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Latest news and stories
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Danny’s Game-Changing Makeathon
By Stanford Stickney In my senior year at UC Berkeley, I took a graduate class in Critical Making, where I met fellow students Tomás Vega and Oscar Segovia. Tomás shared with me his passion for creating technology for people with disabilities. Tomás and some of his friends including Pierre Karashchuk and Kelly Peng were working…
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Makeup On Wheels Foundation Helps Disabled People Live the Life They Want
The Makeup on Wheels Foundation was established in 2020 with the ultimate goal to raise awareness that people with disabilities can be capable, productive members of society when given the opportunity to succeed. Dedicated to serving the needs of the disabled community, The Makeup on Wheels Foundation helps to provide the necessary funding for medical expenses, personal…
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Get Fit with Rollettes Star Maria Muscle
By Lisa Wells, Cure Medical Fitness advocate and founding member of the Rollettes dance team Maria Rabaino is embarking on a journey to help friends who roll lead healthier lives. Meet Maria and learn more at the Abilities Expo Chicago on June 29 – July 1, 2018. A New Chapter for Maria Rabaino: Facing Spinal Cord Injury The day before…
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Modern Art Meets Accessibility Deep in the Heart of Texas
By Barbara & Jim Twardowski Three brides dressed in wedding gowns obediently trail after their photographers stopping to pose at one stunning backdrop after another. You don’t have to be a bride to appreciate the lovely grounds, fountains, and courtyards at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas. The Lone Star state’s first modern…
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5 Things All New Medical Cannabis Patients Should Know
By Debbie Churgai, Americans for Safe Access Although there are medical cannabis programs of some kind in 47 states, DC, Guam and Puerto Rico, medical cannabis still remains a mystery to the vast majority of Americans today. Using medical cannabis is an approach that is supported by research and medical professionals, and has demonstrated positive public…
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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.…