By Anthony Kuhn on National Public Radio:

Organizers of this year’s Paralympics in Beijing have promised that the games will celebrate humanitarian spirit and inclusive attitudes toward people with physical disabilities. But advocates in China say the society’s prejudice toward those with disabilities goes very deep, and change will come slowly if at all.

The founder of a school for people with intellectual disabilities said China must recognize that people with disabilities need equal rights, not charity. “People don’t see this from the angle of human rights — the right to survive, to be educated, to be employed,” she said. “It’s as if we can help these people if we have money, but if we do not, then we don’t have to.”

University of Houston student launches a foundation to raise funds for cerebral palsy research

In the Houston Chronicle, a feature about 24-year-old Jacob Zalewski, a guy with a big personality and big dreams. He’s hoping for a Hollywood screenwriting job, a celebrity poker tournament in Las Vegas, a good-looking girlfriend who can help him on and off his motorized wheelchair. But Zalewski’s not wasting time while he waits for all that — he’s working hard on an event to raise awareness and research funds for cerebral palsy.

“My philosophy is, you make of life what it is,” he says. “I love myself. Not in a narcissistic way.”

From the Chicago Tribune:

The popular show opened its seventh season with a video clip of aspiring singer Angela Martin and her 8-year-old daughter who has Rett syndrome, a little-known genetic disorder.

“The e-mail started flying in as soon as the show was over,” said Chuck Curley, director of the International Rett Syndrome Research Foundation and a father of a 12-year-old with the condition. “This is a huge moment for us.”

No one knows how far Martin will go in the competition, but advocates hope that such national exposure can do for the disorder what Michael J. Fox did for Parkinson’s disease, Christopher Reeve for spinal-cord injuries and Katie Couric for colon cancer.

For the 6,000 or so “orphan diseases” in the United States, such awareness is a key way to funnel more dollars into research.

From the [Milwaukee] Journal-Sentinel:

William Barnewitz, principal French horn player for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, wants to be identified for who he is, not what he’s got. His recently released CD, “Long Road Home,” includes works by Bach, Brahms, Mozart and Schubert. Proceeds go to the Wisconsin Parkinson Association. Colleagues say his musical performance ability is still going strong.

Justin and his adoptive mother

One person’s journey through the years ‘miraculous’ — and costly

From the Anchorage Daily News:

Justin Scott sits at his dining room table dabbing pink frosting on a snowman sugar cookie and humming “Silent Night.” The chaos of his young niece and nephew decorating their own cookies bubbles around him.

If the 20-year-old could sing to his family maybe he would. But Justin can’t form the words to talk. His best communication is through jerky motions of American Sign Language.

There are a lot of things Justin can’t do.

(more…)

From the Dallas Morning News:

When David Zeig was 6, religious school teachers said his Asperger’s syndrome would prevent him from being able to make his bar mitzvah. Years of tutoring enabled him to reach his goal. Now his family has started a fund to help train religious school teachers to help children with autism, ADHD, dyslexia and other neurological disorders. They’ve raised $17,000 so far.

“I see many parents with a child who has recently got the diagnosis of autism who don’t see Hebrew school as an option for their kids,” says [David's father Louis] Zweig, 43. “It became brutally apparent to me that it was necessary to train our teachers about a host of neurological disorders, and most religious schools don’t have the budget to do that.”

Alexandra Wolfond at a center for disabled children in Ho Chi Minh City (New York Times photo)

From the New York Times:

Doing charity work while on vacation no longer has to mean backbreaking labor and dorm-like accommodations. A new kind of philanthropic travel lets wealthy vacationers do good works while still enjoying plush hotel suites and fine restaurants.

Artisans of Leisure, based in New York, organized a seven-day trip to Paris and Morocco for the end of this month for Rhonda Wolfond and her teenage daughter Alexandra that will cost $50,000. (more…)