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Latest news and stories
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Home, Sweet Medical Home
By Olga L. Guerra, Abilities Expo Ambassador It’s all in the approach. In an era where healthcare establishment is plagued with indifference and mired in bureaucratic minutia, the medical home approach is like a breath of fresh air. What is a medical home? Spearheaded by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the medical home concept is…
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Can Therapeutic Cannabis Benefit People with Disabilities?
By Thalia Michelle, MAMMA (Mothers Advocating Medical Marijuana for Autism) In August of 2013, CNN aired Sanjay Gupta’s revolutionary documentary “Weed.” Suddenly, the world was made aware of lives being saved by the therapeutic and potentially curative properties of the cannabis plant. The documentary chronicled the journey of the Figi family and their young daughter, Charlotte. Charlotte…
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Overreaching Medicare Proposal Mobilizes Amputee Community
By Kim Lan Grout, Redefining Disabled Lower limb amputees across the country have had a unique, dramatic and, for some, traumatic summer. On July 16, 2015, Medicare Audit Contractors released a new proposal to the Medicare Local Coverage Determination (LCD) Proposal: Lower Limb Prostheses (DL33787) that would eliminate and/or stringently limit benefits for prosthetic devices. It…
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Worse-Than-Expected Cuts to Complex Wheelchair Accessories Set for January 1st
By Don Clayback, NCART On November 23, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) published the 2016 Medicare fee schedule. As feared, the new payment rates include major reductions (as high as 30% to 40% or more) to critical components used with Complex Rehab wheelchairs. But there is still time to act! Complex Rehab wheelchairs and…
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Four-legged Visitors Delight Children in Pediatric Unit
Two minis walk into a hospital. The first one says to the other, I’m feeling a little hoarse. Sure, it sounds like the opener for a corny kid joke, but it really did happen at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. (The part about the hospital visit, not the talking.) It seems that more…
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Keeping Mobile with MS
By Jennifer French, Neurotech Network “It just isn’t fair,” she thought, looking up at her children. Dawn Gast was on a trip in downtown Chicago with the three youngest of her seven children. While crossing busy Michigan Avenue, she tripped in the middle of the street and was bleeding with her children aged 5, 7…
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Create Mock Stain Glass at Abilities Expo Chicago
By Mike Ervin, Abilities Expo Ambassador Samantha Feigenbaum specializes in what she calls “make and take” art projects. You make it and then you take it home. She also refers to it as recycled art since she incorporates into the artwork something that has been discarded and is not intended to be an art material.…
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New Must-Read Kid’s Book Explores a Girl’s Adventures on Daddy’s Chair
By Glen Dick In this new children’s book, We Can Go Anywhere, My Adventures on Daddy’s Chair, love and imagination transform a wheelchair into a source of adventure and freedom for a father and his daughter. Insightful Book Sparks Discussion about Disabilities, Possibilities and Acceptance In 2009, 15 years after suffering a spinal cord injury at…
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How Can You Help Your Tube Fed Child Learn to Eat?
By Dr. Margueritte Dunitz-Scheer, NoTube Eating School As a senior pediatrician and developmental child psychotherapist, my expertise and passion in my professional life are helping children who have been tube fed since birth or for most of their lives to earn to eat. I love observing the diversity of tastes and textures of foods in various…
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Debunking Nutrition Myths
By Tracy Williams, www.tracysplate.com Most Americans have probably heard the new term “fake news,” especially since social media has risen in popularity as a news source. Fake news is truly not a new term, especially in the specialty area of health and wellness. If news outlets do not have writers and editors to help research medical…
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Making Sky-wide Smiles on the Slopes
Millions of smiles each snowy winter season happen because of one main reason: 8,195 hours of volunteer time. That’s the number of adaptive teaching hours Ontario Track 3 Ski Association delivers every alpine season to enable kids of all abilities to experience the magic of snow sports. Behind each of those hours is a dedicated volunteer ski…
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5 Home Organization Tips to Accommodate Someone with Visual Impairment
By Paul Denikin One of the best ways to prepare your home to accommodate someone with visual impairment is to improve your organization. By having a place for everything and remaining consistent with your organization, you will make it easier for your loved one with low or no vision to know where things are so…