My Body is Not Public Property: The Disability Version

http://goo.gl/aNQW8

Being visible is not an invitation to intrusion. A woman who walks down the street in a bikini isn’t asking for leering commentary any more than a disabled person with a cane is asking for help and advice from a stranger. My body is not public property, not an opportunity for personal conversation, not a canvas upon which other people can paint their fears and power needs and good intentions.

Despite today’s interaction, I am not going to hide. In fact, I just purchased a bright red cane to go with my bright red sneakers. For the first time in my life, Iwant to stand out. For the first time in my life, I know that standing out doesn’t mean I’m asking for intrusion. It just means that I’m taking up my place on the earth just like everyone else.

Doctors put lower value on lives of the disabled, study finds

http://goo.gl/waOcq

NHS doctors are more likely to allow patients to die if they suffer from a mental disability, a damning Government-backed report suggests.

In some cases doctors may even be making orders not to resuscitate “because” patients have learning difficulties, the three-year study concludes.

In other cases, it found evidence of doctors making more “rapid” and “premature” life-and-death decisions in cases involving the disabled than other people.

People with special needs are also less likely to be diagnosed quickly with conditions such as cancer and “all aspects” of medical care were “significantly” worse for them than for the wider population, it concluded.

As a result they can expect to die an average of 16 years earlier than those without a disability, it found. The gap rises to as much as 20 years among women.

Health Information: Where to Start

I'm reading a book right now called, "Design For Care" that focuses on how to build interaction between people and all the health care systems with which they interact. I had expected it to be mostly about electronic health records, but it is a much broader and far more person centered discussion than I have seen anywhere else. Well, that will have to be another post.

In the early part of the book, the author goes through the strengths and weaknesses of typical web sites that offer health information, like WebMD. Surprisingly (at least to me), he concludes that the best current site for health information for ordinary human beings in terms of ease of use and comprehensiveness is health.gov, created with our tax dollars. You should take a look-it's surprisingly useful

Blood cell treatment hope in MS treatment

If this works out, it could conceivably improve symptoms for anyone with an auto-immune disorder

http://goo.gl/0bYHO

An experimental therapy has shown promise in treating multiple sclerosis without weakening the immune system and could help target other autoimmune and allergic diseases, researchers said on Wednesday.

Multiple sclerosis causes the immune system to misfire and attack myelin, the insulating layer that forms around nerves in the spinal cord, brain and optic nerve.

Current treatments for the disease inhibit the immune system in an effort to prevent the resulting symptoms, like paralysis and blindness.

That places patients at risk of infection and other serious illnesses like cancer.

The phase 1 clinical trial of nine patients in Germany used their white blood cells to stealthily deliver billions of myelin antigens into their bodies.

HUD CHARGES PENNSYLVANIA HOMELESS SHELTER WITH DISCRIMINATING AGAINST INDIVIDUAL WITH DISABILITIES

http://goo.gl/co7WY

According to HUD’s charge, a blind, homeless individual contacted CRM in order to seek shelter.  HUD’s charge alleges that a CRM employee informed the man that he could not move into the shelter with his guide dog even after the man said that he could not be without his service animal.  When a caseworker from Lawrence County Community Action, an organization that assists low-income people, contacted the shelter and explained that the man needed the guide dog because of his disability, the CRM employee again refused, saying that the dog would have to go elsewhere. 

The National Survey of State Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Day and Employment Services

http://goo.gl/xPI2D

Major findings include the following:

  • National estimates suggest that there has been modest growth in the number of individuals in integrated employment since 1988.
  • The estimated percentage of individuals participating in integrated employment services was 19.3 in FY2011.
  • Growth in supported employment primarily occurred between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s, and there has not been a meaningful change in the number of people with IDD in integrated employment since 2001.
  • Growth in community-based non-work services has continued for states that report on this service.
  • There is large variation across states in participation in integrated employment (Table 1).