From Polskie Radio, Poland’s radio network:

Frederic Chopin, widely regarded as Poland’s greatest composer, died of complications of cystic fibrosis, according to Professor Wojciech Cichy of the Medical University in Poznan. Reports at the time of Chopin’s death in 1849 had attributed his death to tuberculosis.

As evidence, Prof. Cichy points to the presence of nodules on the surface of the composer’s heart, cited in the autopsy report, as well as the medical history of members of Chopin’s immediate family. Two of his three sisters died of lung diseases, the youngest at the age of 15. Chopin died at age 39 .

Cystic fibrosis is a hereditary condition that was not recognized until the 1930s, long after the composer’s death. Prof. Cichy says he hopes to be able to carry out further genetic research on the basis of material taken from the remains of Emilia Chopin, Frederic’s sister.

A review article in the Journal of Applied Genetics in 2003 concluded that CF was a “probable cause” of Chopin’s death. The authors called for more research on the subject:

Is it justifiable to deepen our knowledge about the great Polish composer, but foremost to give hope and meaning to those who nowadays suffer from genetically inherited disorders? Is it not right to make an attempt to prove to many suffering people that many things count in life much more than a weak physical body, and that they are not predestined to vanish without leaving something that will influence, inspire and enrich the generations to come?

From the [Nashville] Tennessean:

“The Artists’ Voice,” an exhibit in Nashville’s Frist Center for the Visual Art, showcases 54 artists who live with some form of disability. (Painting at left by Ann Ambrose.)

It would be a mistake, however, to define these artists solely in terms of their disability — which is, after all, intrinsic to the human condition.

“All of us have disabilities. It’s just that some of us are not recognized in a professional manner as having a disability,” says Lori Kissinger, executive director of VSA arts Tennessee, which provides art and art education opportunities for the state’s disabled population.

… Confronting our own limitations is difficult enough, Kissinger observes, and it’s for this reason that we have much to learn from the artists in The Artist’s Voice.

“What they believe is more important than the challenges they face. Through their art, they speak to their disabilities, whether that be feelings of frustration or joy or freedom.”

From the Wall Street Journal:

New York’s Museum of Modern Art conducts tours for people with visual impairments, encouraging them to don disposable gloves and explore selected works. The tours have been going on for 35 years. Other museums offering similar programs include Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago and New York’s Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

“I’ve had people say ‘how can you give tours to the blind?” said [lecturer Richard] Turnbull, who in addition to his chores at MoMA is chairman of the art history department at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “They don’t understand it’s possible to appreciate art in ways that are not entirely visual. People who actually can see a work don’t see it the same way another sighted person does, so in a lot of ways this program is all about the plurality of experience that people have with works of art.”

From the Seattle Times:

Wil Kerner (left) builds elaborate and expressive artwork using construction paper and scissors.

What the autistic 12-year-old can’t express verbally or in social interaction he can show through his carefully cut out geometric shapes assembled into characters in a paper collage, a talent the staff at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center calls a rare artistic gift. Large red circles become heads, delicate strips of fringed white paper become hair, and finely cut arches are shaped into eyebrows.

The art — and the artist — intrigues those who study autism. Dr. Stephen Dager, interim director of the University of Washington’s Autism Center, who has been studying brain anatomy and chemistry in autism, is mystified by Wil’s artistic talents. Autistic people generally pay little attention to eyes during social interaction, studies show, and usually are unaware of others’ emotions. Yet, Wil has the ability to mimic human emotion through his art.

Kids boost social skills by teaching pets

From CBS Early Show:

Dog trainer Kathy Santo has started a program called “Paws Four Autism” that helps kids in New Jersey connect with others by learning to train their family pets. She says the program helps kids learn to maintain eye contact with their dogs, which in turn helps them develop relationships with people.

Santo demonstrates her techniques in a video on the CBS site that also features student trainers Gower Nibley and Brittany Wilkes.

A link on the site carries resources about autism for families. Sadly, its use of language is not always sensitive — one page leads readers to “notable sufferers,” including Thomas Edison and Jane Austen.

Melissa Riggio, whose life helped prompt the publishing industry to pay more attention to the expanding market of people with disabilities and their families, died Monday of leukemia, her family announced today. The daughter of Barnes & Noble CEO Steve Riggio, she was 20.

Ms. Riggio, who had Down syndrome, was the inspiration for Barnes & Noble’s creation of a special section of books about children with special needs. In an interview with the New York Times in 1991, Mr. Riggio said he realized after his daughter’s birth that books about children with disabilities were scarce and often difficult to locate.

That year, when Ms. Riggio was three, the company celebrated the nationwide debut of its “Children with Special Needs Collection.” It contained about four dozen titles about disabilities like autism, cerebral palsy, dyslexia and speech and hearing impairments, most of which were not widely circulated.

Mr. Riggio said at the time that he hoped the company’s efforts would lead to the publication of more books about childhood disabilities. (more…)

‘For Rachel Barton Pine, out to resurrect her career, time has stood still since her tragic accident. Unfortunately, the world has not’

From the Chicago Tribune, a major profile of Rachel Barton Pine. The violin prodigy became news around the world in 1995 when the strap of her violin case got caught in the door of a commuter train in Winnetka and she was dragged 300 feet along the track. The accident severed one leg and shattered the other.

Pine underwent many surgeries that broke her momentum and stalled her concert career. Then, when she was ready to return to performing, presenters shied away from booking her because concert halls could not accommodate people in wheelchairs or on crutches. A legal settlement pays her medical bills and Pine, now off crutches, is performing regularly, “one of the most accomplished violinists of her generation.”

(more…)