Learn a few basic tips on how to use Twitterr as well as discover the top Twitterers on accessible topics and disability news.

Twitter can be an amazing resource to meet people and learn new information. You can follow your favorite websites, sports teams, politicians, celebrities, and even an occasional pet rat or cat. Twitter has become much more than a place to hear what everyone has had for lunch. Instead, you can jump in on conversations and talk with people you may have never had the chance to meet before!

For our top ten list of disability and accessibility related Twitter users, head over to our website for the full article.

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Michigan is one of 33 states that allow insurance companies to set annual and lifetime caps on prosthetic devices. So when 12 year old Benjamin French, who was born with his right arm missing below the elbow, once again grew out of his prosthesis, his insurance company denied coverage because he had already spent his lifetime maximum benefit. Benjamin’s new replacement would be his seventh in 12 years, and his new replacement will cost almost $30,000. His doctor says that he will soon grow out of that one too. If Benjamin lived in Colorado or Maryland he would be able to receive a new arm with the same insurance company because the law does not allow a cap on prosthetics.

The Amputee Coalition of America has reported on this issue in the past, with amputees reporting a wide variation in insurance coverage, with some companies paying no more than $1,000 per year for prosthetics, and others only allowing one prosthetic per lifetime!

“It seems really unfair,” said Benjamin’s mother, Kristen French. “The insurance company can do this in one state, but not in another? It’s ridiculous.”

Have you ever been denied care that you might be able to receive in another state? How did you fight it?

Source.

Derek McGinnis was wounded in Fallujah, Iraq, on November 9, 2004. In a new book he chronicles his experiences, a story of traumatic brain injury, loss of his left leg above the knee, and how he learned to run again with a prosthesis. He also gives advice to veterans who are facing life with chronic pain. McGinnis says “it is OK to have mental pain, it is OK to have chronic pain, there are methods to have a productive life.” His 200 page book also covers treatment options, exercise, and emotional wounds of war.

After years spent in rehabilitation at naval and veterans hospitals, McGinnis now has his mobility back. He runs again with a flexible prosthetic that he wears for races while competing with Semper Fi, a team that raises money for wounded soldiers and their families. “I’ve been blessed with a lot of resources and services that have helped me recover” he said “I want to do whatever I can to help others.”

Along with studying for his masters degree in social work, McGinnis works for the American Pain Foundation as an amputee outreach advocate.

More at the Miami Herald:Wounded Vet Shares Strength

Even after a trampoline accident on the last day of high school paralyzed Talbot Kennedy from the chest down, he is still an athlete.
Talbot considers his rugby team his second family. Several nights a week he can be seen scrimmaging on an indoor basketball court at the Shepherd Center (a rehab hospital) in Atlanta. The Smash Rugby team is part of the United States Quad Rugby Association, and November through April plays in tournaments across the United States.

When first injured Talbot worried about being able to live alone and do the things he did before his accident, but when he joined the rugby team he found that some of his teammates not only lived alone, but some even had families and children. He has gained confidence and learned to live again, just in a different way.

Off the court, Kennedy lives alone, attends college and is working toward a degree in physical education, something he says would not have been possible without wheelchair rugby.

More at CNN.

In a UCLA study funded by the National Institute on Aging, researchers found that the age group from 60 to 69 showed an increase in several disabilities over time in contrast to those between 70 and 79 and those 80 and over who saw no significant increases and in some cases actually showed fewer disabilities. Researches believe that this trend may in part be due to a change in racial and ethnic makeup of the group.

Teresa Seeman, UCLA professor of medicine and epidemiology and the study’s principle investigator, is quoted as saying: “if this trend continues unchecked, it will put increasing pressure on our society to take care of these disabled individuals. This would put more of a burden on the health care system to address the higher levels of these problems.”

The study is scheduled to be published in the January 2010 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

laser maps for robotic wheelchair

John Spletzer, associate professor of computer science and engineering at Lehigh University, believes that technology has the ability to “serve as a person’s feet, hands, and eyes” thereby enabling the disabled to interact with his/her environment.

The National Science Foundation recently awarded Professor Spletzer with a five year Career Award to develop a robotic wheelchair that will use high fidelity lasers and detailed maps to navigate through a crowded city without remote or human guidance. This project is actually a by product of two older projects. Spletzer and his students, working with University of Pennsylvania and Lockheed Martin, converted a Toyota Prius to a robot two years ago. “Little Ben” was equipped with laser and camera sensors. Of the 89 driverless vehicles Ben was one out of 6 who completed the 57 mile course in the 2007 DARPA Grand Challenge for robotic vehicles. And in a collaborative effort, engineers from Freedom Sciences LLC and Spletzer have invented the ATRS or Automated Transport and Retrieval System which enables wheelchair users to get into and out of their vehicles, stow and retrieve chairs and drive while sitting in traditional auto seats that meet all safety regulations.

Spletzer was quoted as saying “Our goal now is to extend the autonomy of the wheelchair so it can navigate completely in an urban setting and take you wherever you need to go. At the same time we want to download Little Bens’s hardware, convert it to software, which is much less expensive and upload it to the robotic wheelchair. This will give the chair the maps and images it needs to be able to interact with its environment”

Jack Benedick who won a silver medal in the combined at the 1984 Paralympic games, lost both his legs in the Viet Nam War. He lobbied the International Ski Federation to accept adaptive skiing.

Chris Waddell is paralyzed from the waist down from a skiing accident, recently became the first paraplegic to successfully climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Chris has won 12 medals at 4 Paralympic games. Chris has also competed at 3 Paralympic summer games.

Sarah Will paralyzed in a skiing accident in 1988, went on to win 12 medals at 4 Paralympic games. She began training not long after her accident and within 3 years she won gold. Sarah and Chris Waddell started an adaptive skiing program at Vail. Sarah also had the honor of being inducted into the Colorado Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1984.

Source.

Last year during election day, the Government Accountability Office sent investigators to 720 polling places around the country to see if people with disabilities, such as wheelchair users, or blind voters, could cast a ballot.

There were some barriers, like parking and accessibility of the actual voting booths in many of the polling places. However, the results were a definite improvement over what investigators found when they were surveying in 2000. Over ninety-five percent of polling places had voting technology that allowed people who could not read, were blind, or needed the text read to them for another reason. In 2000, less than one percent of polling places had these accessible features!! The large increase in accessible voting places was because the government passed the Help America Vote Act which mandated accessible voting stations and helped the polling places finance the new technology.

The Government Accountability Office recommended in their reports that more effort be made to increase accessibility, especially for voters in wheelchairs. As the population ages and mobility disability is on the rise, more and more people will need accommodation when voting.

If you have a disability, have you encountered accessibility issues at polling stations?

Albany skyline at dusk.

Employees of the Center for Disability Services were warned today of the possible loss of funds which would lead to cuts in basic services and jobs. Earlier this year 50 jobs were lost when the daycare operated by the center were forced to close. The center operates on a budget of more than 100 million, most of that comes from the government. Governor David Patersons budget cuts would reduce funding to the center to 2.5 million. The center has 2,400 employees and provides services to 15,000 people at 85 locations.

Source.

A recent survey concluded that some employers may be reluctant to hire people with disabilities due to the belief that their ability to do the work might be impaired. However, in the same survey 53% of employers believed that a person with a disability would try harder and would bring a fresh perspective.

If you have a disability, has it been difficult to find a job? Or if you are an employer, how does your company feel about hiring people with disabilities?

One site for people with disabilities that are looking for employment is Getting Hired.