All posts tagged: Disabilities

People with disabilities say Medicaid income limits can stifle career advancement : NPR

People with disabilities say Medicaid income limits can stifle career advancement : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Erica Carter of Sioux City, Iowa, says she enjoys her job as a finance manager for the Omaha Nation public school district in Nebraska, working to find grants and opportunities for low-income students. But when she learned her pay was too high for her to remain in an Iowa Medicaid program, Carter had to choose — leave the job or give up her benefits. Natalie Krebs/Iowa Public Radio hide caption toggle caption Natalie Krebs/Iowa Public Radio Erica Carter is passionate about her job, and she has 7 acres of flowers and vegetables to show for it. Carter’s specialty is reeling in grants to support students in the Omaha Nation school district, where she is a finance manager. One paid for the garden that sits next to the district’s campus. Another allowed the school system, in one of Nebraska’s lowest-income counties, to pay students to maintain it. “They’re out in the sun. They’re watering plants,” she said. “It’s the first time they get a paycheck in their life.” Carter, 41, is paralyzed from the chest down, …

A City in the Kill Zone

A City in the Kill Zone

Published by Sam Flores

The team carried lists of people who had signaled that they were ready, at last, to evacuate a place so ravaged by Russian bombardment that it had no power, gas, heat or running water, and little food or intact shelter. The rescuers also called up to windows and balconies, shouting “evacuation,” as they tried to convince other stragglers, most of them old and infirm, that their lives here were finished, that they should grab their essentials and leave, too. They carried a disabled woman and her wheelchair to a waiting van. Driving into Kostiantynivka “is like Russian roulette,” said Evgeny Tkachev, a worker with a U.N.-supported humanitarian group, Proliska. Rubble chokes the streets, which are pocked by craters, and drones are always overhead. Kostiantynivka had about 67,000 residents before the war. By January, there were about 2,000. The city had become a prime target of the Russian offensive, a strategic node the Ukrainians were determined to defend. Last fall, as Russian forces blasted their way ever closer, a police team called the White Angels and …

Nurse Sits Next To Blind Man And His Service Dog On Flight After Another Couple Refused

Nurse Sits Next To Blind Man And His Service Dog On Flight After Another Couple Refused

Published by Jenni Sidey

A nurse was praised on TikTok after she documented a situation in which a couple treated a blind man on the same flight disrespectfully, and formed a new friendship in the process. Society has made many advancements towards fairer treatment for people of all abilities, but ableist attitudes still persist. This couple exemplified that and caused quite the scene, but she stepped in to show some much-needed kindness. The nurse switched seats on the plane so the couple wouldn’t continue complaining about the man and his service dog. Content creator and registered nurse Jen Hamilton is known for not being afraid to speak her mind, so it’s no surprise that she took action when she saw a fellow plane passenger being shamed for no reason. Hamilton was on a Delta flight when a couple started raising their voices about another passenger who had a service dog. Oddly enough, the problem seemed to stem from them having a service dog themselves. “This is not right,” a woman could be heard saying in Hamilton’s TikTok, which she …

Traveling Without Sight: How Blind and Visually Impaired Explorers Navigate the World

Traveling Without Sight: How Blind and Visually Impaired Explorers Navigate the World

Published by Sam Flores

Luke walked beside me, one hand curled around my arm, the other tapping a gentle rhythm with his white cane. We were crossing the Taj Mahal’s grounds just after sunrise, the air already balmy and faintly perfumed. From the scattered murmur of tourists, Luke said he could sense a grand, open space around us. I described the Persian-style gardens — reflecting pools, clipped shrubs, stone walkways in perfect symmetry. Then I read aloud a sign: “Don’t make direct eye contact with monkeys.” Near the mausoleum’s entrance, the ground changed — rough sandstone yielding to cool marble, smooth beneath our feet. I guided Luke’s hands to the white facade … As his fingers roamed, Luke recalled the photographs he’d seen as a child, before retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary eye disease, gradually narrowed his vision and then, at 18, took it away. “I get the impression of something opulent and magnificent,” he told me. Inside, we joined the flow of tourists circling the tombs of Shah Jahan and his beloved, Mumtaz Mahal. Their voices echoed beneath the …

Man with no arms or legs accused of murder after shooting | World | News

Man with no arms or legs accused of murder after shooting | World | News

Published by Sam Flores

Amputee Dayton Webber, 27, is accused of fatally shooting another man (Image: Charles County Sheriff’s Office) A quadruple amputee and champion para-athlete with no arms or legs has been arrested after a man was shot and killed. Dayton Webber, 27, of La Plata is accused of shooting and killing Bradrick Michael Wells, 27, during an argument. Detectives from Charles County Sheriff’s Office in La Plata, Maryland, USA, said officers were flagged down by two people near La Plata Road and Radio Station Road in the town on March 22 at around 10.25pm local time. According to a statement released by the Charles County Sheriff’s Office “a preliminary investigation revealed the witnesses were in the back seat of a car when the driver, Dayton James Webber, 27, of La Plata, shot and killed the front seat passenger during an argument”. The statement added: “Webber pulled over in the area of Radio Station Road and Llano Drive and asked the passengers to help pull the victim out of the car; however, the witnesses refused, got out of …

AR headset transforms workplace training for people with disabilities

AR headset transforms workplace training for people with disabilities

Published by Jenni Sidey

Before the headset went on, Armand could complete exactly one step of the task correctly. One out of ten. He wasn’t struggling because he wasn’t trying. The task, shelving library books in assigned locations, involves reading, pattern recognition, and spatial navigation. Without guidance, it stayed just out of reach. Within a single session, Armand completed 80 percent of the task steps correctly and independently. By the fourth session, he was at 100 percent. Nineteen days after the intervention ended, with no headset, no coach, no prompting of any kind, he was still at 100 percent. Three other participants in the study followed a nearly identical arc. Researchers at Florida Atlantic University wanted to know whether augmented reality could change that equation. (CREDIT: Shutterstock) The 15% Problem Only about 15 percent of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities hold competitive, integrated employment. That number has remained stubbornly low despite decades of federal investment in supported employment programs and policy frameworks designed to open the workforce to people with significant disabilities. The gap isn’t for lack of …

Invisible Disabilities in Graduate School

Invisible Disabilities in Graduate School

Published by Jenni Sidey

The APA and other academic institutions have made efforts to gather and report demographic information about persons in philosophy. One motivation for doing so is to ensure that various voices and perspectives are not being shut out, and to invite perspectives to participate in doing “philosophy.” I wish to call your attention to a group often not recognized as worth recording data about: philosophers, particularly graduate students, with invisible disabilities. According to the National Institutes of Health, an invisible disability is “a physical, mental, or neurological impairment that is not obvious to others, but may impact upon a person’s movements, senses, activities, and day-to-day life.” The adjective “invisible” in referring to disabilities is juxtaposed with those disabilities that include physical manifestations or markers; a wheelchair or someone missing a limb are such examples of “visible” disabilities. Navigating the world with any disability comes with its unique set of experiences and challenges; my goal here in emphasizing invisible disabilities is not to compare, but to bring attention to this group. I want to highlight some of …

The Future of Disabilities: Responsibility, Equality, and Value

The Future of Disabilities: Responsibility, Equality, and Value

Published by Jenni Sidey

I have been interested in disability ever since my younger sister was born with Down’s Syndrome. As a child, I remember wondering whether there might one day be a “medicine” that could “remove” her condition (non-identity wasn’t much of a concern for me then!). At the same time, I couldn’t quite see anything wrong with that playful, stubborn, and sassy little girl my parents had told me would grow up having more difficulties than other kids. Nearly thirty years later, much has changed in how we think about Down’s Syndrome and other disabilities. For example, the widespread introduction of non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPTs) and other diagnostic mechanisms have radically transformed the landscape of reproductive decision-making. Here is an implication that some might intuitively think follows: the ready availability of early and non-invasive diagnosis of certain chromosomal conditions—together with the possibility of termination—may change people’s perception of responsibility for disability. Under such circumstances, default expectations regarding procreative decision making may shift: those who decide to continue with their pregnancies after a positive diagnosis (or not to …