Special Olympics ambassador, Arnold Schwarzenegger Destroys TROLL Degrading Special Olympians

Special Olympics ambassador, Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger has inspired many of us. Whether through his meteoric rise as a an Austrian bodybuilder who became an international movie star or his pursuit of public office, he’s been one of those who managed to rise from difficult circumstances to the highest heights the world has to offer.

wonderful article by Jesse Reed for Sportsnaut | March 24, 2017                     
So when Schwarzenegger is inspired by others, you know those people are truly amazing. The former Governor or California shared a post on Facebook celebrating the Special Winter Olympians who won gold, making it clear they are an inspiration to him.

“So inspired by the athletes I’m meeting at Special Olympics World Games 2017 in Austria,” Schwarzenegger wrote on his Facebook page.

Of course, as we find everywhere on the Internet, at least one troll attacked these awesome athletes and people. But Schwarzenegger wasn’t having any of it.

Schwarzenegger not only slapped down this troll but challenged him to “take their path — you could learn from them, and try to challenge yoursle, to give back, to add something from the world.”

This was just the embodiment of class and tremendous response to someone who clearly doesn’t understand just how amazing the people are who compete in the Special Olympics. Well done, Arnold Schwarzenegger. We salute you.

The National Resource Directory Offers Resources Catered To Caregivers

Caregivers impact lives, too, making a difference for their veteran or wounded, injured, or ill spouse or family member.

The National Resource Directory has nearly 250 pages of resources catered to caregivers that can provide assistance. These resources can be national programs or service-specific, ranging from counseling and support groups tofamily recreation, or education programs to employment. Find the resources that will help you.

U.S. Access Board Webinar (April 6): Vehicles Final Rule

The next webinar in the U.S. Access Board's free monthly series will take place April 6 from 2:30 – 4:00 (ET) and cover the Board's recent update of provisions for buses and vans in its ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Transportation Vehicles. These guidelines address boarding access, fare devices, interior circulation, seating and securement, signs, lighting, and announcement systems.

The rule updating the bus and van guidelines, which the Board published in December, enhances accessibility and is responsive to industry trends and advancements in vehicle design and technology. It includes provisions that improve ramp and communication access, address level boarding systems, and incorporate updated standards for wheelchair securement systems. In addition, presenters will discuss research on bus accessibility that is currently underway by the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access.

Visit www.accessibilityonline.org for more information or to register. Archived copies of previous Board webinars are available on the site. The webinar series is made available in cooperation with the ADA National Network.

SOURCE: Press Release 

In 2017 U.S. Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of A Special Education Student

March 22, 2017 - School districts must give students with disabilities the chance to make meaningful, "appropriately ambitious" progress, the Supreme Court said Wednesday in an 8-0 ruling.

The decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District could have far-reaching implications for the 6.5 million students with disabilities in the United States.

The case centered on a child with autism and attention deficit disorder whose parents removed him from public school in fifth grade. He went on to make better progress in a private school. His parents argued that the individualized education plan provided by the public school was inadequate, and they sued to compel the school district to pay his private school tuition.

The Supreme Court today sided with the family, overturning a lower court ruling in the school district's favor.

The federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act guarantees a "free appropriate public education" to all students with disabilities. Today's opinion held that "appropriate" goes further than what the lower courts had held.

"It cannot be right that the IDEA generally contemplates grade-level advancement for children with disabilities who are fully integrated in the regular classroom, but is satisfied with barely more than de minimis progress for children who are not," read the opinion, signed by Chief Justice John Roberts.

The case drew a dozen friend of the court briefs from advocates for students with disabilities who argued that it is time to increase rigor, expectations and accommodations for all.

"A standard more meaningful than just above trivial is the norm today," wrote the National Association of State Directors of Special Education.

The ruling seems likely to increase pressure from families and advocates in that direction.

Significantly, Judge Neil Gorsuch, currently in confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court's vacant ninth seat, has repeatedly ruled the other way on similar cases.

Gorsuch's opinions in eight out of 10 cases involving students of disabilities all tended toward limiting the responsibilities of school districts — for example, if they leave school of their own accord out of frustration. IDEA's standard of a "free appropriate public education," reads Gorsuch's opinion in one of these cases, "is not an onerous one."

When questioned on his record, in light of this new ruling, during his hearing today by Texas Sen. John Cornyn, he said "I was wrong, senator, because I was bound by circuit precedent, and I'm sorry."

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'Sesame Street' is welcoming Julia, a Muppet with Autism

Folks on Sesame Street have a way of making everyone feel accepted.

By The Associated Press | March 20, 2017                    That certainly goes for Julia, a Muppet youngster with blazing red hair, bright green eyes -- and autism. Rather than being treated like an outsider, which too often is the plight of kids on the spectrum, Julia is one of the gang.

Look: On this friendliest of streets (actually Studio J at New York's Kaufman Astoria Studios, where "Sesame Street" lives) Julia is about to play a game with Oscar, Abby and Grover. In this scene being taped for airing next season, these Muppet chums have been challenged to spot objects shaped like squares or circles or triangles.

"You're lucky," says Abby to Grover. "You have Julia on your team, and she is really good at finding shapes!"

With that, they skedaddle, an exit that calls for the six Muppeteers squatted out of sight below them to scramble accordingly. Joining her pals, Julia (performed by Stacey Gordon) takes off hunting.

For more than a year, Julia has existed in print and digital illustrations as the centerpiece of a multifaceted initiative by Sesame Workshop called "Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children."

She has been the subject of a storybook released along with videos, e-books, an app and website. The goal is to promote a better understanding of what the Autism Speaks advocacy group describes as "a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differences."

But now Julia has been brought to life in fine Muppet fettle. She makes her TV debut on "Sesame Street" in the "Meet Julia" episode airing April 10 on both PBS and HBO. Additional videos featuring Julia will be available online.

Developing Julia and all the other components of this campaign has required years of consultation with organizations, experts and families within the autism community, according to Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Workshop's senior vice president of U.S. Social Impact.

"In the U.S., one in 68 children is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder," she says. "We wanted to promote a better understanding and reduce the stigma often found around these children. We're modeling the way both children and adults can look at autism from a strength-based perspective: finding things that all children share."

Julia is at the heart of this effort. But while she represents the full range of children on the spectrum, she isn't meant to typify each one of them: "Just as we look at all children as being unique, we should do the same thing when we're looking at children with autism," Betancourt says.

It was with keen interest that Stacey Gordon first learned of Julia more than a year ago. "I said, 'If she's ever a puppet, I want to BE Julia!'"

No wonder. Gordon is a Phoenix-based puppeteer who performs, conducts classes and workshops, and creates whimsical puppets for sale to the public.

She also has a son with autism, and, before she started her family, was a therapist to youngsters on the spectrum.

Although she figured her chances of landing the dream role of Julia were nil, her contacts in the puppet world paid off: Two friends who worked as Muppeteers on "Sesame Street" dropped her name to the producers. After submitting tapes, then coming to New York for an audition, she was hired.

In the introductory segment, Julia is having fun with Abby and Elmo when Big Bird walks up. He wants to be her new friend, but she doesn't speak to him. He thinks she doesn't like him.

"She does things just a little differently, in a Julia sort of way," Abby informs him.

Julia, chuckling, then displays a different-but-fun way of playing tag, and everyone joins in. But when a siren wails, she covers her ears and looks stricken.

"She needs to take a break," Big Bird's human friend Alan calmly explains. Soon, all is well and play resumes.

"The 'Meet Julia' episode is something that I wish my son's friends had been able to see when they were small," says Gordon. "I remember him having meltdowns and his classmates not understanding how to react."

Gordon says her son, now 13, isn't drawn to puppetry. "He's more interested in math and science, and plays the piano brilliantly," she says with pride.

But she's having a blast being part of the show that helped hook her, as a child, on puppeteering.

"It is so much fun to be on set with everyone, and get to play up all the positive things I've seen with the kids that I've worked with," Gordon says. "At the same time, I come at this with a reverence. I don't want to let the autism community down."

photo credit: (Zach Hyman/Sesame Workshop via AP) (Zach Hyman)

Texas Braces For Medicaid Cuts Under GOP Health Plan, American Seniors and Disabled To Be Hit Hard

Many in Texas are keeping a close eye on the Republican bid to replace the Affordable Care Act. One of the big changes is how it would affect low-income people, seniors, and people with disabilities who get help from Medicaid. And people on both sides of the political spectrum say the Lone Star State is not going to fare well.

March 17, 2017 | Heard on KUT 90.5 

 As the GOP bill, the American Health Care Act, works its way through Congress, Anne Dunkelberg with the left-leaning Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin says she's a little stumped.

"I have worked on Medicaid and uninsured and health care access issues in Texas for well over 20 years," she chuckles. She says this bill leaves the fate of some current funding streams unclear and there's one pot of money she's particularly concerned about. Texas has struck deals with the federal government to help reimburse hospitals for the cost of caring for people who don't have insurance. And Texas has more uninsured residents than any other state.

"About half of what Texas hospitals get from Medicaid today comes through payments that are outside from the regular Medicaid program," she says, which adds up to $4 billion in federal funds every year.

But even if Texas gets to keep all that money, there's another whammy — the GOP plan caps how much money states get for Medicaid from the federal government for every person they cover. It's called a per-capita cap, and the payments under that formula would start in 2020, but would be based on how much the state spends this year.

Adriana Kohler with Texans Care for Children, an advocacy group based in Austin, says Texas already leaves too many people without care.

"Last legislative session there were cuts to pediatric therapies for kids with disabilities enrolled in Medicaid," she says. The cuts caused some providers to shut their doors, which left some children without services, she says. "That's why these cuts coming down from the ACA repeal bill are very concerning to us."

She says in Texas, children, pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities will bear the brunt of any belt-tightening. These populations make up 96 percent of people on Medicaid in Texas. That's why Dunkelberg says the program as is should not be the baseline for years to come.

"They could lock Texas into a lot of historical decisions that were strictly driven by a desire to write the smallest budget possible," she says.

Some on the right agree Texas is getting a raw deal. Doctor Deane Waldman with the right-leaning Texas Public Policy Foundation says there are things he likes in the bill. But in general he says, "It's bad deal for Texas. It's a bad deal for the American people."

He says it was the right thing for Texas not to expand Medicaid, but this bill punishes Texas for it. Under the GOP bill, states that expanded Medicaid would get more money. And because the Republican bill leaves the door open for states to expand Medicaid before 2020, he thinks more states will do that to get in on the deal.

"It's going to be a huge rush — an inducement to drag in as many people as they can drag in, because the more they can drag in, the more federal dollars they can get," he says.

That, in turn, will make Medicaid spending skyrocket, he says. But if Texas still refuses to expand, it will have to share a pot of $10 billion over five years with other non-expansion states, per the GOP bill. And that would be just a drop in a bucket for a state as big as Texas.

This story is part of a reporting partnership with NPR, KUT and Kaiser Health News.

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/03/17/520266060/texas-braces-for-medicaid-cuts-under-gop-health-plan

The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago is Now The Shirley Ryan "AbilityLab"

The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago will soon be a thing of the past. But that's not to say it's going away. It has a new name, a new location and a much larger, state-of-the-art facility that its executives say rivals any other physical rehabilitation center in the world. (from WTTW report)


YouTube published by AbilityRIC

Overview of The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab^®

The unique design of the hospital is about creativity and inventing – processes, methods, experiences, even products that will affect real change in our patients and in their potential for full recovery.

We are leveraging the design of our new building to fully express our vision, embracing an iterative rather than linear process of clinical care and recovery medicine, and integrating the intellectual with the artistic.

A revolution in rehabilitation medicine

Our new research hospital project will transform the entire structure of our organization and will exert strong influence on the field of rehabilitation to adopt translational methods, integrating science directly with clinical care to achieve never-before-possible outcomes for patients. We have the insight, expertise, and drive to envision a revolution in rehabilitation medicine, and to make it happen. And we hold the fundamental ambition and confidence that RIC will continue to improve lives and serve as a resource for the world, the center of excellence and promise.

Our commitment to education and training

The new facility will also extend RIC’s outreach in training and disseminating knowledge across the globe. Although we currently invest significant resources in education and training, we expect the new facility will allow us to better serve the field through conferences, colloquiums, and training seminars in order to share our emerging knowledge and know-how. RIC is compelled to use our knowledge to advance the field and to set new standards of care by which other organizations can improve the outcomes of patients.

Nuclei of Discovery: Five Innovation Centers 

Brain Innovation Center	Spinal Cord Innovation Center	Nerve, Muscle & Bone Innovation Center	Pediatric Rehabilitation Innovation Center	Cancer Rehabilitation Innovation Center

Learn more about our five Innovation Centers and our Ability Labs

# # #

the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab at UIC
355 E Erie St, Chicago, IL 60611
1-844-355-ABLE | 312-238-1000

Website: https://www.sralab.org/

source: Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

March 21, 2017 is the 12th World Down Syndrome Day

UNITED NATIONS - Down Syndrome is a naturally occurring chromosomal arrangement that has always been a part of the human condition, exists in all regions across the globe and commonly results in variable effects on learning styles, physical characteristics or health.

Adequate access to health care, to early intervention programmes and to inclusive education, as well as appropriate research, are vital to the growth and development of the individual.

In December 2011, the General Assembly declared 21 March as World Down Syndrome Day (A/RES/66/149). The General Assembly decided, with effect from 2012, to observe World Down Syndrome Day on 21 March each year, and Invites all Member States, relevant organizations of the United Nations system and other international organizations, as well as civil society, including non-governmental organizations and the private sector, to observe World Down Syndrome Day in an appropriate manner, in order to raise public awareness of Down Syndrome.

March 21, 2017 marks the 12th anniversary of World Down Syndrome Day. For WDSD 2017, Down Syndrome International will focus on:
#MyVoiceMyCommunity - Enabling people with Down syndrome to speak up, be heard and influence government policy and action, to be fully included in the community

   

 YouTube published by Down Syndrome International

Please share this preview which features a clip from 42 country videos! Then watch all 43!

For the "12th World Down Syndrome Day" website, visit:          https://worlddownsyndromeday.org/wdsd-2017

nTIDE Webinar Series April 7, 2017: March Disability Jobs Report

nTIDE Lunch & Learn Webinar Series

Season Two Episode 3 of the nTIDE Lunch & Learn Webinar Series, detailing findings of the latest Jobs Report release, announcements from the Disability Employment field, and a guest presentation by Rita Landgraf, Professor of Practice and Distinguished Health and Social Services Administrator in Residence, University of Delaware, College of Health Sciences, is now available online. We also welcomed AUCD's Denise M. Rozell as the new host of "Announcements from the field of Disability Employment." The next nTIDE Lunch & Learn Webinar will take place on Friday, April 7, 2017 at 12 noon EST. Learn more about the March Jobs Report and how it fits into longer term employment trends, hear about programs and research across the country addressing employment and disability, and listen to experts in the field. Register HERE for the nTIDE Lunch & Learn Webinar Watch Webinar Recording Download the March Agenda & Bios Download the Audio-Only Recording View the Powerpoint Presentation Download the Transcript Read the nTIDE Report About the nTIDE Lunch & Learn Webinar The Employment Policy & Measurement Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (EPM-RRTC) at the University of New Hampshire, in partnership with Kessler Foundation and the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) have launched a monthly webinar. On the first Friday of every month, corresponding with the Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report, we will be offering a live broadcast via Zoom Webinar to share the results of the latest nTIDE findings. In addition, we will provide news and updates from the field of Disability Employment, as well as host an invited panelist who will discuss current disability related findings and events. Follow the conversation on Twitter at #nTIDElearn. SOURCE: Press Release

Disability Pride Fest's Growing with New Orleans 1st

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans' newest festival, the Disability Pride Festival , grew from a comment on the internet suggesting that it's easy to get spur-of-the-moment festivals going but hard to get people to the capital to advocate for disabled people.

By JANET MCCONNAUGHEY Associated Press | Mar 18, 2017                    
To that, Jane Rhea Vernier responded: "Maybe we need to throw a festival or a parade ourselves."

She'd been thinking for years about a disabilities event of some kind before she began work toward the festival scheduled March 25 at the Advocacy Center , a legal aid nonprofit for disabled and older people.

The day will be "about us being with each other, being together," said Vernier, who describes herself as "Autistic — with a capital A." That capital letter makes "Autistic" a term of pride instead of "a medical model saying there's something wrong," she said.

There will be more than 30 information and vending tables, but the festival's focus will be "us being with each other, being together" — in a place where there's also a quiet retreat for those who are prone to sensory overload.

Entertainment — including music, "the world's smallest magician" and a wheelchair basketball demonstration — is reserved for the afternoon, to keep the sound and visual levels down for the first few hours, she said.

Disability pride festivals and parades have been growing nationwide since 1990, when a parade in Boston celebrated that year's passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Chicago, which claims the nation's oldest annual Disability Pride Parade , is planning its 14th ; Nacogdoches, Texas, its fifth; and Philadelphia, its sixth. Madison, Wisconsin, is planning its fifth consecutive festival to celebrate disability pride; Los Angeles is working on its second festival and parade.

"Personally I think it's a really true growth movement," said Alan Larson, an associate professor at Stephen F. Austin State University and the force behind Nacogdoches' parade .

"More medium-sized towns are beginning to recognize it," he said. "All it takes is a cluster of people with disabilities to realize we have worth and it's worth marching down the street for."


In Philadelphia, about 500 people participate in the march and a total of 4,000 participants and spectators show up, said Disability Pride Philadelphia organizer Alan Holdsworth, who is also known as singer-songwriter Johnny Crescendo.

"It's a lot of fun," he said.

Vernier, who created a club called the Quirky Citizens Alliance , said her festival thoughts began taking form after she attended an Advocacy Center program to teach self-advocacy .

"I said it would be a big undertaking to put together a Disability Pride Festival, but something really important," she said.

Pamela Fisher, Advocacy Center spokeswoman and festival co-founder, loved the idea.

"There hasn't ever been a Disability Pride Day or festival or anything of the sort in the New Orleans area, and we thought it was high time there was one," she said.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.