• When: Saturday, October 27, 2007
• Where: Redwood Empire Fairgrounds Fine Arts Building
• Tasting From: 5:00pm - 8:00pm
• Booth Space: $60

Mendocino County Special Olympics is a non-profit organization that provides a year round sports program for children and adults with disabilities. Mendocino County Special Olympics does not receive federal funding, but funding from local donations and fund raisers.

A sincere thanks goes to all our supporters!

Mendocino County Special Olympics
PO Box 1352
Ukiah, CA 95482

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The Allens have banded together with neighbors to stay in their own homes, despite dependence. More than 100 communities, nationwide, have become part of a movement to make their neighborhoods comfortable places to grow old.

The group the Allens are with have registered as a non-profit corporation, is setting member dues and is lining up providers of transportation, home repair, companionship, security and other services to meet their needs for as long as possible.

Source: Source: AAPD and the New York Times: http://www.aapd-dc.org/News/longtermcare/070814nyt.htm

Disabilities advocates are pushing for the broad spectrum of the Americans with Disabilities Act, business group advocates and lobbyists are pushing to keep it limited. The fear in business is that structural changes will impose substantial costs to businesses.

The US Access Board submitted 304 pages of recommendations leaving no details to the imagination. The recommendations go as far as defining the location of handrails in public restrooms, the criteria of thickness of lettering on interior signs, even which circumstances golf putting greens must be accessible to motorized carts.

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Created by Health Posture, a chair designed for people with physical disabilities, back pain, arthritis and other debilitating ailments has revolutionized intimacy. The IntimateRider is a chair with an easy rocking motion to allow enjoyment of sex again.

From the creator’s “About Us” page:

For nearly 8 years, HealthPostures, LLC. has been positioning people who work at computers. The Stance® and TaskMate™ are designed to prevent or alleviate problems associated with working at your computer.

One of the designers, for our office product line, Alan Tholkes, who is a C6-7 quadriplegic since 1976 came in with the idea of products to assist people with their sexual relationships. Mr. Tholkes has been designing products to help physically challenged people around the world stand. He holds multiple patents and design awards for medical devices and ergonomic furniture. In 1991, he was named Minnesota Entrepreneur of the Year.

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Alex is a 16 year old woman having an 8 year old autistic brother. After her brother threw a tantrum at one of her local restaurants, she arranged (with T.G.I Fridays) a place to eat out certain nights. Alex also notified T.G.I Fridays on issues to expect and how to handle them. After all, information is the difference between “a person with disabilities” and “a lunatic or screaming child.”

But here’s hoping that T.G.I. Friday’s—or someone—sees an opportunity, where most just see a screaming child.

The article is worth a read and definitely an inspiration: Dining Out with an Autistic Child

People First of San Luis Obispo produced a video and put it on YouTube about people with disabilities. It is a video asking society to treat people with disabilities as they would any other person.

From the narration at the beginning of the video:

Throughout history, people with physical and mental disabilities have been:

• abandoned at birth
• banished from society
• used as court jesters
• drowned and burned during the inquisition
• gassed in nazi germany

and still continue to be segregated, institutionalized and tortured in the name of behavior management.

Abused, raped, euthanized and murdered. Now, for the first time, people with disabilities are taking their rightful place as fully contributing citizens. The danger is that we will respond with remediation and benevolence rather than equity and respect. And so, we offer you, A Credo for Support.

Classes at Mendocino College are starting on Monday! We have posted a list of classes listed by the “Disability Resource Center” at the college, but don’t restrict yourself to those labeled as such.

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Josh Blue, one of America’s Last Comic Standing participants has cerebral palsy. While he was voted as “The Last Comic Standing”, he also plays on the US paralympic soccer team and has done so for four years. He says he’s not naturally funny, just trying to fit in.

While being interviewed by Last Comic Standing, Blue said “The reason why I wanted to do Last Comic Standing was a career boost, and to get people with disabilities into the lime light.”

YouTube has some videos of Josh Blue appearing on Last Comic Standing. You can see his appearances on YouTube: Season 4, Episode 7

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The Social Security Administration’s budget has not been enough to keep up with their backlog of claims. In recent years, the problem has compounded itself due to the rising number of baby-boomers with disability claims. In the past 7 years, the SSA budget has been cut by about $5 billion.

The national average, in July, was 528 days, to process a disability claim case, slightly less than a year and a half. In Milwaukee, the average was 651 days, falling just short of two years. While this story is centered out of Milwaukee, it is a growing epidemic all over the United States.

Note: Story provided by Journal Sentinel: and can be found here: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=642700

Day Al-Mohamed has worked with many agencies advocating the rights of people with disabilities. She recently posted a podcast and transcripts on her website regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act and the ADA Restoration Act of 2007.

She brings up three major examples of how the ADA’s original intent has been stripped away by court decisions. She mentions that now is the best time pass the ADA Restoration Act of 2007, because there are still about 60% of the original supporters still in office.

It is definitely worth a read and/or listen! Links have been provided below:

The podcast can be found here: http://dayalmohamed.com/dayinwashington/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/day-in-washington-5-070724.mp3

The transcripts can be found here (by scrolling to the “Comments” section): http://dayalmohamed.com/dayinwashington/?p=34

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