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Veterans
Misc.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: Degrees of Separation
DIRECTOR’S NOTES: Keeping Faith
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Number Crunch
PROGRAM NOTES: November 2006
LEGAL AFFAIRS: Kleo King Promoted
MEMBERSHIP: Florida Service Office Opens for Business
LEGISLATIVE NEWS: November 2006
Social Security: Proposed Cuts Would Hurt People with Disabilities
The ADA at 16: A Congressional Hearing
RESEARCH FRONT: November 2006
The Effects of Fampridine-SR on Walking in People with MS
Study Warns of Heat Balance Disturbance When Exercising with SCI
A Randomized Crossover Study of Bee Sting Therapy for MS
Neural Prosthetics Trial Participants Needed
Features
Injured in Iraq
James Lathan Jr.’s experience is like those of thousands of [...]
I think it safe to say that there is less than “six degrees of separation” between any given American and another who is presently in the service; and even fewer degrees to one who has served in the military in the past. But does this mean Americans appreciate the service our veterans have given for our nation? Do Americans believe that their government has a responsibility to care for veterans when they are discharged? Do they realize that taking care of our veterans benefits everyone?
As we think about the men and women we know who have served our country, we must remember [...]
Several months ago, I invited Action readers to participate in an online survey to give us an idea of how well you think we’re doing. Responses trickled in. The reviews were positive, but the sample was so small for so many months that I could not consider it an accurate indication of what the readership at large was thinking.
Last month, we ran the survey inside the print version of Action. The trickle became a torrent, and now we have a sample that more accurately reflects the demographics of the membership at large in terms of age, type of disability (with slightly more [...]
Social Security: Proposed Cuts Would Hurt People with Disabilities
People with disabilities have long complained about inadequate service from the Social Security Administration (SSA): lengthy delays in applying for disability benefits, poor administration of work incentive programs, and, of course, the ever-present long lines and wait times on the 800 number. Now these problems threaten to get even worse.
The proposed funding for SSA’s administrative costs in this year’s Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriation bills is even lower than the already inadequate figure proposed by the President. The current House bill would reduce SSA’s budget to $200 million below [...]
The Effects of Fampridine-SR on Walking in People with MS
Acorda Therapeutics, Inc., recently announced positive results from its Phase 3 clinical trial of Fampridine-SR on walking in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Statistical significance was achieved on all three efficacy criteria defined in the Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A significantly greater proportion of people taking Fampridine-SR had a consistent improvement in walking speed, the study’s primary outcome, compared to people taking placebo (34.8% vs. 8.3%) as measured by the Timed 25-Foot Walk. In addition, the effect was maintained in this study throughout the 14-week [...]
James Lathan Jr.’s experience is like those of thousands of other spinal cord injured vets from previous wars. His attitude makes him rare.
by Michael Lee
James Lathan Jr., with son James III, is back home in Omaha after six months of rehabilitation for a spinal cord injury sustained during a mortar attack in Iraq.
When James Lathan Jr. graduated from Omaha’s Central High School in 1995, he wasn’t ready to go to college or take orders at McDonald’s. He decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the Army. They offered to [...]
United Spinal is partnering with PepsiCo to create a model corporate culture for people with disabilities.
By Dominic Marinelli
During the past year, United Spinal Association has worked with the PepsiCo family, which includes Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana, to improve employment opportunities and accessibility for people with disabilities inside the company.
The initiative began during the fall of 2005 when the leadership of PepsiCo invited United Spinal to participate in a day-long meeting focusing on the varying abilities of employees and customers. Throughout the day, staff members from United Spinal discussed issues impacting people with disabilities with PepsiCo management.
“We were specifically [...]
By John M. Williams
Three times within the past year, I have witnessed the new Microsoft Windows Vista’s accessibility features being demonstrated. Each time increased my appreciation of the Windows upgrade, which is due for general release just after the New Year, and I now rate the new accessibility features higher than the original Windows accessibility features.
Windows Vista includes a new Ease of Access center (located in the Control Panel), where anyone can turn on accessibility settings and tools. Users can enter the Center by selecting Winkey (between the control and alt keys on PC keyboards) +U. A questionnaire helps users [...]
By Victor Freedman
As an insurance agent, I have to follow certain rules and regulations that I may not like all the time, but I have to work within them. I need to ask a lot of questions to match a client with the right insurance product. As we talk, my mind is searching, and by the time we are just about done, I have a pretty good idea of which companies to use and what the approximate cost to the client will be. But then I always have to ask two questions I don’t like to ask:
• Do [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
One of the first questions someone who sustains a spinal cord injury (SCI) is likely to ask, is: Will I ever be able to return to work? There are many factors involved in answering that question. For example:
• How old were you when you were injured?
• How long since you sustained the injury?
• What did you do before your injury?
• How much education do you have?
Legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was intended to improve overall employment opportunities for people with disabilities, but the proportion of people with SCI who are employed remains lower than [...]
By William Peace, PhD
In 2005, I wrote a series of columns for this magazine about parenthood and disability. Each column had a specific theme that addressed issues I have encountered as a single father with a disability raising my son. (If you’re interested, you can read them on-line at by clicking on “Parenting” in the Categories section of the navigation bar.)
I took an unexpected leave of absence from column-writing when another sort of parenting issue arose for me. My father died October 9, 2005. His death was preceded by an agonizingly slow form of dementia that was frightening to him and [...]
By Ed Lash
Having MS is like the weather. We have our ups and downs; we have good days and we have bad days.
Of course, other people have these experiences as well, but with MS it seems to be more pronounced and more confusing as to the “whys and wherefores.” MS is a mystery disease and a large part of that mystery is involved in the question of why symptoms come and go.
A true MS exacerbation (also flare-up or attack) is the result of active inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS). Damage to the myelin covering of CNS nerve cells may result [...]
By Kathleen M. Muldoon
Yvette Silver ysilver@erols.com
I first met Diane at an annual picnic that the fire department sponsored for mobility impaired people in my community. She was pretty hard to miss, not only because she’d decorated her wheelchair with zillions of tiny American flags, but also because of the big button on her t-shirt. Red letters spelled out “whining,” and a red bar ran through it: No whining.
My boyfriend Paul laughed. “She looks cool! Let’s find out what the ‘no whining’ is all about.”
We spent a lot of time with Diane that day. She lived in a small town that bordered our [...]
A classified ad running in our current issues (November and December 2006) has incorrect contact information. The correct information is provided below:
Help Wanted
Manager, Storage Facility–Located in Cutchogue, New York (Suffolk County). Full-time position. Live-in option. Handicap Accessible. Call 631-734-2177, ask for Marty.
If you’re traveling to London in December, please consider including in your itinerary Able Voices – an exhibition of photographs taken by disabled people in Bangladesh, Cameroon and the UK, timed to take place the week following the International Day of Disabled Persons 2006 (December 3rd) at the Hoopers Gallery in Farringdon. The photographs were taken during participatory photography projects run by PhotoVoice in partnership with Healthlink Worldwide and Barchester (UK) Healthcare.
More details are available online at www.photovoice.org/html/exhibitionsandevents/upcoming/bangladeshexhib.html
By Jennifer M. Rodriguez-Khadir
6th Annual MLB Wheelchair Softball
Tournament at Shea
Despite the steady rain throughout the games on Friday, September 15,
each team came to proudly represent the wheelchair softball
counterparts of Major League Baseball teams. United Spinal fielded
three teams: Mets I, Mets II and the Yankees. The rest of the contenders
included the NEPVA Red Sox from New England, the Vaughn PVA White
Sox from Chicago, and the Courage Rolling Twins from Minneapolis.
The teams competed as they have in the past six seasons, on
diamonds “cut out” of the Shea Stadium parking lot. United Spinal
Mets II [...]
(Note: United Spinal Association urges members to contact their legislators on this important issue. For more information, go here.)
We received this message today from National Senior Citizens Law Center on an issue important to members of United Spinal:
The following letter was sent to CMS from the below signed organizations representing low income seniors and people with disabilities. The letter cites concerns that since mid-October, the www.medicare.gov website and 1-800-MEDICARE system are no longer providing for enrollment in Medicare Part D plans for 2006. This is in violation of CMS policy and presents a grave barrier for low-income seniors and individuals [...]
Even as war has resulted in millions of spinal cord injuries, the doctors who have tended to them on the field have contributed to vastly improved care for all people with SCI.
By Tom Scott
The mortality rate of U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan is significantly lower compared to previous wars. During World War II, 30% of US soldiers died from wounds received in combat and 24% of US soldiers died in Vietnam. In Iraq and Afghanistan mortality has dropped to approximately 10%. Advancements in field medicine have saved thousands of lives. Stronger body armor and the utilization of heavily [...]
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