NEW HAVEN OPEN: Wheelchair tennis provides opportunities, outlet for disabled players | The New Haven Register

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By Henry Chisholm

New Haven — New Hampshire natives Steven Riley and Dick Lane were never into tennis prior to car accidents that landed both in wheelchairs.

Now they participate in tournaments across the country and are part of the Gaylord Specialty Healthcare Wheelchair Tennis Team. They put on an exhibition at the New Haven Open on Wednesday.

Riley said he began playing the game about five years ago, using it as a means of staying in shape.

For more on this story, visit: NEW HAVEN OPEN: Wheelchair tennis provides opportunities, outlet for disabled players video, photos- The New Haven Register – Serving New Haven, Connecticut.

Disability activists in wheelchairs arrested at Gracie Mansion ADA celebration | Waging Nonviolence

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Police in New York City arrested several wheelchair users at a demonstration sponsored by Occupy’s Disability Caucus on August 8. Demonstrators gathered in front of Gracie Mansion to protest the annual Mayor Bloomberg-sponsored event “celebrating” the Americans with Disabilities Act. The protest was focused on the mayor’s ferocious opposition to making the New York City taxi fleet accessible, as has been done in London and elsewhere. Bloomberg has stated publicly that he does not think that wheelchair users should be out on the street hailing cabs, and has publicly voiced sympathy for taxi drivers who, despite the law, choose not to stop for people with wheelchairs.

For more on this story, visit: Disability activists in wheelchairs arrested at Gracie Mansion ADA celebration / Waging Nonviolence – People-Powered News and Analysis.

Posted in ADA

Woman Sues Connecticut Town for Discrimination | The New American

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Winchester, Connecticut — a town that is 94.5 percent white — has been sued because it allegedly refused to provide low-income housing to Crystal Carter, a single black mother with six children.

The plaintiff’s attorney is the leftist non-profit Connecticut Fair Housing Center, which is seeking attorney fees.

The Lawsuit

At issue in the lawsuit is the Winchester Housing Authority’s “residency requirement,” enacted in October of 2010. It says those who want to live in low-income housing in Winchester or any of 16 other communities that compose the area’s Rental Assistance Alliance must live in one of those communities. According to the lawsuit, “Public housing authorities, such as WHA, are prohibited from using ‘residency requirements’ in allocating Section 8 vouchers. They cannot refuse to provide Section 8 vouchers to families simply because they are not residents of the City, town, or jurisdiction in which the public housing authority is situated.”

For more on this story, visit: Woman Sues Connecticut Town for Discrimination.

Feds: Transition Services In Need Of Improvement – Disability Scoop

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As students with disabilities transition out of high school, a new government report finds the path to independence is overly complicated.

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, kids with disabilities are eligible for a broad range of services through their local school district. However, once these students complete high school, they must apply and be deemed eligible for services administered by upwards of four federal agencies in order to continue receiving government assistance.

For more on this story, visit: Feds: Transition Services In Need Of Improvement – Disability Scoop.

Clinical Trial at Yale for C6-T12 Spinal Cord Injury patients — earn up to $850

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Clinical Trial at Yale University Departments of Radiology and Neurology
posted April 2012

Recruiting patients (ages 18-60) who suffered traumatic spinal cord injury between cervical spine level C6 and thoracic spine level T12 who remain neurologically injured at severity level ASIA (American Spinal Injury Association) A or B at greater than 3 months since acute injury to participate in an IRB-approved clinical study using a novel imaging technique to evaluate potential nerve fiber regeneration.

To be eligible, patients must…

1.) Have spinal cord injury as outlined above without prior neurological injury

2.) Must NOT take a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI – Prozac, Paxil, Celexa, Lexapro, Zoloft, Cymbal lta, Effexor) within two weeks of the imaging study

3.) Be able to lie flat for approx. 30-45 minutes

You must undergo an initial screening visit including routine lab work. If eligible, a second visit will be scheduled for imaging studies. All visits take place at the Yale University PET Research Center near Yale – New Haven Hospital.

You will be compensated for an initial visit ($50) and, if eligible, a second visit for imaging (up to $850). Reasonable transportation costs will be reimbursed with valid receipts.

If interested, please contact Brian Kelley at 203-785-5091 or [email protected]

Want to expunge an old record? Want to learn more about Connecticut’s pardon system? Come to a FREE Pardons Session

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Want to expunge an old record? Want to learn more about Connecticut’s pardon system? Come to a FREE Pardons Session. Volunteers will be providing one-on-one informal assistance with pardons applications. Attend one or all sessions for help completing your pardon application.

Summer 2012 remaining sessions: 4-6 p.m.

July 25; and
Aug. 8.

4-4:30 is Intro to CT Pardons
… 4:30-6 is 1-on-1 assistance.

All sessions take place at City Hall (165 Church St.) Meeting Room 3, New Haven.

Questions? Contact the Reentry Initiative (203) 946-7658, or email [email protected].

Michael Ashley Stein strives for disability rights around the globe – The Boston Globe

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AS A STUDENT AT HARVARD Law School, Michael Ashley Stein was aware of how privileged he was. But as someone with a disability (a rare illness had left him in a wheelchair at 14), he was also deeply conscious of what it meant to be an outsider. Because of a lack of elevators, he had to push himself through the snow and ice during the winter while classmates stayed warm in underground tunnels; as the first person with a disability on the staff of the Harvard Law Review, he dragged himself up stairs to the office. “I certainly learned what it was like to live as someone semi-deprived,” Stein says. At the same time, “I never quite lost the perspective of how lucky I am relative to many people not only in this country, but in the developing world.”

via Michael Ashley Stein strives for disability rights around the globe – Magazine – The Boston Globe.

Gov. Dannel Malloy sign order establishing Developmental Disabilities Council

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(HARTFORD, CT) – Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has signed an executive order formally establishing the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities, a move that will allow the council to better carry out its mission of promoting self-determination, independence, productivity, integration and inclusion in all facets of community life for people with developmental disabilities.

“The purpose for formally establishing the council through an executive order was to provide a more comprehensive framework for the council, so that it can more effectively and productively conduct its business as mandated by federal law,” said Gov. Malloy.  “I wholeheartedly support the council’s advocacy of promoting the full inclusion of all people with disabilities and want to ensure its mission can be achieved in the most productive way possible.”

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Live United for Education; Message from Richard Porth, President, United Way of Connecticut

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Connecticut United Ways are contributing to ensuring educational success for all of Connecticut’s youth. In June, United Way of Connecticut sponsored a United Way Education Conference to provide an opportunity to highlight successful United Way education initiatives and to investigate opportunities for United Ways in Connecticut to collaborate for greater impact. The United Way call to action is to “Live United for Education.” Click here for more information on the United Way commitment to education.