Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

'Physical requirements' in Ann Arbor city administrator job description are discriminatory, group says

Excerpt from AnnArbor.com: (click for entire article)

A group that advocates on behalf of people with disabilities is claiming the city of Ann Arbor's "physical requirements" to become the next city administrator are discriminatory.

Carolyn Grawi, director of advocacy and education at the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living, said her nonprofit group is taking issue with requirements stated in a job description posted on the city's website, saying it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Illinois’ disabled: We want out of nursing homes now

Excerpt from Medill Reports: (click for entire article)

Illinois advocates and people with disabilities made their message loud and clear at Friday’s town hall meeting at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The state is failing to place people with disabilities in independent living arrangements that serve their needs better than nursing homes.

Advocates argue that Illinois spends a disproportionate amount of Medicaid expenditures on long-term nursing home care instead of spending funds on personal care assistance in an individual’s own home or community living arrangements.

Illinois currently spends nearly $4 billion in providing Medicaid long-term care. Just over 70 percent of funds go to institutions, about 15 percent above the national average, and just under 30 percent go to community living, about 15 percent below the national average.

Our View: People with disabilities deserve better from Illinois

Excerpt from rrstar.com: (click for entire article)

In the state’s proposed budget, the cost to keep one person with disabilities in an institution will rise to $192,000. And not one of the 21,000 children and adults will move off a waiting list for community services.

The cost of care to support one person living in the community is  just $50,000 — or about one-quarter of the cost of institutional care.

If it were a dollars-and-cents issue only, it would be bad enough. But view it in human terms: A person with disabilities should not live in an institution if he or she can function well in a community setting.

Illinois has its priorities exactly backward, and the silence on the issue from the governor’s office is deafening.

Housebound seniors are more likely to develop Alzheimer's, research finds

Excerpt from McKnight's: (click for entire article)

New research shows housebound seniors are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease as more active individuals, which may provide indications and clues for prevention.

Investigators at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago followed 1,294 seniors from two separate studies. None of the study subjects exhibited dementia symptoms at the beginning of either study. During an average of 4.4 years, 180 participants developed Alzheimer's. Of this group, patients who self-reported that they never left their home environments during an average week were two times as likely to develop Alzheimer's than those who periodically traveled out of town.

The investigators listed a caveat to their research, noting that participants living in retirement homes were still considered housebound. Even when the researchers adjusted their data for factors such as depression, gender, education and other diseases, they found the association between isolation and Alzheimer's remained. They cautioned that there might not be a direct link, but that isolation can be a warning sign. 

CEC Teacher of the Year 2011

Patti's Comments:  Congratulations! You cannot have too many great teachers!

Excerpt from My Special Needs Network: (click for entire article)

We are in National Harbor MD this week for the annual Council for Exceptional Children Conference. For the past 7 years School Specialty/Integrations Special Needs Division has been the proud sponsor of the CEC Clarissa Hug Award for National Teacher of the Year. This year's TOY is Dr. Donald DeVito. Dr. DeVito is the music teacher extraordinaire at Sidney Lanier School in Gainesville, FL which accommodates students with moderate to profound intellectual disabilities from ages 3-22. The music  program he has developed at the school  includes world music ensembles, drumlines, general music and a Virtual Classroom project that uses Skype and a $30 internet camera to link his students with music programs for children with disabilities in China, Pakistan, Africa, Brazil and universities around the world.

Blind journalist in Britain goes undercover to discover discrimination against guide dogs

Excerpt from Media dis&dat: (click for entire article)

Some businesses and restaurants routinely refuse entry to blind people with guide dogs according to radio journalist Sean Dilley (pictured) who argues that current laws are too weak and should be changed to end discrimination. Each week, the Daily Politics offers a platform to a famous person to make a film with their personal views on a subject, before debating them in the studio.

I went out in London to secretly film the reaction of business owners to my guide dog Chipp with a camera hidden in the strap of my rucksack.


We were refused entry at three neighbouring restaurants, and one hotel.


The businesses featured have a blanket ban on all dogs, including assistance dogs. We were barred despite me clearly pointing out that Chipp was a guide dog.

Federal judge says lawsuit that accuses Georgia of discriminating against deaf and mentally ill people

Excerpt from Media dis&dat: (click for entire article)

A federal judge has given the green light for a lawsuit that could be a major blow to Georgia's mental health system and cost taxpayers millions.

The lawsuit accuses the state of discriminating against deaf people who are also mentally ill.

“Financially, emotionally, mentally, it’s a strain on me,” Gale Belton told Channel 2’s Diana Davis.

Belton's daughter Renita is deaf and mentally ill. When Belton tried to get her counseling, she said it was a struggle.

“I had 10 providers to turn me down before I found one,” Belton said.

Riesberg bill to help fund disability benefits program signed into law

Excerpt from The Tribune: (click for entire article)

A bill sponsored by Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, that would help fund a disability benefits support program has been signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper.

“Too many people are led to believe that once they are declared disabled, they no longer have options,” Riesberg said in a news release Wednesday. “With this bill, we’ve found an innovative way to help fund the effort to reach out and empower disabled Coloradans to apply for the benefits they’re entitled to.”

The measure, House Bill 1216, will allow the state to auction personalized license plates that have been retired. Money raised from the sale of these plates will fund the creation of the Laura Hershey Memorial Disability Benefits Support Program. This program will provide education, direct assistance and advocacy to enroll those who are eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income and Long Term Medicaid, according to the release.

Alzheimer interventions

Excerpt from Thousand Oaks Acorn: (click for entire article)

His enemy is Alzheimer’s disease.

Why the race? An estimated 10 million American baby boomers, who are now between the ages of 47 and 65, will develop the disease in their lifetime. That translates to 1 out of every 8 baby boomers.

“The age of highest risk for Alzheimer’s starts at 65,” said Stephen McConnell of the Alzheimer’s Association. The early boomers have just crossed that threshold. Without a cure, this disease can have a devastating effect on their lives, their families and our nation’s healthcare system.

Simple Quiz Speeds Diagnosis of Autism in Infants

Excerpt from The Wall Street Journal: (click for entire article)

A brief screening in a pediatrician's office can detect autism-like symptoms in children as young as 12 months old, giving them an important head start on treatment, according to a study published Thursday.

The screening used in the study also flagged some babies who later turned out to be developing normally, raising a false alarm for families. But early diagnosis and treatment of autism and other developmental delays are thought to improve outcomes, and researchers said the benefits of early intervention outweighed the downsides.

"This does show that a respectable percentage of babies who eventually get a diagnosis [of autism-spectrum disorders] show subtle signs at one year," said Karen Pierce, lead author of the study and assistant director of the University of California, San Diego's Autism Center of Excellence. "The only chance we have right now in changing that path to having full-blown symptoms is early intervention, and there's no reason not to try."