Should Gender Dysphoria be a Federally Protected Disability? | Vice
A lawsuit that aims to have gender dysphoria covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act could lend protection—and stigma—to the trans community. I know firsthand what it’s like to struggle with gender dysphoria at work, and how aggravating it can be. When I was a closeted transgender woman, sometimes I’d only make it part way through a workday before my mental state broke down under the pressure. It could be a simple comment that would set me off—a customer or coworker saying “good man” or “sir”—but even less overt triggers could be devastating. I called out of work often. I once attempted suicide on my lunch break, before somehow gathering myself and finishing my shift. My dysphoria was undoubtedly difficult to work through while attempting to build a career, to say the least—but I never thought it should be classified as a disability.
Disability Integration Act Introduced in House | ANCOR Bulletin
On May 16, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced the Disability Integration Act [DIA] of 2017 (H.R. 2472) in the House. It is a companion bill to S. 910, which was introduced by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on April 7. The DIA seeks to build on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure that people eligible for long term supports and services (LTSS) have the ability and the codified right to receive those services in the community and live as independently as possible. Sensenbrenner said, “The passage of the ADA was a significant step forward in the fight for equal rights for Americans with disabilities; but almost 27 years later, there are still problems that need to be solved. The Disability Integration Act identifies challenges that still exist and provides comprehensive and effective solutions that will help these individuals fully participate in daily life.”
Under Settlement, City Shelters Will Do More for the Disabled | The New York Times
New York City’s homeless services agency, under a settlement reached this week, has agreed to do more to accommodate homeless people who are disabled. The Center for Independence of the Disabled, one of the groups that filed the class-action lawsuit, counts 32 beds that are accessible to disabled people in the city’s shelter system, which houses tens of thousands of people and is augmented by thousands of hotel rooms and so-called cluster apartments.
10 Ways All Ages Can Celebrate Older Americans Aging Out Loud |Forbes
What it means to age has changed. Like every other age group, older Americans are making more noise than ever. From private organizations to social media to the voting booths, they’re being heard. So it would only make sense that this year, the nation is celebrating what it means to “Age Out Loud.”
Poll: Older Americans want Medicare-covered long-term care | San Francisco Chronicle
A growing number of Americans age 40 and older think Medicare should cover the costs of long-term care for older adults, according to a poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The Trump Budget Cuts Disability Benefits. That Will Hurt Trump Counties | Time
President Trump’s proposed budget includes billions of dollars in reductions to social service programs over the next decade, including one that has received a lot of attention: Social Security Disability Insurance. The long-standing program, designed primarily to protect workers who become injured or disabled, currently serves nearly 9 million American workers, generally between the ages of 18 and 64, as well as almost 2 million of their dependents. Known in the jargon of Washington as SSDI, the program would bear a large share of the overall cuts, with roughly $70 billion slashed from its budget over the next 10 years.
Editorial: Social Security’s disabling disability program |Chicago Tribune
When the White House unveiled its 2018 budget on Tuesday, plenty of Democrats were quick to characterize it as stingy and cruel. Among the exhibits for the prosecution was the plan for Social Security Disability Insurance, whose projected outlays the administration would cut by 5 percent by 2027.
Should You Move To Be Closer To Your Aging Parents? | Forbes
Sara Tapscott won’t ever forget the day an employee at her aging parents’ assisted living center knocked on their apartment door and told them they’d have to move. Their needs had become too great for the staff to accommodate. Tapscott’s mom, who was 79 and down to 90 pounds from advanced Parkinson’s disease, was crying and shaking so badly that she nearly fell from her chair. Tapscott’s dad, who was 83 and a retired attorney with Alzheimer’s, attempted to make his case, holding a finger up for each point.
Why We Dread Disability Myths | The Chronicle of Higher Education
A faculty member — let’s call him “Jeff” — stopped by my office to make conversation. He’d heard I do work in disability studies, and I could see he was primed to offer up his most frustrating disability anecdote. He leaned against the door frame and began to explain “this one student” he just didn’t know what to do with. The student brought him a document detailing accommodations for unexpected absences, and Jeff was concerned. “Aren’t we supposed to offer students a level playing field?” he asked. “I know she could get herself to class if she really wanted to. Everyone has anxiety. How do I know she’s not faking it?”
Female lawyer who stands just 3ft 8in in court sues witness who laughed hysterically at her and started singing ‘Hi Ho’ |The Daily Mail
A dwarf prosecutor in is suing a man she called as a witness in a court case – after he broke down laughing in court at her size. Silke Schoenfleisch-Backofen, 39, is a little lady with a big name, and an even greater sense of right and wrong. She may stand only 3ft 8in high but Ms Schoenfleish-Backofen punches well above her legal weight as many villains in Frankfurt have found to their cost.
Cutting Calories Could Drastically Reduce Your Body’s Internal Aging |Men’s Health
You may feel like aging isn’t something you need to worry about. (After all, every man needs a little age.) But youth is fleeting, and someday you may find yourself so desperate to feel young again that you’ll resort to something crazy, like drinking bull semen or building a genesis machine.
LeadingAge and UMass Boston Establish New LTSS Research Center | PR Newswire
LeadingAge is joining with the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston to create a new research center called the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston. The new center is the first in the country to combine the expertise of applied and academic researchers with the unique perspectives of providers and consumers of long-term services and supports (LTSS). The center will conduct research aimed at transforming the way LTSS are financed, delivered, and experienced by older adults and their families. “We are delighted to announce this unique partnership between two leading organizations with deep experience in aging policy and research,” said Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge. “Together, we have committed ourselves to improving the quality, affordability and accessibility of long-term services and supports through data and evidence of what really works.”
The Fuzzy Claims Used to Justify Cutting Social Security Disability Insurance |The Atlantic
This sort of framing justifies using Social Security as a piggy bank to raid in order to help offset tax cuts for top-earning Americans. Obscured are the facts that to even be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance a person has to have worked five of the last 10 years, that the average person on Social Security Disability Insurance worked 22 years before getting benefits, that millions of such workers are now living with significant pain and disability, and that beneficiaries are often older Americans with less education who live in poor rural areas and former manufacturing communities—communities that politicians of every stripe, including Trump himself, have proclaimed to want to help.
The Price of ‘Disability Denial’ } The New York Times
It was 1989 and I was immersed in my first teaching job, a one-year gig at Barnard College, with the possibility of something long-term. During that time, I had become friendly with a senior colleague named Bill. On our many walks along Broadway to grab deli sandwiches, we’d talked about our grad school days at Berkeley, the high rent of tiny apartments in New York and how to get the Barnard women to share our passion for European history in the small classes they’d asked me to teach.
Sir Roger Moore, James Bond actor, dies aged 89 | BBC
Actor Sir Roger Moore, best known for playing James Bond, has died aged 89, his family has announced. He played the famous spy in seven Bond films including Live and Let Die and the Spy Who Loved Me. Sir Roger’s family confirmed the news on Twitter, saying he had died after “a short but brave battle with cancer”. The statement, from his children, read: “Thank you Pops for being you, and being so very special to so many people.” “With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated,” they said in a Twitter post.
National expert on aging, speaking in Roanoke, calls for setting aside stereotypes |Culpepper Star Exponent
A nationally renowned gerontologist said he used to believe his job was “to help manage the brokenness of old people.” Dr. Bill Thomas on Monday morning told an audience attending the Governor’s Conference on Aging in Roanoke that “when I started my work in aging, I thought it was my job to mitigate the losses associated with aging.” Then he was asked to examine a rash on an elderly woman. As he prepared to rattle off his diagnosis and treatment, the woman grabbed his arm, pulled him toward her bed, and as he looked in her face for the first time, she said, “I’m lonely.” He wasn’t taught what to do about loneliness in medical school, and he found little literature on the medical consequences of loneliness and isolation. But he began to look at aging differently. “The biggest shift came for me when I saw aging as the name we give to growth when we are no longer young,” he said. “I began to look at older people and saw complete human beings who progressed much further toward their authentic self than I.”
US judge allows first transgender person to sue under disability law |Reuters
A U.S. judge ruled on Thursday that a transgender woman could move forward with a sex discrimination lawsuit against her employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act, even though it explicitly excludes transgender people from protection.
White House proclamation of May 2017 as Older Americans Month
Older Americans are our Nation’s memory. Some of today’s grandparents and great-grandparents were born during the Great Depression, lived through the Second World War, witnessed the rise and fall of Communism, fought in Korea and Vietnam, marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., and watched the first man walk on the Moon. Now, they surf the internet and share family photos on their phones in a world that is richer and freer than the one into which they were born. Listening to the stories of our older citizens allows younger Americans to appreciate the country they inherited and gain the wisdom necessary to make it even better for their children and grandchildren.
Harvard Researcher To Begin Testing Anti-Aging Pill | CBS Boston
It’s tough to find anyone who doesn’t have at least a few complaints about getting older. “Getting out of bed, it sounds like a rock band, ‘crack, snap, crackle,” explained Sean McGoff of Quincy while he was walking his dog this week on Castle Island. The man who just might have the answer Sean’s complaints is Professor David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School. He and his team have discovered a molecule that has proven to reverse aging in mice.
People Reveal The Shocking Reality Of Cuts To Disability Benefits | HuffPo UK
It’s become one of the toughest encounters Theresa May has had to endure in the general election campaign so far. “The fat cats keep the money and us lot get nothing,” an incensed Kathy Mohan told the Prime Minister last week. “I want my disability living allowance back!” Kathy’s fierce challenge sparked debate about the impact of government reforms to disability benefits. These include a new regime of “reviews” which constantly assess a person’s eligibility, and which a report suggests has seen half of all claimants have their money cut or stopped.
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