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MALMO, Sweden, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A Swedish man who is blind and has Down syndrome and some autistic traits was bound by the arms for much of the last 25 years, officials said. The man, who also is unable to speak and was considered to be at risk for self-destruction, resides in an assisted living facility in Malmo, Swedish news agency TT/The Local reported Thursday. "I have never heard of anything like it. Our investigators and inspectors are very experienced, but all have been deeply shocked. This treatment is illegal," said Christer Neleryd of the National Board of Health...

Harrisburg, PA (LifeNews.com) -- In a ruling involving a mentally disabled man whose legal guardians sought the power to end his medical care, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has determined that state law requires life-preserving treatment for people who are not near death and have not refused treatment. The Alliance Defense Fund and allied pro-life attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of 53-year-old David Hockenberry, who has had acute mental disabilities since birth, arguing that his legal guardians should not be allowed to deny him life-preserving treatment while he is not terminal or unconscious.Hockenberry’s guardians unsuccessfully attempted to deny him...

University efforts to test Amazon’s electronic readers—Kindles—as substitutes for standard textbooks has run into trouble with the Obama Administration. The idea behind using Kindles is to save money by supplanting bulky paper-based books with lighter and smaller electronic devices. For example, one small hand-held Kindle could hold all the books needed for a four-year degree. Despite the seemingly obvious benefits, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is threatening legal action against any school that might be tempted to try the devices. Thomas Perez, head of the Civil Rights Division, warns that the devices violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. “Even...

If Haylee Cain were telling you her life's story, it would begin Thursday. The 21-year-old said she would always remember it as the day she moved out of the nursing home and into the lives of Donna and Judson Emens, of Tuscumbia. "I'm just so excited," she said. "I said I wouldn't cry, but I might." Because she suffers from cerebral palsy and because her grandfather, James Thomas, was no longer able to care for her, Haylee was forced to live in a nursing home. No state agency exists to care for individuals such as Haylee who suffer from physical,...

A mother of two has revealed how she never lost her will to live after an illness left her paralysed and unable to speak for 18 months. Kerry Pink was left suffering from a condition known as ‘locked-in syndrome’ by an undiagnosed neurological illness when she was just 35. Mrs Pink, writing in the Daily Mail, said: “My memories are blurred. But some things remain absolutely certain. I know that however dark the twilight world I inhabited, I never lost my will to live. Determined “I was always determined to come back home. And it was my absolute faith...

It is a decision no parent ever wants to make. But as the Rudd family watched their 43-year-old son lying paralysed and comatose on a life support machine, they came to a terrible conclusion. Recalling a conversation where Richard told them he wouldn't want to be trapped in a useless body, his relatives agreed it was time to let him go. Yet even as the Rudd family mentally prepared to say goodbye, his doctor made a startling discovery. Despite his devastating spinal injuries, Richard Rudd was still able to blink his eyes in response to simple questions.

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...