Dozens Arrested After Disability Advocates Protest at McConnell’s Office | CNN
GOP Threat To Medicaid Threatens Liberty Of Millions Of Americans | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC
Aging Gracefully – Two UC Davis research projects tackle getting older | UC Davis
Information abounds on the kinds of exercise that can keep your body strong, but what will keep your mind healthy? That’s a question researchers hope to answer with the Healthy Brain Aging Initiative, a long-term research project under development among numerous UC Davis departments. Charles DeCarli, a professor of neurology, and Kim McAllister, the interim director of the Center for Neuroscience, are leading the initiative, which will seek to better understand brain development and aging, then develop therapies to promote brain health.
Flu vaccine ineffective for people 65 and older last winter | ABC News
The flu vaccine did a poor job protecting older Americans against the illness last winter, even though the vaccine was well-matched to the flu bugs going around. U.S. health officials on Wednesday released new vaccine data showing it did a so-so job overall. The vaccine was about 42 percent effective in preventing illness severe enough to send a patient to the doctor’s office. But it was essentially ineffective protecting some age groups. That includes people 65 and older — the group that’s hardest hit by flu, suffering the most deaths and hospitalizations.
Emily’s 18th Birthday |Administration for Community Living
Eighteen years ago today, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in the case Olmstead v. L.C. The court ruled that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, people with disabilities cannot be unnecessarily segregated and must receive services in the most integrated setting possible. In other words, if someone is able to live in the community with appropriate services and supports, they should have the choice to do so.
Medicaid is a lifeline for 1 in 10 veterans, will the Senate healthcare plan leave them behind? | The Hill
We are on the eve of Congress enacting radical changes to the American healthcare system, including proposals to significantly restructure the Medicaid program. Republican leadership in the Senate is working to swiftly finalize a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Although many details are still unknown, the House-passed American Health Care Act (AHCA) included proposals to enact per capita caps or block grant Medicaid, resulting in a $834 billion cut to the program—the single largest source of funding for mental health and substance abuse treatment in the United States.
InterAction Honors Judy Heumann with Lifetime Achievement Award |MIUSA
In 2017, InterAction bestows its annual Disability Inclusion Award to the internationally-recognized leader for her outstanding contributions and commitment to disability rights globally. The award recognizes the international development community’s innovative efforts to promote disability inclusion as a human rights issue.
5 Disability Activists You Should Know |SheUnplugged
Here are five women fighting the good fight to speak up against ableists in an #Unplugged way! Despite older generations calling us avocado toast obsessed tech freaks, social activism is also a large part of millennial life. We are a generation that is not afraid to give our two cents, as well as form our own movements to make sure we are heard. We are fearless in our pursuit of equality, always redefining what it really means to be “woke.” No matter the cause, activism remains a vital part of social change. Today I wanted to shine a light on activists tackling the issue of ableism, providing equal and safe spaces for disabled people everywhere. Here are five women fighting the good fight to speak up against ableists in an #Unplugged way!
Stories About Disability Don’t Have to Be Sad | The New York Times
Like any middle schooler, I usually start my day with cereal. Every morning, after brushing my teeth, I have a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch with milk, and try to catch all the flakes with my spoon before they go soggy. I get dressed for the day, and try to put on some makeup before my mom yells at me for hogging the bathroom. Then I go catch the bus. While in most other ways I’m just your typical eighth grader, I also happen to have been born with Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a form of muscular dystrophy. Charcot-Marie-Tooth is a degenerative nerve disease that causes muscles in my arms and legs to atrophy over time. I wear leg braces and use a wheelchair to get around, and have an aide at school who helps me spin my locker combination. Every morning, an accessible bus arrives at my house to pick me up. Actually, it’s more of a van, with a “School Bus” sign on top.
In Houston, an Original Juneteenth Celebration Site Reborn | New York Times
In 1872, a group of African-American ministers and businessmen in Houston purchased 10 acres of land south of downtown, in the city’s predominantly black Third Ward neighborhood, and created Emancipation Park. Acquired for $800, the park was intended as a permanent site for the city’s annual Juneteenth celebration, which memorializes June 19, 1865, the day the Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and belatedly put the Emancipation Proclamation into effect across Texas two and a half years after it became official. On Saturday, Emancipation Park officially reopened — just in time for Juneteenth — after a three-year renovation. This time the price tag was $34 million, and amid the celebration, there was a concern that would have been hard to imagine in the past: Can Third Ward survive prosperity?
Hawaii researches develop anti aging compound to be used in a national study | Hawaii News Now
The National Institute of Health (NIH) has chosen a compound developed by a Hawaii-based business for an anti-aging research program. In March, the company, along with the John A Burns School of Medicine, announced that CDX-085 showed the ability to activate a gene in mice which factors into longevity. UH researchers called the selection of the astaxanthin compound a game changer. “It puts CDX-085, the compound that Cardax has developed, into a whole new collection, a very elite club of compounds that are credible enough that they could become true anti-aging therapies,” Dr. Bradley Wilcox of JABSOM’s Department of Geriatric Medicine said. The National Institute of Aging, which is part of the NIH, funds the studies in the Interventions Testing Program. The research is done at several labs across the country.
Care for aging vets worries state’s VA – Growth to outpace number of beds |Arkansas Online
Five months after opening Arkansas’ second veterans nursing home, the state Department of Veterans Affairs is exploring how to keep pace with a rapidly aging population of former service members. By 2034, the number of elderly veterans needing long-term care will peak at about 3,276, up from 2,619 last year, according to a 2016 study by a group of graduate students at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Taking Clean Energy to Those with Disability | The Herald (Zimbabwe)
How do we take affordable and sustainable energy access to the 900,00 Zimbabweans living with disability, including children? Never easy, particularly for a constituency this big – some 7 percent of Zimbabwe’s total population – but not insurmountable. No doubt, clean energy will improve the lives of Zimbabwe’s poor, particularly those persons living with disability (PWDs) and is crucial to meeting the country’s greenhouse gas emissions goals under the Paris agreement.
At Bike Week, Health Groups Reach Out to Aging Bikers Where They Are |NHPR
In its 94th year, the Laconia Motorcycle Week prides itself on being the world’s oldest motorcycle rally. As the rally ages, however, so too has its main demographic. But health-related organizations are seeing a silver lining in this shift — and are seizing on this new chance to reach aging bikers in their element.
High percentage of students with learning disabilities drop out of high school, report finds |Kansas City Star
Roughly 15 percent of Kansas and Missouri children with certain learning disabilities drop out of high school, according to a recent national report. The latest “State of Learning Disabilities” report by the National Center for Learning Disabilities assesses the progress — and the work yet to be done — to improve the educational performance of students with some learning or attention challenges. Roughly 20 percent of students nationally have such a disability. Among the learning disabilities considered in the report released last month are dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
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