The family of an 11-year-old girl with cerebral palsy has accused the Blackpool Transport tram company of abandoning her on a day out after they refused to carry her wheelchair back from the seafront.
Has the whole darn world gone bonkers??
Dr. Tom McDavitt, like most deaf veterinarians, has learned to auscultate with his hands.
The nervous Corgi dug its nails into the metal examination table as Dr. Thomas McDavitt held the tan-and-white dog in place. The patient began to relax as the veterinarian listened for a heartbeat. But instead of using a stethoscope, he felt the dog’s side with his cheek. It was a bit untraditional, but then again, so is Dr. McDavitt.
After contracting spinal meningitis at the age of 5, Dr. McDavitt experienced swelling from the infection that damaged his auditory nerve and left him permanently deaf. Since that tender age, he resolved to be undeterred by his disability, and later, to pursue his dream of becoming a veterinarian. In fact, whenever anyone told him he couldn’t do something because of his deafness, Dr. McDavitt always had a reply ready—”Watch me!”
The rigors of veterinary education and practice can be difficult enough, but an additional set of challenges arise for people with profound hearing loss. They face issues such as how they will communicate with their peers and clients in various settings and whether they can properly appreciate animal heart, lung, and bowel sounds.
A number of deaf veterinarians have met those challenges in their own way … Continue reading this article on avma.org
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Read Irked posts tagged “deaf”
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Quoting dallasnews.com:
Visiting David Gary’s garden would make a special trip to East Texas worthwhile. Beyond beautiful, the garden is a living manual for anyone longing to cultivate beauty but hesitant to begin because of age or physical disability.
“Gardening in spite of challenges? Anyone can do it,” Gary says with confidence; he lives the experience himself. “You can garden even in a wheelchair. And age isn’t a reason to quit gardening, either.”Now almost 63, Gary was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in 1975 at age 28, and he was told he’d be in a wheelchair before he turned 40. He managed to go almost 20 years past that prediction.
“I’m a hammerhead,” he says with a laugh. “I wanted to prove them wrong.” Although he gets around now in a motorized scooter he calls “my Harley,” normal strength in his calves and ankles allows him to continue driving himself from Tyler to the Dallas Arboretum, where he began volunteering in 2003, two years before moving from Dallas.
In fact, it was the Arboretum that first inspired Gary to garden.
David Gary’s gardening tips…after the jump!
Quoting The Chronicle-Herald:
When Helen McFadyen got her first Seeing Eye dog a few years ago, she realized quickly there was a need in Halifax for places to exercise the animals. Her five-year-old black Lab, Opal, is extremely well trained and disciplined, but like other dogs she needs a chance to run free, play and sniff around a bit. ”That’s a huge thing, that part of a dog’s life,” Ms. McFadyen, 53, said Monday. “They need the downtime because working dogs, especially guide dogs, have a pretty stressful job. ”They have to do stuff that’s opposed to their natural instinct.” So as the chairwoman of Halifax’s advisory committee for people with disabilities, she started to push three years ago for an enclosed place where people could take their working dogs without worrying about them running away or getting into trouble. ”I thought, wouldn’t it be great if there was a place where I could go and my guide dog could run freely,” she said. Now there is . . . Ms. McFadyen, a divinity student at the Atlantic School of Theology, lives in residence. ”If I were to let Opal off leash, she’d probably decide she wants to go swimming in the Northwest Arm,” she said. “And I don’t think I want her smelling like that.” She said the park cost about $25,000 to build and caused some envy among other dog owners in the city who have been lobbying for off-leash areas. She said she has no problem sharing the space with non-working dogs, as long as they’re behaving. ”There are people who have really wacko dogs out there,” she said. “My dog’s been attacked. We’ve been jumped on by pet dogs.”
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The Colorado Springs Gazette recently asked a remarkable 11-year-old boy, Joshua, to write an essay on living with autism. Here’s what he came up with:
Autism is like a disease that you can never find a cure for. For me, it all started when I was born on June 11, 1998. When I was 3, I was diagnosed with autism. So, I watched the same movies constantly (such as “The Lion King,” which I absolutely LOVE!!!!!!), had scattered & disorganized language, & woke up constantly when my mom had already put me to sleep! My twin brothers Seth & Noah did the same things I did (except waking up when they’re put to sleep)! When I went to preschool, I was in the Special Needs class. I was also known for my runaways and escapes from the classroom. I also had some escapes when I was in second grade. I think I ran away because I didn’t want to do my work. In third grade, I never made escapes again, but I did have to have a para. (editor’s note: a paraeducator.) Now, even though I’m in middle school, I’m still very dependent on my para (I would rather be dancing, singing, & drawing than be doing school work!). Middle school, for me, is turning out harder than I thought it would. I have to arrive to classes in less than five minutes, solve harder problems, & do hard bell-ringers. When I am with my family, it feels much better than just being at school (except when I’m with my friend Isabella!!!!!!!). When people have autism, they don’t do anything to get it. They’re just born with it. Sometimes, if there’s too much for them, they can take deep breaths or do something else for a while to make them calm down. Even though autism can be a challenge in life, we people with autism can live complete and happy lives. People with autism can also be very opinionated. That means some things we like & others, we’ve always hated (Hey! I just made a rhyme with words that ended with the -ated sound!). For me, I love Disney and hate pirates and pirate movies. Some of us may have our likes and dislikes, but we are still regular people no matter what & autism is great because it makes us who we are!
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Read more great stories at colgazette.onset.freedom.com >>
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Hilary Lister is a 37-year-old quadriplegic yachtswoman—she can only move her head, eyes and mouth. Hilary recently became the first female quadriplegic to sail solo around the UK. Wow!
The Globe and Mail:
Opal is trained to work with the unflappable calm you expect from a Seeing Eye dog. Conditioned to ignore distractions, the black lab is usually the epitome of propriety as she guides Helen McFadyen around Halifax.
But while extensive training has taught Opal to suppress her instincts, she still has all the energy of a five-year-old dog and Ms. McFadyen says she’ll run “like a freight train” when given the chance.
“There’s the assumption that these dogs are regimented little machines,” Ms. McFadyen said. “But they’re still dogs. They need downtime. They need play.”
Until this summer, though, when Halifax opened what is believed to be the country’s first dog run specifically designed for service animals, letting Opal play the way she wanted was too big a risk for Ms. McFadyen. She worried about letting her trusted companion out of reach, and the only way to allow Opal to get real exercise, she said, was to stand in an open space with a long leash and let the dog do laps around her.
“She would run in circles,” Ms. McFadyen said. “It gives an opportunity to run very hard but not what you’d call free running.”
Now, thanks to her lobbying efforts, the dog can run free. The downtown spot set aside for service animals is not big, and it is bounded by several major roads. But it is fenced and double-gated, secure enough that Ms. McFadyen is comfortable letting Opal off leash to work out her excess energy.
Ms. McFadyen, a master of divinity student at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, is chair of the municipal government’s advisory committee on persons with disabilities, which comprises councillors and members of the public.
Blair Blakeney, capital projects parks co-ordinator for the Halifax Regional Municipality, said the city already owned the land when the request came in from the advisory committee, making it a relatively easy idea to pursue.
“This is not a dog park; it’s an area we set aside especially for people with service dogs,” he said. “They deserve something unique.”
The idea is unique not only in the region but apparently in the country as well.
John Rafferty, CEO of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, said that he is not aware of a similar project elsewhere in Canada.
“I think it’s a great step,” he said. “It’s certainly a fantastic commitment by the city of Halifax.”
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then…
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Last week, we told you about HumanWare’s very groovy Trekker Breeze handheld talking GPS for people who are blind and visually impaired. But the company makes MANY cutting-edge, disability-friendly products! Check out these two BBC videos about another one of HumanWare’s groundbreaking devices—The DeafBlind Communicator (DBC), conceived by Washington state’s Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, built by the Canadian company HumanWare and perfected with feedback from members of Seattle’s deaf-blind community, consists of a Braille note-taker linked by Bluetooth to a mobile phone:
GaryPresley.com
Twenty years or so ago, my boss built a wonderfully elaborate McMansion near a small fishing pond at the edge of town where we lived then. He loved to walk out after a stressful day, toss in a line, and then toss back the little bluegills or perch that he caught.
I only visited his house once. It was built with a stepped entrance, and I didn’t enjoy the hassle of carrying a ramp. The time I did visit I noticed every bathroom door was 24-inches wide. I wondered aloud, and probably not in a polite way, where he intended to shower, shave, and … if he or his wife broke a leg or were otherwise disabled, even temporarily.
And two decades later, I now have the same problem—and with a house built in 2006! It boggles the mind that contractors continue to build homes without at least one ground level entrance and with bathroom doors wide enough for wheelchairs. It would add no significant cost. Actually, I believe it could be done for the same investment.
Modification for wheelchair access is a different story, probably 10,000 different stories paged with dollar bills even if a person finds a sophisticated contractor. But we are underway, and the house will soon have a ramped front entrance; a patio-door-level deck and ramp-to-surface at the back; a 36-inch door in the second bathroom where a 24-inch now resides; and a true roll-in shower.
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Order Gary’s phenomenal book Seven Wheelchairs: A Life Beyond Polio:
Amazon.ca (Irked fundraiser!)
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312 Townline Road, Ashburn, Ontario, Canada L0B 1A0
Tel: 905 655-5827
Nestled in the rolling countryside in southern Ontario, WindReach Farm is a 109-acre nature property designed to meet the needs of individuals with different abilities. Wheelchair accessible pathways, buildings and barns combine to make a wonderful experience. Offering five main programs (see below), WindReach welcomes both the special needs and able-bodied communities. Officially opened in 1989 by the founder Sandy Mitchell, who has cerebral palsy, WindReach Farm is the result of his primary life-long interest to work outside on the land. After he purchased his 109 acres, Sandy was able to integrate this desire with providing a similar opportunity to other persons with disabilities. His own past experience as a young man working on a farm in Scotland and then in a farming community for Down’s Syndrome, helped him realize that one day he wanted to help persons with disabilities lead a more productive life. Facilities are also available to rent for special events, overnight visits, meetings, conferences, etc.
