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Cathy Ludlum of Manchester has a neuromuscular condition called spinal muscular atrophy and has been in a wheelchair since she was a child. She and other advocates for people with disablities are fighting against an effort to allow doctors to help terminally ill patients end their lives. (JOHN WOIKE / HARTFORD COURANT / May 13, 2010) Cathy Ludlum says she has a great life, but since childhood she's been aware not everyone thinks so. She remembers being 5, sitting in her wheelchair as people in the supermarket looked at her and shook their heads. She wondered how she could...

John Huff/Staff photographer Rochester residents Ellen Edgerly, left, and her daughter Sara. ROCHESTER — A few years back, hundreds of bikers gathered in Representatives Hall in Concord to protest a proposed helmet law. Ellen Edgerly, 51, an advocate with the state's Brain Injury Association, was sitting in the middle of the room, a lone voice in a sea of leather and wild beards, when a lawmaker asked if anyone supported the change. "She stood up, passed all of these tough guys, and testified about brain injury and what it means," says Steven Wade, the association's executive director. "It took...

TORONTO, February 18, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The winning performance of moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau on Sunday sent a ripple of excitement through Canada as the world watched the young Canadian become the first ever to win Olympic gold on home turf.  But for the newly-dubbed "Alexandre the Great," the real celebration was at the bottom of the course - where he embraced brother Frederic, who suffers from cerebral palsy and whom Bilodeau affectionately calls "my inspiration."The elder of the two, Frederic stood up from his wheelchair and cheered, grinning widely in front of cameras, as his brother crossed the...

Three years ago, the medical community was stunned when Rom Houben―diagnosed to have been in a persistent vegetative state since a horrific car crash in 1983―was discovered to be fully conscious and aware. Unable to speak or communicate, he’d lived as a prisoner in his own body for over two decades. Doctors had performed test after test, concluding repeatedly that Houben’s consciousness was “extinct.” It took 23 years for technology to prove that the opposite was true: Houben’s brain was not dead, and his consciousness was not extinct. “I shall never forget the day when they discovered what was...

When assisted suicide is legalised most of the people who will die are disabled. And American disability advocates take a very dim view of it. This is the theme of a hard-hitting series of articles in the latest issue of the Disability and Health Journal. The editor, Suzanne McDermott, of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, writes that she changed her own mind after studying the issue. At first she believed that assisted suicide was solely a personal autonomy issue. But eventually she was persuaded that it is at the heart of the movement for disability rights: "Almost...

In a submission to a consultation on relaxing the rules on assisted suicide - which ends today - a coaliton of five disabled groups, said that “to see suicide as the right solution is to abandon hope. Severely ill and terminally ill people do no deserve society to give up on them.” The group, which is lead by Baroness Campbell, accused others who were pushing for the change as “seeking to change the law by the back door by creating the impression that those who assist in a suicide will be immune from prosecution”. Over the past 10 years 100...

  I awoke this morning in Edinburgh, jet lagged but looking forward to a productive time of debating and discussing assisted suicide.  Stumbling down to breakfast, I was sharply awakened into my usual state of concern for society by a front page headline in the Independent: Do I love my daughter? With all my heart. Will it be a relief when she dies?  Without question: Life and Death Issues with a Disabled Child The article is written by a woman named Tussie Myerson, the mother of eighteen-year-old Emmy, a young woman with severe seizure disorder and profound cognitive disabilities.  Myerson complains bitterly–and righteously–about the lack of services...

Most contested cases of removing babies or profoundly disabled adults from needed life support have involved those with serious brain injuries or cognitive impairments. But once the idea that dead is better than disabled takes hold, it will soon spread to those with physical disabilities.Now, in the UK, parents are fighting over withdrawing life support from a seriously disabled one-year-old child who is cognitively normal. From the story: The mother of a chronically ill baby has defended her court battle with the child’s father to have his life support machine turned off. The boy, known only as RB, has...

A number of my friends have children with disabilities. Their problems range from cerebral palsy to Turner's syndrome to Trisomy 18, which is extremely serious. But I want to focus on one fairly common genetic disability to make my point. I'm referring to Trisomy 21, or Down syndrome.   You may already know that Down is not a disease. It's a genetic disorder with a variety of symptoms. Therapy can ease the burden of those symptoms, but Down syndrome is permanent. There's no cure. People with Down syndrome have mild to moderate developmental delays. They have low to middling...

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _______________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release July 24, 2009 ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, 2009 - - - - - - - BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Today we celebrate the 19th anniversary of the enactment of the historic Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Signed into law on July 26, 1990, this landmark legislation established a clear mandate against discrimination on the basis of disability so that people with disabilities would have an equal opportunity to...

MANORVILLE, N.Y., May 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, named "Honoree of the Year '09" by the Independent Group Home Living Foundation (IGHL; www.ighl.org), will be coming to the dinner and accepting the award at the IGHL 30th anniversary gala on Sunday, June 7th. This is the Alaska Governor's first appearance on Long Island. Independent Group Home Living (IGHL; www.ighl.org) is a Manorville, New York-based not-for-profit organization providing programs, services and support for people with developmental disabilities in New York State. Palin is devoted to families who have children with special needs. The award will be presented at the...

A tremendously important story has gone virtually untold by the media, ignored by our political leaders and unknown to the American public. Despite the extraordinarily high price they have paid, America's severely wounded veterans are enduring humiliating financial hardships of epic proportions. Home evictions, utility shutoffs, car repossessions and foreclosures are commonplace. Spouses have to give up their jobs to become caregivers, cutting family incomes by up to 50 percent or more. Most disabled vets receive much less in compensation and benefits than they did while on active duty, reducing incomes even further. Many are too dysfunctional to hold a...

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. Park Police say they have arrested 91 protesters in front of the White House, including some in wheelchairs who chained themselves to a fence. The protesters are calling on the president to support legislation that would give people with disabilities in need of long-term care alternatives to nursing homes. Sgt. David Schlosser says a large group gathered on a sidewalk outside the White House on Monday without a protest permit required for groups of more than 25 demonstrators. He says some protesters are in wheelchairs and have chained themselves to a fence. Police may use a...

hen 84% of the American people, according to the AOL Hot Seat weekend poll, think a joke you cracked on late night television was either tone-deaf/insensitive or worse yet flat-out offensive then you might think you have problems. (Heh who are we kidding? You do! You do!) Just because Britain's largest daily newspaper has a top ten gaffe reel assembled and online before your presidency is barely 60 days old, you might believe that you're the laughingstock of serious members of the world community of leaders. (Again, likely, you're right.) And when you take the time to address an Islamic...

Just when everything was going so swimmingly — poll figures, AIG, Democratic unity and all — President Obama enrages veterans: The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization says he is “deeply disappointed and concerned” after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases. “It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends...

MONTREAL, March 17, 2009 (LifeSIteNews.com) - A Quebec couple have launched a $3.5-million lawsuit against Montreal Children's Hospital for allegedly putting their infant daughter back on artificial food and hydration without their approval.Marie-Eve Laurendeau gave birth to Phebe Mantha at LaSalle Hospital in November 2007. After a difficult delivery Phebe was transferred to Montreal Children's Hospital in serious condition and put on life support.According to the lawsuit Laurendeau and Phebe's father, Stephane Mantha, were told by doctors that their daughter had little chance for survival and advised them to take her off respiratory support and hydration, to which they...

FORT BELVOIR, Va., Feb. 5, 2009 – The Defense Logistics Agency hired 91 college students with disabilities under the federal government’s Workforce Recruitment Program in 2008, more than any other federal agency. The jointly sponsored Defense and Labor department program matches students with disabilities with internships at government agencies or private-sector companies. Since it started in 1995, about 4,500 students have participated, and more than 350 of them have been interns at DLA, officials said. The Army hired the most WRP interns from 2004 to 2007, Famia Magana, director of DLA’s Equal Employment Office, said. With 86 hires in...

MANORVILLE, N.Y., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has been named "Honoree of the Year '09" by the Independent Group Home Living Foundation (IGHL; www.ighl.org), a Manorville, New York-based not-for-profit organization providing programs, services and support for people with developmental disabilities in New York State.

London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A British hospital that allowed a Down syndrome patient to starve to death over a 26 day period has apologized but will not be held accountable. That's upsetting to one bioethicist who says he can't believe the hospital hasn't made any progress in investigating the case in four years. As LifeNews.com reported, Martin Ryan died in a hospital in Kingston-upon-Thames and the medical center conducted an internal investigation following his death. Ryan, who could not swallow after a stroke, was allowed to lie in a bed and starve to death without receiving any medical care. Now,...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Sarah Palin gave a major policy address last week on how she will be an advocate for special needs children should she become the nation's next vice-president. But, does her record as the governor of Alaska demonstrate that support or is it merely an election ploy to gain votes? The answer appears to be a resounding yes -- as the Palin administration put more money behind education and support services for disabled children and their families. During her speech Palin said, "as governor, I've succeeded in securing additional funding and assistance for students with special needs....