News

Mark your calendar for Saturday, November 16, when there will be a free health fair for seniors and Medicare beneficiaries.  At the fair, student pharmacists from University of Pacific will: Evaluate your Medicare Part D plan, and potentially save you money. Review all of your medications to make sure they are safe together. Immunize you with the seasonal flu and pneumococcal vaccines. …

Berkeley’s Center for Independent Living (CIL) is hosting a workshop on Safety and Self-Defense for seniors and people with disabilities.  Participants will be taught how to: Assess situations and respond quickly Project awareness and confidence Stop unwanted attention Use voice as a safety tool Deal effectively with verbal aggression Get help – and persist until you get it The workshop …

CTP needs your old laptops, desktops!  This equipment makes a big difference in the important work that we do. We use this equipment to support our classes and transitional employment program for people with disabilities. Our easy drop off location is at the Ed Roberts Campus, above the Ashby BART station.  A tax deductible donation letter will be provided.  We wipe all …

With the federal government shutdown dragging on, you might be wondering how this effects people with disabilities.  A good summary appears on the Disability Scoop website, so I’ll just refer you there.

Break out the popcorn.  Disability cinemas are coming to the Bay Area. First off, on Saturday, October 12, Superfest International, the longest running disabilities film festival, promises a fun evening filled with laughter and entertainment.  New this year is an award called “The Dissies”, given to the worst of the worst in film representation of disability.  After viewing short clips of nominated films, audience …

An important new study found that young people (18-21 years old) with autism–even those with challenging behaviors–can be highly successful on the job if they receive intensive, autism-specific training.   The study showed that, of the students who got the extra job training, 87 percent found work in competitive employment situations after graduation compared to just 6 percent in the control group …

During the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak, a disproportionate number of kids with neurologic disorders died, according to a new study by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).  Intellectual disability and epilepsy were two of the most common conditions affecting children who died that year. Children with intellectual disability, cerebral palsy and other disorders are also at risk. However, just half of …

Years ago Cathy Hutchinson suffered a stroke that left her completely paralyzed and unable to speak.  Today, even though she is still just as paralyzed, she can steer a wheel chair  and take a drink without another person’s assistance.  All she has to do is think it, and it happens. Here are two different videos showing Cathy’s mind-directed activities:  in this YouTube video …

British artist Tazia Fowley recently donated her brightly colored painting of hot air balloons over Bristol, U.K., to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for their newborn son Prince George’s nursery.  William and Kate were delighted with it and sent her a personal note of thanks for her generous gift.  The 1′ x 3′ acrylic on wood painting is valued at about …

Come join in the Berkeley paralympic festivities at Opening Day 2013, conducted by the Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program (BORP).  Watch or join in sports such as wheelchair basketball, goalball, adaptive cycling, and power soccer. Event Schedule: 10:00 am – Welcome 10:30 am – Goalball demonstration and open games 11:30 am – Prep wheelchair basketball demo and open games 12:00 pm …