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Friday, April 9, 2004
Year V, Edition 910

Today's front page features 6 news items, each preceded by a number (#) symbol.
Scroll down or click here for "Below the Fold" a list of 30 more news items.

QUOTES OF THE DAY:
"I'd never seen an accessible home in the parade, so I thought, it's about time."

--Homebuilder Harley Jergensen, explaining why he built an accessible home for a recent Parade of Homes show (First story)

"It's a great form of communication, especially when you're in a situation where you can't talk -- in church or across a room."
--The mother of Teresa Medvetz, who has Down syndrome and is performing sign language with a group called "Happy Hands" (Third story)

HEADLINES
Some Homebuilders Get The Message On Accessible Design (Colorado Springs, Colorado USA)
Investigators: Starving Teen Abandoned At Hospital Had Long Abuse History (St. Louis, Missouri USA)
"Happy Hands" Brings Youths With All Abilities Together To Learn And Perform (Indiana, Pennsylvania USA)
Movie Reviewers Pan "United States of Leland" (USA)
City Council Says It Is Serious About Inclusion (Waterford, Ireland)
Mother And Son Charged In Sister's Restraint Death (Saitama, Japan)

IDE FEATURES
Extra! IDE Archives (2002)
Workers With Disabilities Could Solve Labor Shortage Troubles (Edmonton, Alberta Canada)
Featured Technology Website United Cerebral Palsy
Discussion Board
Archive Search
Below the Fold

# ACCESSIBILITY / HOUSING

Some Homebuilders Get The Message On Accessible Design

April 9, 2004

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO--The following five paragraphs are excerpts from a recent story featured in the New Bern Sun Journal:

Those model homes with their deep pile carpets, lots of levels, sunken living rooms and raised dining rooms are pretty dreamy -- but they can be a nightmare for someone who relies on a wheelchair, cane or walker to get around.

Nearly one in five Americans (19 percent) has at least one disability and can be labeled as "handicapped," according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Nearly half of citizens 65 and older have some disability. Those numbers are only likely to grow with the graying of America.

Builder Harley Jergensen, a little gray himself, sees a need for more homes that people won't have to sell as they grow old because they can't negotiate the bathroom in a wheelchair or climb a flight of stairs.

That's why he built an accessible home for a recent Parade of Homes in Colorado Springs, Colo., and why he's interested in building them for others.

"I'd never seen an accessible home in the parade, so I thought, it's about time," says Jergensen, a builder for 25 years.

Entire article:
"Wheelchairs welcome" (New Bern Sun Journal)

http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/04/red/0409a.htm

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# ABUSE

Investigators: Starving Teen Abandoned At Hospital Had Long Abuse History

By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
April 9, 2004

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI--The average 16-year-old weighs between 120 and 170 pounds.

The ill Michigan teenager abandoned at an Illinois hospital Monday weighed just 40 pounds.

Hospital officials said he was severely malnourished, dehydrated, had bedsores, sunken eyes, protruding bones and appeared to be in shock. He tested positive for marijuana and methamphetamine, said state investigators, who added that he could not have taken the drugs without assistance.

The boy, who is not named in media reports, was airlifted Tuesday to an intensive care unit at a St. Louis hospital. On Thursday, his condition had been upgraded from critical to serious and stable, a hospital spokesman said.

Now investigators are trying to figure out what had happened to this young man, who has mental retardation, cerebral palsy and epilepsy. The picture they have pieced together so far is of a boy that has been repeatedly abused, going back to when he was shaken as a baby in San Jose, California. His father is a convicted sex offender who is not allowed legally to have contact with the boy.

His mother and a 14-year-old brother apparently are homeless, and had recently traveled through Texas and Indiana. They were traveling through Illinois when they took the boy to a Mount Vernon hospital. While he was being airlifted, the family quietly left the hospital. An address given for the family turned out to be for a Chicago pizza parlor.

The teen has been placed in protective custody. Investigators found that he had previously been placed in protective custody in Michigan.

A spokesperson with the Children's Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services said the case involves several states, making the investigation more complicated and the determination of where he should be placed more difficult to determine.

Ann Ricci, the emergency room physician who treated him at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis, told the Associated Press she could pass no judgments on the family.

"Some families in crisis need help," she said. "The state and hospital social services are there to say, 'Let us help, let us take the burden.'"

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# COMMUNICATION / CHILDREN

"Happy Hands" Brings Youths With All Abilities Together To Learn And Perform

April 9, 2004

INDIANA, PENNSYLVANIA--Friday's Blairsville Dispatch ran a feature article about a sign language instruction and performance group called "Happy Hands".

The dozen members of "Happy Hands" range from 3 to 18 years of age. They include children and teens with and without disabilities.

While none of the troupe's members uses sign language as his or her primary form of communication, some find it helpful in certain settings.

"It's a great form of communication, especially when you're in a situation where you can't talk -- in church or across a room," said the mother of one Happy Hands member who has Down syndrome.

Others simply enjoy the experience of doing something fun together.

"It's really made the group aware," noted co-leader Shannon Jackson. "We've had a couple of kids come in who didn't know any other kids with disabilities."

Related:
"'Happy Hands' a higher form of communication" (Blairsville Dispatch)

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/blairsvilledispatch/s_188493.html

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# ADVOCACY / POP CULTURE

Movie Reviewers Pan "United States of Leland"

April 9, 2004

UNITED STATES--Here are three reviews of the movie "United States of Leland", in which a character with autism is murdered "out of sympathy":
"Euthanasia Made Easy" by Mike Ervin (Chicago Reader)
http://www.chireader.com/movies/archives/2004/0404/040904.html
"United States of Leland" by Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)
http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/2004/04/040204.html
Lost in ‘The United States of Leland’ (Santa Cruz Sentinel)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/04/red/0409b.htm

Related:
On-line petition -- Boycott the movie "United States of Leland"

http://www.gopetition.com/sign.php?currentregion=237&petid=1390

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# ACCESSIBILITY / ADVOCACY

City Council Says It Is Serious About Inclusion

By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
April 9, 2004

WATERFORD, IRELAND--The Waterford City Council voted Monday to adopt a declaration to reduce barriers to make buildings, services and the city's decision-making process more accessible to people with disabilities.

A brief item in the Munster Express noted that 2002 National Census figures showed that there were 3,836 people with disability registered in Waterford city -- 8.8% of the city's population of 44,000. A recent survey by the Social Inclusion Unit found that there were 50 wheelchair users in the city, 45 of whom are registered as drivers with disabilities.

Last December, the Council assembled a team of elected and appointed officials to develop a plan to address accessibility, along with social and political inclusion.

At Monday's monthly meeting, Council members viewed a video documentary which highlighted the difficulties people with disabilities experience in negotiating through the city. The video also examined the consultative process which kept people out of policy-making.

The video will be used as part of a campaign to increase public awareness and responsibility on disability-related issues and move towards a fully inclusive city, the paper reported. The plan also calls for creating a consultation process in which people with disabilities will work collaboratively with the Council and city departments.

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# CRIME

Mother And Son Charged In Sister's Restraint Death

By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
April 9, 2004

SAITAMA, JAPAN--A 70-year-old woman and her 36-year-old son were arrested Friday in the strangulation death of his sister, the Mainichi Shimbun reported.

Police said that Sumie Okuyama and her son, Koji, admitted to coiling a metal chain around the neck of his 39-year-old sister who had schizophrenia -- then tying it to the knob of a closet door on the afternoon of March 3.

The woman strangled to death on the chain.

Koji explained to investigators that his sister often wandered around the neighborhood and demanded money and food from neighbors. Under his mother's instructions, he tried restraining his sister with a plastic chain when he would leave, he said.

When she managed to cut through the plastic, he switched to a metal chain.

Police charged Sumie and Koji with illegal confinement resulting in death.

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# TODAY'S FEATURED WEBSITE

UCP: United Cerebral Palsy

UCP is the leading source of information on cerebral palsy and is a pivotal advocate for the rights of persons with any disability. As one of the largest health charities in America, UCP's mission is to advance the independence, productivity and full citizenship of people with disabilities through an affiliate network.

http://www.ucp.org/

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# EXPRESS EXTRA!!! From the Inclusion Daily Express Archives (Two years ago)

EMPLOYMENT

Workers With Disabilities Could Solve Labor Shortage Troubles

By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
April 10, 2002

EDMONTON, ALBERTA -- Businesses in Alberta have been complaining that they do not have enough workers to fill their current employment needs -- to the point where they are bringing in workers from other countries.

At the same time, nearly one half of Alberta's 244,000 working age people with disabilities are unemployed, according to a report released Wednesday by the Employability Council.

"Employers across the province are reporting difficulties in recruiting the skilled labour they need," says the report. "Persons with disabilities are available to fill this labour shortage."

The study calls on the province to offer employers everything from sensitivity training to technology to encourage them to hire workers who have disabilities.

Employment Minister Clint Dunford, who will present the report to lawmakers next week, said that the province has committed $7.3 million this year to support such programs, but people still won't find jobs unless employers change their attitudes about hiring people with disabilities.

"People with disabilities are skilled and are able to fill those job vacancies. Many people just need to be given a chance," said Dunford. "I urge employers to look at the person, not the disability."

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#

BELOW THE FOLD

Today's list includes 30 items. Some sites may require registration.
Editor's picks -- those considered particularly interesting, newsworthy or well-written -- are noted by the number sign (#).

Links are listed alphabetically by country, then by state, province or territory.
Scroll down or click here to jump to:
Australia
Ireland
Malaysia
New Zealand
United Kingdom
United States

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