JFActivist

Social Security Disability Cases Pending, Pending...

From The Washington Post:

February 29, 2008

Disability Cases Pending, Pending...
By Stephen Barr

Over the next decade, the Social Security Administration's workload will increase substantially. Retirement claims will jump by more than 40 percent and disability claims by nearly 10 percent.

The first wave of 80 million baby boomers has applied for Social Security, and boomers are likely to seek disability benefits in greater numbers than did previous generations.

At a House hearing yesterday, Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue said the agency may have to reinvent itself -- making greater use of technology and streamlined procedures -- to keep up with the boomers as well as whittle down a disability case backlog...

...Read the rest of this article.

Father Who "Mercy Killed" Daughter with Cerebral Palsy Out on Parole

From Canada's Leader-Post (February 28):

Latimer paroled
National Parole Board's decision on Robert Latimer draws strong reaction

By Pamela Cowan

Trank Izer is infuriated by the National Parole Board's decision to release Robert Latimer on day parole because it targets disabled people.

"A decision like this sets a precedent so that if somebody executes someone with a disability they can plead mercy killing," said the Regina man. "It expresses the sentiment that people with disabilities are seemingly less valuable members of the community and basically puts a huge sign on the backs of people with disabilities that says, 'Kill Me, I'm Disabled.' "

Latimer was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 10 years after he killed his 12-year-old daughter Tracy in 1993. He contended it was an act of mercy because Tracy had cerebral palsy...

...Read more.

Survey Conducted on Accessibility of Social Networking

PRESS RELEASE:

TecAccess and AbilityNet Conduct Survey on the Accessibility of Social Networking

For immediate release
(804) 749-8646
info@tecaccess.net

Rockville, VA - December 18, 2007-- TecAccess, an award-winning accessibility consultancy, and AbilityNet, a nonprofit dedicated to accessibility, have teamed up to research the accessibility of networking websites such as MySpace, FaceBook, Bebo and LinkedIn. The strategic partnership is also interested in photos and video sharing web sites such as YouTube, Flickr and PhotoBucket.

"If you or someone you know has a disability, we would like to hear your opinions of these type of exciting websites, both good and bad," explains Debra Ruh, founder and President of TecAccess.

To provide your input and suggestions on how social networking can be improved, visit AbilityNet to take the survey. If you have any difficulties completing this form, you can contact AbilityNet at either accessibility@abilitynet.org.uk or you can call (and minicom) the helpline 0800 269545.


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Scotland - Most Adults with Autism "Isolated"

From BBC News:

Most autistic adults 'isolated'



Thousands of adults with autism find themselves isolated and ignored, one of the largest studies into people with the condition has suggested.

The National Autistic Society Scotland said more than half of an estimated 50,000 autistic adults and their families do not get the support needed.

It claimed the government does not know exactly how many people have autism, making it impossible to plan services.

The charity spoke to 175 adults with the condition and their families.

The I Exist report said thousands of adults with autism faced a "miserable daily reality" which left them feeling isolated and ignored...

...Read more.

So-Called "$1 Million Dollar" Ramp in San Francisco City Hall

From the San Francisco Chronicle (February 27):

Wheelchair ramp will cost $100,000 a foot

By Phillip Matier & Andrew Ross

Where else but San Francisco City Hall could a 10-foot-long wheelchair ramp wind up costing $1 million?

Thanks to a maze of bureaucratic indecision and historic restrictions, taxpayers may shell out $100,000 per foot to make the Board of Supervisors president's perch in the historic chambers accessible to the disabled.

What's more, the little remodel job that planners first thought would take three months has stretched into more than four years - and will probably mean the supervisors will have to move out of their hallowed hall for five months while the work is done.

"It's crazy," admits Susan Mizner, director of the mayor's Office on Disability. "But this is just the price of doing business in a historic building."...

...Read more.

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UPDATE (3/12):

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted against inputting a ramp in the supervisors' meeting chamber for Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, who is paraplegic, despite the requirements of the ADA... Read more.

Advocacy Group Applauds Lowe's for Pulling Ads from Big Brother

From Salem-News.com (February 25):
   

Group Applauds Retailer for Pulling Ads From Big Brother

The group says their call for a boycott will continue until CBS apologizes.

(CLEARWATER, Fla.) - Family Network on Disabilities of Florida (FND) is today applauding the action of Lowe’s, the home improvement company. Lowe’s announced that they are pulling their advertising from the CBS show Big Brother because of the use of a slur against persons with disabilities by one of the contestants.

Rich La Belle, Executive Director of FND, stated: "Thank you, Lowe’s, for being a great corporate citizen and taking this courageous action."

The contestant Adam Jasinski, who claimed to be doing public relations work for the United Autism Foundation, refered to persons with autism as "r*t**ds" and, when called on it by another contestant, he repeatedly defends his actions...

...Read more.

U.S. Access Board "Section 508 Refresh Advisory Committee" to Complete its Work in April

The U.S. Access Board's Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC) is finishing up a year and a half of work in April. This federal advisory committee was charged with providing recommendations for updates of accessibility standards issued under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and guidelines under section 255 of the Telecommunications Act. 

The TEITAC Presentation is on April 3, 2008,  3:00 – 6:00 p.m. ET, at the The Grand Hyatt, 1000 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., Reception 6:00 – 7:30 p.m, and can be viewed online.   

For further information, please visit the TEITAC web site.

Deaf Dancer to Appear on "Dancing with the Stars"

From the New York Post:

FEELING THE BEAT ON 'STARS'

By DON KAPLAN

February 22, 2008 -- MARLEE Matlin, the deaf, Oscar- winning actress who will tango and two-step on "Dancing with the Stars" next month, may have a leg up on her competition - the ability to "feel" the music in ways other people can't.

Using her whole body, minimal hearing and relying heavily on her new dance partner, Fabian Sanchez, Matlin may turn out to be the favorite in a field of dancers that includes professional athletes, including figure-skating champ Kristi Yamaguchi.

"In a dance studio, I like the music to be turned up loud so I can follow along the bass line," Matlin told The Post in an e-mail. But mostly, it's about that rhythm I have inside me..."

...Read more.

Teens Charged with Torturing, Clubbing, Shaving Head of Disabled Woman

  From The  New York Times (February 27):

2 Teenagers Are Accused of Torturing Ohio Woman
By BOB DRIEHAUS

CINCINNATI — Two teenagers with long criminal records have been charged with torturing a young woman for at least six hours inside her home in rural southwestern Ohio.

The victim, Ashley Clark, 18, was found bound, gagged and bleeding on Friday by police officers and her mother, who had called 911 when she returned from work and found the house, in Hanover Township, ransacked.

Ashley Clark told the police she had been beaten throughout the day, sometimes with a baseball bat...

...Read more (free registration may be required).

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READ MORE:

Read a related article from CNN.

Surgeon Stands Trial, Accused of Hastening Death of Disabled Man to Harvest His Organs

From The New York Times (February 27):

Surgeon Accused of Speeding a Death to Get Organs

By JESSE McKINLEY

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — On a winter night in 2006, a disabled and brain damaged man named Ruben Navarro was wheeled into an operating room at a hospital here. By most accounts, Mr. Navarro, 25, was near death, and doctors hoped that he might sustain other lives by donating his kidneys and liver.

But what happened to Mr. Navarro quickly went from the potentially life-saving to what law enforcement officials say was criminal. In what transplant experts believe is the first such case in the country, prosecutors have charged the surgeon, Dr. Hootan C. Roozrokh, with prescribing excessive and improper doses of drugs, apparently in an attempt to hasten Mr. Navarro’s death to retrieve his organs sooner...

...Read more (free registration may be required).

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DISABILITY BLOGGERS:
Read what other disability bloggers said about this news story and about Robert Navarro, the victim, when the story first broke last year:

• Not Dead Yet
• Big Noise