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 5, 2011
New York Post
Brooklyn amputee's sue spree against businesses that aren't handicapped accessible
Zoltan Hirsch, a double amputee in a wheelchair, says he's trying to make New York City more handicapped accessible one lawsuit at a time. But some wonder whether Hirsch -- who has filed 87 federal claims in the last year seeking damages and legal fees -- is crusader or con man.
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Filed Under: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), physical accessibility, public policy

June 5, 2011
The State Journal-Register (Springfield, Ill.)
Proposal to allow fees at ISD, ISVI causing a stir
Legislation that could require parents of blind or deaf children to pay additional school fees is causing a stir amongst advocates for those with special needs.
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Filed Under: education, hearing impaired, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, K-12, public policy, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, visually impaired

June 5, 2011
The New York Times
A Disabled Boy’s Death, and a System in Disarray
Jonathan Carey did not die for lack of money. New York State and the federal government provided $1.4 million annually per person to care for Jonathan and the other residents of the Oswald D. Heck Developmental Center, a warren of low-rise concrete and brick buildings near Albany.
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Filed Under: developmental disability, healthcare, long-term care, public policy

June 2, 2011
Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal
Lawsuit takes aim at Medicaid-program changes that reduce access to home care for elderly
Health-care providers on Wednesday lambasted state changes to a Medicaid program that make it harder for patients, particularly the elderly, to get in-home care for such everyday activities as eating, bathing and going to the bathroom.
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Filed Under: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), healthcare, long-term care, Olmsted decision, public policy

June 2, 2011
Scientific American
Math Learning Disability As Common As Dyslexia
The quadratic equation may have instilled horror in many of us. But for some five to seven percent of the population even basic math—like the concept of the numbers five and seven—causes anxiety. You may never have heard of the disorder called dyscalculia, yet it’s as common as dyslexia, according to research in the journal Science.
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Filed Under: learning disability

June 2, 2011
The Washington Post
Does cutting mental health care increase the prison population?
State-supported mental health care, like many social services, has been especially vulnerable in the recent rounds of budget cuts. Over the past two years, some $1.6 billion has been slashed from non-Medicaid state spending on mental health, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. But a growing number of law enforcement officials — along with mental health advocates — are voicing concerns that such cutbacks not only hurt mental health beneficiaries but also overburden the country’s prison system.
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Filed Under: criminal justice, healthcare, psychiatric disability, public policy

June 1, 2011
The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Suit seeks to stop cuts in home care for disabled people
Advocates for people with disabilities have filed a federal class-action lawsuit seeking to block the state from cutting in-home care services to 4,000 low-income individuals who need extensive assistance to remain at home and out of an institution.
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Filed Under: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), healthcare, long-term care, Olmsted decision, public policy

June 1, 2011
Los Angeles Times
Mental health programs suffering from budget cuts
Reporting from Reno— The woman slouched on the steps of the rundown motel, her hair mussed, her pinkish outfit rumpled, her expression perplexed. Health officials were combing the brick-facade building where she lived for bed bugs as part of a multi-agency raid, while police banged on door after door, hunting for ex-felons.
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Filed Under: healthcare, psychiatric disability, public policy

June 1, 2011
Newport News (Va.) Daily Press
200 high-risk patients locked out of mental health treatment
Between April 2010 and March 2011, about 200 people across the state who were so mentally ill they posed a threat of serious harm to themselves or others were turned out on the street because no private psychiatric facility was willing to admit them, according to a new report.
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Filed Under: psychiatric disability

May 30, 2011
WLTX-TV (Columbia, S.C.)
Student Recognized for Academic Excellence Despite Disability
When someone hears that a child has a disability they may think of down syndrome or being physically disabled. But imagine having a disability that no one can see and others thinking you're just plain difficult.
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Filed Under: education, inclusion, K-12, learning disability

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