001 he summitted Mt. Everest. Jeff serves as Erik's "eyes in the field." He has been Erik's primary climbing guide for over 20 years and is a published author and motivational speaker. Ike is an officer in the military, earning two Bronze Star Medals, a Purple Heart and an Army Commendation Medal, among others. He has served in Iraq and Afghanistan and will deploy again to Afghanistan after completing "Expedition Impossible."
TEAM KANSAS
Lindsey Haymond (27) Houston, TX Teacher
Kelsey Fuller (22) Overland Park, KS Student
Mackenzie Fuller (18) Overland Park, KS Student
These three sisters, originally hailing from Kansas, are girly and sporty. But don't let their good looks and sparkling smiles deceive you; they're also cutthroat competitors, brimming with self confidence and willing to give it their all to win. In fact, these sisters are so competitive that 18-year-old Mackenzie is missing her senior prom to compete on "Expedition Impossible."
"Expedition Impossible" was created by Mark Burnett, who also serves as executive producer with Lisa Hennessy. Both the television show and format will be distributed internationally by Mark Burnett International Distribution.
For many disabled vets, competitive sports are part of healing process
COLORADO SPRINGS — Justin Rose (pictured) can't really recall the details of the July 2009 explosion in Iraq that left him with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
But he vividly remembers the effects.
"I got home and hit the bottle, gained a lot of weight, started getting in arguments, started yelling," the 32-year-old Navy Corpsman from Shinnston, W.Va., says. "I didn't think anything would pull me out."
His lifeline: An Olympic-style competition for wounded, ill and injured military members called the Warrior Games.
"It got me moving, it got me where I had to do something," says Rose, who is expecting the birth of his first child in July. "Without the Warrior Games, without training for the Warrior Games, I wouldn't be where I am today."
Rose and 197 other men and women from all military branches competed last week in the second annual Warrior Games, held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and other venues in Colorado Springs. The Games, with events ranging from track and field to wheelchair basketball, showcased a can-do sports culture that has taken root among combat-wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and helped many in their recovery.
"We're seeing a new generation of veterans who have brought a different perspective," says Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army surgeon general. "These are veterans who come in, who are amputees, who want insights into how they could trim minutes off their triathlon time."
The confluence of these veterans' ambitions with increased government funding, more support and expertise from organizations such as the U.S. Olympic Committee, and dramatic advances in adaptive sports equipment has made sports a more prominent part of veterans' rehabilitation than in previous wars.
"We wanted to do things," says Kirk Bauer, who lost his left leg to a grenade explosion in Vietnam and now is executive director of Disabled Sports USA. "But we had absolutely no idea how to do it, and there was no equipment and no one trained to show us."
As the number of combat-wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has increased — to more than 43,000, according to the latest Department of Defense statistics — the new approach is most evident in an attitude shift among caregivers.
"We used to try to set limits (on what they can do), because we didn't want people to get discouraged. We don't do that any more," says Col. Barbara Springer, a former chief of physical therapy service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.
Now therapists try to identify an activity of interest to each wounded war veteran early in rehabilitation, and they focus on helping them participate in that.
"Once they see they can do that activity, then they have the confidence, the self-esteem, to try anything," says Springer, director of the Army's rehabilitation and reintegration division.
Travis Greene spent 53 consecutive days in intensive care after an improvised explosive device (IED) in Iraq tore off both his legs above the knee in December 2005. His muscles atrophied to the point, he says, that he couldn't roll over on his own. His heart stopped beating four times.
Yet, on a physical therapist's insistence, one year after his injury he took his first run on a mono-ski in Colorado. By the third day, he was skiing the most difficult terrain.
"Once I figured out I was still an athlete, even after losing my legs, that's when my recovery really started," says Greene, 29, who before joining the Marines was a hurdler at Boise State.
Greene competed in shot put, discus, wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball at last week's Warrior Games. Back home in Boise, he has co-founded Idaho Warrior Sports and Recreation.
"Growing up, I always wanted to be involved in sports some way as a profession," Greene says. "You just don't know what's out there until you start doing it."
The most high-profile opportunity is the Paralympic Games, the top international competition for physically disabled athletes held immediately after each Olympics.
"If we can get more of our young men and women that become physically disabled back into the pure process of going out and playing, or being physically active, we will also see some of them pursue the Paralympic Games," says Charlie Huebner, the USOC's chief of Paralympics.
Five veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are living at U.S. Olympic training sites, preparing for the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. Huebner predicts 15% of the 2012 U.S. Paralympic team (about 30 athletes, up from the 16 who competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing) will be military veterans, though not all from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Manuel Jimenez, who won the 800-meter race for upper-body amputees at the Warrior Games, would like to be one of them. The 22-year-old Marine from New Britain, Conn., lost his left arm in an IED blast in Afghanistan last August.
"It gives me different goals," says Jimenez, a cross country runner in high school. "Now I try to beat my times. I'm doing half-marathons with able-bodied runners. They're surprised you took your injury in such a positive way."
In 2003, military officials began asking the USOC to send Paralympians to hospitals and other rehabilitation centers to meet with wounded war veterans. A year later, the USOC founded the Paralympic Military Program.
The program will host 10 military sports camps this year and has established 131 Paralympic sport clubs nationwide. The Department of Veterans Affairs provides $7.5 million annually to the program; the Department of Defense contributes $5 million.
"The most important thing that we and our partners do is make sure there's programming available for when young men and women return to their community or their installation, because that's where the rehab process really takes hold," Huebner says.
Ashley Chavez, who was in a supply convoy headed out of Baghdad in November 2006 when the vehicle she was riding in hit an IED, is at Camp Pendleton with the Marines' Warrior Athlete Reconditioning Program, surfing and cycling and improving on the shot put and discus skills she had in high school.
"This has changed my life both mentally and physically," says Chavez, 25, of Dayton, Ohio, who suffers from traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. "I know now that I can do anything. There may be stuff that I can't do perfectly, but it doesn't mean I can't do it."
In the last two years, according to the USOC, physical activity and sports participation rates among wounded, ill and injured war veterans have risen 23%.
The Warrior Games were created by representatives from the Department of Defense, United Service Organizations (USO) and Ride 2 Recovery, a California-based nonprofit that helps wounded veterans get involved in cycling.
The Games are highly competitive, among the service branches as well as the athletes. But they are also a form of group therapy.
Competitors and their families and friends find a comforting camaraderie.
"It's been really big for him," says Rose's wife, Stephnie, "and for me too. We have family now that we didn't have before."
Competitor Bill Biondolillo, who is married with three teen-aged daughters, says, "It helps your family, because they see Dad out there and your wife sees her husband happy again."
Biondolillo had served 13 years in the Army before 9/11. He requested reinstatement to active duty while working at Ground Zero as a firefighter. During his second tour in Iraq, in 2004, an IED blast caused a traumatic brain injury, spinal injuries and nerve damage in his left leg.
"I always ran marathons and half marathons," says Biondolillo, 43, of Hamburg, N.Y. "It was part of my being. So when I did get hurt, it was a big blow to me psychologically."
It haunted him until repeated entreaties from Disabled Sports USA convinced him to try downhill skiing last December.
"I didn't think I could do it," he says. "I was afraid of injuring my back. But you find out you've got to get off the couch and try it. Even if there might be some injury, you still have to live life."
With the goal of becoming a biathlete, he cross-country skied more than 10 times this winter and competed in shooting at the Warrior Games. He is considering starting a nonprofit to help war veterans get adaptive sports equipment.
The rapid improvements in that equipment in recent years — such as the carbon-fiber "Cheetah" limbs used by double amputee Oscar Pistorius and other runners — have been driven by the demands of the new generation of veterans and the increased availability of government research dollars, Disabled Sports USA's Bauer says.
Previous wars also have brought advances in equipment and in what disabled athletes will try and do, Bauer says, but the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have "produced much greater acceleration, a greater pushing of the envelope."
That was on display at the Warrior Games. But, at times, as Springer watched competitors race around the track and jockey for rebounding position on the basketball court, she flashed back to when some of them first arrived at Walter Reed.
"It's almost like closure to me," she says, "because I know they're going to be OK."
Chicago Bears rookie linebacker takes disabled teen to her school dance
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Chicago Bears rookie linebacker J.T. Thomas (pictured) became the inspirational story of the lockout-dominated NFL off-season Monday, a few days after escorting a wheelchair-bound teen to her middle school dance.
The former West Virginia standout last month met 14-year-old Joslyn Levell, who uses a wheelchair. During that meeting, she told him that all of the boys she had asked to the dance turned her down.
Levell, who attends Suncrest Middle School in Morgantown — where the university is located — has spina bifida, a condition that prevents the spinal cord from developing properly.
"I hugged her and signed a few things and we talked for awhile and she cried a bit," Thomas told NFL.com about meeting Levell. "I gave her a hug and told her everything would work itself out."
Shortly after the meeting, Thomas' stepmother called the school and Levell's parents to make sure it would be OK for her hulking stepson to pop the question.
"After so many people turned me down, this was so big especially, because he asked me instead of me asking him," Levell said.
Though not a household name to NFL fans around the country, the 22-year-old Thomas is a star in Morgantown after being a three-year starter for the Mountaineers.
According to NFL.com, Thomas picked up Levell on Friday night in a rented black Chrysler, and brought her roses and a corsage. When they arrived, Thomas danced with Levell after she introduced him to many of the same boys who had declined to be her date for the dance.
"This was Joslyn's night," Thomas said. "It wasn't about me."
"It was so exciting," Levell added. "I'm just so excited to go to school and see what everyone has to say."
Thomas' 7-year-old brother, Jared, is autistic and rides the same school bus as Levell. For years Thomas has been involved in autism awareness, and his agent, Michael Giorgio, said his client did not attend the dance for publicity.
"J.T. did this on his own accord; this wasn't a publicity stunt," Giorgio said. "He didn't do this to score points with anybody or with the Bears or to get any attention. This is just who he is. He's got a big heart."
Hearing loss no obstacle for Washington Redskins first-round draft pick
Redskins' first-round draft pick Ryan Kerrigan was a defensive force on the field for Purdue while dealing with something that might hinder a lot of athletes.
Kerrigan is deaf in one ear.
It’s not a complete hearing loss, but it’s enough to make it difficult when someone is standing to his left. The loss came as a result of a series of serious ear infections as a child, and the hearing loss was diagnosed when he was 8 years old.
“I feel pretty normal with it,” he told us.”It’s only when someone is directly on my left that I have a hard time with it. Other than that, it doesn’t bother me at all.”
Due to the lockout, Kerrigan hasn’t been able to discuss it with the team, but he’s not concerned about how coaches will handle it.
“I addressed it at the combine and it hasn’t hindered my performance,” he said. “I’m sure the team knows, but we haven’t really talked about it.”
It’s an obstacle the Redskins are familiar with. Safety Reed Doughty has hearing loss and wears hearing aids to help him better communicate with his teammates.
Because Kerrigan plays on defense, he doesn’t have to worry about missing play calls. His Big Ten record 14 forced fumbles and Purdue's second all-time 33.5 sacks should quiet any doubts about it affecting his performance.
Besides, the affable rookie has bigger concerns. The modeling shoot he did with Five Four clothing earned him some ribbing. How much did his friends tease him?
“Oh, so much,” he laughed. “Especially with the scarf picture, you know that’s not really me. But it was fun. I’ve never done a photo shoot before, but I caught a little bit of flack for doing it.”
Kaiser survey: Most Americans oppose the idea of converting Medicaid to block grant financing to reduce the federal deficit
From Kaiser Family Foundation:
MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Most Americans oppose the idea of converting Medicaid to block grant financing to reduce the federal deficit, and more than half want to see no reductions at all in Medicaid spending, according to the latest monthly tracking poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The May Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that 60 percent of people say they would prefer to keep Medicaid as it is, with the federal government guaranteeing coverage and setting minimum standards for benefits and eligibility. Thirty-five percent would rather change the program so that the federal government gives states a fixed amount of money and each state decides who to cover and what services to pay for. Only 13 percent of Americans say they would support major reductions in Medicaid spending as part of Congress’ efforts to reduce the deficit, while 3 in 10 would support minor reductions and 53 percent want to see no reductions in Medicaid spending at all.
The findings come at a time of intense public debate in Washington about the future of entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid as policymakers attempt to address rising public concerns about the federal deficit. While conventional wisdom and recent public opinion polling has suggested that dramatic changes in Medicare would be politically unpopular, the new poll findings illustrate that major alterations to Medicaid also could strike a negative chord with many Americans.
Support for maintaining the current program may be due at least in part to the public’s personal connections to Medicaid and a strong sense of the program’s importance. About half of Americans say they or a friend or family member has received Medicaid assistance at some point, and a similar share say the program is important to their family. Among the 20 percent of adults who personally have been covered by Medicaid, reported experiences are positive.
"If you watch the debate about the deficit and entitlements, you would think that almost everyone has a problem with the Medicaid program and wants to change it, or cut it -- or both," said Kaiser President and CEO Drew Altman. "The big surprise in this month’s tracking poll is that one group who does not want to cut Medicaid is the American people."
"With about 69 million people expected to be covered by Medicaid this year, it is no longer the -welfare-linked program it once was," Altman added. "Medicaid may not be the lower-hanging fruit that many who want to reduce federal entitlement spending have assumed it is."
Experiences With Medicaid
About half of Americans (51%) report some personal connection to Medicaid, including having received health coverage, long-term care, or Medicare premium assistance from Medicaid themselves (20%), or having a friend or family member who has gotten this type of assistance (31%). In line with this, the poll finds that 49 percent of the public says Medicaid is "very" or "somewhat" important for them and their family.
Those who see the program as important cite a variety of reasons, including knowing that a safety net exists to protect low-income people (71% say this is a major reason) and feeling they or a family member may need to rely on Medicaid in the future (63%). Many who view the program as important also cite the fact that they or someone they know has received health coverage (58%) or long-term care services (43%) from Medicaid.
"Medicaid is a complex program that varies considerably from state to state, but the public’s initial reaction upon hearing about proposed spending reductions and structural changes is negative," said Mollyann Brodie, a senior vice president and director of the Public Opinion and Survey Research group at the Foundation. "Such concerns reflect the fact that the program is important not only to those who have been directly enrolled in it but those with friends and family who have received Medicaid benefits as well."
Among the one in five adults who have personally ever received Medicaid benefits, the vast majority (86%) say that their overall experiences with the program have been positive, including nearly half (45%) who say they were "very" positive. This is very similar to ratings of their current health plan among those covered by private health insurance (89% positive, including 44% "very" positive). As Medicaid is poised to expand under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, eight in ten adults (81%) say that if they were uninsured, needed health care, and qualified for Medicaid, they would enroll in the program.
Despite overall positive ratings, some people do report having experienced problems with Medicaid. Roughly a third (32%) of adults who have ever been on Medicaid say they have had problems at some point finding a doctor or other health care provider willing to accept Medicaid patients. By comparison, 13 percent of those currently covered by private insurance say they’ve had problems finding a doctor who accepts their current plan. About a quarter (26%) of those who have ever been covered by Medicaid say they have experienced problems getting Medicaid to cover or pay for health care services, similar to the share of those with private insurance who say they have had this problem with their current health plan (22%). Although enrollment procedures have changed substantially in the past decade, one in five (21%) of those who have ever been on Medicaid say they have had problems when trying to enroll in the program.
Argument Testing, Partisan Differences
As with other policies tested in Kaiser tracking polls, public opinion about switching Medicaid to block grant financing is somewhat malleable when common arguments for and against it are presented. For example, when the 60 percent who initially oppose the idea are told that supporters say it will "help reduce the federal budget deficit and give states greater flexibility to tailor their Medicaid programs to match their residents’ needs and their own state budgets," 14 percent of them changed their position, so that support for changing Medicaid climbs from 35 percent to 44 percent. That results in more mixed opinion overall: 44 percent support the block grant proposal and 49 percent prefer to keep Medicaid as it is.
On the other hand, when the 35 percent who initially supported the block grant proposal are told that opponents say it will "increase the number of uninsured, increase financial pressure on states and health care providers, and cause more low-income people to go without health care and long-term care services, particularly during tough economic times," 26 percent of them changed their position, resulting in a rise in the share who want to keep Medicaid as is from 60 percent to 69 percent. In this scenario, the share supporting a block grant falls to 25 percent.
The poll findings reveal familiar partisan differences in the public’s reactions to questions about Medicaid funding and block grants. While seven in ten Democrats (69%) and more than half of independents (54 %) want no reductions in Medicaid spending to reduce the deficit, a plurality of Republicans (44%) say they would support minor reductions, and two in ten want major reductions. On the block grant question, eight in ten Democrats (79%) prefer to keep Medicaid as is, while a majority (57%) of Republicans favors the proposed change. Independents mirror the public overall, with six in ten preferring the current Medicaid system and 36 percent wanting to change it to a block grant.
Opinion of Health Reform Unchanged
This month’s survey reveals little change in public opinion about the health reform law. Americans remain divided overall, with 42 percent having a favorable opinion of the law and 44 percent viewing it unfavorably. Three in ten continue to want to see the law expanded, while roughly one in five want it either kept as is (21%), repealed and replaced with a GOP alternative (19%), or repealed outright (19%).
The public by almost a two-to-one margin continues to disapprove of cutting off funding for the law’s implementation. And Americans remain divided on whether they themselves, the country as a whole, and seniors as a group will be better off or worse off under health reform. About 14 percent of Americans feel that they have personally benefited from the law, while 18 percent believe they have been personally harmed by it.
Methodology
This Kaiser Health Tracking Poll was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation led by Mollyann Brodie, Ph.D., including Liz Hamel, Sarah Cho, and Theresa Boston. The survey was conducted May 12 through May 17, 2011, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,203 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (801) and cell phone (402, including 197 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish by Princeton Survey Research Associates. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points. For results based on subgroups, the margin of sampling error may be higher. Note that sampling error is only one of many potential sources of error in this or any other public opinion poll. This May tracking poll is focused on Medicaid and the full question wording, results, charts and a brief on the poll can be viewed online at http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/8190.cfm. The April poll focused on Medicare and is available at http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/8180.cfm.
Bridge Multimedia, National Association of Parents of Children with Visual Impairments to study video description
Bridge Multimedia in NY city and The National Association of Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI) have announced that they are collaborating on a five-year comprehensive study of video description. The project, known as INPUT Description (INquiry to Provide Understanding of Television Description), is an independent research study to further improve the art and science of video description.
The study will collect the comments, ideas and suggestions of students who use video description, as well as those of their parents, siblings and teachers. The information gathered from this study will inform the development of subsequent video description.
Bridge Multimedia, a New York City-based media and technology development facility for the production of accessible media, was recently awarded a five-year Department of Education grant to provide video description for children’s educational television programming. The independently funded INPUT Description study will augment that work by providing important information about the needs of the user communities—both English- and Spanish-speaking. According to Dr. Wendy Sapp, Director of Research for the INPUT Description study, the information provided by these focus groups will help improve the quality of the description available to those with visual impairments.
NAPVI’s intimate familiarity with the community of parents who have children with visual impairments puts the organization in the perfect position to promote the INPUT Description research project and contribute to its success. Susan LaVenture, Executive Director of NAPVI, said, “This collaboration is an excellent opportunity to gain valuable input from the families most familiar with video description. This feedback will come from different regions around the country, since NAPVI has chapters throughout the United States. Another great benefit of this project is that it will also give us the opportunity to raise awareness of video description for people who are not so familiar with it.”
Jaclyn Packer, Ph.D., Senior Video Description Advisor for the INPUT Description project, wrote the seminal study Who’s Watching: A Profile of the Blind and Visually Impaired Audience for Television and Video and is considered one of the leading experts on the subject of video description. According to Dr. Packer, “Consumer feedback is extremely important. The practical information that we receive from both parents and students will go a long way towards furthering our efforts to refine best practice standards for video description.”
As media evolves throughout this decade, the Bridge/NAPVI INPUT Description study will continue to examine ways that video description can bring benefits to all specialized learners.
# # #
About Bridge Multimedia
Bridge Multimedia is a New York City-based media services company that develops universally accessible media designed to make the 21st century classroom equally accessible to all learners. Bridge was recently awarded a five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education to produce video description for educational television programming for children. For more information about Bridge Multimedia, please visit http://www.bridgemultimedia.com/.
About NAPVI
NAPVI is a national organization that enables parents to find information and resources for their children who are blind or visually impaired. NAPVI is dedicated to giving emotional support, initiating outreach programs, networking and advocating for the educational needs and welfare of children who are blind or visually impaired. For more information about NAPVI, please visit http://www.spedex.com/napvi.
Founder of controversial Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Mass., to face criminal charges in using electrical shocks on disabled children
The founder of the controversial Judge Rotenberg Educational Center is scheduled to face criminal charges in Dedham today arising from a night in 2007 when two special needs teenagers at the center were wrongfully administered dozens of electrical shocks, according to the father of one of the victims and another person with knowledge about the case.
In a deal reached with the state attorney general’s office, Matthew Israel, 77, (pictured) is expected to be spared prison time in return for stepping down from the Canton-based center that he founded 40 years ago and accepting a five-year probationary term, said Charles Dumas, the father of one of the two victims in the 2007 case who said he spoke yesterday with prosecutors. As part of the agreement, the school’s day-to-day activities will also be overseen by a court-approved monitor.
A court official who works at the Norfolk County Superior Court said that today’s schedule of cases lists a defendant named Matthew Israel facing two charges, misleading a grand jury and accessory after the fact to a crime.
The charges against Israel are believed to be related to the destruction of some of the center’s digital surveillance tapes that would have showed what occurred the night of Aug. 26, 2007, in one of the center’s residential group homes in Stoughton. That night, staffers received a prank phone call from someone posing as a supervisor, saying two teenagers, including Dumas’s son, should be administered electrical shocks as punishment for bad behavior earlier that day.
The attorney general’s office declined comment on the case yesterday, as did Ernest Corrigan, a longtime spokesman for Israel and the center. On May 2, Corrigan had issued a press release announcing Israel’s retirement, effective June 1. In the release, which made no mention of a pending criminal case, Israel is quoted as saying, “I am now almost 78 years old, and it is time for me to move over and let others take the reins.’’
The case marks a dramatic turn in the career of the Harvard-trained psychologist, though it does not appear to end the center’s unorthodox practices that have generated national controversy: the use of skin-shock treatments to discipline behaviorally troubled children.
His tactics have been condemned as barbaric and savage by many top medical and mental health professionals. But despite some injuries and even deaths at the facility, the center has continued to get state approval to operate as a special-needs school serving some 200 students with serious emotional and behavioral problems, including autism and intellectual disabilities.
Its most effective backers have been the parents of some of these troubled students who say Israel’s center accepted their child when no other school would. Israel has said his methods work and have virtually eliminated the use of psychotropic drugs at his center.
In the press release announcing Israel’s departure earlier this month, one of the center’s board members, Margaret Vaughan, a retired professor of psychology at Salem State University, described Israel as a “heroic figure’’ to thousands of families. She said he helped the families who saw the center as “their last thread of hope’’ for their children.
The center has launched a national search for a successor to Israel. The center is being run on an interim basis by assistant executive director Glenda Crookes.
The case against Israel allegedly centers on the tapes that captured the wrongful shocks delivered in 2007, said people familiar with the case.
The center has a policy of monitoring students’ behavior with help from remote surveillance cameras. Those monitoring the tapes had the option of ordering skin-shock treatments via telephone if they witnessed inappropriate actions, even hours after they occurred.
Based on the phone call, staffers woke up Dumas’s son and he was given 77 skin-shock treatments over three hours while being restrained on a flat surface. Another teenager was given about two dozen shocks.
The center acknowledged mistakes made by staff that night, and vowed to change many of its policies, particularly the issuance of shock treatment orders via telephone. Charles Dumas said his son remained at the Rotenberg center for another year, but was moved to a different group home and taken off the skin-shock treatments. He said his son, now 22, is now living on his own and working two jobs.
Dumas said he was told by the attorney general’s office to keep secret the news of Israel’s criminal charges, but he wanted to speak out when approached yesterday by the Globe about the case. “I don’t want to do anything to protect Matthew Israel,’’ he said.
In first California medical parole case, inmate rejected
CORCORAN, Kings County -- A state board on May 24 denied medical parole to a convicted rapist who has been a quadriplegic since he was attacked in prison 10 years ago, arguing that the inmate's verbal threats in prison to female staffers proves he would still pose a threat to public safety if he were to be released.
Steven Martinez, 42, (pictured) was the first California inmate to be considered for medical parole under a law that took effect this year and is aimed at saving taxpayers the expense of providing medical care and security to incapacitated inmates. Under the law, inmates who are "permanently medically incapacitated with a medical condition" that makes them "unable to perform activities of basic daily living" may be released if they do not pose a threat to public safety.
In announcing the decision after two hours of deliberations, a two-person panel of the State Board of Parole Hearings cited Martinez's lengthy disciplinary record, including threats to nurses and other prison staff members who have cared for him at the Corcoran State Prison's Acute Care Hospital.
Those disciplinary charges were the focus of much of the nearly 2 1/2-hour hearing. Martinez's attorney, Ken Karan, acknowledged that Martinez is "difficult" and "annoying" but argued that any conflicts were largely the result of personality clashes with individual staff members and a fear on Martinez's part that his own safety was at risk. Karan disputed staff members' account of the incidents in several cases.
'Violent person'
Board commissioner John Peck and deputy commissioner Dan Moeller disagreed.
"This panel finds that he is a violent person who can use other people to carry out threats and would be a public safety threat to those attending to him outside prison walls," Peck said.
The commissioner said it was a "tough decision," but noted that female staff members were the target of Martinez's ire in eight of the nine formal disciplinary cases that have been brought against him since 2003.
That is significant, Peck said, "because his commitment offense was a very violent attack and rape of a female."
Martinez was arrested on March 28, 1998, after he hit a woman with his car, punched her in the face, threw her in the backseat of his car and drove her to a secluded area to rape her. The attack was eventually interrupted by a police officer. Martinez is serving a 157-year sentence after he was convicted of multiple felonies in connection with the attack, including forcible rape and forcible oral copulation.
Attacked in prison
In February 2001, Martinez was attacked by two inmates at Centinela State Prison and stabbed in the neck with a knife, severing his spinal cord and leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. Court documents show that he has no motor power in his arms and legs, can barely move his head, does not have control over his bowel or bladder and has "no chance of regaining any motor skills."
His medical bills now average $625,000 a year; three years ago, he was rejected for compassionate release, which allows a court to "recall" an inmates' sentence if he is terminally ill and expected to die within six months, or medically incapacitated. Medical parole is different, because people released would have conditions imposed and could be sent back to prison if they violate those terms, or if their medical condition improves.
Karan, Martinez's attorney, said that his client suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is no more difficult to his caretakers than any paralyzed person who must depend on others for the simplest tasks. He said Martinez's victim supported his earlier appeal for compassionate release, and he disputed the parole board's contention that his client would enlist others to carry out violent acts if he were to be released, noting that his previous offenses were "crimes of passion."
Fits the profile
"There is simply no evidence that Mr. Martinez would do something he's never done in the past," he said. "Who would help him anyway? He's hated by everyone in the world, except his mother, father and me."
Karan also argued that Martinez was exactly the type of person intended for release under the state's medical parole law, which was authored by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and signed last year by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Leno estimates that the measure could save the struggling state up to $200 million in total if all of the medically incapacitated inmates were to be released.
"What we've been doing is spending money and not getting anything for it ... except an insatiable desire by some for vengeance," Karan said. "Vengeance for vengeance sake is something we can no longer afford."
Karan declined to comment after the hearing. Two more medical parole hearings, for two child molesters, are scheduled to take place next month.
Monday, May 23, 2011
CDC: 15% of American children have a developmental disability
Fifteen percent of American children have a developmental disability, including autism and ADHD, according to a new report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That's an increase of almost 2 percentage points from 1997 to 2008, or almost 2 million kids. But that number may be squishier than it sounds.
The new figure comes from the National Health Interview Surveys, which ask parents if their children have ever been diagnosed with a variety of behavioral and developmental problems. That can include assessments by teachers or counselors, so the number is less than airtight. The number also could reflect increasing awareness of autism, and decreasing stigma.
The results were published online by the journal Pediatrics.
The question of how many children have autism has become a huge political issue, used to argue for more funding for early intervention, special ed classes, and insurance coverage. The numbers have also been used in battles over possible causes of autism.
Various studies have put the number of American children with autism as between 1 in 80 and 1 in 240. (The CDC has a good explainer on the varied numbers in the U.S., and in other countries.)
As with all things epidemiological, the autism numbers may also be influenced by how hard you look. Earlier this month, researchers reported on an exhaustive effort to identify children with autism spectrum disorders in Goyang, South Korea.
They found that 2.64 percent of the children in the community had an ASD. That's one-and-a-half times the almost 1 percent often used as an average in the U.S. and in Europe. Two-thirds of the children identified in the Korean study were in regular schools, and were diagnosed only by the use of screening tests.
In the new CDC report, the autism rate as reported by parents rose from .02 percent to 0.7 percent. The number of children with an ADHD diagnosis rose from 5.7 percent to 7.6 percent. Boys were twice as likely as girls to be reported as having a developmental problem.
Bacteria responsible for stomach ulcers linked to Parkinson's
The bacteria responsible for stomach ulcers have been linked to Parkinson's disease, according to researchers in the US.
Mice infected with Helicobacter pylori (pictured) went onto develop Parkinson's like symptoms.
The study, presented at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, argues that infection could play "a significant role".
The charity Parkinson's UK said the results should be treated with caution.
Parkinson's disease affects the brain and results in slow movements and a tremor.
Middle-aged mice, the equivalent of being between 55 and 65 in humans, were infected. Six months later they showed symptoms related to Parkinson's, such as reduced movement and decreased levels of a chemical, dopamine, in the brain.
These changes were not noticed in younger mice.
Dr Traci Testerman, from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, said: "Our findings suggest that H. pylori infection could play a significant role in the development of Parkinson's disease in humans.
"The results were far more dramatic in aged mice than in young mice, demonstrating that normal ageing increases susceptibility to Parkinsonian changes in mice, as is seen in humans."
The researchers believe the bacteria are producing chemicals which are toxic to the brain.
They said H. pylori was able to "steal" cholesterol from the body and process it by adding a sugar group.
Dr Testerman said this new chemical was almost identical to one found in seeds from the cycad plant, which had been shown to trigger a Parkinson's-like disease among people in Guam.
She told the BBC: "H. pylori eradication in late stage Parkinson's disease is unlikely to result in significant improvement.
"Certain neurons are killed before symptoms begin, and more are killed as the disease progresses. Those neurons will not grow back."
Dr Kieran Breen, director of research at Parkinson's UK, said: "We believe Parkinson's is most likely caused by a combination of environmental factors together with an individual's genetic susceptibility to developing the condition.
He said there was some evidence that bacteria can prevent the main drug to treat Parkinson's, levodopa, being absorbed, but there was no strong evidence that people who have H. pylori in their gut are actually more likely to develop Parkinson's.
He added: "The current study is interesting and suggests that the bacteria may release a toxin that could kill nerve cells.
"However, the results should be treated with caution. The research was carried out in mice that were infected with relatively high doses of the bacterium or its extract.
"While they developed movement problems, we don't know whether this was actually due to the death of nerve cells. Further research needs to be carried out".
Some parents of adult disabled children don't want Illinois residential institution closed
WAUKEGAN, Ill. — Robert (pictured), 50, could lose the place he’s called home since 1983, but right now he’s more concerned about a bag of pretzels. It’s almost time for lunch, and he’s hungry. He signs the word “please,” and his dad opens the bag.
It’s not Robert’s job to worry. For his entire life, through bouts of seizures and a diagnosis of autism and profound mental retardation — through a series of disastrous placements beginning at age 5 — worry has been the job of his mom, Mary Vargas, and her husband Johnny.
“We didn’t want him to leave (home),” Mary Vargas said. “You get an evaluation, a diagnosis, and they said ‘institutionalization.’”
The Vargases are members of the Friends of Ann Kiley, which works in support of the Ann M. Kiley Developmental Center, 1201 Dugdale Circle, Waukegan, a state-run home for people with severe mental and physical disabilities. It opened in 1974 and now houses 220.
The Friends worry that Kiley’s very existence is in jeopardy, given the state’s looming deadline for a balanced budget — May 31 — and votes by both the House and Senate to slash 25 percent from the Department of Human Services. Both SB 2450 and HB 3717 propose eliminating line items for every state developmental center in favor of a lump sum that DHS could use for either state centers or privatized, community care. According to the Illinois League of Advocates for the Developmentally Disabled, the lump sum is $80 million less than the funding required to operate eight centers, including Kiley. If the plan is approved, four of the centers would likely close.
Kiley parents, like the Vargases, who live in Elgin, and Al Machak of Waukegan, whose son Richard, 48, has been at the center since 1985, argue that their children would not get the comprehensive services they need in small group homes. Kiley keeps medical personnel, including nurses on staff, and residents, who live in duplexes, see psychologists and speech and behavior therapists.
“This is a fully-integrated operation,” said Machak, who worries that legislators don’t understand DHS funding.
“We’re not against cuts,” Machak said. “We know Illinois is in trouble. But 25 percent? My God, that’s a lot.”
Parents also worry that displacement and disruption in care, should Kiley close, would be deadly to some residents.
“The people here, like my son, have severe medical and behavioral problems,” Vargas said. “They need structure. They can’t accept change. Their lives and well-being are at risk.”
Robert, according to Vargas, ran away from or was deemed too disruptive at previous facilities, including one in Lake County that was closed after an abuse scandal. But he likes Kiley. He no longer screams when his parents leave. He enjoys short trips to favorite spots in Waukegan, including the Peacock Restaurant and Dockside Dogs. But he is always happy to return home.
An estimated 400 employees work at Kiley, most of them members of AFSCME, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Union members include clerical, dietary, nurses and maintenance. About two-thirds of the membership, according to Local 785 President Cheryl Graham, are mental-health technicians. Starting salary for the position, according to a DHS job announcement, is $2,742 per month.
“We are very worried,” Graham said. “The threat of closure is real. We’re worried for our employees, but also for the individuals who live here.”
Kiley, which was built to house 450, has staved off closure before. It survived a budget blood-letting under former Gov. Jim Edgar in the 1990s, but the facility was downsized and about 20 of its duplex homes were closed.
A DHS spokesman could not be reached for comment.
“We’re hoping Terry Link, as whip for the majority party, has something up his sleeve,” Machak said.
“I wish I had about 10 or 12 billion (dollars) up my sleeve — that would solve every problem,” said Link, D-Waukegan, in a call from Springfield.
Link met with Friends of Kiley, who visited the statehouse early last week.
“We’re working day and night. This is a fluid budget process. Nothing is etched in stone right now,” he said. “I feel fairly good about Kiley not being closed. It’s clear the people want us to cut the budget, and we’re doing that. But a lot of positive things can come out of a negative situation.”
Meanwhile, Robert is enjoying his home, his job at a sheltered workshop, and the promise of his next Dockside ice cream cone.
Bollywood star Vikram to play man with intellectual disability in next film
When director Vijay narrated the story of Naana to Vikram (pictured) and left for his house, he didn't quite expect Vikram to wake him up in the middle of the same night, that too huffing and puffing. On enquiring Vikram said since he was asked to reduce weight for the movie so that they can get started soon, he started walking up and down the stairs; he couldn't wait.
Thereafter he shed nearly ten kilos that he put on for Raavan. That's the kind of passion and love Vikram has for his art. “After hundred years when people discuss cinema and actors they should talk about an NTR, an ANR and a Vikram, that is what I aim for,” he says.
Naana is Deiva Thirumagan (A God's child) in Tamil, it is about a father-daughter relationship, an emotional story with situational comedy that even if one were to take away Vikram's part, the film would be engaging and beautiful. Vikram here plays an adult whose mental growth is that of a five-year-old. He has done Sivaputrudu, Kasi, Sethu and Aparichitudu on a similar genre but for this one he had to go that extra mile to look convincing.
Vikram says he did internalise the character but the first 15 days were difficult for him, getting the body language to match the character's attitude. In Ooty after the shoot when he would get back to his room, change and look into the mirror and walk towards it, he would tell himself to relax, return to his self. The actor is also an ambassador of Vidya Sudha that deals with children's disabilities and his association has helped him identify with the role better and he explains that people with cerebral palsy, mental retardation grow better when they live amongst normal ones.
Does he run the risk of being stereotyped. “No” says Vikram, “I've done films that deal with some disability or the other, I'm capable of doing number of films on the same subject differently”. He is aware that the Telugu audiences are more keen on seeing him in diverse roles than the people in Chennai and he will not disappoint them.
He adds the film wasn't titled ‘Appa' in Tamil as it doesn't sound effective. “Naana not necessarily means father. One can say kaadhu naana avunu naana which sounds very endearing in Telugu.”
Finally Vikram says that there is something about Naana that will touch children and adults alike. The audiences while travelling with the character, will smile throughout, says Vikram.
Canadians with disabilities in Ontario lose 50 cents on every dollar earned
Like everyone who receives a monthly cheque from Ontario’s disability support program, Sharon Burfind (pictured) loses 50 cents on every dollar she earns in her part-time job.
The meagre amount of earnings she and other disabled people keep then triggers higher costs for other help they receive, such as subsidized rent, child care and student loan repayments.
“The rational person would say ‘What’s the point of working?’ ” says Burfind, 60. “The majority of people work to get ahead, not to get behind.”
Earning rules and administrative practices are one of the reasons why those who rely on Ontario’s welfare system for the disabled are 11 times more likely to be unemployed than the average Ontarian, says a new report by advocates for the mentally ill.
While 49 per cent of Ontarians with disabilities are employed, just 11 per cent on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) are working, says the report, to be released Tuesday.
The report, “What Stops Us From Working?” calls on Queen’s Park to allow those receiving ODSP to earn up to $300 a month with no clawbacks for one year and to be able to reconcile earnings annually rather than monthly.
The government should also “help make work pay” for this group by streamlining ODSP earnings rules with other social programs such as subsidized housing and child care and by expanding ODSP employment supports, says the report, obtained by the Star.
It was sponsored by The Dream Team, a group of ex-psychiatric patients; Houselink Community Homes, a supportive housing provider; and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Almost 400,000 individuals in Ontario relied on ODSP in March. The program provides a maximum of $1,053 per month for a single person — almost $7,000 a year below the after-tax poverty line of $19,478 for a single person last year.
Working income offers the possibility of escaping poverty, improves mental health and benefits everyone, the report notes.
“It would boost consumer spending and taxes paid, and decrease pressure on the health and social assistance systems,” it says.
Burfind, a former medical secretary, lost everything about 15 years ago, when a stressful working environment spiralled into mental illness, leaving her bankrupt and homeless.
Various part-time jobs with the supportive housing agency that runs her rent-geared-to-income apartment have helped her slowly regain a sense of worth and community.
But when she was offered full-time work at minimum wage several years ago, Burfind felt she couldn’t afford to take it because it would mean a rent hike.
“Work becomes more of a punishment than something to be proud of,” says Burfind, one of nine ODSP recipients whose stories are highlighted in the report.
The often arbitrary, demeaning and incompetent treatment of the disabled by ODSP administrators can compound recipients’ poverty and desperation, the report found.
In Burfind’s case, she was told she had to liquidate an insurance policy or face penalties due to ODSP’s $5,000 asset limit.
But after Burfind collapsed the policy and spent all the money on a weekend trip to Montreal, the ODSP worker told her he was mistaken. Life insurance policies are, in fact, exempt from asset limits.
Michael Koo has also been hurt by an ODSP administrative screw-up.
The thoughtful, soft-spoken man in his mid-30s struggles with anxiety and depression disorders. He had a part-time job as a peer support worker for seniors suffering from mental illness and felt he was making important connections through pet therapy using a lovebird.
But for Koo, the game-changer was housing. After years of living in rooming houses and other shared accommodation, he credits a bright bachelor apartment in a quiet midtown walk-up with helping him get back on his feet.
However, unpredictable work hours and ODSP payments calculated on his previous month’s earnings caused Koo to fall behind in his rent.
When an ODSP worker suggested he authorize direct deposit of his rent to the landlord, Koo thought his housing troubles were solved. But due to a mix-up in the ODSP office, the rent was never paid. The landlord harassed Koo’s employer for the money and started eviction proceedings.
He is now unemployed and about to become homeless.
“I’ve lost my job. I’ve lost my housing. And I’m losing my self-esteem,” he says. “I am very worried about my future.”
Queen’s Park should introduce an online calculator for monthly earnings that would clarify ODSP rules and the complex system of earnings deductions in plain language, the report says.
This is a service already provided by Ottawa to help people calculate GST/HST credits and child and working tax benefits, it notes.
Social policy expert John Stapleton, who wrote the report, says annual reconciliation of earnings would be consistent with the province’s new policy of calculating subsidized rent once a year.
“The gas and hydro companies allow consumers to pay a set monthly amount every month, based on previous consumption,” he says. It would save (ODSP) workers from having to deal with all this menial paperwork every month.”
Report recommendations
* Increase monthly work-related benefits to $150 from $100
* Exempt first $300 per month from 50 per cent earnings clawback for one year
* Reconcile earnings yearly instead of monthly
* Introduce an online calculator to clarify rules and earnings deductions
* Streamline treatment of ODSP earnings with programs such as subsidized rent, child care and student loan repayment
* Expand ODSP employment supports to include training and on-the-job support
* Raise asset limits
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