April 15, 2024
(Associated Press) – Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, according to funeral home officials. They were 62. (Read More)
April 15, 2024
(Wired) – Bussard is one of a small number of blind individuals around the world who have risked brain surgery to get a visual prosthesis. In Spain, researchers at Miguel Hernández University have implanted four people with a similar system. … Read More
April 9, 2024
(The Guardian) – Now some specialists believe that the coexistence of both conditions is not just possible, but frequent. One study by researchers at Duke University found that up to half of people diagnosed as autistic also exhibit ADHD symptoms, … Read More
April 8, 2024
(The Atlantic) – The most basic challenge in mating a brain and a computer is an incompatibility of materials. Though computers are made of silicon and copper, brains are not. They have a consistency not unlike tapioca pudding; they wobble. … Read More
April 4, 2024
(STAT News) – Cochlear implants have successfully improved hearing loss for decades, but few people who qualify for an implant actually get it. Even in countries with universal healthcare, the adoption rates are dismal. Researchers are finding further disparities for … Read More
April 4, 2024
(NPR) – Sam and John Fetters, 19, are identical twins at opposite ends of the autism spectrum. Sam is a sophomore at Amherst College who plans to double major in history and political science. In his free time, he runs … Read More
April 3, 2024
(New York Times) – Ott has used her platform to help dispel myths about multiple sclerosis, a disorder of the central nervous system that can cause a wide range of symptoms, including muscle spasms, numbness and vision problems. She has … Read More
April 1, 2024
March 26, 2024
(LBC) – The family of British riding star Caroline March have shared a final letter from the star revealing she chose to end her life aged 31 using assisted suicide following a horror spinal cord injury. The British rider suffered … Read More
March 26, 2024
(NPR) – Holistic health care like this is rare among the country’s 2 million adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Carlson’s doctor, Clarissa Kripke, says this is what it looks like when health care “does better” by people with disabilities; … Read More
March 18, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – The Palestine Red Crescent Society estimated at the end of December about 12,000 people, including about 5,000 children, had lost one or more limbs because of the war in Gaza. The organization, based in the West … Read More
March 18, 2024
March 14, 2024
(CBS News) – Paul Alexander, a North Texas man who lived in an iron lung for most of his life, has died. According to his obituary, he died on March 11. He was 78. To the world, Dallas native Paul … Read More
March 13, 2024
March 12, 2024
March 11, 2024
(Associated Press) – Doctors around the country say UnitedHealthcare and other insurers have made it harder to get coverage for certain home ventilators that patients like Armant need as their lungs fail. They say patients often must struggle first with … Read More
March 8, 2024
March 4, 2024
(Maryland The Daily Record) – Lawmakers have tabled a fiercely debated bill that would have granted terminally ill Maryland residents the right to end their lives, a setback to supporters who hoped it would finally pass this year. Senate President … Read More
March 4, 2024
(New York Times) – Indiana’s social services agency has announced plans to end the caregiver program, citing a nearly $1 billion shortfall in the state Medicaid budget. By July 1, parents and guardians caring for children and spouses caring for … Read More
February 26, 2024
(Chicago Sun Times) – Right now, those of us with disabilities are facing a significant battle: the defeat of a growing movement that wants to make physician-assisted suicide legal in Illinois. This fight is one with the goal to, literally, … Read More
February 14, 2024
(PBS) – Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, many health care providers say an increasing number of patients are deciding the fate of their pregnancies on whatever information they can gather before state abortion bans kick in. But early ultrasounds … Read More
February 13, 2024
(New York Times) – Brooke Ellison, who after being paralyzed from the neck down by a childhood car accident went on to graduate from Harvard and became a professor and a devoted disability rights advocate, died on Sunday in Stony … Read More
February 9, 2024
(ABC News) – Ecuador’s high court on Wednesday decriminalized euthanasia and ordered lawmakers and health officials to draft rules and regulations for the procedure. The decision of Ecuador’s Constitutional Court came in response to a lawsuit from a terminally ill … Read More
February 6, 2024
(NPR) – The U.S. Census Bureau is no longer moving forward with a controversial proposal that could have shrunk a key estimated rate of disability in the United States by about 40%, the bureau’s director said Tuesday in a blog … Read More
February 2, 2024
(The Telegraph via MSN) – Last Saturday, an autistic Dutch woman died at home by assisted suicide, with her parents and best friend by her side. Her passing is significant to those far beyond her circle or who followed her … Read More