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One common complaint I hear when I visit the spinal cord injury centers is the shortage of nurses, which forces staff to put in long hours, and in some cases, to work double shifts. I know this problem is not confined to the VA. It also occurs in the private sector. The consequences are the same: things that should be attended to go undone and tempers run short on the part of both staff and patients.
With resources spread thin, it’s more important than ever that patients become their own advocates. As a first step, any patient being admitted to a hospital [...]
If you have not already, you will shortly be receiving a ballot for this year’s election. You will note that you are being asked to elect three Directors for three-year terms each. Please take the time to review the ballot material carefully, paying particular attention to the candidate statements, and to vote for the candidates of your choice.
In this important time of transition for our organization, it is vital that we have informed and involved leadership. Members of the Board of Directors are instrumental in developing the programs and policies that will guide our organization for many years. Some of the [...]
by Danny Perry
Member bowlers converge on Wilkes-Barre for its Third Annual All-Association Bowling Tournament.
United Spinal Association sponsors several bowling programs throughout the year for its member groups, and each year a number of these groups compete in the Association’s bowling tournament. This year, which marks the fourth year of the tournament, it was held on March 11 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Thirty-seven members competed in the adaptive tournament, including a group from Buffalo and a group from Philadelphia, both of whom bowled at satellite locations. The tournament had several divisions, most of which used adaptive equipment, allowing bowlers to compete [...]
by Danny Perry
The Nets wheelchair basketball team recapture a conference crown before falling in the Southern Regional tournament.
The Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association Nets, a wheelchair basketball team co-sponsored by New Jersey Nets and United Spinal, saw their roller coaster season conclude with a first round loss in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) Southern Regional Tournament. Prior to that, the Nets were able to recapture the Eastern Wheelchair Basketball Conference (EWBC) crown after having lost the title to their archrival New York Rollin’ Knicks, who claimed it for two consecutive seasons.
With the Nets finishing the 2002-2003 season by reaching the [...]
by Donna Fredericksen
If New York hosts the 2012 Olympics, it will also host the 2012 Paralympics, and United Spinal will play a role in making both a success for people with disabilities.
Queens is the largest of the five boroughs that make up New York City. Stretching 109 square miles, it is the home of the two metropolitan airports-JFK International on its south shore and LaGuardia on its north shore-as well as the 1939-1940 and 1964-1965 World’s Fair (located in what is now called Flushing Meadow Park), the New York Mets, and (as Paul Simon informed us in his song “Me [...]
by Felicia Mosley and Terry Moakley
It’s been a while since the United Spinal Association Jets quad rugby squad, co-sponsored by the Association and the New York Jets professional football franchise, have failed to travel to the United States Quad Rugby Association regional playoffs, but it happened in the recent 2003-2004 season. The Jets played in just three tournaments this year, yet they remained a fairly competitive team.
Their season began November 8-9 of last year at the Beast of the East tourney in Philadelphia. The Jets showed a lot of spunk on the first day of rugby, dropping the morning game [...]
by Terry Moakley and Donna Fredericksen
United Spinal Association recently joined the Disability Rights Council of Greater Washington and individual plaintiffs Russell Holt of Maryland and John Folan of Delaware in a suit against the District of Columbia concerning inaccessible parking meters and discriminatory practices in the handicapped parking placard system used in that city. This suit is brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the D.C. Human Rights Law. Defendants in this matter include the District and its Departments of Transportation, Motor Vehicles, and Public Works.
A press conference was held on March [...]
by John M. Williams
The Eyegaze Communication System expands opportunities for people with high-level quadriplegia.
Imagine this situation.
You have a fertile, active, creative mind that craves to express itself. You have an idea for numerous books, but you can’t use a keyboard. You want to call a family member, but you can’t dial. You want to speak but lost the ability. You want to turn off a bright light but can’t move your fingers. Your only means of communicating to others is through the movement of your eyes. Do these limitations mean your life as an independent person is over? [...]
by Lisa Gesson
If you read my article last month on the written follow-up letter, you might remember that I suggested different letters for dealing with being ignored and receiving a negative response. Those letters should be written differently. After sending a letter, however, there is little difference between being ignored and receiving a negative response.
You made a polite verbal complaint, you wrote a brief follow-up letter and now what? At this point, these are the scenarios you are dealing with: They said they would take care of your problem, or they ignored you or they gave you a [...]
by Lakshmi Bangalore
Patients with the relapsing-remitting form of multiple sclerosis (MS) can experience symptom-free intervals that sometimes range in the order of years, despite the persistence of demyelinated lesions within their nerve fibers. Such a recovery of function after injury to the brain and spinal cord is called a remission. Remissions can occur despite the absence of myelin, and have been attributed to the redistribution of key molecules within the nerve membrane in an adaptive response to enable recovery of function.
As early as the 1980s, laboratory studies performed at the PVA-Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration [...]
by Rochelle Haynes
After several years of lobbying by United Spinal and many other disability groups, the New York State Senate finally seems to be on the path toward passing legislation that would incorporate Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 into New York State Human Rights Law.
Senate Bill 5803, which was introduced on January 7, 2004, is legislation that would clarify the scope of protections against discrimination on the basis of disability under the New York State Human Rights Law in the areas of employment, public accommodations and government services. The bill is being sponsored [...]
by Mary Kate Carew
Christopher Neves is a determined young man who lives in Brooklyn, New York and has been watching the Music Television Network (MTV) show Total Request Live (TRL) for over five years. TRL airs every weekday live for two hours and features the latest music and recording artists. Chris has dreamed about attending an airing of TRL since the first time he watched. After many failed attempts, his dream finally came true when he contacted the United Spinal Association for help.
Neves, who was born in 1981 with cerebral palsy and is a wheelchair user, loves to write, is [...]
by Nathan Devore
Once upon a time, cruising was for the rich and leisurely vacationer. Today’s cruise vacation opportunities are more plentiful than ever before and more affordable than most people realize. And yet, as affordable as a cruise vacation is, it remains a truly luxurious way to travel.
As cruise vacations have expanded over the past decade, the cruise lines have built and launched a series of new mega-ships that are accessible for travelers with disabilities. In fact, cruise lines have been among the first in the travel industry to make vacations truly accessible for all people.
But not all cruises [...]
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