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

National Down Syndrome Congress says independent investigation needed in death of Ethan Saylor, Maryland man with Down syndrome who died in custody of sheriff deputies

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

 

The National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC) believes that Robert Ethan Saylor’s (pictured) civil rights were violated when he died after being restrained by three off-duty Frederick County, MD, Sheriff’s deputies.  Although the coroner ruled Saylor’s death a homicide, a grand jury declined to indict the deputies.

“We cannot comprehend the series of poor decisions that were made leading to Ethan’s death,” noted David Tolleson, Executive Director of NDSC.  “If you used any other adjective to describe him – such as his race, religion, gender or sexual orientation – the streets would be filled with people seeking justice.  It appears that individuals at the theatre acted as if this was an emergency situation, or that Ethan presented an imminent threat, when in fact more time was both needed and available to assess the situation.”

Tolleson adds, “By all reports, the officers involved are good men who did not intend for Ethan to die.  However, if an otherwise good person with good intentions were to kill someone with their car – perhaps because of neglected maintenance or driving under the influence – they would still be held accountable.”

A Year in Trees

Excerpt from: New York Times (click for full article)

 

Someone asked me the other day how I had gotten over the sudden death of someone I loved. What I wanted to say but found myself unable to explain (for it would have sounded too strange) was that I learned a good deal about moving through grief from some trees I once knew. They were not my trees. I didn’t plant them. I lived in an apartment surrounded by them. The only tending done was to give them my full attention over the course of four seasons.

Two years had passed since my longtime partner’s death, and though I had largely adjusted to his absence, I still experienced intense pangs of grief — painful unpleasure, in Freud’s exquisite phrase. At times, I’d be tempted to take out old photos, just to look, just one picture, just for a minute, like a junkie on the verge of relapsing. But I resisted. I had seen the trees stand up to strong winds and hold their own against the elements.

 

What is your Digital Legacy? (Presentation by Patricia Dudek)

Have you ever wondered what will happen to your Facebook account or other digital assets if you become disabled or when you die? Are there some personal profiles or digital profiles to which you want to LIMIT access?? Then, this presentation and materials are for you.

 

Download Estate Planning in the Digital Age

The Grave is No Barrier to Identity Thieves

Excerpt from: German Law Group, P.C. (click for full article)

 

If you’ve ever been the victim of identity theft you know how aggravating it can be. Yet, even if you haven’t been victimized by identity thieves you may still have to deal with the problem because a thief has stolen the identity of a deceased relative.

According to a new study about 2 ½ million deceased Americans have their identities stolen every year. When this happens, the former spouses and family members of the deceased person are often left to deal with the mess.

According to financial security firm ID Analytics, identity thieves stole the Social Security numbers of about 1.6 million Americans last year. In another 800,000 instances, criminals used a deceased person’s identity to apply for credit cards, cell phone service, or other lines of credit. This type of identity theft can cause a headache for the deceased person’s family members, but they won’t be responsible for paying back any debt.

Autistic Writer/Blogger/Activist Amanda Baggs Facing Life-Threatening Discrimination in Vermont Hospital

Excerpt from: Not Dead Yet (click for full article)

 

Amanda Bagg’s name and work should be familiar to a lot of people in the disability community.  A lot of people might remember reading her blog essay “If I am killed” on our old site, where it was reproduced with permission – and will be  put up again in the near future.  Many more will remember seeing her youtube video “In My Language.”

Amanda Baggs is an autistic woman who writes brilliantly, doesn’t use speech as her primary mode of communication and also lives with a variety of conditions, one of which has become quite serious in terms of being life-threatening.  Her friend Laura T, aka “webmuskie” around the internet, wrote us that after the last of several bouts with aspiration pneumonia, Amanda had been admitted to the hospital to treat the effects of the gastroparesis that was at the root of the problem.  The understanding going in was that this would involve the placement of a feeding tube, which would help her increase her food intake and lower the risk of aspiration.

James Brown’s Legacy Protected by S.C. Supreme Court

Excerpt from: Lawyers.com (click for full article)

 

Despite challenges by the children and wife he left behind, as well as by the state of South Carolina, James Brown’s plans for the inheritance of his money will stay in place. In February the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that an irrevocable trust set up by the Godfather of Soul – which cut out any wives and left most of his estate to an educational trust fund – could not be set aside.

Is the Estate Tax Doomed?

Excerpt from: New York Times (click for full article)

 

Under the deal struck by President Obama and Congress to avert the “fiscal cliff,” the estate tax — long targeted for elimination by Republicans — survived, but in a substantially diminished form.

The estate tax has a history as long and controversial as the income tax. Its first modern version appeared in the federal tax code in 1916, three years after the ratification of the 16th Amendment, which authorized the federal income tax. Advocates of the estate tax see it as a crucial tool for raising revenue and a buffer against the sharp, nearly inexorable rise in inequality over the past four decades. Opponents, who call the levy “the death tax,” say it penalizes savers, harms growth and interferes with parents’ ability to pass on their wealth to their children.

Suddenly, They’re All Gone

Excerpt from: The New York Times (click for full article)

 

I have my life back now, but that fact is less simple than it was before. When I look at the mementos I’ve inherited, the crumbling photo albums, cookbooks that smell of cigarette smoke, ’50s furniture and cut glass, I also see where they used to sit, in other places and rooms. I miss the quiet afternoons, the houses that eventually came to feel like home, in cities I’ll never again have reason to visit. I miss it all. I miss them.

Sometimes, when I’m out, I catch a glimpse of a short, gray-haired man in a baseball cap or a skinny old woman in a tailored bright jacket and my heart stops. I see my old people everywhere, which only reminds me that I’ll never see them again.

Study finds people with learning disabilities are more likely to have a premature death compared with general population

Excerpt from: Medical Press (click for full article)

 

Researchers from the University's Norah Fry Research Centre and School of Social and Community Medicine, together with colleagues from NHS Bristol and the Royal College of General Practitioners, reviewed the sequence of events leading to all known deaths of 233 adults with learning disabilities, 14 children with learning disabilities and 58 comparator cases (adults without learning disabilities who died in the study area during the same period of time). All deaths occurred over a two-year period in any of five Primary Care Trust (PCT) areas of South West England. The findings showed that people with learning disabilities are more likely to have a premature death than those in the general population. Researchers found that men with learning disabilities died, on average, 13 years sooner than men in the general population. Women with learning disabilities died, on average, 20 years sooner than women in the general population. Overall, 22 per cent of the people with learning disabilities were under the age of 50 when they died, compared with just nine per cent of people in the general population.

Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-people-disabilities-premature-death-population.html#jCp

Researchers from the University's Norah Fry Research Centre and School of Social and Community Medicine, together with colleagues from NHS Bristol and the Royal College of General Practitioners, reviewed the sequence of events leading to all known deaths of 233 adults with learning disabilities, 14 children with learning disabilities and 58 comparator cases (adults without learning disabilities who died in the study area during the same period of time). All deaths occurred over a two-year period in any of five Primary Care Trust (PCT) areas of South West England.

The findings showed that people with learning disabilities are more likely to have a premature death than those in the general population. Researchers found that men with learning disabilities died, on average, 13 years sooner than men in the general population. Women with learning disabilities died, on average, 20 years sooner than women in the general population. Overall, 22 per cent of the people with learning disabilities were under the age of 50 when they died, compared with just nine per cent of people in the general population.

Researchers from the University's Norah Fry Research Centre and School of Social and Community Medicine, together with colleagues from NHS Bristol and the Royal College of General Practitioners, reviewed the sequence of events leading to all known deaths of 233 adults with learning disabilities, 14 children with learning disabilities and 58 comparator cases (adults without learning disabilities who died in the study area during the same period of time). All deaths occurred over a two-year period in any of five Primary Care Trust (PCT) areas of South West England. The findings showed that people with learning disabilities are more likely to have a premature death than those in the general population. Researchers found that men with learning disabilities died, on average, 13 years sooner than men in the general population. Women with learning disabilities died, on average, 20 years sooner than women in the general population. Overall, 22 per cent of the people with learning disabilities were under the age of 50 when they died, compared with just nine per cent of people in the general population.

Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-people-disabilities-premature-death-population.html#jCp

People With Learning Disabilities More Likely To Die Prematurely

Excerpt from: Medical News Today (click for full article)

 

People with learning disabilities are at an increased risk of premature death compared to the general population, according to a new report published by the Department of Health in the UK.

The findings come from a three year study which evaluated the extent of premature death in people with learning disabilities, the agency also made recommendations that could improve service of care.

The study, led by researchers at the University of Bristol, analyzed the deaths of 233 adults who had learning disabilities, 14 children who had learning disabilities, as well as 58 adults who died at the same time without learning disabilities.

They found that people who had learning disabilities were more likely to have a premature death compared to the general population. Men with learning disabilities died 13 years younger than the general population, on average - women die 20 years earlier.