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Blind woman learns to shoot Picture from concealed nation An Georgia television station raised a question about whether a person who is legally blind should be allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights.  They asked if a person who is legally blind should be forbidden, by law, from carrying a weapon to protect themselves.  From newschannel9.com: Her father, Sheriff Warren Wethington, taught her how to shoot. He told Byfield he wants his daughter to be able to protect herself. "The people who express their opinions that my daughter's not safe with a gun most likely have never held one,...

Almost every week, it seems LifeNews discovers another story about parents aborting their unborn child because of a disability or abortion activists targeting unborn babies who have physical defects. These stories are disheartening, frightening even. But then there also are many stories of hope – families who choose life because they refuse to see their unborn child as less of a person, and celebrities who use their fame to celebrate other people’s lives rather than their own. Football star Tim Tebow is one of them. This Valentine’s Day, the pro-life sports star promoted a special event for people with special...

Today parents are sometimes pressured to abort simply because their unborn child has a cleft lip, a correctable condition. Physicians categorize it as a disability. Yet a surprising number of successful individuals were born with cleft lips. Among them is Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning. Manning’s success story shows that his cleft lip did not hinder him at all. Because his parents chose life, Manning was able to grow and pursue his dreams in football. This week, he and his team will play in the biggest American sports game of the year — the 2016 Super Bowl. Manning is not only...

A painting hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York called The Adoration of the Christ Child. Created in the 16th century by a Flemish artist, what stands out in this sublime presentation of the Nativity is the detail of the characters standing around the crib. Two of them, an angel and a shepherd, appear to have Down’s Syndrome. This suggests that the condition has been around for a very long time, and it helps illuminate the early modern approach to disability. Religious art normally conformed to classical standards of beauty. By implication, the artist regarded people with Down’s...

Early Monday morning, news agencies began reporting that ISIS clerics have issued an oral fatwa calling for the systematic killing of children with Down syndrome and other genetic disabilities. According to reports, nearly 40 disabled infants in ISIS territory have already been suffocated or given lethal injections.The news is sickening. The world has watched, on YouTube, the violent martyrdom of Christians at the hands of ISIS fighters. We’ve seen photos of martyred families and beaten prisoners. We’ve seen shootings in Paris, Beirut and San Bernardino, all claimed as ISIS sponsored acts of terrorism. And still, the West has not yet...

Story Highlights D'Arcee Neal, who has cerebral palsy, took a five-hour flight last week A mix-up meant there was no wheelchair to help him off the plane; he was told to wait for one He waited but finally crawled out of the plane with no assistance (CNN)—A man returning from a meeting about disabled accessibility policies arrived home with a very personal example of the problem. D'Arcee Neal, who has cerebral palsy, took a five-hour flight from San Francisco to Washington last week. A mix-up at the gate meant there was no wheelchair to help the 29-year-old off the plane,...

The gang from "Sesame Street" is welcoming a new member to the neighborhood — Julia, a girl who has bright orange hair and big green eyes. She also has autism. Julia is the latest creation from the Sesame Workshop, and she offers children a relatable character they can understand, whether they're living with autism or know someone who is. On Wednesday, "Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children" was launched online, and Julia is just part of that educational and awareness initiative. "Children with autism are five times more likely to get bullied," Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, the senior...

[WARNING: The video below contains profanity. Viewer discretion advised.](VIDEO-AT-LINK) RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. (WPEC) — A Riviera Beach police officer was videotaped confronting a disabled veteran for not looking "handicap" for parking in a disabled parking space. U.S. Army combat veteran Isiah James, who has served nearly 10 years for our country, was absolutely shocked when a trip to a popular Riviera Beach drug store turned confrontational with the law. James says he was issued a disabled person parking permit, and it was properly displayed in his vehicle the entire time. During his deployment, James took fire and was hit with...

There is an economic crisis that isn’t much talked about, but which is responsible for a downward spiral that none of us want to see continue. Men are opting out of the workplace. That’s right. According to the U.S. Department of Labor statistics, in the 1950’s about three percent of men between 25 and 54, which is still considered “prime” working age, were unemployed and not seeking employment. In the late 1960’s that had climbed to about five percent. In 2013 it was reported at 12 percent. And the last report placed it at 16 percent. These aren’t just men...

The annual check-up for Social Security is in, and one program looks more dire than the rest. If Congress doesn’t act, people receiving Social Security disability benefits could see a nearly 20 percent cut to payments at the end of next year, according to the latest version of the Social Security trustees report released Wednesday. The disability trust fund will be depleted by the fourth quarter of 2016, leaving the administration with enough income to pay 81 percent of benefits, according to the report, which is updated annually. The health of the Social Security program didn’t change by much, and...

The Social Security Administration's latest annual report says what it has been saying for several years now — its disability insurance program will become insolvent in 2016.

Goose Creek resident Kelly Schuler said he was earning a six-figure income in corporate sales when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and after his symptoms became apparent and he lost his job, Social Security Disability Insurance payments became his financial lifeline. Now he finds himself among the 11 million Americans who could see their monthly checks slashed by 19 percent next year, unless federal lawmakers address a looming shortfall in the Social Security fund that pays disability benefits. The main Social Security fund that pays retiree and survivor benefits is not expected to run short for another two decades,...

Kangaroos have been banned from all restaurants in a Wisconsin town after a woman took a baby specimen to McDonald's with her wrapped in a blanket. Beaver Dam in Wisconsin enacted a law changing the rules about what kinds of pet can accompany humans in food establishments, barring the marsupials. Customers at the McDonald's were shocked in February when farmer Diana Moyer brought a baby kangaroos - named Jimmy - into the hamburger chain with her.

A government audit finds that the Social Security Disability Insurance program paid out $16.8 billion in disability benefits over the past decade to about four million people who either were working, made too much money, were in prison, were dead, weren't eligible or were no longer physically or mentally disabled.

A government watchdog says Social Security overpaid disability beneficiaries by nearly $17 billion over the past decade. Many payments went to people who earned too much money to qualify for benefits, or to people who weren’t disabled anymore. Some payments went to people who had died or to prison inmates. …

Petition: ‘Walk Only’ Signs in Pedestrian Areas Are Insensitive to Disabled People by KATHERINE TIMPF May 15, 2015 Arizona State University was trying to protect students from getting hit by cars. Students at Arizona State University are petitioning to have the school change the “Walk Only” signs on the school’s pedestrian paths because they “marginalize disabled bodies that cannot walk.” “This petition is in effort to make a more blanket title for these zones that encompasses the diversity of all bodies who occupy the community that is ASU,” states the petition, written by Alec Melger. (Just to clarify: Although these...

Mother arrested after 'leaving quadriplegic son in the woods for five days' while she visited her boyfriend Nyia Parler, 41, allegedly left her 21-year-old son in woods on Monday and traveled to Maryland where she was taken into custody early Sunday Her son was found under rain-soaked pile of leaves on Friday night and police say he would have died if passers-by hadn't spotted him He was lying on the ground 10 feet from his wheelchair and a Bible A Philadelphia mother accused of abandoning her quadriplegic son in the woods before skipping town to see her boyfriend has been...

Hundreds of Puerto Rico’s residents qualified for federal disability benefits in recent years because they lacked fluency in English, according to government auditors. The Social Security Administration’s inspector general questioned the policy this month in light of the fact that Spanish is the predominant language in the U.S. territory. Under Social Security regulations, individuals are considered less employable in the United States if they can’t speak English, regardless of their work experience or level of education.

With the Social Security disability-insurance (SSDI) program heading toward insolvency before the end of next year, lawmakers are looking for reforms to help individuals with disabilities but the capacity to work to return to work. Why it is so hard to get them to do so? Olga Khazan explores the question in a new piece in The Atlantic. Even those awarded benefits for a temporary condition tend to stay on Social Security for the rest of their lives. It’s a tough but urgent question. The disability program has seen tremendous growth in both costs and the number of beneficiaries in...

The Social Security Administration (SSA) approved disability benefits for hundreds of Puerto Ricans because they do not speak English, despite the fact that Puerto Rico is a predominantly Spanish-speaking territory. According to a new audit by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), the agency is misapplying rules that are intended to provide financial assistance to individuals who are illiterate or cannot speak English in the United States. Under the rules, Puerto Ricans are allowed to receive disability benefits for their inability to speak English as well. “We found the Agency did not make exceptions regarding the English-language grid rules for...