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

Reminiscing in Hospice Care

Excerpt from Right at Home: (click for entire article)

Few people know more about the anger, fear, and guilt terminally ill patients harbor as they come to grips with their approaching death than the hospice worker charged with helping patients and their families handle those negative emotions and achieve a good death.

Two Minnesota psychologists say exercises in story-telling can help dying patients move past debilitating emotions by allowing the patient to view his or her life more positively and bringing family members closer.

"The idea is to empower the person to help them affirm their life experience," says Howard Thorsheim, PhD, professor of psychology at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. "We have found that story-telling is the glue that binds us together."

Class Action Suit Filed Against Disney For Alleged Violations Of Disabilities Act

Excerpt from Mice Chat: (click for entire article)

Two visually impaired annual pass holders at the Disney theme parks have filed a nationwide class action against The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries, which own Disneyland, Disney’s California Adventure, and Walt Disney World, alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. On behalf themselves and others similarly situated, they seek to change various Disney’s policies which unfairly treat the blind.

Tampa, FL and Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) July 14, 2010 -- Cari Shields and Amber Boggs, two visually impaired annual pass holders at the Disney parks, have filed a nationwide class action against The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries which own Disneyland, Disney’s California Adventure, and Walt Disney World, alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. On behalf themselves and others similarly situated, Mrs. Boggs and Ms. Shields seek to change various Disney policies which unfairly treat the blind. For example, they demand that Disney change its policy of not allowing costumed characters to interact with visually impaired guests who visit the park with their service animals. This policy is enforced even when Mrs. Boggs visits the parks with her fully-sighted children.

Athletes With Disabilities Up For ESPN Awards

Excerpt from Disability Scoop: (click for entire article)

Athletes with cerebral palsy, spina bifida and blindness are joining sports megastars Dirk Nowitzki, Shaun White and Serena Williams on the list of nominees for ESPN’s annual ESPY awards.

Five standout athletes are nominated in each of two disability-specific categories, one honoring men and one for women. They include Steve Wampler, who last year became the first person with cerebral palsy to scale Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan, in addition to a triathlete who’s blind and a world-champion wheelchair racer with spina bifida.

Myths and Facts About Hospice

Excerpt from Hospice Foundation of America: (click for entire article)

Myth:     Hospice is where you go when there is "nothing else to be done."

Reality:     Hospice is the "something more" that can be done for the patient and the family when the illness cannot be cured. It is a concept based on comfort-oriented care. Referral into hospice is a movement into another mode of therapy, which may be more appropriate for terminal care.

Myth:     Families should be isolated from a dying patient.

Reality:     Hospice staff believe that when family members (including children) experience the dying process in a caring environment, it helps counteract the fear of their own mortality and the mortality of their loved one.

MSU part of US nuclear safety training program

Excerpt from Mercury News: (click for entire article)

Michigan State University is one of several U.S. universities that are sharing a five-year, $25 million grant to train students to work on nuclear security issues such as prevention of proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The grant comes from the Department of Energy's Nuclear Security Administration. Michigan State says the money will fund the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium.

The program will focus on education and hands-on training of undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students.

Understanding “Reasonable Accommodation” and “Undue Hardship” Regulations

Excerpt from lawyers los: (click for entire article)

The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, regulates the treatment of employees who have either a physical or mental disability. This act prevents employers and companies from behaving in a discriminatory manner towards disabled employees in an attempt to guarantee equal employment opportunities for all individuals.

As part of the ADA, companies are required to make “reasonable accommodations” for employees or potential employees with disabilities to ensure that fully qualified individuals have the opportunity to perform the full functions of their jobs.

Mock me all you like but leave my disabled son alone: Katie Price's heartfelt denunciation of Frankie Boyle's vile slur and the TV bosses who defended it

Excerpt from Mail Online: (click for entire article)

My son, Harvey, turned nine last month, and we held a little party to celebrate.

The only guests were immediate family — too much activity causes Harvey stress and his behaviour can become disruptive — but he did have a big cake decorated with a picture of a frog.

Harvey loves cakes. He always enjoys blowing out the candles, and he adores frogs. They are his latest obsession. He draws them so carefully — the bulging eyes, the long back legs — and colours them in bright green.

Hearing Aids and the New York Police Department

Excerpt from The Opinion Pages: (click for entire article)

The gray-area policy on the use of hearing aids by New York Police Department officers, noted in “Ban on Hearing Aids Is Forcing Out Veteran New York City Police Officers” (news article, June 20), is appalling. We can’t imagine any professional being told not to use something so obviously remedial and essential to job function — particularly those professionals charged with protecting the public.

Modern hearing aids are useful, reliable and not burdensome for many with hearing loss. The logic behind going without, simply because they may fail to work, is unfathomable.

The TGB Interview: BETTY WHITE

Excerpt from Time Goes By: (click for entire article)

About 25 years ago, when I was working on The Barbara Walters Specials, we interviewed actor Betty White at her home in Los Angeles. The first thing you notice is that needlepoint is everywhere – pillows, cushions, seat covers, wall hangings – all of it Betty's doing.

Since then, I've often repeated to friends a favorite moment from that interview:

Regularly, at the end of their workdays, Betty and her husband, Allen Ludden, relaxed with their favorite drink, vodka on the rocks with lemon, while Betty worked on a needlepoint project and they discussed what had happened at their respective television shows that day.

You can't stereotype disabilities

Excerpt from The Times Herald: (click for entire article)

Responsible people don't use handicap parking spaces if they aren't disabled. A previous caller questioned the disabilities of some folks who do.

Talk to me:

» Tina from Fort Gratiot: "To Bill from Marysville: Shame on you, Bill, for your comment about low lifes using their grannies' handicap stickers! You are going by how a person appears. The state does not hand out these permits to just anybody. You need proof of a disability. I belong to an online group of people who have a rare form of muscular dystrophy. We have good days, and we have bad days. I have a handicap permit, and I look like a perfectly normal, healthy person. On those bad days, I need to use the special parking space. You don't know the whole story."