Disability News Archive

Get the latest news on disability issues and see the work of other journalists who are writing in this area. To share your own work, please e-mail Jake Geller.

Oct. 17, 2011
Tallahassee.com
Young adult with disability an inspiration to students
Several high school students listen attentively to the young man standing before them. Not long ago, Jesse Riddle, who has a learning disability, had been sitting where they are.

But with drive and determination, he is living his dream of helping people with disabilities find employment. In the process, he has become an inspiration for the students of Osceola County.
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Filed Under: education, employment, technology

Oct. 17, 2011
Downtown Devil
Student doesn't let blindness hold her back from pursuing her dreams
A girl sits on a couch, laughing and smiling frequently. Her colorful, bright dress matches her vibrant personality. A black Labrador, Olivia, is sprawled on the carpet contentedly. She’s never too far away from her owner, criminal justice sophomore Katherine Chavez.

In conversation, Katherine has a peculiar tendency to look above the head of whomever she’s speaking with, like she expects the person to be taller than he or she really is. It’s a rough subject to bring up, as if calling attention to the elephant in the room. But why does she do that?

The answer: Katherine can’t see.
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Filed Under: education, employment, higher education, profile, relationships

Oct. 17, 2011
IPS News (Ghana)
Woes for Disabled Persist Five Years After Act
Emmanuel Joseph and George Amoah, two disabled Ghanaians, occupy different ends of the spectrum. The former lies on a piece of cardboard in Accra Central, his half-naked body twisted and mostly paralysed, the sun beating down on him while he waits to collect three dollars, the average proceeds of a day’s begging.
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Filed Under: employment, international, physical disability

Sept. 18, 2011
The Arizona Republic
Phoenix man killed at Reno air show; leaves 3 brothers behind
The four brothers leaned on one another, and sometimes it seemed like they leaned on Mikey most - the serious one who started his own company in high school, the brave one who wrote letters to ask for things they needed, such as wheelchairs and scholarships and maybe baseball tickets - and the only one to graduate from college so far.
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Filed Under: physical disability, profile

Sept. 13, 2011
New York Daily News
New model NYC yellow cabs built for wheelchair users
Another new model of yellow cabs could hit city streets before the much ballyhooed "Taxi of the Future" arrives.
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Filed Under: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), physical accessibility, physical disability, public policy, transportation

Sept. 13, 2011
The New York Times
In Deal, Hundreds of Mentally Ill People Will Leave Confinement of Nursing Home
Hundreds of mentally ill people who have been confined to nursing homes, sometimes in prisonlike conditions, would move to apartments or other housing within three years under a legal settlement with New York State.
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Filed Under: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), healthcare, housing, Olmsted decision, psychiatric disability, public policy

Aug. 29, 2011
Public News Service
“Access Issues” at Some Hurricane Irene Evacuation Shelters
Emergency evacuation decisions are tougher for people with disabilities because they need to be sure they are fleeing to shelters that they can get in and out of and use. In the wake of Hurricane Irene, there are allegations today that the City Office of Emergency Management (OEM) fell short on promises that people being ordered out of "Zone A" would be evacuated to "accessible shelters."
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Filed Under: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), disaster planning, public policy, public safety

Aug. 28, 2011
The Register-Guard (Eugene, Ore.)
Coach’s disability nothing but a footnote in a successful career
The message, with all its implications for success, can be distilled into three words. Spend any amount of time around this coach, around his football program, and you’ll come away parroting the mantra: “Figure it out.” Catchy, sure. But it’s more than a nice phrase. It’s Mark Speckman’s coaching philosophy. And his life.
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Filed Under: disability awareness, employment, physical disability, recreation

Aug. 18, 2011
KLTV-TV (Tyler, Texas)
Barista with dwarfism settles lawsuit with Starbucks
Starbucks Coffee Company has agreed to pay $75,000 and provide other significant relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged Starbucks Coffee Company with unlawfully denying a reasonable accommodation to a barista with dwarfism at one of its El Paso stores and firing her because of her disability.
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Filed Under: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), dwarfism, employment, public policy

Aug. 18, 2011
The Acorn (Agoura Hills, Calif.)
Disability doesn’t hold him back
Tye Horn sets goals and achieves them. Horn, who has mild developmental disability, was hired as a parking lot attendant at Home Depot in Newbury Park when he was 19. After pushing carts for nearly a decade, he set his sights on moving inside and becoming a cashier.
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Filed Under: developmental disability, employment

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