American Association of People with Disability Daily – Tuesday, 26 November 2013

American Association of People with Disability Daily – Tuesday, 26 November 2013

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NATIONAL

Disability-Related Hate Crimes Surge. Disability Scoop (11/26) by Michelle Diament

Nearly twice as many hate crimes targeting people with disabilities were reported last year, the FBI says, even as the total number of hate crimes nationwide fell.

Statistics released Monday from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program indicate that there were 102 hate crime offenses reported in 2012 based on disability bias. That’s up from 58 the year prior.

The increase in disability-related cases comes as the total number of hate crimes declined, the FBI said.

Overall, 5,796 criminal incidents reported last year were motivated by a bias toward a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin or disability. In 2011, there were 6,222 cases.

Disability bias accounted for 1.6 percent of all hate crimes reported in 2012. The FBI said that 82 of the incidents were related to mental disability and 20 were related to physical disability.

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INTERNATIONAL

Amazon workers face 'increased risk of mental health conditions'. BBC News (11/24)

A BBC investigation into a UK-based Amazon warehouse has found conditions that a stress expert said could cause "mental and physical illness".

Prof Michael Marmot was shown secret filming of night shifts involving up to 11 miles of walking - where an undercover worker was expected to collect orders every 33 seconds.

It comes as the company employs 15,000 extra staff to cater for Christmas.

Amazon said in a statement worker safety was its "number one priority".

Undercover reporter Adam Littler, 23, got an agency job at Amazon's Swansea warehouse. He took a hidden camera inside for BBC Panorama to record what happened on his shifts.

He was employed as a "picker", collecting orders from 800,000 sq ft of storage.

A handset told him what to collect and put on his trolley. It allotted him a set number of seconds to find each product and counted down. If he made a mistake the scanner beeped.

"We are machines, we are robots, we plug our scanner in, we're holding it, but we might as well be plugging it into ourselves", he said.

"We don't think for ourselves, maybe they don't trust us to think for ourselves as human beings, I don't know."

Prof Marmot, one of Britain's leading experts on stress at work, said the working conditions at the warehouse are "all the bad stuff at once".

He said: "The characteristics of this type of job, the evidence shows increased risk of mental illness and physical illness."

"There are always going to be menial jobs, but we can make them better or worse. And it seems to me the demands of efficiency at the cost of individual's health and wellbeing - it's got to be balanced."

Amazon said official safety inspections had not raised any concerns and that an independent expert appointed by the company advised that the picking job is "similar to jobs in many other industries and does not increase the risk of mental and physical illness".

The scanner tracked Mr Littler's picking rate and sent his performance to managers. If it was too low, he was told he could face disciplinary action.

When Mr Littler worked night shifts his pay rose from the daily rate of £6.50 per hour to £8.25 per hour.

After experiencing a ten-and-a-half-hour night shift, he said: "I managed to walk or hobble nearly 11 miles, just short of 11 miles last night. I'm absolutely shattered. My feet are the thing that are bothering me the most to be honest."

Amazon said new recruits are warned some positions are physically demanding and that some workers seek these positions as they enjoy the active nature of the work. The company said productivity targets are set objectively, based on previous performance levels achieved by the workforce.

Those on the night shift work a four-day week with an hour's break per shift.

Experts have told Panorama these ten-and-a-half-hour night shifts could breach the working time regulations because of the long hours and the strenuous nature of the work.

Barrister Giles Bedloe said: "If the work involves heavy physical and, or, mental strain then that night worker should not work more than eight hours in any 24-hour period.

But Amazon said its night shift is lawful. They said they sought expert advice to ensure the shifts "comply with all relevant legal requirements".

Amazon said it had invested £1bn in the UK and created 5,000 permanent jobs.

It added that it relied on the good judgement of thousands of employees. The company said: "Together we're working hard to make sure we're better tomorrow than we are today."

Panorama: The Truth Behind The Click, BBC One, Monday 25 November at 20:30 GMT and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.

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Autistic kids get quiet time with Santa at malls. Toronto Star (11/25) by Bruce DeMara

All some kids with autism want for Christmas is a chance to visit with Santa.

But the noise and crowds associated with the holiday shopping season make that a nearly impossible challenge for autistic kids — until now.

Nine Oxford Properties shopping centres — including five in the GTA — offer a special program which allows these children to sit on Santa’s knee and enjoy a leisurely visit.

The initiative began last Yuletide season at Calgary’s Southcentre Mall and has been eagerly embraced by eight others in the Oxford Properties group.

“We spoke with our marketing team from Southcentre Mall and, based on their program last year which was so successful, all the Oxford Properties (malls) decided it would be an easy program to implement,” said Elena Price, marketing director at Mississauga’s Square One Shopping Centre.

“We thought we could do this and make such a difference with these families and their holiday experience.”

Other participating GTA locations include Scarborough Town Centre, Yorkdale, Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill and Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket.

Price said the program, which began Sunday, is a huge success with families.

“It was really touching to see. There were several families that had never been to visit Santa,” Price said.

“We had one family and both their children have autism, one of them quite severely. He has a service dog that helps to calm the child down. The father had tears because he said he has never seen his son smile the way he smiled sitting on Santa’s knee. They walked away with a family picture with Santa. It was very moving.”

At Square One, two hours are set aside — 9 to 11 a.m. — on Sundays, before most stores open and the mall is open and families can book a 15-minute appointment.

A special booklet has been prepared to let children know what to expect and they are placed in a waiting area close to Santa beforehand to ensure their comfort, Price said.

“Once they’re comfortable, they sit on Santa’s lap and we take pictures for the family,” she added.

Staff at Kerry’s Place Autism Services are on hand to provide support and volunteer mall staff are specially trained for the Sunday morning sessions.

At Scarborough Town Centre, parents told CTV how important it was for their children to experience a Christmas season event other families take for granted.

“My son has real issues dealing with crowds, so as a result meltdowns are pretty common for him. So having a nice, quiet moment is well worth it,” Toronto resident Frank Heaney told CTV.

Andrea Lombardo expressed similar joy.

“My son was smiling and he actually smiled in the picture, which doesn’t happen that often, so it was great,” Lombardo told CTV.

The Society for Treatment of Autism estimates about one in 165 Canadian children are affected by autism spectrum disorder.

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CULTURE/MEDIA

Roosevelt's Polio Wasn't A Secret: He Used It To His 'Advantage'. NPR (11/25)

Americans remember Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the president who led the country through the Great Depression and World War II. He bolstered the nation's spirits with his confidence, strength and optimism, despite being crippled by polio, a disability that's largely invisible in photographs and newsreels of his presidency.

But historian James Tobin says, despite misimpressions to the contrary, Americans of Roosevelt's day were well-aware of his disability. In fact, Tobin says, Roosevelt's struggle to overcome his affliction was an important part of the personal narrative that fueled his political career.

Tobin tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies, "[Roosevelt] only discovered who he really was through the ordeal of polio. ... It gave him a kind of confidence in his own strength that perhaps no one can have until you're tested."

Roosevelt contracted polio at the age of 39, and Tobin's new book explores his battle with the illness and the ways it molded his character and influenced his rise in the Democratic Party. Tobin has written previous books about the Wright brothers and war correspondent Ernie Pyle. His new book is The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency.

Interview Highlights

On how good sanitation made kids more susceptible to polio

Before the polio vaccine, pretty much every little kid ingested the polio virus but was protected by maternal antibodies, so even though the virus passed through his or her system, they wouldn't become sick with disease. As sanitation got better, they had fewer immunities, and so if the virus did creep into a community with good sanitation, kids were more likely to get sick and to become seriously ill.

Roosevelt had grown up on an isolated estate in upstate New York. He probably had immune deficiencies to begin with — he was always getting sick with one bug or another. So he was particularly susceptible when, even though he was an adult, he contracted the virus.

On FDR's recovery efforts

Roosevelt went into a long period of physical rehabilitation after recuperating for several months. By December 1921, he was ready to have a physical therapist begin to massage his muscles, begin to work his muscles, begin to try to figure out exactly the extent of the damage. As more and more time passed in the coming weeks and the early months of 1922, he was able to begin to exercise on his own. This was laborious, difficult: He really could not even stand up on his own at all for months and months, and so this was a matter of lying in his bed, performing these minute little exercises, trying to move one muscle and then another muscle. ... It was painstaking, it was difficult. He had to have his legs put into casts at one point to prevent against contractures. ... It was really a grueling process.

On misimpressions of FDR's openness about his condition

When I've talked to people in the past ... I've always asked them, "Did you know about FDR's condition?" And they've always said yes. What they say is, "We realize later that he was more disabled than we knew, but we certainly knew he was disabled, we knew that he couldn't walk." I think that this misimpression comes from a couple of things:

There was a book published in the 1980s called FDR's Splendid Deception in which the writer, Hugh Gregory Gallagher, I think overstated the evidence for FDR covering this up. And then in the debate over the Roosevelt memorial in Washington that took place in the 1990s, that theme got repeated over and over again by various advocates in that argument. And then it got put into a couple of television documentaries, and so it just had a viral effect.

All you have to do is go back to the newspapers of the time, especially from the 1920s when Roosevelt was making his political comeback, and his disability was discussed constantly. He was very frank about it. So there's no question that people knew about it. And you see during his presidency, people who were themselves disabled, people who had polio, their children had polio, writing to FDR in the White House by the hundreds and talking about his disability. The March of Dimes [nonprofit] itself, which came about during Roosevelt's presidency, he was the leader of it, was an effort to fight polio. The polio campaign that was waged every year had Roosevelt as its figurehead.

On how FDR's condition affected his marriage to Eleanor

I think at first the polio brought the two of them closer together. It was only a few years earlier, 1918, that Eleanor Roosevelt had discovered that he had had this affair with her own social secretary, Lucy Mercer, a situation that everyone knows about. So the marriage had been deeply damaged. Her trust for him had been destroyed.

But polio sort of called upon her to give him all the care that she possibly could give him. That was the sort of wife that Eleanor saw herself as: somebody bound by duty to help her husband. And she absolutely did for many months. She cared for him, she sort of organized his care with physical therapists and nurses at the same time that she was looking after five children and a couple of different households. She really did devote herself to his case.

As he began to pursue his recovery in other places where he could go for treatment, she increasingly saw that she couldn't devote the rest of her life to him and didn't care to. She wanted to express her own individuality, and she wanted to pursue a position of politics of her own, and so she increasingly did that. After 1922 into 1923, they began to lead separate lives, supporting each other in what they were doing but acknowledging they were no longer the kind of husband and wife that they had been before his affair.

On how Roosevelt worked around his condition

Roosevelt realized that when you were crippled — and that was the word that he would use — you have a tendency to make people uncomfortable. People don't know what to say, they don't know where to look, they don't know how to treat you, they don't know whether to feel pity for you, when pity is the last thing that you want. ...

He had to persuade people to feel comfortable in his presence. ... [The therapists and he] began to work on his gait, to work on the way he would walk with the canes and crutches and assistance he would use. So his walk, although slow, began to look more and more natural. And he would seat himself, and he would throw up his head, he would begin to talk — he was always talking, actually — to put people at ease. And this whole physical routine that he developed of putting people at ease was enormously effective, and it made people forget that he was disabled.

On FDR using his disability as a political advantage

[In a speech in Rochester, N.Y.,] he was talking about the needs of disabled children in the state of New York and he mentions himself. He says, "I myself have been through this ordeal, and I am a symbol of what can happen when people with disabilities are strongly supported."

And nobody had expected him to say this out loud; nobody had expected him to address this issue in this way, to turn the disability on its head and make it into this advantage. And so it had [an] electrifying effect on the audience. ... I think Roosevelt ... realized this was a strong part of his presence as a candidate, and it was something that actually appealed to people.

On whether his disability made him a better president

Certainly people close to him said it tempered him. Eleanor herself said it made him stronger and more courageous.

That doesn't quite make sense to me. I think people have those innate capacities or they don't. The crisis draws it out of them. It allows them to see who they really are. And that's why I chose the title The Man He Became. I think he was that man before he became sick, but he only discovered who he really was through the ordeal of polio. So it gave him a kind of confidence in his own strength that perhaps no one can have until you're tested.

I also think it inevitably gave him a kind of passion for people who are suffering that he couldn't have had if he had not deeply suffered himself. That capacity was perfectly timed for the country's problems in the Great Depression.

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BWW Dance Interviews: Kitty Lunn. Broadway World (11/23) by Barnett Serchuk

Kitty Lunn is something of a phenomenon in the dance world. A former principal dancer with the Washington Ballet, she was a relatively new arrival in New York. She had just gotten into her first Broadway show when she slipped on a piece of ice at the top of a staircase and suffered a violent fall down the stairs, breaking her back and rendering her paraplegic. After years of surgeries, physical therapy, and physical and emotional adjustments, Kitty decided to continue her dance career. She remains a beautiful, poised, and glamorous performer and, in addition to performing, she teaches a method which she devised over the years for disabled people. She is also an advocate for persons with disabilities--she sued no less than Lincoln Center and Radio City Music Hall to make improvements for disabled folks in their facilities. Kitty's Infinity Dance Theatre will appear at Theater for the New City, December 6-8, featuring repertory performances with choreography by Lunn, Peter Pucci, Alice Sheppard and Carla Vannucchi.

How did you first become interested in dance?

My grandmother took me to see The Red Shoes when I was 8 years old, and as soon as I saw beautiful, red-haired Moira Shearer, I knew that's what I wanted to do, so I asked my parents if I could have dancing lessons.

Where did you first study dance?

My first teacher was Leila Haller in my hometown of New Orleans. She had the distinction of being the first American dancer to become a soloist with the Paris Opera Ballet. I was very fortunate to have started with such a fine teacher. She told my grandmother that she thought I had talent and gave me a scholarship, which then led to another scholarship to the Washington Ballet School when I was 16.

You had a very memorable encounter with Agnes De Mille.

Ms. de Mille was a guest artist in residence with the Washington Ballet, and used to hold court. We literally sat at her feet and listened to her and told her how we felt. There was, of course, a lot of complaining from the students about their bodies; my complaint was that I was too short. I remember Ms. de Mille took my face in her hands and said: "Kitty dear, you have to learn to dance in the body you have," a remark which has come to my rescue over the years.

What was your first professional dance experience?

I danced at home in New Orleans, but my first professional job was with the Washington Ballet. My first solo was the Spanish dance in Nutcracker, and I subsequently danced Swanhilda in Coppelia, Cerrito in Pas de Quatre, and the Mazurka in Les Sylphides. I continued to have great training in Washington, especially with Edward Caton, who ended each class with 32 entrechat six for the men and women!

You were going to appear in a Broadway show when you slipped on a piece of ice and fell down a flight of steps, breaking your back. Did you have to undergo surgery and physical therapy?

Yes, I had five surgeries and was in the hospital for almost three years. That was followed by five years of physical therapy five days a week, five hours a day.

What was the prognosis you received from your doctors?

That I wouldn't walk again.

How did you go about re-affirming your belief in your body and its possibilities after the accident?

It was a very hard and long process. I was greatly helped by my husband Andrew, whom I barely knew at the time. We had had two dates before my accident, but he came to see me every day, and we fell in love while I was in the hospital and were later married. Andrew asked me why I couldn't just continue dancing, but in a different way. I remembered what Agnes De Mille had said about dancing in the body that you have. That gave me the idea of continuing. I went back to class in my chair at Steps. Peff Modelski gave me a spot at the barre between Paloma Herrerra and Vladimir Mahlakov, who made room for me and were most gracious. Nancy Bielski subsequently invited me to take her class. I learned on my own, over a period of several years, how to transpose movements using the upper body and arms. It was hard being the only wheelchair dancer in the room, and some teachers denied me access to their classes, but I continued to take class every day and develop this technique for the disabled.

It must have been painful to watch dance after the accident. What was your reaction?

It wasn't painful to watch dance after my accident. Dance has been a major part of my life since I was 8 years old.

I understand that you take class every day.

I continue to take class at Steps with Nancy Bielski and study Horton technique with Jolea Maffie.

You also teach dance to disabled people. How did you devise a system yourself?

Yes, I did devise the system myself over a period of years, and I teach class at LaGuardia High School, in various locations for the Department of Education, and at the Westchester Cerebral Palsy Center. I have developed dance programs at facilities in Italy, Brussels, and Scotland.

You sued Radio City Music Hall and Lincoln Center for not having facilities that were friendlier to disabled people. What was the resolution of those lawsuits?

I won! and they made improvements in their venues to make it easier for disabled people.

When did you first create your company?

In 1995 I was having dinner in a Chinese restaurant with a friend, talking about my continuing to dance and creating a company for disabled and nondisabled dancers. It was there that I made a commitment to the idea. I hired two nondisabled male dancers, and we started working in a studio. That was the beginning of my company Infinity.

How do you select dancers and choreographers for your company?

The disabled dancers are all trained by me, and the others are initially observed by me in class. I also have to audition them to see if they can handle the chair and me.

Tell me about company member Alice Sheppard?

I trained the remarkable Alice, who suffers from a spinal disease that requires her to use a chair. We consider her the company scholar - she is from England and is a retired professor of Medieval Literature, proficient in 14 medieval languages. From a family of scholars and musicians, Alice will be performing a solo set to music composed by her musician/composer father.

What can we expect from you in the future?

We'll see!

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EDUCATION

Students with disabilities eased into adult world. Chicago Tribune (11/25)

Sometimes success can be measured by making yourself breakfast or buying a cup of coffee.

That could be the motto of the New Trier Transition Program, which is designed for New Trier High School students, ages 18-21 years old, with moderate to severe disabilities who require additional instruction to achieve post-high school goals. The program was launched in 2009 and the New Trier High School board of education recently received an update on it from two instructors.

"We are the last step for our students before they enter the real world," said instructor Kari Viano, who also mentioned an open house on Friday, Dec. 6 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in room 266 on the Winnetka campus. Students will talk about the program and give tours of the classrooms.

Most of the students attended the Education and Life Skills classrooms for their four years at New Trier. They are provided with community-based, functional, real-world curricula focused on enhancing independence and vocational skills, Viano said. She said students can attend through the day before their 22nd birthday.

When it started, the program had one teacher, four assistants and seven students. It now has 31 students ages 18-21, 15 instructional assistants/job coaches and two classroom teachers, all on the Winnetka campus.

Jackie Smith, 19, from Winnetka, has been in the program for a year and she told board members how much she has benefited from it.

"I feel positive about the work I do," Smith said.

And so does her mother, Joan Smith.

"What we want is independence," she said. "We want them to hopefully have purposeful employment and have a full life."

"Some of the ways to get there are unknown so it's a great program to have in our community. We feel very lucky to have this team of people that Jackie's involved with every single day," Joan Smith said. "She's very happy to go to school. She tells me every day how much she loves the program and loves being part of it. That's a real important piece. The work is hard but she's willing to do the hard work with the support of the people."

There are four main focus areas including life, vocational, social and communication skills. All students participate in daily community job training opportunities, and the Life Skills curriculum covers monthly topics that rotate through a three-year cycle. In addition, one of the classrooms has a kitchen attached where students are taught how to make breakfast. They are also urged to join a local health club and are taught how to buy coffee at Starbucks.

"Our students work out in a real gym," Viano said. "That's what adults do."

The students are offered vocational training at local businesses including The Winnetka Thrift Store, The Sheraton Hotel, Body Science, Walgreens, the Winnetka Ice Rink, Treasure Island Foods, the Wilmette Library and the Holocaust Museum, among a slew of others.

Viano said the Transition Program is partly funded through state and federal monies, but the school also has to contribute.

"In the past it was very hard for me, but I got over it and I've changed a lot, and I'm now almost 20 years old," said Jackie Smith. "I'm very independent, and I love my family for supporting me and telling me I have a bright future ahead of me."

triblocaltips@tribune.com

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HEALTH

OPINION: How to make mental health care work. CNN (11/25) by Debbie F. Plotnick

Editor's note: Debbie F. Plotnick is the Senior Director of State Policy for Mental Health America, , a community-based network that advocates for changes in mental health and wellness policy, and delivers mental health and wellness programs and services.

(CNN) -- In the days and weeks ahead, we hope to learn more that will help us understand the tragedy that befell Virginia State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds and his family last week. On Friday, Deeds was released from the hospital four days after his son Austin "Gus" Deeds stabbed him repeatedly before shooting himself to death.

Mental health officials initially said that after a psychological evaluation for the younger Deeds, they had been unsuccessful in finding a bed at a psychiatric hospital for him. But nearby hospitals later said that they had available space but were never contacted. The state of Virginia is investigating the matter and also conducting a review of state and local mental health services to determine if changes are needed.

Much is still not known about that sad incident. But what we do know is that mental health care is an area that remains underserved; many who need care do not get it. For years, the mental health system has suffered from shortages of funding and political attention. Of the estimated one in five people who experience a mental health challenge each year, about 60% receive treatment.

While the one-in-five number includes depression, anxiety, insomnia, eating disorders and substance use, it is important to note that those are the issues that people report to their doctors when they do seek help. Sometimes these symptoms indicate that there is a more serious problem that, if treated early, it can be key to preventing a disorder from reaching a crisis or leading to disability.

The mental health system in the United States is fragmented, and reductions in public mental spending have resulted in severe shortages of services, including housing and community-based services. Since 2008, more than $4.5 billion has been cut from state budgets nationwide, and there are unmeasured challenges brought about by sequestration. These include reductions in block grants to the states for mental health and justice initiatives and cuts to Indian Health Services, which have resulted in fewer mental health counselors being hired.

These cuts have placed even greater demands on programs that provide community treatment and crisis services. And while we don't know whether these difficulties played any role in the Deeds incident, we do know that years of discrimination toward people with mental health conditions has contributed to confusion about how to access care and often resulted in denied care.

Fortunately, there has been significant progress in removing barriers and expanding and equalizing insurance coverage. The Affordable Care Act includes mental health care and substance use treatment as one of its 10 essential health benefits. That sends a strong message about the importance of mental health to overall health and wellness. Coupled with the just-released final regulations for the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, these changes will greatly improve access to care.

We know that acute mental health inpatient services are very expensive, just as they are for the medical/surgical side of the health care equation. In recent years, there have been reductions in the number of community hospitals providing psychiatric care, as well as shortened stays. Treatment is increasingly being delivered in alternative/outpatient settings, as is the case for health care in general. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as coordinated community-based treatments are available.

Community-based care, particularly when coupled with coordinated and supportive services similar to what is provided for other health conditions, produces better outcomes, helps people recover and reduces overall societal and medical costs.

 Mental healthcare at fault in stabbing? Questions over son's mental health care

As part of their Medicaid plans, states such as Pennsylvania and Georgia are offering programs that provide alternatives to traditional services. They not only work well, they also cost less than not providing mental health services.

For example, rather than having people experience long waits in overcrowded emergency rooms or forcing them to travel long distances, mobile crisis services are coming to adults and children (and their families) in their own homes in places as diverse as rural North Carolina, Minnesota and Tennessee, as well as in some of the nation's largest urban centers, including Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

We know that community alternatives to traditional hospitalization are proving effective.

In Lincoln, Nebraska, with its Keya House; at Rose House serving people in the counties north of New York city; and in multiple sites across Georgia, peer support and respite centers provide hospital diversion, a safe place for people in crisis and ongoing support to those at risk for a mental health crisis. Even New York City has recently added crisis alternative services.

Legislators must make the commitment to restore the cuts to state mental health budgets. More state Medicaid plans and private insurance must add certified peer specialists to their plans to let people with state-provided nonclinical training help others stay on their medications and build social supports.

Municipalities must better coordinate their mental health services and increase the number of mobile and alternative crisis services, and all community members need to understand that mental health is essential to overall wellness.

We know what we need to do to head off tragedies and improve the quality of life for people with mental health conditions, and their loved ones. We need to find the political will to ensure that we address mental health with the same degree of attention as other health conditions, and provide the means and mechanisms to pay for it.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Debbie F. Plotnick.

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SPORTS

Disabled Sports USA to Host Boston Marathon Bombing Survivors at The Hartford Ski Spectacular, One of the Nation's Largest Winter Sport Event for People with Disabilities. The CW15 (11/25)

This article was originally distributed via PRWeb. PRWeb, WorldNow and this Site make no warranties or representations in connection therewith.

SOURCE:

Seven-day event held December 2-8 in Breckenridge, Colo. will included Boston Marathon bombing survivors and wounded warriors, many who are also blast victims, coming to encourage and inspire one another on the slopes.

(PRWEB) November 25, 2013

Disabled Sports USA (DSUSA) will host the 26th Annual The Hartford Ski Spectacular Dec. 2-8 at Beaver Run Resort and Breckenridge Ski Resort, Breckenridge, Colo. The seven-day event, sponsored by The Hartford for the past 20 years, is one of the nations largest winter sports festivals for individuals with physical disabilities.

More than 800 participants, ranging in ability from first-time skiers to members of the U.S. Paralympic Snowboard National Team, will come together. Also attending will be more than 160 wounded warriors and 15 Boston Marathon bombing survivors, including family members.

The Hartford Ski Spectacular strengthens and expands adaptive snow sports programs in communities throughout the U.S.; trains youth, wounded warriors, and others with disabilities including those who strive to be winter Paralympians; and helps local DSUSA chapters improve their services. A week of ski and snowboard race training, sponsored by U.S. Paralympics, prepares athletes for national and international competitions, including the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

The Hartford is honored to make it possible for Boston Marathon bombing survivors to participate in this incredibly impactful program, says Mike Concannon, executive vice president of The Hartford Group Benefits. We celebrate their strength, resilience and determination in the face of adversity. And we hope they will learn new skills, build confidence and continue with their recovery at The Hartford Ski Spectacular.

Learn to programs in alpine and Nordic skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, sled hockey and curling will be offered. Also, the ski instructor academy endorsed by Professional Ski Instructors of America - American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI) will offer training for instructors in the latest and safest adaptive ski techniques for skiers with disabilities.

We are grateful for The Hartfords support in serving those severely injured in the Boston Marathon bombing. With over 10 years of experience working with blast victims through our Warfighter Sports program, DSUSA knows what is needed to provide the sports programs that will propel these survivors to success on the slopes and in their lives, says Kirk Bauer, executive director of Disabled Sports USA and a disabled Vietnam veteran.

The Hartford Ski Spectaculars Presenting Sponsor is the U.S. Paralympics: Grant funding for this program is awarded by U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee, through funding provided by Veterans Affairs. The grants are provided to facilitate the growth of Paralympic-sport programming for disabled Veterans and disabled members of the Armed Forces. The event is also sponsored by Wash Depot Holdings; Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation; Team Semper Fi; Tee it up for the Troops; Oshkosh Defense; Fluor; Beaver Run Resort and Conference Center and Breckenridge Ski Resort.

Partnering organizations include: Disabled American Veterans, Maggie George Foundation, Professional Ski Instructors of America- American Association of Snowboard Instructors National Adaptive Academy (PSIAAASI), Spaulding Adaptive Sports Centers, Vail Adaptive Sports, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide and Breck Sports. DSUSA chapters supporting the event include: Host chapter Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center and chapters Adaptive Action Sports, Adaptive Adventures, National Ability Center, New England Disabled Sports, National Sports Center for the Disabled, Outdoors for All, STRIDE, Waterville Valley Adaptive Sports and Wintergreen Adaptive Sports.

Follow the action at The Hartford Ski Spectacular on Twitter and Facebook. Look for @DisabledSportUS and #skispec on Twitter and Disabled Sports USA on Facebook, as well as @TheHartford on Twitter and Facebook.

About Disabled Sports USA

Founded in 1967, Disabled Sports USA is a national charitable organization that provides opportunities for individuals with disabilities to develop independence, confidence, and fitness through participation in sports. What began as a program to serve Vietnam veterans has since grown into one of the nations largest multi-sport, multi-disability organizations, annually serving more than 60,000 wounded warriors, youth, and adults with disabilities. A member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, Disabled Sports USA offers programs in more than 30 summer and winter sports through its nationwide network of more than 100 community-based chapters. For more information, visit http://www.disabledsportsusa.org.

About The Hartford

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Ann Cody re-elected to IPC Governing Board. Team USA (11/24)

ATHENS, Greece – Ann Cody was re-elected as a member of the International Paralympic Committee Governing Board after a final vote at the IPC General Assembly and Conference in Athens, Greece.

“I am pleased to have the opportunity to continue serving the Paralympic Movement as a member of the IPC Governing Board for the next four years,” said Cody. “I look forward to working with the Governing Board and representing the interests of every sector of the Paralympic Movement.”

Following her retirement from Paralympic competition, Cody has pursued a successful business career which has seen her hold a number of senior corporate positions in Washington D.C. She led the policy reform efforts within the United States Olympic Committee resulting in increased resources and a greater focus on the priorities of U.S. Paralympics across the organization.

“I would like to congratulate Ann and all of the appointees on their selection to these important positions,” said Jim Benson, president of U.S. Paralympics. “Through her leadership and global perspective, Ann will undoubtedly make a significant contribution to the continued growth of the Paralympic Movement for years to come.”

As BlazeSports America’s current director of policy and global outreach, she has worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations’ Office on Sport for Development and Peace and U.S. Department of State while overseeing implementation of sport development and diplomacy programs with Paralympic partners in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Europe. She also has contributed to the work of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 30.5 that recognizes sports participation as a human right.

In other elections, Great Britain's Sir Philip Craven has been re-elected IPC president for a fourth successive term.

The five-time Paralympian, who was first elected as IPC President in 2001, will serve a final four year term after he received 127 votes in the IPC Governing Board elections. Sir Philip was chosen over fellow Britain and CPISRA candidate Alan Dickson who polled 20 votes.

In total 147 IPC members made up of National Paralympic Committees, International Federations, Regional Organizations and International Organizations of Sport for the Disabled were in attendance in Athens and eligible to take part in the election, meaning that no-one abstained from voting.

"I'm honored and delighted to be re-elected as the President of the IPC and I'd like to thank my colleagues and peers for their continued and steadfast support,” he said. “Today, this wonderful Movement has reaffirmed its trust in me and I pledge to repay that faith by maintaining the momentum and building on the tremendous progress we have made in recent years.”

Andrew Parsons, who is the president of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, was elected vice president. Parsons, 36, served as President of the Americas Paralympic Committee 2005-09 and has been an IPC Governing Board member since 2009. Parsons, who received 96 votes to finish ahead of America's Ann Cody with 52 votes, replaces Australia's Greg Hartung who did not seek re-election in Athens.

"I'd like to thank Ann Cody, she put forward a strong case for election and I look forward to working with her and the other members of the newly elected Governing Board,” Parsons said.

Ten Members at Large were also elected to the IPC Governing Board on Sunday.

In the first round the following members were elected:

Mohamed Alhameli (UAE - NPC United Arab Emirates)

Kyung-won Na (KOR - NPC Korea)

Yasushi Yamawaki (JPN - NPC Japan)

In the second round of voting, the following members were elected:

Ann Cody (USA - NPC USA)

Rita van Driel (NED - NPC Netherlands)

Patrick Jarvis (CAN - NPC Canada)

Duane Kale (NZL - NPC New Zealand)

Jairus Mogalo (KEN - NPC Kenya)

John Petersson (DEN - NPC Denmark)

Miguel Sagarra (ESP - NPC Spain)

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Cortney Jordan: Lasting impact. Team USA (11/25) by Jamie M. Blanchard

Cortney Jordan used to finish last.

Every race.

Every meet.

Every time, no matter how hard she tried, she touched the wall far behind her competitors.

“I only swam with able-bodied athletes so I was always last,” said Jordan, who was born with cerebral palsy, a permanent condition that affects mobility.

“Swimming is about being better than yourself,” she said. “But to have no one to be fairly compared to when you’re a kid, it is exhausting. It’s exhausting to always be the last one to finish a race even when you swam better than you did before.”

Enter the Paralympic Movement.

When she was 14, U.S. Paralympic swimmer Michael DeMarco and his wife Karen noticed Jordan at a local swim meet. “They told me I should think about the U.S. Paralympics Swimming National Championships,” she said.

Jordan signed-up for the meet in San Antonio.

She went. She swam.

And in just minutes, she was no longer last.

“I swam the 400 free and was ranked second in the world with my time,” said Jordan, now 22. “I made my first ever world team, to swim for the United States against people from all over the world who are like me, which was a dream come true.”

The Paralympic Movement is where Jordan belonged.

“To finally have that opportunity to race people who are just like me, people who I can race against fairly, it brought me so much joy,” she said. “It was so much fun.”

The fun has not stopped for Jordan.

Now a two-time U.S. Paralympian with medals from both the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Paralympic Games, the Henderson, Nev., native recently competed at her fourth world championship. And she was far from last.

After serving as the U.S. flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony at the 2013 International Paralympic Committee Swimming World Championships in Montreal, Canada, Jordan won five medals in her S7 classification:  three gold medals (50, 100 and 400 meter freestyle), one silver medal (100m backstroke) and one bronze medal (200m individual medley). She also medaled with Team USA in the 4x100 freestyle relay.

 “My 400 free was my first race,” she said. “It was super exciting because about an hour and a half before, I was the flag bearer. I came super early, I warmed-up, I carried the flag, handed it back and ran away to get ready for the race. It was hectic.”

She won the gold medal, marking her first international title since Beijing.

“It has been five years since I heard the national anthem play,” Jordan said. “It had been too long.”

London, although a four-medal meet for Jordan, had been a bit of a disappointment.

“It was so great to be back on top after London,” she said. “In Beijing, I went there to medal in anything, and I was shocked when I finished first. I wasn’t expecting to win but since then, I’ve had an expectation that I can win. It was hard for me to be at that top level. I had some great competitors. Watching them compete and watching them win gold medals, I had more motivation to continue and to represent my country well. I knew that if I just trained hard enough, I would get back to the top someday, and that someday came in Montreal.” 

The day she returned from London, Jordan was not thinking about the world championships. Instead, she was thinking about her senior season at Cal Lutheran University, where she was the captain of the swim team.

“As soon as I got back from the Paralympics, I drove to California to begin training with my team,” Jordan said. “I wanted to get into the water with them as soon as I could. I knew it would be my last chance to experience that atmosphere so I wanted as much time with my team as possible.”

The season came. The season went.

Jordan did not win a national championship but her impact was much greater.

In 2013, she became the first Paralympic athlete nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year, an award created in 1991 that recognizes not only the athletic achievements of outstanding young women, but also their academic achievements, community service and leadership. Jordan finished in the Top 30.

“I’m hoping that my nomination will raise awareness of the Paralympics,” she said. “Hopefully, people will see that I’m a nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year and that I’m also a Paralympian.”

More so than medals, awareness has become Jordan’s mission. She wants everyone to have the chance she waited 14 years to receive.

“I want everyone to have that opportunity to race,” Jordan said. “I’m adamant about letting people know about it.”

Although she is an aspiring elementary school teacher, Jordan is no doubt an advocate for the Paralympic Movement.

“The most important thing for the Paralympic Movement right now is letting people know that this opportunity is here,” she said. “People with disabilities don’t have to be last in everything. Paralympic sport is an option that can change their lives and how they feel about themselves but they have to know its here.”

Jordan knows the impact it can have.

“Acceptance and confidence,” she said. “For me personally, that is the greatest benefit in being involved with the Paralympic Movement. I did have times when I was down on myself because of my disability. I had a hard time coming to terms with it. When I was younger, I wanted to be normal. I just wanted to be average like everyone else. I’m happy being me now.”

She came to Paralympic sport.

And she conquered the world.

“Paralympics made me cherish my role and appreciate my disability,” Jordan said. “God has a plan for me. I’m disabled for a reason. Maybe being in the Paralympics isn’t that reason. Maybe the reason why is because it gives me the opportunity to help others. If I can do this, and I can help others, and help them through their struggles with a disability, I’m OK with it. I want to show others what is possible.”

Jordan recently moved to Baltimore, Md., to live with teammate Jessica Long, who won eight medals in nine events at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Her sights remain firmly on Rio.

“There is nothing like being in the Paralympics so I want to swim as long as I can,” she said.

After that, her sights are on expanding her sport.

“I also want others to have the opportunity to experience the same opportunities that I have been so fortunate to have,” she said. “If I could coach future Paralympic athletes, or even able-bodied athletes, that would be great. I want to help people. That is what makes me happy. Anyway I can help someone live a better life, I am happy to do that.”

No doubt, her impression will last.

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Gilbert company outfitting U.S. paralympic team wheelchairs. KPHO-TV (11/24) by Adam Longo

GILBERT, AZ (CBS5) - If you use a wheelchair, there's a Valley company that wants you to roll in style.

Their custom wheels let you "pimp out" your chair and that caught the eye of a U.S. paralympic team.

Inside a Gilbert fabrication shop, the crew at Precision Billet is hard at work. They make custom parts for Harley-Davidson motorcycles, roll cages for off road utility vehicles and even custom aluminum coasters.

They already ship their parts all over the world, but now they're about to step onto a world stage.

The company has manufactured and donated aircraft-grade aluminum wheelchair wheels for the U.S. paralympic curling team.

"It was actually quite serendipitous because we were working on these second generation wheels when they contacted us," says Precision Billet's Brian Caulfield. "When he got a look at 'em he was pretty stoked."

Caulfield has been building custom wheelchairs since the late 1990's with a friend who played on the U.S. paralympic hockey team.

A few months back the captain of the U.S. paralympic curling team reached out to the company, hoping to get rolling on a fresh new look.

"This particular design emulates a turbine blade or a fan blade," says Caulfield.

One of the team members was recently on NBC's Today Show to preview upcoming coverage of the games from Sochi in Russia.

This is the only wheelchair wheel you'll find made from just one piece of material. Spoked wheels, Caulfield says can be easily damaged and the wheels can come out of true, or proper alignment.

"These guys can pull them on and off. In and out of their car. In and out of the back of their truck. Whatever, and they hang in there," says Caulfield.

Copyright 2013 CBS 5 (KPHO Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.

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American Association of People with Disabilities

2013 H Street NorthWest, 5th Floor

Washington, DC 20006 United States

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