Disability news, Accessibility Issues, Disability Issues, Accessiblity News

Archive for the ‘spina bifida’ Category

Maryland grants equal opportunities to athletes with disabilities

Thursday, April 10th, 2008

Tatyana McFadden, disabilities, disability newsFrom the Washington Post:

The Maryland General Assembly passed a bill Monday night that will require county boards of education to allow students with disabilities to have equal opportunities to participate in physical education programs and on mainstream athletic teams.

The Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act came about in part because of Tatyana McFadden, 18, a wheelchair athlete from Atholton High in Howard County.

“We’ve been fighting so long and so hard for this. People should have the same opportunities. They shouldn’t be denied,” said McFadden, a senior who had lobbied in Annapolis on the bill’s behalf.

McFadden, born with spina bifida, is training for the 2008 Paralympics, which will take place in Beijing in September. She won two medals at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens.

Earlier post here.

Politically correct eugenics

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

Brownback and Kennedy do the right thing

By Wesley J. Smith in the Weekly Standard:

It is a bitter irony that even as we are enlarging our commitment to human equality in many areas, we are turning our backs on it in others. In particular, we may be about to eliminate from our society people with Down syndrome (DS) and other genetically caused disabilities.

With the development of prenatal genetic diagnosis, the drive toward eugenics has returned with a vengeance. Americans may heartily cheer participants in the Special Olympics, but we abort some 90 percent of all gestating infants diagnosed with genetic disabilities such as DS, dwarfism, and spina bifida.

… What Kennedy and Brownback hope to provide to parents of genetically disabled babies is the legal assurance that they will be provided information that is complete and informed — rather than counseling tainted by prejudice, ignorance, or fear. The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act may have a clunky name, but it is a noble and practical bill that deserves the support not only of those ideological opposites Kennedy and Brownback — but also of everybody in between.

Wheelchair athlete lobbies Maryland for integrated athletics

Wednesday, March 12th, 2008

Tatyana McFadden, disabilities, disability newsUrges legislators to allow students with disabilities to compete alongside typical peers

From the Baltimore Sun:

Tatyana McFadden, an internationally recognized Paralympic athlete, is lobbying lawmakers in Annapolis to ensure that athletes with disabilities can compete alongside their non-disabled peers.

McFadden, a high school senior who earlier sued for the right to share the track with her classmates in Howard County, told a Senate committee that “no student should have to fight to be accepted in high school.”

McFadden was among those who spoke in favor of a bill that would require schools to allow athletes with disabilities to play wheelchair basketball or tennis, to swim or to otherwise play sports among themselves or side-by-side with able-bodied students.

(more…)

‘Brownback abortion bill’s focus: disabilities’

Monday, March 10th, 2008

The headline on a story by Rob Hotakainen in the Wichita Eagle describes the Prenatally and Postnally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act as an “abortion bill.” The measure, co-sponsored by Sens. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), at left, and Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), would provide for accurate medical information to be offered to parents who receive a diagnosis of a disability either before birth or up to a year after the birth of a child.

Hotakainen describes the bill as one that “aims to reduce the number of abortions tied to genetic disorders.” He says Brownback views the bill as part of his campaign for “the culture of life,” and describes Brownback as saying that “children with special needs are viewed as being specially touched by God” in some cultures. Kennedy’s office declined to comment on the legislation, which passed a Senate committee recently. An excerpt:

“We’re just saying, instead of killing the children, let them live,” Brownback said … Currently, Brownback said, 90 percent of pregnancies are aborted when a genetic test shows that a fetus will develop into a child with Down syndrome, spina bifida, cystic fibrosis or dwarfism.

… “I’d like to see it come way down,” Brownback said. “I think these children are beautiful and sacred children, and they should be allowed the chance to live.”

(more…)

Two years after life-saving surgery: Baby Noor’s troubling future

Sunday, March 9th, 2008

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Two years ago, Georgia Army National Guard soldiers spurred an effort to bring a baby with spina bifida from Iraq to Atlanta for surgery.

Now back at home with her grandmother Soad in Baghdad, Noor’s future remains uncertain. Her family has been targeted by insurgents for taking help from Americans. Noor al-Zahra is paralyzed from the waist down. Soad worries about how she will be able to provide adequate care for her granddaughter. The child’s parents divorced shortly after the surgery, and her father has since remarried.

Earlier story here.

Related story: ‘Baby Miracle’ recovering from surgery

‘Baby Miracle’ brought to Florida for surgery

Thursday, February 28th, 2008

From the Tampa Tribune, USA Today:

A baby girl who was born with severe deformities in Samoa and refused medical treatment in New Zealand has been brought to Florida for surgery with the help of THORN Ministries, an American faith-based group.

Miracletina Nanai, also known as ‘Baby Miracle,‘ is now six months old. (At left, with Kristin Taylor, left, and her mother, Mikaele Nanai.) Miracletina reportedly has deformities of the face, brain, spinal cord and palate, and is missing some fingers. After birth, doctors advised family and staff at the hospital not to feed her, but her parents reportedly snuck in milk and fed her with a plastic syringe when the nurses weren’t watching.

Because Samoa doesn’t have medical facilities needed to correct her disabilities, the country appealed to nearby New Zealand for help. But the New Zealand government denied the baby’s family an entry visa in December, saying there was no treatment that would benefit her quality of life.

Kristin Taylor, co-founder of THORN Ministries of Riverview, Florida, worked to get U.S. approval of visas and passports so the baby’s family could travel to Florida for up to six months. The approvals came after John Ragheb, chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Miami Children’s Hospital, and S. Anthony Wolfe, chief of the hospital’s plastic surgery division, agreed to provide medical services for the baby free of charge through the Child Foundation Inc.

(more…)

Vegas teen is the wheel deal

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

He turned his wheelchair into a super skateboard and a new sport was born

From ESPN sports on ABC News, a story with amazing video about a teenager from Las Vegas who created his own sport. He calls it “hard-core sitting.” Sixteen-year-old Aaron Fotheringham does spins and tricks in his wheelchair that would make any skateboarder envious. Check the video for his signature move: the back flip.

Thanks to exposure on Youtube and a relationship with the wheelchair company Colours in Motion, Fotheringham has become an international sensation. He has spina bifida.

About the Site

More than 50 million people in the United States have disabilities, a number that is growing rapidly as the population ages. Experts say disability will soon affect the lives of most Americans. This website attempts to aggregate news and commentary about disability, and to document the efforts of people who are seeking new ways to address familiar challenges.

Join journalist Patricia E. Bauer as she seeks to bring you the best information about what's happening now and what it may mean for you and your loved ones.

Read More »

Search

Categories

Read More »

Not2BeMissed

Read More »

Entertainment

Read More »

School Restraints

Read More »

Prenatal Diagnosis

Read More »

Obama Administration

Read More »

My Articles & Essays

Read More »

FAQs

 

Headlines

Read More »

News2Use

Read More »

Mailing List

Sign up for our mailing list!





RSS Our RSS Feed



Archives
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007