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

SpeechTrans Offers Mobile Translation App for Hearing Impaired

Excerpt from PR Newswire: (click for entire article)

SpeechTrans, a leader in app-based multi-language translation, announced today the launch of SpeechTrans Ultimate for Hearing Impaired. The new app enables the hearing impaired to conduct real-time two-way conversations in English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Italian and German and Mandarin Chinese without the need for sign language or an in-person translator.

With the new app, each person can simply speak out loud into the user's mobile device, and have the translated text automatically appear. Type-to-type translations are also available for situations that require quiet, or for those who have trouble speaking because of disability. It is difficult for hearing impaired individuals to determine when someone ends their part of the conversation, so the Hearing Impaired version can automatically detect when a person stops speaking, and immediately begin the translation.

The app stores can play back previous translations, without access to an internet connection. In this version the auto-translate feature can be turned off, allowing same language conversations. Information from other apps can also be cut and pasted into SpeechTrans, so it can be translated and read aloud to another individual.

Making Girl Scout Cookies Better for the Planet

Excerpt from Time: (click for entire article)

For Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen, it all began with orangutans. Four years ago-inspired by the work of primate researcher Jane Goodall-the two friends from Ann Arbor, Mich., collaborated on a research report on the endangered primates to help qualify for their Girl Scout Bronze award, one of the highest prizes offered by the 3.2 million-member organization. Vorva and Tomtishen have both been scouts since they were five years old, and they take their roles and responsibilities seriously. So when they discovered that one of the major threats to orangutan populations in Indonesia was deforestation caused by the growth of palm plantations-and that the iconic cookies the Girl Scouts sell can sometimes contain palm oil from plantations on deforested land-the girls refused to simply do nothing. "Being a Girl Scout is about showing stewardship for the land," says Vorva, who is now 16. (Tomtishen is 15.) "We knew we had to keep fighting."

For the past few years, Vorva and Tomtishen have worked to get the attention of Girls Scouts of the USA-the scouts' national organization-and get palm oil out of the 198 million boxes of Girl Scout cookies sold each year. They began by convincing their own troop to stop selling cookies until the Girl Scouts removed palm oil or found a more sustainable source that wouldn't lead to deforestation. As Vorva and Tomtishen spread their message with the help of the Web, social networks and the Rainforest Action Network-an activist group dedicated to fighting deforestation-other Girl Scout troops around the country began rebelling, sending thousands of emails to the Scouts' national leadership. "We were really happy with the way other scouts responded once they found out what was going on," says Tomtishen.

People with disabilities share hugs, forge friendships with caregivers

Excerpt from The Canadian Press: (click for entire article)

Beth Desjardins suddenly springs from the couch, crosses the floor and hugs her housemate and caregiver Marian Bulley.

Sometimes a gesture says more than words in conveying how a home is created for a person with an intellectual disability.

Desjardins, a 26-year-old woman with pervasive development disorder, moved into her L'Arche residence in Halifax 14 months ago. She says her life in the residence is "OK" and she enjoys her private room, then leads Bulley back to the couch to sit beside her.

"L'Arche is about relationship," said Maria Desjardins, explaining her daughter's spontaneous desire to embrace Bulley.

Specially trained dogs help people with life-limiting mental disabilities

Excerpt from Great Falls Tribune: (click for entire article)

When Alicia Smith first got Hunka, a Saint Bernard mix, in 2006 she just wanted a pet — a dog to keep her company and to take hiking.

Since then, Hunka has transformed, thanks to years of training, into much more than a pet. He is now Smith's psychiatric service dog and a partner in Smith's recovery from mental illness.

Smith, of Bozeman, was first diagnosed with mental illness in her early 20s. She's since been diagnosed with bipolar 2, agoraphobia and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Article of the Week: "An Elder Law Case Study – Medicaid and Estate Planning for Mr. and Mrs. Marlowe"

Excerpt from ElderCare Matters: (click for entire article)

The collective goals of Mr. and Mrs. Marlowe are to protect their family assets for the future benefit of Mrs. Marlowe, their grown children and grandchildren, and accomplished this while at the same time establishing compensability for Mr. Marlowe for Medicaid benefits.  The Marlowe family estimate that Mr. Marlowe will need to transition into a long-term skilled care facility in the next two to five years.

FACTUAL HISTORY

Mr. Marlowe will be sixty-seven (67) years old in November and has been diagnosed with the neurological disorder: Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.  Mr. Marlowe retired from Georgia Power Company in May 1997.  He began receiving his regular Social Security as of the age of sixty-five (65), and he received his entitlement to Medicare on November 1, 2009.  Mr. Marlowe has health insurance through Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Medicare Part “A” and Part “B”.  He receives a monthly retirement pension of $425.00; however, once he passes, this retirement pension will not transfer to Mrs. Marlowe.  In addition, he receives $1,500.00 in monthly Social Security income benefits, for a total of $1,925.00 in monthly income.

Local Physicians Support "3 in 4 Need More" Long Term Care Awareness Campaign

Excerpt from PR Newsire: (click for entire article)

America is on the verge of a Long Term Care epidemic and less than 10% of them are prepared. To bring national attention to this issue, Dr. Marion Somers, a leading authority on geriatric care, kicked off a two month coast to coast awareness tour to promote the resources available on www.3in4needmore.com. The nonprofit 3 in 4 need more foundation was created to educate the public on the growing issue of Long Term Care. The foundation derives its name from the U.S Dept of Health and Human Services statistic that 70% ("nearly 3 in 4") of Americans ages 65+ will need Long Term Care services at some point in their lives.

Tony Prince, President of Physicians Choice Insurance Service, an Orange County based insurance agency specializing in healthcare and long term care insurance says, "Credible information and viable affordable choices are what Orange County residents seek on the topic of long term care."

Several prominent Orange County Physicians have volunteered to provide this information in public seminars being held now in many Orange County cities. To find a seminar near you go to www.3in4.pciyes.com.

Districts Hire Outsider to Trim Special Ed. Costs

Excerpt from Education Week: (click for entire article)

In a prekindergarten class at the Webster School here, occupational-therapist assistant Ashley Tarentino leads five children in a round of “The Wheels on the Bus,” triggering the children with autism and other conditions that have affected their gross and fine motor skills to pedal their arms along with the actions in the song.

While this scene could be taking place anywhere in the country, one invisible factor sets this classroom apart. Ms. Tarentino doesn’t work for the school, or the district. She’s an employee of Futures Education, a private company that works with dozens of districts around the country on cutting special education costs.

Futures Education may be hired simply to evaluate how a district’s special education students are served, or it may go as far as providing therapists or aides and revamping how those services are delivered based on the company’s evaluation.

Kids' dental health in Indiana gets grade of 'F'

Excerpt from Indy Star: (click for entire article)

Indiana ranks among the worst states in the nation when it comes to children's dental health, earning an F, according to a report released by the Pew Center on the States.

Four other states failed in the report, which was released Tuesday. Indiana slipped a notch from last year's D because the state's Medicaid reimbursement rates fell below the national average for dentists' retail fees.

But Indiana was credited for its nearly 95 percent of residents who drink fluoridated water and the percentage on Medicaid who receive dental care -- 47.4 percent, compared with a national average of 38.1 percent.

IRS To Take On Karl Rove? Tax Laws Could Take A Bite Out Of Secret Political Spending

Excerpt from The Huffington Post: (click for entire article)

Top Republican political strategist Karl Rove's method of secretly funneling unlimited contributions from big donors was so hugely successful in the 2010 campaign that Democrats are now trying to copy it. But his model may yet end up backfiring spectacularly.

In one scenario, groups like Rove's Crossroads Grassroots Political Strategies could find themselves subject to massive fines, ranging as high as 35 to 70 percent of the money they received in secret donations.

In another scenario, their deep-pocket donors could be hit by a 35 percent tax on their contributions.

Disabled Abandon Wheelchairs, Protest Medicaid Cuts

Excerpt from Truthout: (click for entire article)

When Sheela Gunn-Cushman decided to take part in a die-in at the California Republican Convention at the Hyatt Regency in Sacramento in March, she didn't think it would change minds, but she believed that if attendees had to look into the eyes of people with disabilities, they might think twice about pushing for and supporting continued budget cuts.

"There wasn't one person at that action that wasn't disabled," said Gunn-Cushman, a disability rights advocate who is blind and has a mild case of cerebral palsy. "We have all been hit hard by budget cuts."

Shortly after arriving, Gunn-Cushman and several other members of Communities United in Defense of Olmstead (CUIDO) got out of their wheelchairs, made their way to the ground of the hotel lobby and quietly revealed signs saying, "Our lives are precious," "Close corporate tax loopholes," and "Tax oil."