Disability News and Events: National and Around the World - 2015 Archives
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For the Most Recent News Disability News and Events National and Around the World
December 2015 - Let us introduce you to the San Bernardino Inland Regional Center and the people who did the good work of the center
We wish to honor the people who lost their lives or were injured at the San Bernardino Inland Regional Center. Let us introduce you to the largest Regional Center in California. In 1969, a group of parents concerned with overcrowded institutions and limited service options available for individuals with developmental disabilities sought to pass legislation to improve services. As a result, this California Regional Center was established in 1972 after the passage of the California Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act was drafted and passed, which provides the entitlement program in California for people with an intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, and other conditions that are similar to that of an intellectual disability. This act put in place a state-wide system of regional centers. The Inland Regional Center was the 13th of 21 regional centers to open its doors in contract with the California Department of Developmental Services and began accepting cases to provide the highest quality of comprehensive case management services to individuals with developmental disabilities. With 116 consumers, nine employees, and a budget of $199,000 in 1972, Inland Regional Center has grown to have nearly 600 employees serving more than 30,000 consumers today. Their mission is to provide "generic services to normalize the lives of people with developmental disabilities and their families by working to include them in the everyday routines and life rhythms of the community and by facilitating needed supports for them." Read the article about the caring individuals whose lives and work were cut short from this tragedy San Bernardino shooting: Who were the Victims? Link no longer available 03/08/2018. from WJAC TV.December 2015 - Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the shooting tragedy in San Bernardino this week
On Wednesday December 2nd, two people opened fire in San Bernardino, California on the Inland Regional Center, a social services center, killing 14 people and injurying more. We send our condolences to the many families affected by this loss and our best wishes for fast healing for the injured. As an organization for people with disabilities, our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this shooting tragedy.October 2015 - Rutgers University plans to offer adults with autism vocational and housing opportunities on its campus
Rutgers University will open it's new Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services. The University will house and provide employment for about 60 people with developmental disabilities as well as offer life skills training and recreational activities. Individuals with autism ages 21 and over will be eligible for the program and Rutgers believes it will be a good pilot program to show how Universities can assist in finding education and work for this demographic of young people. For more see this article at Disability ScoopOctober 2015 - New Book! The Out of Reach Peach, by Lauren Oh.
We found a great new book that we just have to share with you! The Out Of Reach Peach is a children's book about Leon the Owl, who has uniquely small wings. Leon doesn't let that stop him from going on adventures with his friends, and conquering challenges along the way! The author, Lauren Oh, is a woman living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy in Wisconsin! If you'd like to check out this lovely little story about diversity, friendship, and cooperation, feel free to visit The Out of Reach Peach on Facebook or check it out on Amazon.October 2015 - New statistics in - Although the nation's economy has seen growth, jobless rate for people with disabilities has almost remained the same.
U.S. Department of Labor, even as the nation�s economy sees further growth. The jobless rate for those with disabilities hit 10.5 percent in October. That�s up just slightly from the 10.4 percent rate reported the month prior.August 2015 - HUD announces new affordable housing app
Are you looking for affordable housing? The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) new Resource Locator mobile application (app) for smartphones and tablets can help you get answers to your housing-related questions. The app connects you with building managers, public housing authorities and property management companies to learn about available HUD housing, including affordable housing for people with disabilities and seniors. The HUD Resource Locator, available via the web or your smart mobile device, provides Instant access to hundreds of affordable housing listings in your city. Check it out online or head over to Apple iTunes and search for HUD Resource Locator.
2015 - July through October 15th - NHU's Annual Flower Bulb Sale is Underway!
If you count down the days until your spring garden is in full bloom, our Fundraising with Flowers Sale has your name written all over it! There is a superb selection of Tulips, Daffodils, Irises and more available!
We are now accepting orders online.
Orders will be shipped to your door in time for fall planting.Visit NHU'S Fundraising with Flowers Webpage
to check out this year's selection of bulbs
and to support NHU with your order.
July 8, 2015 - Art Miller, Founder of New Horizons Un-Limited spoke at the Dedication Ceremony for the Opening of the Harrington Beach State Park Accessible Camping Cabin
Friends of the Friends of Group of Harrington Beach State Park, Belgium, Wisconsin, representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, including the regional and park rangers and engineers, construction volunteers, workers, contractors, engineers, and donors including family members of Jim Schendel (who in memoriam inspired the construction of this cabin) were on site at the dedication ceremony of the opening of the Harrington Beach State Park Accessible Camping Cabin, July 8th, 2015. The cabin was built in one of the campground sites and views Puckett's pond and surrounding prairie woodlands. Art Miller founder of New Horizons Un-Limited and an engineer who designed the first accessible cabin for the Wisconsin State parks in 1990 as well as this cabin, spoke at the ceremony, explaining to everyone how much the cabin can mean to people with disabilities," You have no idea what this means to the families who face each day with the challenge of disability and how much the respite in the out of doors can mean to a family and the family member with disabilities. It gives them Hope for tomorrow to begin again!" Read more...Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics published results of research that recommends children that are diagnosed with Apraxia should also be screened for Autism
The research involved children with communication delays who were referred to both a developmental pediatrician and a speech and language pathologist for an Apraxia and Autism evaluation. The results of the research revealed that 63.6% of children initially diagnosed with Autism also had Apraxia, 36.8% of children initially diagnosed with Apraxia also had Autism. Researchers recommended that children diagnosed with Apraxia should also be screened for Autism and visa versa. Check out the abstract at How Valid is the Checklist for Autism Spectrum Disorders?May 2015 - May is Mental Health Month
See Disability.gov's Disability Connection Newsletter, saved by eparent.com 10 Things You Need to Know about Mental Health May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, making this a good time to check up on yourself and gauge your overall mental health. There are many different types of mental health conditions and it�s important to learn the warning signs of each to start the path to better mental health. Many organizations are working to prevent the stigma associated with these conditions so that more people are comfortable speaking about their experiences and seeking treatment.
April 2015 - Disability movement loses advocate
This past weekend the disability movement lost a dedicated advocate. In the early 1970s, Alberta Lessard challenged the system on mental health commitment laws and changed, through the US Supreme Court, the laws across the country to provide more protection for individual patients such as rights to legal representation, a timely hearing, a jury trial and cross-examination of witnesses. Alberta is absolute proof that one person can make a difference. She was an awesome, loving, caring, forgiving, special friend of one of the active members of New Horizons Un-Limited. She will be missed.March 25, 26 - 13th Annual Benefit Raffle & Silent Auction was a Great Success!
Thanks to our Raffle and Silent Auction Donors and to you, our supporters, our NHU Benefit Spring fundraiser was a great success. Check out our generous 2015 NHU Benefit Spring Raffle and Silent Auction Donors.
March 25-26, 2015 - 13th Annual Benefit Raffle & Silent Auction
Learn More About Our 13th Annual Benefit Raffle and Silent Auction
To purchase raffle tickets and contribute donations,
13th Annual Benefit Raffle and Silent Auction Ticket Order Form
Grand Prize :
March 26, 2015
US Bank Center Galleria, Downtown Milwaukee
Need Not Be Present To Win
Raffle Tickets:
$3 each, 2 for $5, 5 for $10 or 15 for $20
Other prizes include restaurant certificates, hotel stays, festival and museum tickets, sporting event tickets and more. Our 2015 Raffle List is in development. Check back often as we update our complete list of prizes before the drawing.
February 2015 - EEOC Joins Federal Partners to Produce Resource Guide for Employers
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced a new guide for employers on hiring people with disabilities. The resource guide, Recruiting, Hiring, Retaining, and Promoting People with Disabilities, (no longer) available 10/3/2018) provides employers with plain language technical assistance tools in an easy-to-use question-and-answer format. The guide was produced by the Curb Cuts to the Middle Class Initiative -- a federal interagency effort working to increase equal employment opportunities and financial independence for people with disabilities.
February 2015 - See Science article "Obama precision medicine plan would create huge U.S. genetic biobank"
President Obama's precision health plan includes plans to create a huge genetic biobank from verious existing studies from U.S. agencies to include the genetic characteristics of over one million people to look at prevention of disabilities such as epilepsy and ALS. "A similar U.S. biobank has long been on the wish list of National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, who led the effort to sequence the human genome as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)." To find out more, visit the article at Obama proposed biobank planJanuary 2015 - Baltimore Healthy Start Program Offers Support at Each Stage of Childbearing, Leading to Fewer Low Birthweight Babies which is a factor in preventing Developmental Disabilities
We at NHU would like to advocate for the unborn; we have a vision of not one more child to be born with a developmental disability. A risk factor for Developmental Disabilities is being born premature or premature and low or very low birthweight. The Baltimore Healthy Start Program is proving that giving prenatal care to childbearing parents through a comprehensive program can have a significant effect on babies surviving and thriving. Check out this article from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Urban Healthy Start Program Offers Support at Each Stage of Childbearing Cycle, Leading to Fewer Low- and Very Low�Birthweight Babies
January 2015 - Parents should be aware that being born very premature can lead to an increased risk of mental health problems such as bipolar disorder or depression
No one wants to worry parents, but being born preterm does have an "increased vulnerability to a variety of psychiatric conditions." If their child is born premature, parents should be aware and watch for early signs of mental health issues as their child develops. A study in Sweden from 1973 to 1985 shows the occurrence of people who sought medical assistance for psychiatric disorders was double or triple the number for persons who were born prematurely. The study warns that there have been a lot of advances in the care of preterm infants in more recent years, but researchers still consider prematurity a risk factor for disrupted brain development and disabilities. See the BBC article at Premature birth linked to worse mental health.
January 2015 - NHU Advocates for Prevention of Developmental Disabilities - Advocate for a quality standard of health and care for newborns to ensure a safe entrance to life
Given the rise in prevalence of lifelong, incurable, developmental disabilities, such as Autism Spectrum Disorders and Cerebral Palsy, the great cost and devastation to our children, families, and society, the inability to find definitive causes, the consideration that a significant percent may be preventable, and the need to broaden research which we know as a nation we must now pursue to find the causes to prevent them, we are advocating to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to take action to update the collection of data before, during and after birth on the U.S. Standard Certificate of Live Birth, in accordance with medical research needs to determine ways to prevent these disabilities in the U.S.We must all, including government representatives, researchers, the medical community and parents take more responsibility to record data, advocate for more awareness, train for more education for a quality standard of health and care for parents and newborns to ensure, at the very minimum, a safe entrance to life for each and every child born, allowing that during their lifetime, each child may realize their maximum potential without unnecessary devastating limitations from disabilities.
Why should we fund the unborn when we have other political priorities?
Children are not an expendable part of our community, a group we think we can neglect as we believe they owe us their future. Preventing Developmental Disabilities means we care enough, now, to ensure our collective futures by attending to the protection of our children. A far greater effort must be made without delay so we may identify the causes and ways to prevent developmental disability from one more child, one more family! If disability has not happened to you or your family, with these odds, disability can very well happen to your children or grandchildren, your nieces or your nephews.
Every week we delay 12700 more children and their families are impacted. The time to act is today!NHU can only continue to provide our many services including information and referral with your support!!!
Our informative website and our computer grant program are just some of the ways we are working together to improve the lives of community members with disabilities!
Following, are numerous ways in which you may contribute towards the improvement of the lives of our community members with disabilities.
Please take a moment to review our 2015 NHU Wish List and our Donate link for various ways to contribute to NHU.
2015 - Thank you to everyone who assisted in promoting and contributing to our 2015 NHU Annual Appeal!
Our Annual Appeal is important in acquiring sustaining funds for NHU programs for opportunity for people with disabilities! Remember to speak to family and friends throughout the year to remember us and the benefits of end-of-year giving.
If you have not already given, please consider a donation to NHU in 2015. Click on NHU Annual Appeal.
Click on the following for more information on Benefits of End-of-Year Giving and Planned Giving.
December 2014 - New Horizons Un-Limited Celebrates Our 20th Anniversary!
Since 1994 we have been providing our community members with disabilities the information, tools, and experiences that enable them to become confident contributing citizens!
Thank you for being part of our 20 year journey!
You have helped us to grow beyond our humble beginnings into a full service organization that has trained and supported hundreds of motivated individuals. We have seen our clients become advocates, earn their GEDs, graduate for college, find jobs, start businesses.. all because they were given the tools and the ongoning support they needed to succeed.
You support made that possible! Join us for the next 20! See our Winter NHU Outlook Newsletter
December 16th, 2014 - the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act of 2014 by a vote of 76 to 16. - Important Legislation for people with disabilities and their families, for the option to save up to $14,000 in a tax free savings account, without losing public assistance.
Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act will allow people with disabilities (with an age of onset up to 26 years old) and their families the opportunity to create a tax-exempt savings account that can be used for maintaining health, independence and quality of life. In the past if you were born with Cerebral Palsy or Spina Bifida you were only allowed to keep $2000 to maintain eligibility for public assistance. Your parents could not save for costs related to raising a child with significant disabilities or a working age adult with disabilities. The ABLE savings account will allow individuals to supplement that which assistance will not cover for accessible housing and transportation, personal assistance services, assistive technology and health care not covered by insurance, Medicaid or Medicare. You will have the option to save up to $14,000 in a tax-free savings account, eliminating the $2,000 asset cap SSI and SSDI beneficiaries face. This could finally mean financial freedom!! Individual states will need to set up an ABLE program and hopefully you will be able to set up an account by the end of 2015. See the National Disability Institute's article on the passage of this bill.November 9, 2014 - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports "Newborn screening reforms have instant impact � Baby�s life saved days after switch to overnight test delivery�
This article by Ellen Gabler reports that hospitals are realizing that sending newborn blood tests to state labs is causing too much of a delay to diagnose certain birth defects causing infant death or brain damage resulting in permanent disabilities. Some hospitals have figured out how to get results to and from the lab expedited as timing after birth is crucial to prevention of disability or possibly death. Parents are advocating to be aware of what your state and hospital will include for newborn screening tests and whether your hospital has a plan to get results from the lab back to your doctor within a 24-48 hour window. When doctor's get the results, care can be provided that will prevent, literally stop a child from lifelong disability or infant mortality.October 2014 - Upon retirement, Senator Tom Harkin will leave lasting disability rights legacy
If you are an American with a disability, you should surely join us in thanking Tom Harkin for his 40-plus years of public service. Just about every piece of contemporary disability legislation has Senator Harkin�s mark on it. He is OUR advocate! He has championed our cause, fighting for our rights in education, employment, housing, community inclusion, independent living, and health care. He stood up for us not because it was popular, but because it was right. Because, including people with disabilities is good for America! Though we still have a long way to go, we have come this far, thanks in large part to Senator Harkin�s passion for, and commitment to equality. Here is just a small summary of all that Senator Harkin has accomplished on behalf of Americans with disabilities:- Authored the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) � the civil rights act for people with disabilities that expanded access to education, employment, and the community at large
- Authored the Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990 - required all TVs to be capable of providing closed captioning
- Co-sponsored the 1997 and 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) - ensured that early childhood special education services were available to children starting at age 3
- Authored the Community First Choice (CFC) Option within the Affordable Care Act � allowed states to create programs that care for people in their homes and apartments instead of nursing homes
- Advocated for increased employment opportunities for people with disabilities during twelve hearings and four HELP Committee reports between 2010 and 2014
- Led the passage of the 2014 reauthorization of the Rehabilitation Act � designed to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities in competitive integrated settings
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