Disability Futures

The $10,500 prize will be awarded to solutions that improve various facets of communication -- interpersonal, between and within communities, and among individuals with ASD. The competition encourages a wide lens of platforms, from low-tech designs to bleeding-edge interactive concepts. An esteemed panel of judges, including 2010 National Design Honoree Lisa Strausfeld and iconic autism advocate Temple Grandin, will select the winners – a grand prize of $5,000 to the individual or team who creates the top entry as judged by the panel vote; $1,000 stipends for the top three designs, alongside free admission to the 2011 International Meeting for Autism Research; and $2,500 worth of Popular Vote prizes to the first 6 places as judged by the community.

The competition runs from January 2 to March 30 and is open to all students.

Beer, bacon and chocolate aren’t common aids in treating dementia, but they are working at Phoenix’s Beatitudes Campus. There, a resident’s  sleeping habits, childhood hobbies and yes, even vices like alcohol and sweets are part of helping diminish residents’ distress and behavior problems and creating positive emotional experiences too.

Developed 12 years ago, Beatitude’s Palliative Care for Advanced Dementia (PCAD) program is centered around the “comfort care” concept, which is defined as meeting individual’s needs and preferences when treating dementia.

Personal Preferences? What a concept!

Vanderbilt University researchers may have found a clue to the blues that can come with the flu - depression may be triggered by the same mechanisms that enable the immune system to respond to infection.

In a study in the December issue of Neuropsychopharmacology, Chong-Bin Zhu, M.D., Ph.D., Randy Blakely, Ph.D., William Hewlett, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues activated the immune system in mice to produce "despair-like" behavior that has similarities to depression in humans

Odd but interesting notion. There is also research that links strep infections and OCD.

We've previously looked at several examples of Braille-centric design for the blind. Haptic Braille is an ingenious concept by Korean designer Baek Kil Hyun – a portable Braille translator and scanner. The mouse-like device is equipped with an optical character recognition (OCR) system and text-to-Braille conversion software that allow it to scan any printed surface, recognize the text characters, and translate them into tactile Braille on the surface of the device.

The device is made of biodegradable plastic and could offer additional carbon savings by eventually replacing the printing of Braille materials.

Coping with chronic pain can affect every aspect of a person's life and cause conflict between what their mind wants to achieve and what their body allows them to do, according to research in the December issue of the Journal of Nursing and Healthcare of Chronic Illness.

This issue affects every community with disabilities.

Thanks and a hat tip to Chuck Swinehart

A great voice has passed into history.

On November 15, 2010 WID moved to the Ed Roberts Campus (ERC), named after Ed Roberts, one of our founders, and envisioned as an international center for the Independent Living Movement. Please note our new address and contact information:

For the first time, the work of a renowned photojournalist who captured some of the Disability Rights Movement in America is being showcased at Chicago's Center for Independent Living.

Adapt is an national advocacy group that focuses on accessible transportation and integrated support services for Americans with disabilities. It is the theme of a rare photography exhibit that dates back more than 25 years.