By Kathleen M. Muldoon

Yvette Silver www.yvettesilver.com
When I was in junior high and high school, not quite as far back as the Dark Ages, my schoolmates were divided into two groups—cool and uncool. I don’t know when this division started or who started it, but I know from my teaching experience that students today still […]

By Dr. Richard L. Bruno
The Centers for Disease Control has reported that 92% percent of US toddlers are vaccinated against polio. Ninety-two percent sounds good, until you realize that leaves more than one million US children unvaccinated. Between 2005 and 2006, polio vaccination dropped in 20 states and in 10 large cities. While any […]

By Kathleen M. Muldoon

Yvette Silver www.yvettesilver.com

It was the first week of December and my seventh grade home room teacher, Miss Cox, had promised a special announcement.
“Regardless of which holiday your family celebrates, winter is a time of giving,” Miss Cox said. “So I decided to assign each of you a Secret Pal.” […]

By Kathleen M. Muldoon

Yvette Silver www.yvettesilver.com

Every November I think back to one of my favorite high school events, the Sadie Hawkins dance. The difference between it and the other dances was that girls invited guys to be their dates. Now, this might not sound like a big deal today, but back in the “Dark […]

By Tom Scott

PepsiCo Hosts “Sports Spectacular” for Youth With Disabilities
PepsiCo’s campus in Purchase, New York was the most recent site of United Spinal Association’s “Kids Sports Spectacular”––a fun-filled and exciting event for children with varying disabilities that teaches the importance of self-esteem, teamwork, and friendship through participation in wheelchair sports including basketball, […]

By Kathleen M. Muldoon

Yvette Silver www.yvettesilver.com

Happy Halloween! Now, I’m sure that most of you reading this column think you’re past the “kid stuff” of Halloween—the costumes, the trick or treating— all that’s for little kids, right? Well, yes, maybe that part of it. But I’ll bet few of you know that for us “older […]

By Kathleen M. Muldoon
It’s only September and already I’m excited about the 2008 Olympics. I love everything about the Olympics, not because I’m a jock—in fact, I’m an athletic zero—but because I admire those who are. Even more inspiring for me are the games that begin after the Olympics, the Paralympics— international athletic competitions […]

The 2007 United Spinal Navigators

United Spinal Association Helps Give MLB Fans a Showcase of Wheelchair Softball
On July 7 and 8, United Spinal Association helped promote the game of wheelchair softball during the Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Fan Fest, which was held this year at the Moscone Centre in San Francisco, California.
Wheelchair softball athletes […]

Compiled by Peggy Hathaway
Good News to Help People Live Independently
Class Act
To encourage independence, choice, and empowerment, four powerful Congressional leaders have introduced the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act of 2007 to help people cover the cost of long-term services and supports.
The CLASS Act provides for cash benefits for adults with functional disabilities […]

By Kathleen M. Muldoon

Yvette Silver www.yvettesilver.com

The summer between eighth and ninth grade, I had one thought in mind—I wanted to scale Mount Franklin. Wait, don’t run to your globe and try to locate it. Mount Franklin was the name of a fictional mountain, the symbol given to the teen summer reading program at my […]

by Kathleen M. Muldoon

July brings to mind my attempt to get a new bicycle during my summer vacation before starting seventh grade. I wasn’t able to do the jobs my friends could, such as walking dogs or mowing lawns, so I had to be more creative. I needed a job I could do at […]

By Tom Scott and Celina De León
United Spinal Association Yankees Assist in Teaching Softball Skills to Youngsters with Disabilities for Derek Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation

Future Derek Jeters on wheels? Some, perhaps, but all of these New York City kids will surely be healthier after participating in a program the United Spinal Yankees wheelchair […]

by Kathleen M. Muldoon

Yvette Silver www.yvettesilver.com

Dear Gran,
I hate summer camp.
I hate fresh air.
I hate sleeping under the stars and getting bit up by mosquitoes.
The other campers hate everything too.
Please send me a train ticket to come home.
Love, Kathleen
That is the letter I sent my grandmother after my first night at summer camp. It was […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

by Kathleen M. Muldoon

Yvette Silver www.yvettesilver.com

On April 1, 1998, readers of the national newspaper USA Today were amazed to find a full-page advertisement announcing a new menu item—the Left-Handed Whopper. This had been developed, the company said, for the 32 million left- handed people in America. According to the ad, the ingredients of this […]

by Kathleen M. Muldoon

Happy March! I love March, don’t you? There’s so much to celebrate this month. For one, my favorite season, spring, starts in March. I love it when everything starts to bloom, the grass turns green, and birds start to build their nests—all the creatures in the world seem to be in […]