Disability Humour

Visit www.dizabled.com for more great cartoons and disability related information!

(Click the cartoon image for a larger view)

Sins Invalid- An unashamed look at sex, beauty and disability

Here is an interesting article by David Steinberg, a journalist and photographer.

"Who is sexy? Who is sexual? Who is sexually desirable? Who is sexually vibrant?

Are the people that society designates "beautiful" really sexier or more sexual than the people who get labeled "plain"?

What about older people, heavier people? What about people with disabilities? Are these people fully sexual human beings even though they don't show up in movies, on tv, or in advertising? What happens to all of us when we write off huge sections of the population as non-sexual or sexually undesirable?

David Steinberg website

These are some of the questions addressed in Sins Invalid: An Unashamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility, whose fourth annual multi-media presentation is being performed this coming weekend at the Brava Theater." For more information on this subject and the performance dates click here!

Work Incentives Planning and Assistance program

Work Incentives Planning and Assistance program

Social Security has a Work Incentives Planning and Assistance program (WIPA) that will help answer questions about Social Security’s work incentives and help you make a decision about working.

Community-based organizations provide information and work incentives planning and assistance to people who are receiving Social Security or SSI disability benefits and who are working or considering work. Their community work incentive coordinators can help you understand how work affects your payments and explain what other federal, state and local supports there are for people with disabilities who want to work.

To locate the WIPA project nearest you, please call 1-866-968-7842 (TTY 1-866-833-2967).

Work Incentives Planning and Assistance program Service Providers Listed sate by state- Click Here!

Social Security work incentives

Trial work period—The trial work period allows you to test your ability to work for at least nine months. During your trial work period, you will receive your full Social Security benefits regardless of how much you are earning as long as you report your work activity and you continue to have a disabling impairment. In 2009, a trial work month is any month in which your total earnings are $700 or more, or, if you are self-employed, you earn more than $700 (after expenses) or spend more than 80 hours in your own business. The trial work period continues until you have worked nine months within a 60-month period.

Extended period of eligibility—After your trial work period, you have 36 months during which you can work and still receive benefits for any month your earnings are not “substantial.” In 2009, earnings of $980 or more ($1,640 if you are blind) are considered substantial. No new application or disability decision is needed for you to receive a Social Security disability benefit during this period.

Expedited reinstatement—After your benefits stop because your earnings are substantial, you have five years during which you may ask us to start your benefits immediately if you find yourself unable to continue working because of your condition. You will not have to file a new disability application and you will not have to wait for your benefits to start while your medical condition is being reviewed to make sure you are still disabled.

Continuation of Medicare—If your Social Security disability ­benefits stop because of your earnings, but you are still disabled, your free Medicare Part A coverage will ­continue for at least 93 months after the nine-month trial work period. After that, you can buy Medicare Part A coverage by ­paying a monthly premium. If you have Medicare Part B coverage, you must continue to pay the premium. If you want to end your Part B coverage, you must request it in writing.

Work expenses related to your disability—If you work, you may have to pay for certain items and services that people without ­disabilities do not pay for. For example, because of your medical condition, you may need to take a taxi to work instead of public transportation. We may be able to deduct the cost of the taxi from your monthly earnings before we determine if you are still eligible for benefits.

*For more information about returning to work while receiving SSDI benefits, visit www.ssa.gov

Guidelines for working while receiving SSDI

Getting disability benefits? We can help you get to work!

If you are getting disability benefits, we have good news for you. Social Security’s work incentives and Ticket to Work programs can help you if you are interested in working.

Special rules make it possible for people receiving Social Security disability benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to work and still receive monthly payments.

And, if you cannot continue working because of your medical condition, your benefits can start again—you may not have to file a new application.

Work incentives include:

• Continued cash benefits for a time while you work;
• Continued Medicare or Medicaid while you work; and
• Help with education, training and rehabilitation to start
  a new line of work.

The rules are different under Social Security and SSI. We describe the rules under each program in different sections of this booklet.

But, whether you are receiving Social Security or SSI, it is important to let us know promptly when you start or stop working, or if any other change occurs that could affect your benefits.

The Ticket to Work program may also help you if you would like to work. You can receive vocational rehabilitation, training, job referrals and other employment support services free of charge. You will not undergo medical reviews while you are using the ticket and making timely progress pursuing your return to work plan.

You can get more information on the Ticket to Work program by calling 1-866-968-7842 toll-free (TTY 1-866-833-2967). Or you can call our toll-free number and ask for Your Ticket To Work (Publication No. 05-10061).

You also can visit the Ticket to Work website at www.socialsecurity.gov/work for more information.

* this is useful information provided by the Social Security Administration (SSA)

The "Endless Search"

People magazine covered this interesting story about a brother who has been on a never-ending search for his sister who was institutionalized 43 years ago.

I feel like this article sheds light on how far we have come in society when dealing with Independent Living and people with disabilities, but, it also reminds me of how important it is to continue the task of pushing the Independent Living movement harder and faster!






"From People magazine:

(Newstands only; article not available on the magazine’s website.)

Families across the country are searching for loved ones with disabilities who were sent away to institutions years ago, often without warning or explanation.

Kevin Hopkins, 53, of Springfield, Virginia, is seeking his stepsister Janet, who was sent to an institution 42 years ago. “She was my best friend,” he said. “I just wish I could know where she was and see her again.”

Shawna Gagnon, 49, of Montgomery, Alabama said her sister Zena (Xena) was taken to a California hospital 43 years ago “where people hollered and were tied to the beds.”

Filmmaker Jeff Daly, creator of the documentary “Where’s Molly?”, has been working to find family links for the estimated 250,000 Americans who live in group homes or state institutions with no family contacts. He and the nonprofit ArcLink have built a relative search database that has already fostered more than 100 reunions."

On a personal level, I have seen Group Home settings that have provided a wonderful alternative for people with disabilities, to be able to live in a less restrictive setting from that of an institution. I have witnessed people being able to transition from an institution, to group home and eventually, live in their own home with the assistance of a personal care attendant.

Please pass this information along to your friends or feel free to post it to your blog.

Swine Flu and children with disabilities

I came across this information via the associated press:
"Of the first 36 U.S. children to die of the swine flu since it was identified in April, almost two-thirds had epilepsy, cerebral palsy or other neurodevelopmental conditions, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a previous flu season, only a third of the children who died of the flu had comparable underlying conditions."

Ed. Dept. Gives Guidance on Providing Special Education During a Swine Flu Outbreak

The U.S. Department of Education has offered some legal guidance to schools about their requirements to educate special education students in times of a swine flu outbreak.

Some schools closed their doors after cases of swine flu first appeared last spring. Not much was known about how schools would handle educating students with disabilities if there were ever long school closures or long absences by students because of the H1N1 virus. With a new school year under way, the U.S. Department of Education released legal guidelines Sept. 1.

Federal laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act do not specifically address what schools should do if they are closed for extended periods of time for special circumstances like the swine flu, the guidance says, but schools must be sure not to discriminate against students with disabilities in providing services.

When educational opportunities are provided to the general student population, students with disabilities must have equal access. To “the greatest extent possible,” the students should receive the services in their Individualized Education Plans and Section 504 plans, the guidelines said.

If schools are closed and do not provide any educational services to the general student population, then they would not be required to provide services to special education students either. But once school resumes, the schools need to determine whether a student with a disability needs compensatory education to make up for any skills that may have been lost, the Education Department said.

Technology will be helpful in times of a swine flu outbreak, the guidelines said. The department suggests that school officials consider ways of providing educational materials in accessible formats or through the use of auxiliary aids and services in order for a student with a disability to participate in a distance-learning program.

If a school continues to teach the general school population during an H1N1 outbreak, but is not able to provide services to a student with a disability based on that student's existing IEP, the student’s IEP team determines which services can be provided to best meet the child’s needs.

The team may meet by teleconference or other means to determine if some, or all, of the identified services can be provided through alternate or additional methods such as through tutoring by phone, the Internet, or closed-circuit programming. Schools should use this same plan for students who have a Section 504 plan. Then when school resumes, the teams can assess what makeup services would be needed, the guidelines said.

IEP teams would not be required to meet in person if a school closes. IEP teams,
however, must continue working with parents and students with disabilities, including conducting informal assessments or formal assessments of the student, including parent surveys and standardized reports, and offer advice, as needed. If an evaluation of a student with a disability requires a face-to-face meeting or observation, the evaluation would need to be delayed until school reopens. Evaluations and reevaluations that do not require face-to-face assessments or observations may take place while schools are closed, if the parent consents, according to the guidelines.

For special education students who have lost skills because of prolonged absences from school, the IEP team should determine to what extent compensatory services are needed. These services can be delivered by providing extended school-year services, extending the school day, providing tutoring before and after school, or providing additional services during regular school hours, the guidelines said.

Here is a link to the full text of the guidelines.