News

You’ve probably heard a lot in the media lately about self-driving cars, or auto-autos, as I think of them.  The original idea was to reduce human error and provide enhanced safety, but just think what they could do for people with disabilities!  For a sneak preview of the future, watch this video of a man with a visual impairment in a …

Although there have been TV closed captioning rules in place for some time, the quality of the captioning has been variable–to be polite about it.  On February 20, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved new rules that clarify and refine quality standards that will be required for television closed captioning in the future. The FCC states that under the new rules captions must be: Accurate: …

Zach Tucker, who has Asperger’s syndrome, stopped hugging his parents when he was 5.  At age 9 he was still doing kindergarten work, and he would stay up all night crying. Then they got Clyde, a service dog specially trained to work with Zack and his autism. The first night Clyde stayed with Zack, the all night crying stopped.  Within three weeks he …

Statistics show that mobility-impaired and visually-impaired people are more often targeted by muggers, who assume they are an easy mark.  You can help reduce the likelihood of getting mugged by following these safety tips put together by Marsha Saxton of the World Institute on Disability (WID): Avoid isolated areas, uninhabited parks, parking lots, garages, and alleyways; stick to well-lit, high traffic areas. Be aware.  …

A nonprofit startup called Noble Paws has taken adaptive technology in a new direction: dog mushing.  Based in Fairbanks, Alaska, they have developed two specialized sled designs; one is wheelchair accessible and the other is accessible for people who have difficulty standing. The purpose is to enable people to discover new forms of mobility and independence while engaging with the natural world …

Severe winter weather across much of the U.S. in the first week of the year had a significant impact on the Red Cross’s ability to collect blood.  Nearly 320 blood drives were cancelled–the equivalent of about 9,300 blood and platelet donations. So it’s incumbent upon us who live in warmer areas to help out now.  Donors of all blood types are needed, but there is …

In older age, health issues can become overwhelming. Sometimes decisions need to be made in crisis situations, decisions that can define a person’s quality of life. Sifting through information to sort truth from propaganda is especially important at these times. Eileen Gambrill, UC Berkeley professor and author of Propaganda In The Helping Professions, will be discussing “How Not to be Bamboozled in Making …

(Sigh.)  Here we are 27 years since the Air Carrier Access Act was passed in 1986, and they’re still doing stuff like this. How an airline can smash up a $26,000 wheelchair, return it to the owner in pieces, claim they’re not responsible and then leave the person sitting there with their broken wheelchair is beyond me.  But that’s precisely what …

New York City is highly respected around the country for the quality of it’s emergency planning, but a federal judge recently ruled that it’s planning violates the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA), citing insufficient evacuation plans for people with disabilities and inaccessible emergency shelters.  This will likely prompt other emergency planners around the country to take another look at their own …

In 2002 the Help America Vote Act was passed. Designed to help people with disabilities to exercise their right to vote more easily, it also, for the first time, granted individuals with disabilities the right to vote “independently and privately”.  Yet here we are, more than a decade later, finding that barriers are still widespread–legal,  physical and attitudinal. A new report …