‘This will be catastrophic’: Maine families face elder boom, worker shortage in preview of nation’s future | the Washington Post
Janet Flaherty got an alarming call last October from the agency tasked with coordinating in-home care for her 82-year-old mother. It could no longer send her mom’s home caretaker. It knew of no other aides who could care for her mother, either. Flaherty’s mother, Caroline, has for two years qualified for in-home care paid for by the state’s Medicaid program. But the agency could not find someone to hire amid a severe shortage of workers that has crippled facilities for seniors across the state.
Employers Shouldn’t Fear Expansion of Medicare |Bloomberg for the Washington Post
Like a significant chunk of American voters, a majority of large employers want to expand Medicare. Just not too much. A new survey of 147 large employers from the National Business Group on Health found that 55% of them support a Medicare expansion that’s limited to older Americans. Only 23% think eligibility should drop to age 50, however, and 45% don’t think it should expand at all. A majority believe that a broader “Medicare for All” plan would increase health costs.
For Autistic People, “Benevolent Ableism” Can Be a Form of Bullying | Teen Vogue
When I roamed my high school hallways, I was usually alone with my headphones in, or I was with one of my few school friends. I was okay being mostly alone because I was always self-confident, and I knew it could be worse: I could be surviving constant beatings on my self-esteem through others criticizing the way I looked, acted, and existed. I may have felt socially isolated, but I wasn’t being bullied — at least that’s what I thought at the time.
Pennsylvania will close two state centers for intellectually disabled |Post-Gazette
The state Department of Human Services will close two of four remaining state centers for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Polk State Center in Venango County and White Haven State Center in Luzerne County. The closure process will take about three years, state officials said in announcing the move Wednesday.
Diet Coke Promotes Diversity And Inclusion By Removing Labels From Cans | Forbes
Earlier this summer, Coca Cola’s Diet Coke launched its [unlabeled] campaign. In efforts to foster conversations about the damaging effects of societal labels, the soda company is removing labels from its cans. [unlabeled] is a multiyear campaign, and the kickoff event was the distribution of unlabeled cans at select events and locations. “Some labels are earned. Fought for. Demanded. Proudly owned,” the campaign website reads. “But then there are labels that are imposed upon us. Weapons aimed to limit. Box us in. Make us feel lesser than. But imagine a world where we aren’t limited by the way others label us.
For Disability Activists, 3 Weeks In Oregon Is A Game Change | NPR
Until she came to the U.S. this summer, Wendy Beatriz Caishpal Jaco had never been able to board a bus. Jaco, 29, uses a wheelchair, which buses aren’t able to accommodate in her hometown of Ahuachapán in El Salvador. She finally got on a bus that could handle a wheelchair while attending a program called WILD — the Women’s Institute on Leadership and Disability, held this summer in Eugene, Ore.
Aging In Place Programs That Really Work | Forbes
Aging in place is an appealing idea to many of us: the ability to continue living in the homes we cherish as we age into our 70s, 80s and 90s, rather than move. There are just two problems: many homes aren’t designed for health issues that can come with getting older and aging in place alone can be lonely. Have I got some ideas for you. Four, actually.
I started talking about disability in my classroom. It changed both me and my students. | Chalk Beat
In 2011, I began working as a special education teacher in Washington D.C., working closely with upper elementary school children with mild to moderate impairments. It was excruciating to watch my students face criticism from their teachers and taunts from their peers. I was constantly reminded of my own experiences of shame and stress as a child with a disability.
Domino’s Could Fuck Up the Internet for People With Disabilities Because They Won’t Just Fix Their Website | Gizmodo
In 2016, Guillermo Robles sued Domino’s because the pizza chain’s website and app didn’t work with screen-reading software, making their online services inaccessible to him and other users with visual impairment. Robles, who is blind, claimed that on at least two occasions, he was unable to order a custom pizza from the company’s website, so he sued, alleging that Domino’s had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
You can’t stop mass shootings by punishing people with mental illnesses | Washington Post
When President Trump declared Monday that people with mental illnesses should face “involuntary confinement,” if necessary, to prevent mass shootings, my heart sank. “He’s talking about me,” I thought. When I was 25-years-old, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and committed to a mental hospital in New York against my will. Instead of being treated with care, I was treated like a criminal. I didn’t want to be hospitalized. I didn’t want to take drugs. But what I wanted didn’t matter. I was strip searched. My phone was taken from me. My clothes were stored in a closet. I was put in a gray uniform with a medical bracelet around my wrist.
The Former Paralympian Tackling The U.K.’s Disability Employment ‘Scandal’ | Forbes
Liz Johnson was coming to the end of a 20-year-long career as a highly decorated Paralympian athlete when she realized she had to start thinking about what would come next. “I was aware of how challenging it can be to be a disabled person in society but it was not until watching the news one night that I was really struck with the immense barriers disabled people face when it comes to employment,” she remembers. “The number that flashed on the screen was 30%—the size of the U.K.’s disability employment gap which has remained this large for over a decade.”
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