Disability Futures

Michigan residents who use service animals will have better access to public spaces, such as restaurants, retail stores and health care facilities after Gov. Rick Snyder today signed a bill package to modernize state law and advance the use of these animals. The bills were spurred in part by recent incidents of people being turned away from businesses because they were accompanied by service animals.

“This small change in state law will have a widespread, positive impact on the lives of those assisted by service animals,” Snyder said.

Senate Bill 298, sponsored by state Sen. David Knezek, makes it a crime to refuse entry to a person using a service animal or to assault a service animal. SB 299, sponsored by state Sen. Margaret O’Brien, exempts dogs from licensing fees if they are a service animal to someone with a disability or a veteran with a service-related disability. They bills are now PA 144 and 145, respectively. All four bills were approved with unanimous support in both chambers.

House Bill 4521, sponsored by state Rep. Tom Barrett, requires the Michigan Department of Civil Rights to offer voluntary identification for service animals. It also requires the department to receive reports of problems encountered by a person with a disability while using a service animal. HB 4527, sponsored by state Rep. David Rutledge, makes it a misdemeanor to falsely represent a service animal, and brings state law more in line with the Americans with Disabilities Act with respect to the definitions of “person with a disability” and “service animal”. It also specifically permits veterans to possess a service animal for post-traumatic stress disorder, a traumatic brain injury, or other service-related disability. The bills are now Public Act 146 and 147 of 2015, respectively.

This is an important expansion to our understanding....

Researchers from the University of Birmingham in the UK have found that the blockage between covert awareness and intentional movement is caused by structural damage between the thalamus and primary motor cortex.

While it is known that a number of people who appear to be unresponsive are actually aware of themselves and their surroundings, the reason for their inability to respond has been identified for the first time.

New insight into a vital cerebral pathway has enabled the team to understand how some patients in a vegetative state remain aware, although they appear to be unconscious and unable to respond.

This Module provides building owners and managers with information about the sources and effects of scents and fragrances. It also suggests ways to move toward scent-free buildings. The information covers scents and fragrances brought into a workplace by people wearing personal products such as perfume as well as those scents and fragrances that originate from custodial products such as washroom hand soap.

Hear Justice Bernstein talk about his journey to become a Michigan Supreme Court justice, while enjoying a fine dining experience (beef, chicken or vegetarian entrees available) with other disability rights advocates. The emcee for the evening is Kate Pew Wolters, philanthropist and disability advocate from West Michigan. In addition, volunteers who help guide MDRC prorgrams and ensure they are running at optimal levels will be recognized. Dinner and program tickets are $50. Financial assistance is available if you would like to attend but can't afford a ticket; contact  bethany@mymdrc.org.

While the ageing process is different for everyone, we all go through some fundamental changes. Not all of them are what you’d expect. For example, despite declining health, older people tend to be significantly happier and better atappreciating what they have.

But ageing makes some things harder as well, and one of those things is using technology. If you’re designing technology for older people, below are seven key things you need to know.

(How old is old? It depends. While I’ve deliberately avoided trying to define such an amorphous group using chronological boundaries, it’s safe to assume that each of the following issues becomes increasingly significant after 65 years of age.)

State Medicaid agencies are bracing for hundreds of millions in new obligations thanks to a significant increase in Medicare premiums.

This past summer, the 2015 Medicare Trustees Report projected Part B premiums would increase by 52%—up to $159.30 a month from $104.90. 

However, most Medicare beneficiaries will be spared as roughly 70% pay their Part B premiums through deductions from their Social Security benefit payments. A policy called “hold harmless” shields beneficiaries from any premium hikes that outpace cost-of-living increases. 

This policy ensures that Social Security check amounts will not decline from one year to the next because of increases in Medicare Part B premiums. 

Not protected from the premium increase are those who do not pay their Part B premiums through deductions from their Social Security benefit payments. This group includes those who are newly enrolled in Medicare and individuals dually eligible for Medicaid.

“Since dually eligible beneficiaries themselves do not pay the Part B premium out of their own pocket, the additional cost would fall directly on the states,” said Juliette Cubanski, associate director of the Program on Medicare Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. “If the actual increase is anywhere in line with the projected increase, it could be a pretty big impact in terms of the additional premium costs that states would bear.

The Michigan Legal Help website was created to help people who have to handle simple civil legal problems without a lawyer. There are articles you can read to learn about a specific area of the law and toolkits to help you prepare to represent yourself in court. Some forms are completed automatically once you answer simple questions. The Michigan Legal Help website does not provide legal advice, and it is not a substitute for having a lawyer. If you need more help, you can search the website for a lawyer or community services in your area. The website does not cover all areas of law, but we are adding more information all the time. Please tell us what you think and let us know if we helped and how we can improve this site. For more information, watch the Welcome video or How to Use this Website video.

A ProPublica story that uncovered the shocking ways children with intellectual disabilities are physically disciplined in schools across the country has won top honors in the 2015 Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability...

ProPublica reporter Heather Vogell’s first-place story, “Violent and Legal: The Shocking Ways School Kids are Being Pinned Down, Isolated Against Their Will,” profiled Carson Luke, a young boy with autism, who sustained broken bones after educators grabbed him and tried to force him into a “scream room.” The story underscored the common practice of educators secluding and physically restraining uncooperative school children, sometimes with straps, handcuffs, bungee cords or even duct tape, documenting hundreds of thousands of cases a year.

Because last time I rode one of those trains was in Denver and it was packed full like a cattle car. The cheery, disembodied, female computer voice said, “Arriving at terminal C.” When the doors opened, I waited for the pack of walking humans on board to leave before attempting my exit. But the doors closed in the middle of my egress and clamped down on my wheelchair like a giant, vertical, steel alligator jaw. And the doors wouldn’t let go. And then the cheery, disembodied, female computer voice bitched me out: “Please stop blocking the door! You’re holding up this train!” And then I swear she said, “You damn cripples are such a pain in the ass! Why do they even let you people out in public?” That’s probably not what she said, but that’s what it felt like.