Disability Futures

So where is Kansas Gov. Brownback’s new version of a de facto nonprofit gag order coming from? Recent media reports point to a pair of recent situations that might have been trigger points. Among the first contracts to have this language inserted were the state’s proposed contracts with 12 centers for independent living. A couple of weeks ago, the state released an audit charging the Statewide Independent Living Council of Kansas with using government money to pay for its lobbying activities. The SRS audit called for SILCK to reimburse the state for over a half million dollars in funding that the state claims was misused by SILCK for lobbying. To put it mildly, SILCK is protesting the audit findings.

In addition, the SRS notice comes a few weeks after an SRS battle with nonprofits that provide services and support to victims of domestic violence. Several domestic violence service providers, led by the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (KCSDV), have protested a decision by SRS to impose new funding requirements that the nonprofits deemed wrongheaded, insensitive to the needs of victims and survivors of domestic violence, and generally reflective of what they see as the state agency’s lack of awareness of how domestic violence services really get delivered. To suggest that KCSDV and others went public with their complaints about SRS is an understatement.

On May 29, thirty national disability organizations lead by Not Dead Yet issued a letter to the Dr. Phil Show, criticizing its April 13th segment entitled “Deadly Consequences.”

According to the letter, the segment “presented the idea that parents should be able to euthanize their children who have intellectual disabilities” and did so in “such an extremely unbalanced manner as to amount to a promotion of such a deadly proposition.”

National organizations signing onto the letter include ADAPT, the American Association of People with Disabilities, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, Easter Seals, National Association of the Deaf, National Disability Rights Network, Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), The Arc of the United States United Spinal. Over sixty state and local disability organizations also joined in the letter.

For the past seventeen years, courts in the Sixth Circuit required plaintiffs to prove that their disability was the “sole” reason for the adverse employment action taken against them.  However, that changed when the Court handed down their en banc decision in Lewis v. Humboldt Acquisition Corporation, Inc. [pdf].  Relying upon the text of the ADA, the Court in Lewis held that because the ADA prohibited discrimination “because of” disability, the ADA prohibited discrimination that was the “but-for” cause of the employer’s adverse employment decision.

Michigan is in the 6th Circuit, so this decision will apply to ADA cases here.

This decision may stop defendants in ADA cases from trumping up work problems in order to make their firing for disability include some none disability-related issue-meaning that the disability wasn't the "sole" reason for the firing..

It basically says that, even if there are work related problems, if the the firing wouldn't have occurred "but for" the disability, then it's a real ADA complaint.

The medical team behind a screening tool called Whats MyM3 says it can — and it can tell if you're at increased risk for depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

WhatsMyM3 (originally My Mood Monitor) can help adults, whether in treatment or not, "monitor their own symptoms and have a view of what's going on" in terms of mood and anxiety, says psychiatrist Steven Daviss of M3 Information, Bethesda, Md. Daviss is chairman of psychiatry at Baltimore Washington Medical Center.

WhatsMyM3 is available as a mobile app ($2.99 for iPhone, iPad and Android), or free on the Web (WhatsMyM3.com). M3Clinician is a version for physicians. The company has no financial or other relationship with the pharmaceutical industry, says president Michael Byer.

Hmmm.... Is it better than a dart Board?

Will probably trigger a flurry of "Are you a (insert your favorite condition)? apps.

How about, Are you a dick? a 27 question assessment tool.

Arizona, Michigan, California, New Hampshire, and Vermont were rated by United Cerebral Palsy as the best Medicaid programs in the nation for serving persons with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. Mississippi, Illinois, Arkansas, and Texas were rated the lowest states. The announcement was shared in the May 23 issue of Disability Scoop.

It’s illegal to deny a person housing based upon their disability, but a new report suggests that such discrimination is common coast to coast.

Some 44 percent of housing discrimination complaints last year were based on disability. That’s more than were filed based on race, familial status, sex or any other protected class, according to a report released late last month by the National Fair Housing Alliance.

“It is a travesty that we still see so much discrimination in our country more than 40 years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act,” said Shanna Smith, president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance. “No one profits when potential homebuyers or renters are turned away, not because of their ability to purchase or pay, but because of their national origin, skin color, sex, religion, familial status or because of a disability.”

Researchers from Norway and the United Kingdom have developed a new instrument to measure work addiction: The Bergen Work Addiction Scale. The new instrument is based on core elements of addiction that are recognised as diagnostic criteria for several addictions.

Some people seem to be driven to work excessively and compulsively. These are denoted as work addicts - or workaholics.

Overwork? What's Overwork?

While coming to terms with his diagnosis and treatment, Morris immersed himself in the safety of a virtual world. As he confided his habit to his therapist, his counselor suggested an online three-dimensional virtual world where Morris could socialize and connect with others.

He soon was interacting with others through an avatar, a virtual incarnation of himself. He was able to explore the world, meet people, socialize, participate in activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with others.

He thrived in this parallel universe. He could make mistakes and not be fired or chastised. He gained confidence and a renewed sense of self-worth, traits he feared were lost. He rediscovered them in a virtual website.

He is now so self-assured that on Saturday, Morris, and a savvy board of directors, launched Guardian Spirit, a 3D virtual world that Morris founded. The virtual setting is designed to teach vocational, social and life skills to people with autism through simulated training.

Domestic violence survivors face numerous challenges as they escape the cycle of violence and rebuild their lives. In addition to escaping their abuser, regaining their financial independence and security can be the biggest obstacle to overcome for many survivors.

An abusive spouse or partner will often wield economic control over the survivor by limiting opportunities to work or controlling access to finances. When they finally do escape an abusive relationship, many find themselves unable or ill-prepared to re-enter the workforce. That continued lack of financial stability can force many survivors to return to their abusers.

In 2010, Verizon Wireless, in partnership with the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, introduced a program to help survivors regain their financial independence by providing funding to help start or expand a small or home-based business.

“For a lot of people out there, the C.P.A.P. machine turns into a doorstop,” said Dr. Joseph Golish, the former chief of sleep medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. “C.P.A.P. is very effective in the sleep lab. But when people go home, there’s a good chance they won’t use it, and the success rate of an unused C.P.A.P. machine is absolutely zero.”

Now an alternative form of C.P.A.P. is gaining popularity: a patch that fits over the nostrils. Called Provent, the patch holds two small plugs, one for each nostril, that create just enough air pressure to keep the airways open at night. It is far less intrusive than the traditional C.P.A.P. machine. It is also more expensive, and it doesn’t work for every patient.