In emergencies, the disabled still forgotten
Spinal Cord Resources Network has been reporting on the total inability of counties, states and federal agencies to help the disabled in times of emergencies for years. After working closely with Florida officials we had made some headway but much work had to be done. We had hoped that other groups working with other states [...]
How to gas up your car
Once you go through the grief of getting your car or van upgraded so you can drive it again (and have been trained to use it) you soon find another problem – filling the gas tank. What once seemed a simple practice now turns into a major issue. You probably cannot easily get out of [...]
Two hospitals decide to upgrade disability accessibility
In an amazing agreement, two Boston hospitals have agreed to make it easier to gain access to the hospitals and would train workers that have been either indifferent or openly hostile to the disabled. They also agreed to remove physical barriers that made it impossible to get into some of the hospital wards or bathrooms [...]
New housing bill in congress needs our help
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 [...]
HUD offering housing assistance
Agency seeking comment on how to allocate vouchers to support independent living
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today joined President Obama’s commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision by announcing that it will offer rental assistance to 4,000 non-elderly families with disabilities, including 1,000 vouchers specifically targeted [...]
Los Angeles buses refuse to pick up disabled
KABC in Los Angeles has a story about public buses refusing to stop for and bring on board people in wheelchairs. Complaining that it was "too difficult" or the disabled did not "want to help" most bus drivers just blow by people in wheelchairs waiting for a ride. Note that the buses are set up [...]
New shelf system for paraplegics
Anyone living with others runs into issues of where things are put on shelves. If the shelf is near you it is relatively easy to grab what you need. But if the shelf is higher than you good luck trying to access something on that shelf.
19th anniversary of ADA
Nineteen years ago the American’s for Disabilities Act was signed into law. Before this law there were numerous "ugly" laws passed by cities across the United States making it illegal for the disabled to appear in public or live in communities with the able bodied. The ADA made it illegal to have these types of [...]
State budgets crushing disabled
The economy has slowly made it impossible for states to take care of the disabled. With so many people out of work, states are not bringing in money like they were before the recession. Income taxes have gone down drastically as well as non payment of property taxes.
US changes stem cell rules
The Obama administration has changed the presidential rules that controlled the usage of stem cells. In the previous Bush administration scientists in the US could only perform scientific studies on existing stem cells and were not able to create new stem cell lines. During the Bush years scientists complained that they were falling behind European [...]
Loading ...