Imagine being at war in the midst of battle without being aware of what was going on around you. Imagine having the desire to serve your country and help your fellow soldiers but you needed an aid to walk. This has been a problem for British soldier Craig  Lundberg for the past three years.  Craig Lundberg lost his vision after he was struck by a rocket propelled grenade in 2007.  

After his incident Corporal Craig Lundberg was the first to get his hands or should I say tongue on a new device called Brainport. You can say that he was a pioneer in using this device. Brainport allows him to see images from his goggles which are then translated with a simulation pattern to his tongue and converted into signals that can be understood by his brain. People who are visually impaired will learn to use this device by recognizing patterns, movement and also high contrast objects. What concerns me is what happens if this particular soldier gets the device damaged while on a mission? Does the device have some sort of backup software and is it durable enough to withstand the different environments and situations a soldier has to deal with in the time of war?

According to Lundberg he says that the device feels like “licking a nine volt battery” or “like popping candy”. This device has a great potential to change the lives of many people if released to the public. This device could help those who are visually impaired see their loved ones which could be an enormous advancement in life of people affected by this disability. Lundberg says “ One of the things it has allowed me to do is pick up objects straight away, I can reach out and pick them up when before I would be fumbling around to feel for them”. The value of this simple action is taken for granted by so many people. You can tell that life is a lot more easier for Lundberg and his family ….even more so than before. There has to be some feeling of relief within him that now he has the ability to do more things for himself as well as others.

Currently this revolutionary device being used is only a prototype according to Disability and Health News. hopefully the British army will find answers to these problems before it is used by other visually impaired soldiers.The neuropsychologist supervising this trial Maurice Pitito says that “ It’s a concept in which you replace a sense that was lost by another one.” Brainport can allow people who are visually impaired walk around without a cane. It gives them the opportunity to navigate obstacles and even the opportunity to read signs. It also allows them to get a feeling of the world from their tongue and that gives them a sense of seeing. Most people do not understand that you do not only see with your eyes but you see with your brain.

The disabled are usually at the bottom of the poor, unable to pay for good medical care or housing. At least there are government programs in the United States to make sure that the disabled can take care of themselves and their families. Without these safety nets, the disabled have no way of working to take care of themselves or to pay for needed medical care or drugs. The government of Haiti will need to think about how they are going to care for people that cannot care for themselves. Just thowing the disabled to the wolves and forgetting about them is not the way to do this. Add the pubic stigma of being disabled and you have a recipe for disaster. With no government help and most companies refusing to hire the disabled and you have a group that is guaranteed to starve to death on an island that they have no way of getting off of. The United Nations has a significant group on the ground in Haiti that is used for peacekeeping but can and should be used to help the disabled. There should never be a group that is so shunned that they are allowed to starve to death with no medical help and no one cares. Especially where these people are disabled because they were the victim of a natural disaster, they did not create their problem, they are just trying to live through it. There must be rehab programs put in place to help the newly disabled to get the most out of their situation and to train them for jobs that they can do. Everyone wants to be useful and to work and take care of themselves and their family.

 Further problems were found in availability of clinics, tests for medical conditions and pills to control long term conditions. The disabled ran a much greater risk of hearing and visual problems as well as hypertension, obesity and a lack of instructions on how to deal with medical conditions. This creates an environment where those with good medical insurance have access to doctors that are trained to help their patients over a wide range of issues where the disabled typically have to deal with newly graduated doctors that do not have the training or experience to work with those with complicated medical issues. Since the medical infrastructure of the United States is on treating a problem rather than prevention, medical care is much more expensive than virtually anywhere else in the world.

Rather than working to make sure people do not get the flu or popular issues like hypertension or smoking, the medical community and insurance companies waits until the patient is severely sick before they get the care they need. This means that more disabled die or end up with additional medical conditions as compared to the able bodied that have corporate based medical insurance. Many pills are not available on Part B Medicare because they are new and expensive, and most companies have virtually non-existent system to help pay for drugs. This is especially true for those with chronic pain, where most pain medication is prohibitively expensive. As the body requires higher and higher doses to get the same pain relief level, stronger medications are required – that are not covered. Even if the medications are covered, the patient is only covered for the first $2700, after that the patent is on their own for the next $2000 before catastrophic care kicks in.

 This all creates an environment where preventative care is non-existent and only very expensive care is available. While this care is great for those that can afford it, for those that are either on Medicare or no plan at all live in excruciating pain or with out of control blood pressure because there is no treatment that the poor can afford. While there may be plans to help the public, the ADA is typically ignored by companies and cities that find it is easier to get sued than it is to build to code. We all need to work together so that the laws are followed and actually help the disabled to live a more normal life.

This is an awesome idea that we all need to push in our own communities. As a tetraplegic (only 1 good arm) I find it very difficult to find an MRI or Cat scan that can drop down to wheelchair level or has personnel trained to transfer the disabled. Some have personnel, but they refuse to help and management merely stands there and stares at you. It is obvious that there needs to be standards for hospitals and equipment owners like standalone MRI units so the disabled are given the same access as the able bodied. It would be nice if the medical community could get their collective act together and create something that they would all follow. Unfortunately, self policing is not the strong point of the medical institutions in the U.S., which points us to laws enacted at either the state or federal level.

State level laws could solve some of the worst problems but there are very different problems and concerns in each state that would need to be addressed. Unfortunately it would mean that the laws would be a mish-mash of things that would be enacted based on local hospitals and insurance companies. States with large insurance companies are going to reduce and control the help the disabled would get. Large hospitals would fight this because of cost and perceived burden in having to deal with additional disabled people. This situation would not be fair to the disabled in states with strong hospitals and insurance companies as they would not get the same level of help as other states.

Federal laws tend to take longer to pass but force all states to follow the same standards. Powerful local hospitals and insurance companies tend not to have the same level of power at the federal level that they show at the local state level. This would also let the national disability groups have their say on what challenges the disabled deal with at hospitals so we get actual disabled people helping to make decisions. The law created here would be more generic than the state level but it guarantees that we would not have a patchwork of laws that would be difficult to enforce and even harder to deal with if the disabled travel.

Regardless of which way we go, this is an excellent start to help those that spend a great deal of time in the hospital as compared to the able bodied. Lets hope that more disability groups take this as an opportunity to help everyone so that we have hospitals and other buildings that are easy to access and have equipment that have the same ease of use. It does not take much additional effort to make everything disability accessible, but it is usually very expensive to rip out what you already have and start over again.

Even though the United States passed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1993 which gave back civil rights to those whose only crime is the inability to walk or use their arms. As the United States usually pushes that it is the sole country that helps those to gain their civil rights, no one was able to explain why they refused to sign the convention. After 141 countries signed the accord, the Obama administration has finally decided to show that the the US backs the social rights of all disabled people and recognizes that they deserve the same rights as the able bodied enjoy. Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the United Nations and Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama signed the convention for the United States, making it the 143rd nation to agree to follow the convention to open up civil rights to the disabled. After the signing the ambassador announced that the State Department will create a new senior position to deal exclusively with disability issues internationally. For the first time in 233 years, the United States has joined the world community in helping the disabled live more fruitful lives.

After dealing with many of the craziness of the Bush Administration and their inability to show the disabled any help it is wonderful to have a breath of fresh air from the Obama Administration. Regardless of which side of the political aisle you are on, everyone must agree that the disabled are individuals just like anyone else and should be given the same civil rights as the able bodied. The disabled had to deal with "ugly" laws through the 1970’s and still have to sue corporations that refuse to make building accessible, to hire the disabled, and refusing entrance to those with service animals. These are just a small number of problems the disabled deal with on a daily basis as people that do not want the disabled around pretend that the ADA does not exist and allow new homes to be built such that someone in a wheelchair could not live in it. There are laws that force builders to make sure that a paltry 5% of homes be accessible by a wheelchair to the first floor. Why not make it 100%? Why is it necessary to produce structures that have no easement for the disabled to use?

The disabled understand many of the issues that Black Americans deal with. Country clubs that disallow Blacks or the disabled are found all over the country. The rules are unwritten, but the lack of those of color or disability in these areas are a sad commentary that we have a way to go before we are all truly equal. Pundits scream that we are demanding "special" rights that no one else has and that the ADA should be rescinded. Perhaps they should be forced to live in a wheelchair for a week and see what we are up against. Life as the disabled is difficult because of medical issues, disability payments that do not allow you to feed a family of four in dignity, and cities and builders that create structure we can never enter. The ADA was a good start, and the Obama Administration signing of the UN convention shows that the United States can make good decisions that help everyone. Lets not forget about this and push forward so everyone can be the best they can be and live a life that is rewarding and successful.

While this sounds wonderful, it remains to see how much work the hospitals will put in place. The article did not say whether disabled people would be added to groups verifying that all areas of the hospital do indeed follow ADA guidelines. But these two hospitals are showing that the ADA is doing great work throughout the country in forcing all public buildigs to be fully accessible and that personnel must be trained to help the disabled. This training is going to be the real deciding factor that decides if the hospitals are serious about helping the disabled. From the bus drivers to the nursing staff, everyone has to realize that the disabled are not an alien life form and need help for basic life functions that the able bodied just take for granted. Either forgetting to help or just all out refusing can put the disabled person in a dangrous position that could seriously injure them.

Ongoing training and verification that existing fixes are appropriate and that new areas of the hospital reach ADA guidelines will be an important aspect of this promise. The management of the hospitals can’t just look at this as a way to get away from lawsuits, they should want to help their fellow man because it is the right things to do. Opening the area to the disabled will bring more business to the hospitals because more people can access facilities there. Companies that complain about being forced to make accessiblity changes may be surprised at the amount of aditional traiffic now that the disabled can actually get in and move around.

With more and more people becomikng disabled, it will be important for these hospitakls to be accessible.l Baby boomers are getting older and many will eventually in walkers or wheelchairs and they will not be impressed if the hospital down the street cannot open the doors for them. This is something for all businesses to think about, not only are there customers you are losing, but eventually those owners and managers will be in those wheelchairs that they don’t care about. Then the shoe will be on the other foot.

Under current law, when federal financial assistance is used to create new single family houses or town houses, only 5% are required to meet accessibility standards that allow individuals with physical disabilities to visit or live in these houses. The remaining 95 percent of government-assisted new homes can be built with unnecessary architectural barriers.  As a result, residents who acquire disabilities are forced to live in unsafe conditions, unable to use their bathrooms or exit their homes independently.nbsp; They may face high renovation costs or long waiting lists for public funds to finance modifications.  They may become socially isolated because barriers in their homes prevent visits from other friends and family members with disabilities.  Ultimately, they may be forced from their homes and into institutions because of this lack of basic accessibility in their housing. (Source: concretechange@yahoogroups.com)

HR 1408 addresses these dilemmas in a cost-effective and practical way.  While leaving in place the existing requirement for extensive access in 5%, IHDA provides for fewer but important accessible features in the remaining 95%. This would ensure that all housing built with taxpayer monies enables a person with a physical disability to enter a home and use the bathroom on the main level.  For homes built on a concrete slab, the cost is less than $100 and for homes with a basement or crawl space the cost is estimated at less than $600.

In a study published last year by the American Planning Association, researchers determined that, using different measures of disability, there was a 25 to 60 percent chance that a house built in 2000 would at sometime during its useful life contain a resident with a severe, long-term mobility impairment.[1] This nation is not building homes to meet the needs of its people.  HR 1408 will take considerable steps to correct that.  Please  support HR 1408.

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This is a big deal for all Americans, not just the disabled. While folks in wheelchairs and walkers want to be able to buy a house like everyone else that they can actually use, the elderly have the same issues. You may be able to use your home just fine now, but what about 20 years from now? Stairs and sunken dens will suddenly be areas of the house that you cannot enter. Lots of money and effort will need to be put in place to either remove these barriers or to change them into ramps. Rather than trying to figure out how we are all going to pay for these problems then, lets fix it now. There is no reason why stairs are necessary on the first floor to get into most houses and entryways must be wide enough to allow a wheelchair through. This added space will make it easier to move into the home and to bring in new furniture and appliances. This opens up neighborhoods to the disabled so that there are fewer empty homes in a neighborhood that could be used by criminals to destroy the area. Everyone wins when we do just a few things to make all homes accessible to the ever increasing number of disabled and elderly people. Things will not get better unless we do something about it. A democracy requires that we all participate which fortunately is easy to do. Calling your congressman or sending an email to one of your senators goes a long way to let them know what you are expecting from them. If we don’t let them know then we can expect things to continue along where the disabled cannot access over 95% of the new homes built everyday. It would be very sad if nothing was done about this when a fix is right in front of us.

THe neat thing about these shelves is that they look great in the home and the able bodied can just put things on the shelves without fiddling with the technology. Any number of shelving units can be placed next to each other to give you a large area to store books or any other tchotchkes that belong on a shelf. This idea should be built into any homes that are for the disabled as they will immediately be put to good use. If this technology was installed in the kitchen then shelves holding heavy plates and cups could easily be grabbed. I presently have no way to get to anything except on the first shelf and even then I’m usually bouncing falling objects off of the counter. With movable shelves I could get to any shelf and could prepare my own meals without the aid of someone else in the house.

To the able bodied this sounds like a little thing that is a waste of money. But for those of us that want to live by ourselves or want to do life tasks without help this is the way to go. It means a lot to be able to prepare lunch or dinner without objects bouncing off the counter and floor because they were placed too high from my chair. It’s a simple thing, but most folks are too busy just cleaning up to worry where things are  in the kitchen. These shelves fit into everyone’s life without making them change anything. That is the best type of modification that can be done to any home.

Note that the ADA does allow the disabled to sue those building owners and others that refuse to follow the law. Store owners that throw out the disabled because of a service dog or managers that do now want people in wheelchairs bringing the "wrong look" to their store can expect to be forced to do the right thing. However, most of the time the disabled cannot sue for monetary damages. I have personally been thrown out of a children’s clothing store because I brought Naomi, my service dog with me. She had on her cape and coat saying she was a service dog. I even gave a copy of the law with outlined sections to the owners but they said that dogs were not allowed in stores in their home country so that is the way it is here. After trying to explain otherwise we decided to call corporate office and they realized the lawsuit ahead of them and fired the manager. But people with small minds and power still exist and will try to make your life miserable.

So, we give thanks to the ADA and to the lawyers that work tirelessly to make sure our civil rights are not violated. But the small minded among us proves that much work needs to be done so that everyone that owns a business understands their requirements in the ADA and that they will be held responsible for hiring people that want to restore the "ugly" laws. Instituting new teeth in the ADA that would allow the disabled to sue for monetary damages is a good place to start. Otherwise we can expect to be asked to go to the back to of the bus, assuming that the bus even bothers to stop for us.

While it is wonderful that someone has started to lift a finger in Georgia about how hospitals treat the disabled, when do we do this with the rest of the country. THere are stories about the disabled not able tog et service, being dropped off in slums so the hospitals don’t need to care for them, or sending the disabled to another hospital because the¥ can’t make much money from Medicare. THere are so many problems that it is doubtful that they can be fixed in our lifetime, but we can start somewhere. Taking what was found and promised in Georgia, the disabled community needs to demand equal accessibility and service from every hospital and clinic in the country. No one should be ferried to another hospital because of money. Federal controls of the medical industry has been fought over for many years but it looks like the patients are going to finally get their say this year. Call your congressmen and senators to let them know what you expect and that the disabled are real people that deserve what everyone else gets.

Remember, just complaining to a hospital directly will not solve the problems that the disabled have with them. These entities are in business to make money, and at your health expense. They do not care that you do not get medication or that they create bedsores that could send you to a nursing home center. But they do care when the federal government comes in and starts twisting arms to do the right thing. Medicine is not what it used to be. Doctors used to work with their patients and actually listen to them. This has degenerated into mass production medicine where doctors see each patient for exactly 37 seconds before moving on to the next. Who cares if the patient is not cured or if their pain has not been reduced. As long as their insurance has been billed the maximum possible and the minimum done for the patient by law – then everything is just fine. NOT IT IS NOT! Until we demand better things will not change. Do not expect hospital and doctors to do better until we whack them over the head with laws and ADA lawsuits. These only happen when the disabled call lawyers and congress. Yes, it is a pain in the neck to force these entities to actually follow the law but that is our duty to everyone else.