From the Detroit News:

Neil Sauter is now approaching the end of his planned eight-week, 830-mile hike across Michigan on stilts.

Sauter has a mild form of cerebral palsy that affects his legs. He received a college scholarship from Michigan Rehabilitation Services because of his disability and decided he would return the favor some day.

“I always knew I would give back to the cause for what it had given to me,” he said. “I believe in this. They give to me and I give back. It’s an endless cycle.”

He has already raised $12,000 for United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan, surpassing his goal of $10,000.

From the [Morris County, NJ] Daily Record:

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine has signed a law that allows students with disabilities to walk with their classmates at graduation, whether or not they receive a diploma.

The statute was inspired by Alicia Vitiello, a student with Down syndrome. Her family challenged a decades-old policy that barred students from participating in graduation until they completed their education.

Federal law allows students with disabilities to continue attending high school until they turn 21.

Officials in the Hanover Park Regional High School District initially denied Alicia’s request to walk at graduation, but relented. She participated in ceremonies in 2007 (above, with her mother, Janice).

By the Associated Press in the Newport News Daily Press:

A proposed rule change in Virginia would allow school officials there to end special education services for any child without parental approval. Under current regulations, any changes in a child’s individualized education plan must be approved by parents.

The proposal by the Virginia Department of Education is open for public comment until June 30. The state Board of Education is expected to vote this fall on the proposed rule change. Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has said he opposes changes that reduce parental involvement in special ed.

Nearly 400 people have testified at public hearings statewide, and officials have received more than 9,000 comments, with most opposed to the changes, said H. Douglas Cox, assistant superintendent for special education and student services.

From the Newark Star-Ledger:

Students in Morris County, New Jersey, are lobbying state lawmakers for a required disability awareness curriculum that would be taught in all New Jersey public schools, from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

The students are mentors with Pathways for Exceptional Children, a nonprofit group based in Montville that provides programs for children with disabilities and their families.

“There’s so much lack of acceptance,” said one student. “A lot of that stems from lack of information. Children don’t understand about kids with disabilities.”

States that require the teaching of disability awareness include West Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Idaho and Washington.

Associated Press in U.S. News & World Reports:

As Alzheimer’s patients are receiving earlier diagnoses, there is a growing movement of people demanding better care, increased research, community support, and respect.

They are giving a voice to a disease whose victims until now have remained largely silent, and powerless. It’s a shift with big ramifications.

Alzheimer’s patients are joining their counterparts with cancer and HIV to lobby Congress for more money to hunt treatments. Some are advising top scientists to push for higher-stakes research even if it means higher risks. They’re even offering unprecedented glimpses into how a mind slowly unravels as they blog about their dementia.

… One message: A huge hurdle is the stigma of a disease known mostly for its devastating end stage.

From ABC Good Morning America, a five-minute segment on a “controversial group hoping to radically change” the way we look at autism. They want society to “celebrate autistic people for their differences.” (With video)

Advocate Ari Ne’eman, 20, (left) is the founder of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a non-profit group aimed at advancing autism culture and advocating for diversity. Ne’eman says the group is engaged in a civil rights movement, and says he wouldn’t change his autism diagnosis if he could.

“Where does disability come from?” Ne’eman asks. “It comes in many respects from a society that doesn’t provide for an education system that meets our needs, and a society that is largely intolerant.”

Some experts say Ne’eman and his group may not be representative of a broad swath of people with autism. Diane Sawyer appears skeptical of Ne’eman’s message. “You keep wondering .. is it in some way a beautiful way of justifying heartbreak,” she says.

At last count, the segment had drawn more than 300 comments.

Related post here.

Video from the NBC Nightly News “Making a Difference” segment:

Tiana Tozer has been using a wheelchair since the age of 20, when she was injured by a drunk driver. Now she’s spending a year in Iraq with the aid organization Mercy Corps. She’s campaigning to give a voice to the two million Iraqis who have disabilities, many of them injured in the wars that have been fought there.

Quotes from Tiana Tozer:

• Having a disability is not the worst thing that can happen to you. But some people think it’s worse than death. And it’s not.
• It doesn’t matter whether they’re Sunni or Shia or Kurdish. That’s the most exciting thing. These people can be an example for the rest of Iraqi society on how to work together.
• You’re my people, and we all have to stick together to make the world a better place.