|
|
The Family
Misc.
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD: All in the Family
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT: Extended Family
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Remembering
PROGRAM NOTES: Membership Meeting 2007
NEWSROOM: May 2007
Stem Cell Bill Passes Senate
Hope for Fewer Delays at Social Security
SOCIAL NET
No Need to Fear: Back to Work Incentives are Here!
RESEARCH FRONT: May 2007
Research Breakthrough Suggests New Treatment for Spinal Cord Injuries
Pregnancy Hormone May Help Treat MS
Creator of “Bionic Ear” Working to Help Paraplegics
Features
Adoption Odyssey: Finding a Foreign Child to Love
Whether or not they have a disability, more and more parents are building [...]
When I was about 12 years old, I watched my grandfather, who was stricken by polio, go from walking with crutches to using a wheelchair for mobility. I watched how this change had an effect on everyone in the family, and we now had to make adaptations in our interior and exterior spaces to accommodate him.
Our adversities often become our family’s adversities. If we are traveling with a family member or spouse, airline personnel often treat our family member as an attendant, not as another customer. Service personnel bypass us and ask our spouse or companion what our needs are. I [...]
In this issue of Action, we are focusing on various aspects of the family as it relates to spinal cord disorders (SCD). Because the drive to reproduce is so strong is us, it isn’t surprising that the desire to build family is no less urgent for many people after they are injured or diagnosed with an SCD. Many are fortunate to have children of their own, while many others find adoption to be the perfect solution for growing a household. Our families take many forms.
I would like to pose the perspective that United Spinal Association and its members also constitute a [...]
The annual membership meeting of United Spinal Association will be held on Wednesday, June 27, 12:00 PM, at our headquarters office in the Bulova Corporate Center building in Jackson Heights (Queens), New York. This is an opportunity for members to learn about the state of the organization and to have an open dialogue with United Spinal management and Board of Directors.
Please RSVP to Maria Kurtz, mkurtz@unitedspinal.org – or by calling 718-803-3782, Extension 203.
Minutes of the meeting will be available after June 27 by request by calling or writing to Maria.
Stem Cell Bill Passes Senate
On April 11, 2007, the Senate passed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (S.5) by a vote of 63 to 34. Research using embryonic stem cells is enormously promising for finding cures for spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D) and many other conditions. This bill would lift the federal ban on using federal funds for embryonic stem cell research.
President Bush is expected to veto this bill. Lead sponsors Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) noted that if one more senator can be persuaded to vote for it later this year, there will be [...]
No Need to Fear: Back to Work Incentives are Here!
Many people with disabilities are scared to go back to work because they fear that they will lose benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). People wonder if they can work and still receive Medicare and Medicaid. The truth is, you can go back to work and still receive these benefits through work incentives that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has created.
Research Breakthrough Suggests New Treatment for Spinal Cord Injuries
In a multidisciplinary investigation led by Inderjit Singh, PhD, a breakthrough has been made in relation to the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI). Set for publication in the April issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry (101, 182-200), the study investigates the efficacy of atorvastatin (AT), commonly known as Lipitor®, as a treatment for SCI following trauma.
The report demonstrates, for the first time, that by using AT in treating SCI after they have occurred, animal models with hind-limb paralysis showed significant functional recovery and less secondary tissue damage. Importantly, scientists discovered that AT [...]
Whether or not they have a disability, more and more parents are building families by adopting children with special needs from overseas. The rewards can be great, as long as you know what you’re in for.
By Linda A. Cronin
The author’s nieces Lucy and Kiara are testament to the joy children adopted from overseas can bring to their new families.
International adoption can be wonderful way to build a family. Yet, international adoption is not a simple process to be rushed into without careful consideration.
People with physical disabilities who are seeking to become parents through international adoption “need to be [...]
A Missouri teen with spina bifida makes progress at a Michigan clinic with technology originally developed for use in outer space.
By Rob Ingraham
Nathan Coleman learns to balance on a ball with the assistance of a physical therapist at the North Oakland Medical Center.
While the relationship of spina bifida to the laws of gravity is not immediately apparent, a Michigan clinic is offering a new type of physical therapy inspired by the Russian space program and a Missouri teen and his family are beginning to see some positive results.
At the suggestion of a colleague whose son has cerebral [...]
Multiple sclerosis can no longer be thought of as an adult’s disease.
By Kelly Rouba
Elaine Mackey
Sixteen-year-old Elaine Mackey has written a booklet to explain multiple sclerosis to her peers, more of whom, like Elaine, are being diagnosed with the disease than ever before.
Although she is only a freshman in high school, Elaine Mackey has already taken over a few health classes as “teacher for a day” in an effort to make her fellow students aware that children and teens can get multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease commonly associated with adults.
“Some kids who knew what MS was thought that only [...]
Staff and members participated in PepsiCo’s first annual Multicultural Inclusion Summit.
By Marlene Harmon-Perkins and Kleo King
On March 27 to 29 more than 500 of PepsiCo’s senior management staff and personnel from around the world came together for the first time to discuss the company’s plans, goals, and commitment to cultural diversity.
In the past, the various groups representing different cultural entities, met individually to formulate policy, ideas, and programs that would enhance the company’s outlook regarding diversity. For the first time, however, under the leadership of PepsiCo’s new Chairman Elect and CEO Indra Nooyi and the direction of Ron Parker, [...]
Karin Korb has made all sorts of people believers when they watch her game at venues like the Jana Hunsaker Memorial next month at Flushing Meadows.
By Liz M. Treston
Karin Korb is all concentration on the court,
one contributing factor in her success on
the USTA wheelchair tennis circuit.
One of the great benefits of wheelchair tennis is that almost anyone can play. Quads can strap a racquet to their wrists with ace bandages; some brave ones even play using duct tape. Serious players have three-wheel tennis chairs that can literally spin on a dime, but players often [...]
By Ed Lash
Multiple sclerosis (MS) poses many baffling questions. For example, why is it that some people with MS are affected by heat to such a great degree that they will be in a state of fatigue from the normal slight rise in body temperature which occurs in all of us each afternoon, while others with MS are not inconvenienced by this or other heat situations at all?
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
When we are injured or impaired, we tend to be so focused on what we can no longer do that we lose sight of what we still can do. We forget all about the skills, talents, and abilities we developed over the years that remain and which could be used in other jobs or occupations. Those are called transferable skills and we all have them.
by Kathleen M. Muldoon
Yvette Silver www.yvettesilver.com
During my school years, the month of May always brought two memorable events: Field Day, which I loved, and Awards Assembly, which I dreaded. Being an “athletic zero”, I never won anything at Field Day, but I didn’t care-I had fun trying. Awards Assembly, on the other hand, was my annual hour of torture when I wished I had tried just a little harder in my studies.
Up until eighth grade, the only award I’d received was the Perfect Attendance certificate. I’d won that one every year except in fourth grade, when I had the measles. [...]
By Tom Scott and Bill Hannigan
At the United Spinal Association Jets Quad Rugby Invitational in March, the host team finished in second place among three other teams from the Northeast.
6th Annual Sled Hockey Game at Lasker Rink
The United Spinal Rangers and Islanders sled hockey teams faced off in an exciting match-up at Lasker Rink in Central Park, New York on Saturday, March 31. This marked the sixth meeting between the teams and their second time playing at Lasker.
Unfortunately there could only be one winner in this tightly contested battle to claim the United Spinal [...]
|
|
