The latest in Disabilities

Moving and Handling People on Wheelchair

2010-03-14T01:49:54Z

There are reasons why some people become immobilized and dependent to their wheelchair for their mobility. Sometimes disabilities struck them due to illnesses, accidents or even by congenital defects. Old people also tend to become easily immobilize once serious cases of rheumatism, arthritis, diabetes, heart problems, and other disabilities affect their physical health. While some people may depend on nurses or caregivers to take care of their sick family member while at home, some families ...

SC may gut programs for 26,000 disabled residents

2010-03-03T05:30:38Z

<div id="subtitle">SC lawmakers consider cutting all services for 26,000 people with disabilities</div><div><p>Lawmakers are considering cutting all services for nearly 26,000 people with disabilities as South Carolina tries to plug a $560 million budget hole.</p><p>Parents say the proposed cuts to day care programs and other services would force them to give up much-needed jobs to stay home and care ...

For the physically disabled, fitness is key

2010-03-01T03:15:13Z

<div><p>NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - When Jothy Rosenberg was told after losing a leg and part of a lung to cancer that he would not survive, the teenager went to Utah and skied for 100 days straight.</p><p>It was followed by swimming, white water rafting, water skiing, and biking.</p><p>Now 36 ye...

Disability Advocates 'Shocked' at Their Levels of Toxic Chemical Exposure

2010-02-22T11:06:35Z

<div id="subtitle">New study examines possible links between disability and toxicity</div><div><p>A new study examining possible links between exposure to chemicals used in everyday products and learning and developmental issues strikes a personal chord with leading advocates for the disabled.</p><p>Could the autism, cerebral palsy, or other learning and developmental issues these individuals and their families f...

A Lift Chair May Be Exactly What You Need

2010-02-23T07:15:00Z

At some point in time, nearly everyone needs to begin making changes in their lives to accommodate health conditions or simply the natural effects of aging. These changes often include purchasing new furniture which is more suitable to one's health and lifestyle. Whether you are considering this for yourself or for another member of your family, a lift chair may be exactly what you need.<br><br>Lift chairs are the most practical addition to the home. They are appro...

Efforts under way to make Web more accessible

2010-02-23T15:57:29Z

<div id="subtitle">Not such a wide Web: much of the Internet inaccessible to disabled, but changes being made</div><div><p>Imagine not being able to use a mouse to open a Web browser or a keyboard to type an e-mail. What if you couldn't distinguish colors on a computer screen or type the distorted letters in order to buy concert tickets or enroll in a class?</p><p>Despite technological advances aimed at making th...

Web Accessibility

2009-12-15T04:00:39Z

A Nov. 23, 2009 photo, shows a bag with the logo of the "Accessibility Lab" at Yahoo Inc. headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. In the "Accessibility Lab" programmers and developers try various assistive technology software and hardware such as screen readers, Braille keyboards,...

Poverty cut doomed unless disabled empowered: UN

2010-02-23T21:54:08Z

<div><p>The United Nations warned Wednesday that attempts to halve global poverty will be doomed unless the world's estimated 650 million disabled people are pulled out of neglect and discrimination.</p><p>In an appeal to mark International Day for Persons with Disabilities on Thursday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pil...

Italy Robotic Hand

2009-12-02T08:30:53Z

Amputee Pierpaolo Petruzziello touches a robotic hand during a press conference in Rome, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009. Petruzziello took part in an experiment in which a group of European scientists say they successfully connected him to the robotic hand, using electrodes to his body, allowing him to control the prosthetic with his thoughts and feel sensations in the artificial limb. The experiment lasted a month. But scientists say it marks the first time an a...

India Bhopal Suffers

2009-11-29T22:30:19Z

In this Friday, Nov. 20, 2009 photograph, women complaining of ailments due to exposure to methyl isocyanate leaked during the Bhopal industrial disaster wait to consult doctor at a clinic run by a non governmental organization in Bhopal, India. The Bhopal industrial disaster killed about 4,000 people on the night of Dec. 3, 1984. The death toll over the next few years rose to 15,000, according to government es...

Technology failing disabled net surfers: forum

2010-02-24T04:15:59Z

<div><p>Technology should be harnessed better to give the world's estimated 650 million disabled people improved access to the Internet, experts said here on Tuesday.</p><p>"One of the fundamental problems has been not consulting persons with disabilities when designing technologies," Cynthia Waddel of the Dynamic Fox se...

Mont. high court: Retirees can lose workers' comp

2010-02-24T09:54:27Z

<div id="subtitle">Montana high court rules workers' compensation can be cut off when recipients reach retirement</div><div><p>The Montana Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of a state law that allows insurance companies to cut off workers' compensation payments for those suffering permanent total disability when the disabled party is eligible for Social S...

In Ethiopia disabled people get jobs, not hand-outs

2010-02-24T09:58:17Z

<div><p>In the streets of the Ethiopian capital hundreds of disabled people beg, some from makeshift wheelchairs, the less fortunate dragging themselves on their hands from car to car.</p><p>Disabled people are seldom taken care of by institutions here; mostly they are either left to their own devices on the street or kept behind closed doors because their families are ashamed of them.</p><p>"The traditional perc...

Statue of Helen Keller to be installed in Capitol

2010-02-24T21:57:06Z

<div id="subtitle">Alabama to unveil new statue of Helen Keller to be installed in US Capitol</div><div><p>Alabama installed the first statue honoring a disabled person in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, unveiling a bronze of a 7-year-old Helen Keller at her moment of epiphany when she solved "the mystery of language" without sight...

Disabled people more likely to be victims of crime

2010-02-24T23:57:11Z

<div id="subtitle">Gov't study finds disabled people are more likely to be victims of violent crimes</div><div><p>Disabled people are 1.5 times more likely to be victims of violent crime than nondisabled people, according to a government study.</p><p>The study on crime against people with disabilities, released Thursday by the Justice...

Abuse led UK woman to kill disabled daughter, self

2010-02-25T01:25:26Z

<div id="subtitle">Years of torment from neighbors led UK mother to kill disabled daughter and self, jury rules</div><div><p>Years of torment from young neighbors led a despairing single mother to kill herself and her disabled daughter, and police inaction contributed to the deaths, a British inquest jury ruled Monday.</p><p>Fiona Pilkington suffered more than a decade of abuse from a gang of youths who terrorize...

Two deaf charter schools merge to become one. A first ever in Minnesota

2009-09-23T08:01:24Z

ELIZABETH FLORES eflores@startribune.com September 21, 2009 - St. Paul, MN - First-grader Yahir Sanchez-Araujo became enthusiastic about his response to a school assignment at The Metro Deaf School. The Metro Deaf School was only the state's second charter school when it opened in 1993. This we...

Modern Lift Chair Misconceptions

2010-02-25T04:27:54Z

The most common uses and advantage of a lift chair is to make standing up and sitting easier. The prime users of lift chair are the elderly population who are suffering from arthritis and other pains in their body. The old people cannot stand up without the help of another person all the time. Hence lift chairs are a relief to them. They do not need assistance 24 hours. The lift chairs with its electrical mechanism and comfortable backrest and footrest allows the user to sit comfortably for h...

s03 September 17, 2009

2009-09-18T08:46:33Z

Zackery Lystedt is permanently disabled....