Watching the news on TV these days, I can’t help but be reminded of the Vietnam War. As a young Marine, I was fighting on the warfront then, but I knew the horrific scenes our families back home were being subjected to every day. My combat experience and veteran background […]

We have experienced about a 15% increase in membership since January, and our membership numbers continue to rise. During the Disabilities Expo held in New Jersey in late April, we signed up 89 members in one day. Many of our new members are women and, for the first time in our organization’s […]

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to experience “walking” again. I have not been able to move my legs independently and have been paralyzed from the waist down for the past 22 years due to multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Albert Lo invited me to come up to the West Haven VAMC to […]

Despite a new law requiring new accessible cabs, and in face of a civil action calling attention to the problem, New York City has yet to make available taxis for all.
On April 16 and 23, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) opened some 664 bids for a total […]

I remember that May morning well. The year was 1993. I walked into my office, sat down before my desk and started typing. At 9:15, from nowhere, a slashing pain started from my fingertips in my left hand and rapidly spread up my left arm straight to my heart. […]

The following is excerpted from testimony United Spinal advocates presented on April 30 to the New York State Taskforce on People with Disabilities and Standing Committee on Housing.
For most people, locating, securing and maintaining affordable housing is an arduous task, but for many New Yorkers with disabilities, affordability is only […]

Too many people with disabilities are vulnerable to physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Awareness of the problem is a step toward solving it.
People with disabilities are more likely to be victims of domestic violence and abuse by their loved ones than are the rest of the population. This is true […]

At its January 14, 2004 meeting, the Access Board—the federal agency required by law to develop design standards for access by individuals with disabilities—unanimously approved new guidelines concerning access to facilities covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The approved rule overhauls the existing ADA Accessibility […]

Fraud in the power wheelchair industry is a real issue. Medicare payments for power wheelchairs have increased by nearly 450%, from $289 million in 1999 to $1.2 billion in 2003. While it is imperative to root out fraud and abuse in the power wheelchair industry, it is equally important […]

The staff of the Spinal Cord Damage Research Center (SCDRC), located at the Bronx VA Medical Center (VAMC), would like to introduce you to the first in a series of articles on research being performed on the consequences of spinal cord injury (SCI). The featured article this month is on testosterone replacement therapy in persons […]

Access Board Issues Polling Place Checklist
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), state and local governments must ensure access to their programs and services, including voting. The U.S. Department of Justice, which regulates and enforces these requirements, has issued an accessibility checklist for polling places. This new publication is designed to help […]