Connecticut, disability service provider cut ties | The New Haven Register

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A Massachusetts-based provider of services for the developmentally disabled will no longer run 13 facilities for the state of Connecticut as of July 1.

The May Institute has informed the state’s Department of Developmental Services it ending its relationship with the agency. Joan Barnish, a spokeswoman for DDS, said agency officials “are working toward having a succession plan in place by July 1.”

Barnish would not comment on whether the replacement for the May Institute would be a single contractor or multiple ones.

May Institute officials said the decision to end its relationship was a financial one.

For more on this story, visit: Connecticut, disability service provider cut ties- The New Haven Register – Serving New Haven, Connecticut.

Disability Access, Rights Questioned in Seymour | NBC Connecticut

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Connecticut’s cities and towns are supposed to provide equal access to public buildings for disabled citizens, however wheelchair-bound Seymour resident Joseph Luciano says his hometown is still missing crucial basics.

Just to get to town hall, Luciano says he puts his life on the line because he is unable to access the sidewalks. The routine task of checking his mail at his apartment building sends him into a busy street because a segment of curb prevents him from accessing it.

For more on this story, visit: Disability Access, Rights Questioned in Seymour | NBC Connecticut.

Letter: Wheelchair ‘street-riding’ to church | Citizen’s News

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What’s it like “street-riding” a motorized wheelcahir or “powerchair”? Short answer in five words: terrifying, scary, nerve-wracking, tense, daunting. I would have added nail-biting, but a stroke left me with use of only one leg and one hand. The latter I need to operate my powerchair, not biting fingernails.

Why would I be risking my life riding the streets of downtown Seymour — when I’m aware that recently in Bridgeport a wheelchair street-rider was killed in a collision with an SUV? The alternative is not going out at all, just wasting life away cooped up at home. Or, for tens of thousands of dollars, the state could send aides every day to take me out and push me to places downtown.

For more on this story, visit: Letter: Wheelchair ‘street-riding’ to church | Citizen’s News.

Disability must be a central plank of the post-2015 development framework | guardian.co.uk

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A polio patient in Kolkata. Post-2015 talks failed to make the progress called for by disability campaigners. Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty

The communique released at the end of the UN high-level panel (HLP) meeting on the post-2015 development agenda failed to mention disability, repeating in Bali the same omission notable in last month’s official communique from the Monrovia meeting.

It was a surprising oversight. Disabled people’s organisations had made a clear recommendation to the panel: in the monitoring and evaluation of targets and indicators, data should be disaggregated by disability. Building on learning from the millennium development goals (MDGs), and the inequality in progress under them, no post-2015 target should be considered to be met unless it equitably reached disabled people, they argued.

Their exhortations continued to fall on deaf ears, however. And if things don’t change, we risk the new development framework repeating a central failing of the MDGs – specifically, failing to tackle inequality by leaving out the world’s 1 billion disabled people.

For more on this story, visit: Disability must be a central plank of the post-2015 development framework | Global development | guardian.co.uk.

In Brazil, the disabled ride the waves | CBS News

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One minute, Renata Glasner is watching the waves crash on Leblon beach from her wheelchair. The next, she’s plowing through the turbulent waters, riding the choppy waves on a specially adapted surfboard.

Glasner, a 35-year-old graphic designer who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis four years ago, is one of dozens of disabled people on this special strip of Rio de Janeiro beach who are conquering the waves. Men and women with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, people missing a limb, the blind, the deaf and even the paralyzed all hit the waves here.

For more on this story, visit: In Brazil, the disabled ride the waves – CBS News.

West Haven Head Start is accepting applications

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West Haven Head Start is accepting applications. It provides part-year and full-year services to West Haven families meeting program guidelines. Children in foster care are eligible for Head Start services. Families who are homeless are also eligible. Head Start provides school readiness services and accepts children with special needs.

The program is located in the West Haven Community House at 227 Elm St., West Haven.

To request an intake appointment, call 203-934-5221, ext 135 or email your request to [email protected].

 

Alex Beckett, Intellectually Disabled Student Athlete, Scores For High School’s Basketball Team VIDEO

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Alex Beckett, an intellectually disabled high school student from Connecticut, made history last month when he scored a two-point basket for Guilford High’s basketball team.Not only was Alex in the starting line-up at Guilford’s junior varsity game, he was also the first to score for the team — which thrilled his teammates, the school administration and his many supporters.

For more on this story, visit: Alex Beckett, Intellectually Disabled Student Athlete, Scores For High School’s Basketball Team VIDEO.

Seymour Man Says Downtown Is Not Accessible By Wheelchair | Valley Independent Sentinel

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Joseph Luciano feels forced to ride his wheelchair on the streets due to the inaccessibility of the sidewalks in the town where he lives.

Joseph Luciano feels forced to ride his wheelchair on the streets due to the inaccessibility of the sidewalks in the town where he lives.

He uses a wheelchair and has the use of just one arm and one leg, yet 74-year-old Joseph Luciano can play jazz piano, author online cookbooks and pen newspaper columns advocating for the rights of people with disabilities.

What can’t he do?

Get into Seymour Town Hall or the post office across the street.

Luciano recently filed a complaint against First Selectman Kurt Miller and the Town of Seymour with the state’s Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. The commission hears complaints on alleged discriminatory practices.

For more on this story, visit: Seymour Man Says Downtown Is Not Accessible By Wheelchair | Valley Independent Sentinel.

Bristol’s Tonya Hall cherishes medals and memories

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TONYA-HALLBRISTOL — All it took was a moment for Tonya Hall to bring home the gold medal at the Special Olympics 2013 World Winter Games in South Korea.

“I won the gold medal by a second,” said Hall, who won the gold in the 100-meter cross-country skiing competition. “It was hard, but I did it. I won.”

The 30-year-old Bristol resident represented the USA at the games, which took place in PyeongChang Jan. 29 to Feb. 5.

For more on this story, visit: The Bristol Press: Bristol, Conn., and surrounding areas (BristolPress.com).

Alzheimer’s caregivers need help, and Cheshire offers support | The Cheshire Citizen

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In January, the Cheshire Senior Center, realizing the need, started a Caregivers Support Group for town residents. It meets at 10 a.m. on the fourth Wednesday of every month. The Senior Center is at 240 Maple Ave.

For more on this story, visit: Alzheimer’s caregivers need help, and Cheshire offers support – The Cheshire Citizen: News, Photos And More From Cheshire, CT..