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

Michigan Unemployment Insurance Project

Excerpt from: Michigan Unemployment Insurance Project (click for more information)

 

We are a non-profit that provides free Unemployment Insurance advocacy, advice and assistance to Michigan workers.

We are currently only serving workers in the following Michigan counties:

• Genesee
• Ingham
• Jackson
• Livingston
• Macomb
• Monroe
• Oakland
• Saginaw
• Shiawassee
• Washtenaw
• Wayne 

If you live in one of the counties we serve you can call  734.274.4331 to set up an appointment. 
You can also email us at info@miui.org

If you need to apply for Unemployment Insurance benefits you can do so online or by phone.  

Find out how to apply for benefits on the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency website.

Michigan Vote a Test Case on Enshrining the Rights of Unions

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

 

Tired of battling legislative efforts to roll back union rights in state after state, organized labor is trying a new strategy: going on the offense. The first target is Michigan, the cradle of the United Automobile Workers and a bastion of union power.

Michigan’s unions are asking voters to approve a referendum on the ballot this November, known as Proposal 2, that would lock a series of labor protections into the state Constitution, including the right of public sector unions to bargain collectively and a prohibition against the legislature’s enacting a “right to work” law.

At the moment, the proposal’s chances of passing are difficult to predict. Proponents had a significant lead at first, but that has eroded as business-backed groups have escalated their attacks. A Detroit News poll released Oct. 12 found that 43.2 percent of the 600 people surveyed supported the proposal, and 41.8 percent opposed it. The difference was within the poll’s margin of error.

Union leaders say Proposal 2 has a simple aim: to protect collective bargaining against further assault.

Governor Snyder is fighting hard to defeat Proposal 2 and preserve the emergency manager law, which was updated during his tenure.

Ivy Bailey, an elementary-school teacher in Detroit, said collective bargaining helped lift her father, a longtime assembly plant worker at General Motors, into the middle class and send two daughters to college.

“People fought for the right for us to bargain,” she said. “If we could trust the boss to do the right thing, we wouldn’t need collective bargaining.”

 

ADHD Study Finds Long Term Implications

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

 

Adults who were diagnosed with ADHD as a child may take pause at a new study on the learning disability. The recent study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry was a follow-up from a previous ADHD study conducted some 33 years ago on a selection of children. The initial study observed the behaviors of children diagnosed with ADHD and a separate group of children without the learning disability. Now scientists have compared how these two groups of children have grown up into adults all these years later, and the results are quite startling.

Here are just some of the discoveries that researchers made as a result of the study:

1. The adults who had ADHD as children earned significantly less than the adults who never suffered from ADHD. The study estimates that the adults without ADHD earned almost $40,000 more on average than those who did have the learning disability.
2. The adults in the group that didn't suffer from ADHD as children as had more schooling on average than those who had ADHD. The study states that adults with ADHD had an average of two and half years less schooling than those without ADHD-that's more than an associate's degree worth of education.
3. Adults with ADHD also had higher rates of substance abuse issues as well as issues with antisocial behavior. Addressing ADHD early and effectively: Though the numbers from this particular study appear to paint a bleak picture for people who had ADHD, it shouldn't discourage people who have the learning disability. If anything, the study points to the necessity of properly addressing and treating ADHD as the real disability that it is. ADHD shouldn't be disregarded as a mere disorder that promotes hyperactivity in children; this study proves that at least that much.

Walmart Worker Wins $1.5 Million for Verbal Abuse by Boss

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

 

As Walmart employees stage their first retail-worker strike across the country, a 42-year-old former assistant manager has won a $1.5 million lawsuit for being mistreated by a store manager.

Meredith Boucher claimed she was verbally abused for six months between May and November 2009 when she worked as an assistant manager of a Walmart in Canada.

Boucher’s lawsuit accused store manager Jason Pinnock, 32, of calling her a “[expletive] idiot,” a “gong show” and “stupid” and that he made her count items in front of others to prove she could count.

“I didn’t eat. I was losing weight. I was throwing up blood, I was sick to my stomach all the time,” Boucher said.

The jury awarded her more than she originally sued for.

 

George Clooney Takes Man With Cerebral Palsy Under His Wing

Excerpt from: Disability Scoop (click for full article)

An aspiring actor with cerebral palsy is getting a helping hand from none other than George Clooney.

Cody La Scala, 25, met the movie star at the Carousel Of Hope Ball, a children’s diabetes benefit, in Beverly Hills, Calif. over the weekend. The two got friendly, with Clooney introducing La Scala to Carmen Electra and other big names at the event.

When La Scala, who uses a wheelchair and has uncontrolled movements due to his cerebral palsy, said that he would like to become an actor, Clooney offered to help out.

“They chatted for a bit and George encouraged him to follow his dream, took down his number and promised to make some calls,” a witness told RadarOnline.

Arlington Cemetery's Grave Sites Now Searchable Online

Excerpt from: NPR (click here for full article)

 

Arlington National Cemetery, which has come under intense criticism in recent years because of unmarked graves, misplaced records and mishandling of some veterans' cremated remains, today launched an online database (and apps) that it hopes will allow "family members and the public to find gravesites and explore Arlington's rich history."

According to the cemetery:

"The Army photographed 259,978 gravesites, niches and markers using a custom-built smart phone application and instituted a rigorous process to review each headstone photo with existing cemetery records and other historical documents. The end result was the creation of a single, verifiable and authoritative database of all those laid to rest at Arlington that is linked to the Arlington's digital mapping system."

The database will be updated going forward.

The Potential Tax Implications of Lance Armstrong's Banishment From Cycling

Excerpt from: Yahoo! Finance (click for full article)

 

Hours ago, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announced that it is standing behind a report previously published by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) alleging that seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong oversaw the most sophisticated doping program in the history of sport. If you took this news as an indication that the embattled cyclist has finally hit rock bottom, no one would think you foolish.

After all, in the two weeks since the USADA released nearly 1,000 pages of evidence -- including damning testimony from 15 former teammates -- fingering Armstrong as the mastermind behind the U.S. Postal Service team's systematic use of performance enhancing drugs, Armstrong has been banned from cycling for life, stripped of his seven tour titles, and fired from endorsement deals with Nike, Trek, and Anheuser Busch that some pundits have estimated will cost Armstrong $150 million over the remainder of his life.

Perhaps even more damaging, the USADA report has cost Armstrong his credibility and integrity, forcing him to step down as chairman of his Livestrong Foundation and reducing his future earning power as a motivational speaker to nearly nil. It can't get any worse than that, can it?

Oh yes it can. The UCI's decision was more than ceremonial, as the organization was the only one with the power to formally strip Armstrong of his Tour titles. And while Armstrong is likely to continue to profess his innocence -- his legendary oversized ego barring him from admitting guilt until someone can produce a picture of him ascending the Alpe d'Huez with an IV bag full of tiger blood dangling from his femoral artery -- his adamant denials are no longer enough to protect him. With his victories wiped clean from the record books, race organizers and former sponsors can now begin the process of recovering payments previously made to Armstrong for winning those events.

Young man with disability motivates, inspires others

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

Labrawn Safford was a junior at a Tampa high school when an automobile accident changed his life.

He was actually declared dead upon arrival at the emergency room. The accident broke his spine, leaving him with “incomplete quadriplegia,” which means he has use of his upper body from the middle of his back up, including his arms and hands.

Safford decided that since he was given a second chance at life, he would find a purpose and make a difference in positive ways. During October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, agencies that assist those with disabilities are celebrating these individuals’ career achievements.

How kids outsmart learning disabilities

From The Globe and Mail: (click for full article)

Anthony Vo, a second-year medical student at the University of Ottawa, says he logs up to three hours of studying for every hour his classmates hit the books. But it’s not because he is a keener.

Vo, 22, has learning disabilities. Compared to most adults, Vo has trouble memorizing facts and gaining information through listening, language and reading. Being in an environment that taxes the learning capacity of the highest of achievers “kind of puts me at a disadvantage,” he says.

But Vo says he hopes to become a surgeon, even if it means working extra hard because of his learning disabilities.

“It doesn’t come down to how gifted you are or how smart you are,” he says, “but how much you want to get to where you want to go.”

Vo hasn’t let his challenges overshadow his strengths. He is a good fit for the specialty of surgery, he says, because “I’ve been really good with motor skills and learning in a visual environment.”

Departing Rosewood - One Man's Story

From Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council: (click for more info)

Short documentary that follows one man's journey from the former Rosewood Center, Maryland's oldest and largest institution for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as he moves into his own home. The film captures the challenges, hopes and changes that occur as the young man leaves Rosewood and creates a life in the community.

"It's a small film - only a little over 26 minutes long. But I promise, you will be astonished at how much it will make you care about the young man at the center of the film." - David Zurawik, Baltimore Sun critic