National Center on Disability & Journalism

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.

June 22
The Journal News (White Plains, N.Y.)
'People' before disabilities
New York will finally update the name of the state office charged with ensuring fair treatment and quality-of-life to people with various developmental disabilities, not just by taking the "r" word out of the title, but by adding "people" to it.
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Filed Under: developmental disability, intellectual disability, language, public policy

June 19
The Washington Post
Philip Kennicott on Michael Graves's 'Revealing Culture' exhibit
In February 2003, architect Michael Graves came down with what he thought was a cold. After a long and frigid site visit to one of his projects, it got worse. A spinal infection was ravaging his body and left him paralyzed. He now uses a wheelchair.
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Filed Under: arts, physical accessibility, profile

June 18
Asbury (N.J.) Park Press
VA still battling errors, backlog in disability claims
Retired Marine Sgt. Michael Madden of Prescott, Ariz., knows what it means to battle. In Vietnam, he was shot in the head, forcing him to undergo spinal cord surgery that has left him in a wheelchair. But the fight was not over for Madden. After being told by a Veterans Affairs doctor to file for funding to make his home and car wheelchair-adaptable, Madden has spent the last decade in a jungle of bureaucracy, legalese and claim denials.
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Filed Under: military, public policy, veteran

June 18
San Francisco Chronicle
Theater mixes disabled, nondisabled actors
An orange-haired woman wearing a laurel wreath and a Grecian tunic sits on a man's knee at center stage, pretending to be his ventriloquist's dummy as he performs a song. With perfect timing and expressions, she mimes to his words, flinging her arms and legs. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/06/18/entertainment/e105448D82.DTL#ixzz0rMdeAgMK
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Filed Under: arts

June 17
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Boomer disability may spell trouble
More baby boomers are having trouble with common physical tasks such as climbing stairs, stooping, walking a quarter mile or reaching overhead, a new study says.
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Filed Under: Social Security, healthcare, long-term care, physical disability, public policy

June 17
Times Herald-Record (Middletown, N.Y.)
VA streamlines application form for disability pay
Rep. John Hall is hailing two recent steps to speed the approval of disability pay for injured veterans — a process that can last months or even years.
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Filed Under: military, veteran

June 17
Claims Journal
Rule Extends Disability Protections to Passenger Ships and Boats
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood today announced the first federal rule to specifically provide Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protections to people with disabilities who travel on boats and ships. The action comes as the 20th anniversary of the ADA approaches on July 26.
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Filed Under: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), physical accessibility, public policy

June 15
The Miami Herald
House panel: FEMA unprepared to help the disabled in a disaster
Almost five years after Hurricane Katrina, the federal government remains woefully unprepared to rescue at-risk groups of people in the path of a catastrophe, a congressional panel charged on Tuesday.
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Filed Under: disaster planning, public policy, public safety

June 15
The Orange County (Calif.) Register
Lawsuit: Angels' home lacks wheelchair seats
A Los Angeles man who relies on a wheelchair for mobility has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that his rights were violated at Angel Stadium because he could not access a seat on the stadium's club level.
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Disability News Archive

Filed Under: physical disability, profile, recreation