UNITED SPINAL ACTION ALERT
On Monday, July 17, Senators Bingaman (D-NM) and Santorum (R-PA) introduced legislation to remove Medicare’s “in the home” restriction on mobility devices. Please ask your Senators to cosponsor this important legislation for people with disabilities!
Currently, Medicare will only cover mobility devices if beneficiaries need them for use inside their homes. […]

There are more and more ways to have fun in the sun for athletes who use adaptive equipment. Here’s a small sampling of what’s out there for you. Enjoy!
Handcycling
Handcycling is an alternative cycling sport for individuals who are interested in biking, but have limited use of their lower extremities. Most handcycles are designed with […]

Valley Forge Publishing Group (VFPG), publisher and publisher representative to publications and online career centers throughout the healthcare industry, will represent several of United Spinal Associations publications and the annual SCI conference.
Publications include the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, official journal of the American Paraplegia Society; Multiple Sclerosis Quarterly Report, official publication of United […]

Eligible Voters: 5,513
Web Ballots: 185
Paper Ballots: 907
Total Returns: 1,092
Percent Returned: 19.8%
Board of Directors’ Positions
(5 positions available)
Clair Russell Hesselton, PhD……863 (total votes) …….79.7% (percentage of votes)*
Altamont, New York
Thomas Cooke…………………………853……………………78.8% *
Bayside, New York
Martin Young……………………………696……………………64.3% *
White Plains, New York

Eric Johnson, RN………………………………614…………………….56.7%
Cleveland, Ohio (Declined to serve)

Denise Ann Mc Quade……………………….573…………………………52.9% *
Brooklyn, […]

By Tom Scott

Deputy Executive Director Paul Tobin tells WCBS radio news reporter
Sean Adams about United Spinal’s shipment of emergency wheelchairs
and supplies to Baton Rouge, Louisiana in response to Hurricane Katrina’s
devastating impact on people with disabilities last year. Assistive
Technology Director Ziggi Landsman, standing in front of the United Spinal
bus, was one of United Spinal’s […]

Legislative Developments

Misc.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: Our Best Interests
DIRECTOR’S NOTES: Farewell

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Reader Express
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: July 2006
United Spinal Pride
RESEARCH FRONT: Study Participants Wanted
Doctoral Candidate Study: Forgiveness and Coping after SCI
Doctoral Candidate Study: Parenting with a Disability
FES Exercise and the Health of Young Persons with SCI
On-line Survey: Resilience
On-Line Survey: Self-Efficacy

LEGISLATIVE NEWS: Protecting Against Identity […]

In many ways, our organization was built from the need for legislative change. The small group of veterans who came together in 1946 knew that if the nation was to recognize individuals for their abilities, not their disabilities, they had to be able to leave the hospital setting, get out of their homes, and take […]

In 1970, as a young Army veteran less than a year out of rehab, I joined the board of the then Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association. Shortly after, I was invited to join the staff by Jim Peters, who had recently become executive director. I initially thought I would stay on for a short time, while […]

If there’s a common theme among our features in this issue, besides the obvious one of Legislation, it is the necessity of participation in a common action to accomplish shared goals. Marshalling the participation of paralyzed veterans in VA hospitals after World War II, United Spinal’s founders helped raise public awareness about the needs of […]

United Spinal Pride
Thank you for the pin (“United Spinal Wants You…”, April). I will wear it on May 22, but I feel it should be worn more frequently, to remind us that wheelchairs are tools of freedom They do not take the personality out of the person in the chair.
Judy Pittack, MSer (Wearing […]

Doctoral Candidate Study: Forgiveness and Coping after SCI
Are you currently living with a spinal cord injury (SCI)? Do you know someone who currently lives with SCI? Do you have an interest in participating in an exciting and innovative research study? Do you have an interest in learning more about yourself? Are you currently struggling […]

Veterans who may be at risk from the recent security breach of a VA database are not the only United Spinal members who can benefit from the following information. According to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (www.privacyrights.org), identity theft affects up to 10 million people each year, costing individuals and business some $50 billion.
If you believe […]

Our founders’ work on local human rights issues paved the way for national disability rights legislation.
By Terry Moakley
When Americans with disabilities began to organize to seek protection from discrimination under federal law, the leaders of our founding organization supported this important effort. The February 1973 edition of our Monthly Report newsletter derides President […]

The theft of a laptop containing sensitive personal information of more than 26 million people overshadows other news on the veterans front.
By Leonard J. Selfon, Esq.
A May 3, 2006, burglary at a suburban Maryland home became national news when the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) acknowledged that a laptop computer providing access to […]

As contradictory state laws proliferate and California’s program becomes mired in the courts, the U.S. Senate must act to forge a federal stem cell policy solution.
By Dan Anderson
The push is back on for the United States Senate to pass The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 (H.R. 810), which would increase federal […]

What’s good news for people with disabilities who want to use taxis in New York City is good news for people with disabilities nationwide.
By Terry Moakley
At the end of May, partly as a result of advocacy by United Spinal and other local groups, the New York City Council passed a law that soon […]

A proposed federal law would require newly constructed, federally assisted single-family homes to be made accessible to persons with disabilities.
By John Herrion
In March 2005, Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois (D9th) introduced an innovative piece of legislation, the Inclusive Home Design Act, that would require all newly constructed, federally assisted, single- family homes and […]

Congress needs to change the antiquated policy that leaves many trapped in their homes.
By Alaine Perry
Phyllis Johnson (not her real name), who is 77 years old and has multiple medical problems including heart disease and chronic leg pain, cares for her granddaughter every day while her daughter, a United Spinal employee, goes to […]

By Tiffiny Carlson
At age 14, I became a complete C-6 quad, without the ability to transfer. Typical story: shallow water, drowning, resuscitation, three months of rehab, then shipped back home.
Of course, depression followed. Mine lasted nearly three years. I simply couldn’t see any reason to be happy. Little did I know a one- […]

By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination in employment against people with disabilities in the private sector as well as in state and local governments. That sounds good, but what does it really mean for us, for people with disabilities who want to work?
One thing it […]