Shirley Cheng, a blind and physically disabled 25-year-old author, has been named a finalist in the 2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the Motivational category for her new book, "Embrace Ultra-Ability! Wisdom, Insight & Motivation from the Blind Who Sees Far and Wide."
"After winning eight awards, what else is there to say? How could I possibly describe how I feel write now? But don't be surprised if you see me dancing on a cloud," says Cheng.
Shirley Cheng (b. 1983), a blind and physically disabled award-winning author, motivational speaker, self-empowerment expert, poet, author of seven books, contributing author of ten books, and a parental rights advocate, has had severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis since infancy. Owing to years of hospitalization, she received no education until age eleven. However, after only about 180 days of special education in elementary school, she mastered grade level in all areas and entered a regular sixth grade class in middle school. Unfortunately, Shirley lost her eyesight at the age of seventeen. After a successful eye surgery, she hopes to earn multiple science doctorates from Harvard University. http://www.shirleycheng.com
Shirley Cheng is the author of Waking Spirit: Prose & Poems the Spirit Sings (with foreword by New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Brian), a heartfelt collection that explores a world of dancing hearts, singing spirits, with infinite love from life (ISBN: 9780615136806 paperback; 9780615138930 hardback); Daring Quests of Mystics, a soothing read to relax the mind, body, and spirit (ISBN: 9781411656642); an empowering 700-page autobiography, The Revelation of a Star's Endless Shine: A Young Woman's Autobiography of a 20-Year Tale of Trials and Tribulations (ISBN: 9781411618602); and Dance with Your Heart: Tales and Poems That the Heart Tells, an anthology of inspirational and fantasy short stories (fairy tales, fables, and myths) and poems for the heart from the heart (ISBN: 9781411618589).
Waking Spirit is an award-winning finalist in the national Indie Excellence 2007 Book Awards in the new age nonfiction category, Honorable Mention in the 2007 New York Book Festival in the poetry category, as well as Honorable Mention in the 2007 DIY Book Festival in the poetry category.
With highly acclaimed experts like Dr. Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins, and Brian Tracy, Shirley co-authored Wake Up...Live the Life You Love: Finding Life's Passion, the latest installment in the bestselling Wake Up...Live the Life You Love series; she is also the co-author of 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2, along with leading experts Jack Canfield, John Gray, Richard Carlson, Alan Cohen, Bob Proctor, et al.
Shirley is also an advocate of parental rights in children's medical care, and aide/caregiver monitoring and screening for students with special needs and disabled people. As a parental rights advocate, she wants to help today's loving parents protect and keep custody of their children. "When doctors ask yes or no, parents should have the right to say no," says Shirley, who is the survivor of the 1990 five-month internationally broadcast news of mother Juliet Cheng's custody battle with a doctor. Juliet was on CBS This Morning with Paula Zahn.
Shirley promotes aide advocacy for the disabled because she was mistreated and abused by one-to-one aides when she attended school. "The trouble with the uncaring aides actually lies with the authorities," she says. "If they listened to my complaints and kept a close watch on the aides, I wouldn't have gone through all the suffering."
She had been published twice before her writing career. One of her short stories, Mary Miller, the Elusive Lady, received Honorable Mention and was published by the Poughkeepsie Journal in 1997, and a poem, The Colors of the Rainbow, earned merit status and was published in Celebrate! New York Young Poets Speak Out in 1999.
In 2006, Shirley tied for 1st place in the national writing contest for Be the Star You Are! founded by New York Times bestselling author, TV/radio personality Cynthia Brian, garnering her a third appearance on Cynthia's live radio show. Shirley's winning entry, titled The Jewel from Heavenly Father, is dedicated to her beloved mother Juliet Cheng. In 2007, Shirley received Honorable Mention in the same contest for her essay, I Hold the Power, her personal story of overcoming blindness at the age of seventeen.
Source:
American Chronicle, CA
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Disabled residents have support
KINGMAN - Because of Bullhead City's and much of the area's short history, the public buildings in the Tri-state are generally accessible for the disabled.
With more than 10,000 people in the area with some kind of disability, the Tri-state offers disabled residents transportation, support groups, entertainment and financial assistance, making their lives a little easier.
Eric Beiningen has worked as a defense attorney with the legal defender's office for most of the eight years he has lived in Mohave County. Born with spina bifida, a birth defect of the spine, he has been confined to a wheelchair his entire life.
A resident of Bullhead City, he drives himself to the legal defender's office every day in Kingman, wheeling himself back and forth to court across the street from his office. He said he has not joined any support groups in the area.
Because Bullhead City and Laughlin are relatively new cities, the buildings are more likely to be designed for wheelchair access. Growing up in South Dakota, he said some of the buildings back east, such as at Northern State University where he went to college, did not have elevators, making it tough, if not impossible, to access higher floors, Beiningen said.
The terrain in Bullhead City and along the Colorado River is also relatively flat, making it easier to get around. Some sidewalks and curbs have cuts, allowing people in wheelchairs to get around. One drawback he has found at some of the Laughlin casinos is the plush carpet that makes it harder to wheel his chair through the gaming rooms.
Orlando and Etta Hartford's 11-year-old daughter, Cynthia, suffers from congenital cytomeglo-virus. While on his dangerous duty as a firefighter and paramedic with the Bullhead City Fire Department, Orlando may have been exposed to a virus, which led to his daughter's condition during her conception.
Etta said pushing her daughter's wheelchair into stores or utility companies is hampered by a lack of automatic doors or wheelchair ramps onto the sidewalk. She also said many restaurant bathrooms are lacking in wheelchair accessibility. She also asks people who are not disabled not to use a bathroom stall designed for those in wheelchairs.
Etta has organized a group called Bullhead Area Parent Partnership, which helps parents of special needs children make their lives more positive.
The group has worked with the Bullhead City Parks and Recreation Department to modify playground equipment to make it more accessible to children in wheelchairs. The group's other goal is to add a voice for parents of children with special needs in the state Legislature.
Orlando said having a daughter with special needs allows him to be more familiar with other families who may have a relative with special needs whom he meets in his job as a paramedic/firefighter.
Vernon Gerhardt, 88, is the vice president of the Vision Impaired Person's support group that meets once a month in Bullhead City. Gerhardt, like about 60 percent of the 40-60 people who attend the meetings, suffers from macular degeneration. One goal of the group is to supply magnifying readers to people with limited vision. The readers magnify the print of magazines, books or newspapers about 60 times, allowing people who are visually impaired to read.
Gerhardt usually has someone take him when he goes out. His wish is to find more transportation for the visually impaired to go to their doctors, shopping or to restaurants.
The Vision Impaired Person's support group meets at 1 p.m. the fourth Thursday of each month at the senior center, located at 2275 Trane Road. The VIP support group tries to loan members the read/write units that allow members to read text up close. The group's dues are $1 a year and members must attend the monthly meeting at least five times per year. For more information about the group, call 928-565-2275.
A meat cutter for Smith's Food and Drug Center and other stores for 28 years, retiree Don Brink, 71, also attends meetings of the Vision Impaired Person's support group. Legally blind because of diabetes, Brink also lost his leg from just below the knee to the disease. However, he is able to walk with a prosthetic leg.
Living in a senior apartment complex in Bullhead City, Brink's children or a caretaker takes him to the store or on other errands. He also takes Bullhead Area Transit Service or the county senior bus service, but one has to notify BATS a day in advance and sometimes a week in advance for the senior bus service if they have a disability.
Brink enjoys going to the blackjack tables or the slot machines in Laughlin. Only able to read his own cards up close, the blackjack dealer will tell him or other vision impaired gamblers what the dealer's showing cards are, he said.
Bullhead City resident Lee Bias suffers from multiple sclerosis, which she has had for about 30 years. She has been in a wheelchair for the last four years. Before that, she worked as a waitress and raised her children. She now takes an expensive shot that stabilizes her disease, which has no cure. However, if the shots she now takes were affordable years ago, she would now be better off physically. Shots such as Avonex that cost as much as $1,500 a month are too expensive for most people.
Because her street does not have a sidewalk, Bias cannot take her wheelchair around her neighborhood. She also avoids the street because of the traffic. Most of the Laughlin casinos, shopping centers and government buildings in and around Bullhead City are handicapped accessible for wheelchairs, but many restaurant restrooms throughout the area are not, she added.
Bias, 56, who moved to Bullhead City more than 10 years ago, praises the MS support group in Bullhead City but does not go to the meetings herself. She does not go anywhere without her husband pushing her regular chair. Her motorized wheelchair is too heavy to tote around by herself, she said.
For more information about the MS support group, call 928-758-3561.
Source:
Mohave Valley News, NV
With more than 10,000 people in the area with some kind of disability, the Tri-state offers disabled residents transportation, support groups, entertainment and financial assistance, making their lives a little easier.
Eric Beiningen has worked as a defense attorney with the legal defender's office for most of the eight years he has lived in Mohave County. Born with spina bifida, a birth defect of the spine, he has been confined to a wheelchair his entire life.
A resident of Bullhead City, he drives himself to the legal defender's office every day in Kingman, wheeling himself back and forth to court across the street from his office. He said he has not joined any support groups in the area.
Because Bullhead City and Laughlin are relatively new cities, the buildings are more likely to be designed for wheelchair access. Growing up in South Dakota, he said some of the buildings back east, such as at Northern State University where he went to college, did not have elevators, making it tough, if not impossible, to access higher floors, Beiningen said.
The terrain in Bullhead City and along the Colorado River is also relatively flat, making it easier to get around. Some sidewalks and curbs have cuts, allowing people in wheelchairs to get around. One drawback he has found at some of the Laughlin casinos is the plush carpet that makes it harder to wheel his chair through the gaming rooms.
Orlando and Etta Hartford's 11-year-old daughter, Cynthia, suffers from congenital cytomeglo-virus. While on his dangerous duty as a firefighter and paramedic with the Bullhead City Fire Department, Orlando may have been exposed to a virus, which led to his daughter's condition during her conception.
Etta said pushing her daughter's wheelchair into stores or utility companies is hampered by a lack of automatic doors or wheelchair ramps onto the sidewalk. She also said many restaurant bathrooms are lacking in wheelchair accessibility. She also asks people who are not disabled not to use a bathroom stall designed for those in wheelchairs.
Etta has organized a group called Bullhead Area Parent Partnership, which helps parents of special needs children make their lives more positive.
The group has worked with the Bullhead City Parks and Recreation Department to modify playground equipment to make it more accessible to children in wheelchairs. The group's other goal is to add a voice for parents of children with special needs in the state Legislature.
Orlando said having a daughter with special needs allows him to be more familiar with other families who may have a relative with special needs whom he meets in his job as a paramedic/firefighter.
Vernon Gerhardt, 88, is the vice president of the Vision Impaired Person's support group that meets once a month in Bullhead City. Gerhardt, like about 60 percent of the 40-60 people who attend the meetings, suffers from macular degeneration. One goal of the group is to supply magnifying readers to people with limited vision. The readers magnify the print of magazines, books or newspapers about 60 times, allowing people who are visually impaired to read.
Gerhardt usually has someone take him when he goes out. His wish is to find more transportation for the visually impaired to go to their doctors, shopping or to restaurants.
The Vision Impaired Person's support group meets at 1 p.m. the fourth Thursday of each month at the senior center, located at 2275 Trane Road. The VIP support group tries to loan members the read/write units that allow members to read text up close. The group's dues are $1 a year and members must attend the monthly meeting at least five times per year. For more information about the group, call 928-565-2275.
A meat cutter for Smith's Food and Drug Center and other stores for 28 years, retiree Don Brink, 71, also attends meetings of the Vision Impaired Person's support group. Legally blind because of diabetes, Brink also lost his leg from just below the knee to the disease. However, he is able to walk with a prosthetic leg.
Living in a senior apartment complex in Bullhead City, Brink's children or a caretaker takes him to the store or on other errands. He also takes Bullhead Area Transit Service or the county senior bus service, but one has to notify BATS a day in advance and sometimes a week in advance for the senior bus service if they have a disability.
Brink enjoys going to the blackjack tables or the slot machines in Laughlin. Only able to read his own cards up close, the blackjack dealer will tell him or other vision impaired gamblers what the dealer's showing cards are, he said.
Bullhead City resident Lee Bias suffers from multiple sclerosis, which she has had for about 30 years. She has been in a wheelchair for the last four years. Before that, she worked as a waitress and raised her children. She now takes an expensive shot that stabilizes her disease, which has no cure. However, if the shots she now takes were affordable years ago, she would now be better off physically. Shots such as Avonex that cost as much as $1,500 a month are too expensive for most people.
Because her street does not have a sidewalk, Bias cannot take her wheelchair around her neighborhood. She also avoids the street because of the traffic. Most of the Laughlin casinos, shopping centers and government buildings in and around Bullhead City are handicapped accessible for wheelchairs, but many restaurant restrooms throughout the area are not, she added.
Bias, 56, who moved to Bullhead City more than 10 years ago, praises the MS support group in Bullhead City but does not go to the meetings herself. She does not go anywhere without her husband pushing her regular chair. Her motorized wheelchair is too heavy to tote around by herself, she said.
For more information about the MS support group, call 928-758-3561.
Source:
Mohave Valley News, NV
Disabled group sues airport
Roseville man sues airline, seeks improvements for travelers
By Jameson Cook
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
A Roseville man is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against a major airline and the authority that operates Detroit Metropolitan Airport that his lawyer says could have nationwide ramifications.
Martin Drouillard, 61, is one of five disabled people who in April sued Northwest Airlines Inc. and the Wayne County Airport Authority in federal court in Detroit, claiming both entities have violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws requiring them to provide adequate accommodations for those with disabilities.
"When you talk about civil rights, that includes talking about rights for people with disabilities, the right to travel and go places," said attorney Richard Bernstein. "This case will affect airports across the country. A systematic and epidemic problem exists in the airline industry. ... It'll only get better when they are forced to (make changes)."
He said potential precedents set in this case could help able-bodied air travelers in areas such as safety, cancellations and lost luggage.
The plaintiffs seek improvements in procedures and accommodations for the disabled.
Among the many complaints in the lawsuit are lack of boarding assistance, special seating, stowage for wheelchairs, accessible bathrooms, transportation to and from parking areas, litter areas for service animals such as seeing-eye dogs, and "ticket kiosks and in-flight entertainment devices" for the blind.
In addition, NWA charges the disabled higher, make service counters too tall, damage wheelchairs and other equipment, and force disabled people to wait in line for long periods.
"Defendants treat them as second-class citizens, and unjustly disregard their basic rights to equality and dignity, and cause embarrassment, humiliation, harassment and emotional distress," the lawsuit says.
Man dropped
Drouillard, a wheelchair user, said in an interview with The Macomb Daily he was dropped from a special chair inside the airplane last October because an employee failed to strap him in, and was denied a special seat in 2005 even though he was told one would be made available and a woman indicated she would give up the special seat.
Drouillard said the airline is "inconsistent" in providing special accommodations for the disabled, as it is required to do.
Bernstein noted the plaintiffs are not seeking monetary damages, only that the airline and authority comply with special accommodations they must provide by law at the Romulus airport to those with disabilities. He accused Northwest of violating a 2002 settlement between Northwest and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation over air travelers with disabilities. NWA paid a $700,000 civil penalty and agreed to conform to ACAA and DOT regulations.
Northwest officials could not be reached for comment Friday, but have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
NWA responds
NWA contends in the legal brief the plaintiffs should not even be able to sue the airline. NWA argues that many of the allegations don't apply to NWA; the court does not have jurisdiction over the Air Carrier Access Act, under which some claims are made; and the ADA and Rehabilitation Act, under which allegations are made, do not apply to "airline carriers."
"Plaintiffs make several claims that are contrary to actual facts," says the legal brief penned by attorney Tiffany Buckley. "Plaintiffs made allegations against NWA that actually relate to other entities, such as the Transportation Security Administration and the Wayne County Airport Authority."
NWA says private parties cannot sue to enforce the regulations; that falls with governmental agencies.
Bernstein said two years ago he met with authority officials about improving access for the disabled, but upgrades have not occurred.
Airport takes matter 'seriously'
Michael Conway, director of public affairs for the authority, confirmed the two sides talked but could provide little comment.
"Providing service to our customers with special needs is something the airport authority takes very seriously," Conway said in a written statement. "However, since Mr. Bernstein has filed a legal action in this matter, it would not be prudent for us to comment."
The WCAA filed an answer to the lawsuit, saying many of the accusations are untrue or that the authority cannot admit or deny them.
The plaintiffs must file response legal briefs by May 29 in U.S. District Court. The case has been assigned to Judge George C. Steeh.
Bernstein, who is blind and specializes in advocating for the rights of the disabled, said his office has received many complaints about the airlines. He picked five that represent various problems at the airport and types of disabilities. Many other witnesses could provide tales of discrimination and lack of accommodations, he said.
"People come to us with all kinds of issues, and we realized this is becoming a serious problem," he said. "We have a large number of witnesses who can talk about incidents that are even more horrific than those in the complaint."
He declined to elaborate on the number of potential witnesses.
Accomodations decline
Drouillard, who retired in 2004 as an assistant principal at Roseville High School, has been a wheelchair user since a diving accident in 1983 left him a quadriplegic, although he can move his arms and has some use of his hands. He said he has traveled via air to Las Vegas 26 times, 20 of them on Northwest since he began traveling in 1992. He said accommodations for the disabled at Northwest in the 1990s and early 2000s gradually improved, but have declined in the past three to four years.
"It's the consistency; sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not," he said. "I've had a couple of bad experiences."
Drouillard said last October on a flight departing from Detroit he was not given a "bulkhead" seat -- first row behind business class, which has more leg room -- even though at least one person in one of the seats indicated she was willing to trade.
"The people there didn't know what 'reasonable accommodations' means," Drouillard said.
He said he requested the seat when he first purchased it in July. He was first told one was not available then told to arrive early, and employees would find another passenger to trade with him. But that never occurred. About two-thirds of the way through the flight, a woman in one of the seats indicated she would give up her seat.
Parking an issue
In 2005, Drouillard fell from a special wheelchair, called an "aisle chair," the airlines use to transport disabled people from the terminal into their seat because an employee failed to strap him in and left him. The incident occurred before he was to be lifted from the aisle chair to his seat on the airplane.
"I ended up on the floor," he said. "At first I thought my ankle was broken because my shoe came off a little bit, and it looked like it was twisted. When I said, 'Oh my God, I think my ankle is broken,' that got some attention."
Drouillard, who weighs more than 200 pounds, said another common problem is Northwest sometimes deploys staffers who are not strong or trained to lift him from the aisle chair into his seat.
"I'm a pretty big guy, not easy to lift," he said. "I don't want to get hurt or someone else to get hurt."
Drouillard, who drives a specially equipped SUV, says in the lawsuit he was denied "accessible parking" due to lack of spaces and/or lack of signage to direct a disabled person to spaces.
He says he also has experienced long waits while waiting to be removed from an airplane.
Drouillard noted that the accommodations decreased about the same time Northwest completed the Edward H. McNamara terminal at Northwest World Gateway. However, Bernstein attributed it to the airlines' lack of attention and resources.
"They have cut staff and don't have the necessary protocol and procedures," Bernstein said.
Drouillard is divorced and has three adult children.
Besides Drouillard, plaintiffs include Deborah Thomas and Emma Daniels, both of Detroit, James Keskeny of Pickney and Jill Babcock of Farmington.
Source:
Macomb Daily, MI
By Jameson Cook
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
A Roseville man is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against a major airline and the authority that operates Detroit Metropolitan Airport that his lawyer says could have nationwide ramifications.
Martin Drouillard, 61, is one of five disabled people who in April sued Northwest Airlines Inc. and the Wayne County Airport Authority in federal court in Detroit, claiming both entities have violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws requiring them to provide adequate accommodations for those with disabilities.
"When you talk about civil rights, that includes talking about rights for people with disabilities, the right to travel and go places," said attorney Richard Bernstein. "This case will affect airports across the country. A systematic and epidemic problem exists in the airline industry. ... It'll only get better when they are forced to (make changes)."
He said potential precedents set in this case could help able-bodied air travelers in areas such as safety, cancellations and lost luggage.
The plaintiffs seek improvements in procedures and accommodations for the disabled.
Among the many complaints in the lawsuit are lack of boarding assistance, special seating, stowage for wheelchairs, accessible bathrooms, transportation to and from parking areas, litter areas for service animals such as seeing-eye dogs, and "ticket kiosks and in-flight entertainment devices" for the blind.
In addition, NWA charges the disabled higher, make service counters too tall, damage wheelchairs and other equipment, and force disabled people to wait in line for long periods.
"Defendants treat them as second-class citizens, and unjustly disregard their basic rights to equality and dignity, and cause embarrassment, humiliation, harassment and emotional distress," the lawsuit says.
Man dropped
Drouillard, a wheelchair user, said in an interview with The Macomb Daily he was dropped from a special chair inside the airplane last October because an employee failed to strap him in, and was denied a special seat in 2005 even though he was told one would be made available and a woman indicated she would give up the special seat.
Drouillard said the airline is "inconsistent" in providing special accommodations for the disabled, as it is required to do.
Bernstein noted the plaintiffs are not seeking monetary damages, only that the airline and authority comply with special accommodations they must provide by law at the Romulus airport to those with disabilities. He accused Northwest of violating a 2002 settlement between Northwest and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation over air travelers with disabilities. NWA paid a $700,000 civil penalty and agreed to conform to ACAA and DOT regulations.
Northwest officials could not be reached for comment Friday, but have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
NWA responds
NWA contends in the legal brief the plaintiffs should not even be able to sue the airline. NWA argues that many of the allegations don't apply to NWA; the court does not have jurisdiction over the Air Carrier Access Act, under which some claims are made; and the ADA and Rehabilitation Act, under which allegations are made, do not apply to "airline carriers."
"Plaintiffs make several claims that are contrary to actual facts," says the legal brief penned by attorney Tiffany Buckley. "Plaintiffs made allegations against NWA that actually relate to other entities, such as the Transportation Security Administration and the Wayne County Airport Authority."
NWA says private parties cannot sue to enforce the regulations; that falls with governmental agencies.
Bernstein said two years ago he met with authority officials about improving access for the disabled, but upgrades have not occurred.
Airport takes matter 'seriously'
Michael Conway, director of public affairs for the authority, confirmed the two sides talked but could provide little comment.
"Providing service to our customers with special needs is something the airport authority takes very seriously," Conway said in a written statement. "However, since Mr. Bernstein has filed a legal action in this matter, it would not be prudent for us to comment."
The WCAA filed an answer to the lawsuit, saying many of the accusations are untrue or that the authority cannot admit or deny them.
The plaintiffs must file response legal briefs by May 29 in U.S. District Court. The case has been assigned to Judge George C. Steeh.
Bernstein, who is blind and specializes in advocating for the rights of the disabled, said his office has received many complaints about the airlines. He picked five that represent various problems at the airport and types of disabilities. Many other witnesses could provide tales of discrimination and lack of accommodations, he said.
"People come to us with all kinds of issues, and we realized this is becoming a serious problem," he said. "We have a large number of witnesses who can talk about incidents that are even more horrific than those in the complaint."
He declined to elaborate on the number of potential witnesses.
Accomodations decline
Drouillard, who retired in 2004 as an assistant principal at Roseville High School, has been a wheelchair user since a diving accident in 1983 left him a quadriplegic, although he can move his arms and has some use of his hands. He said he has traveled via air to Las Vegas 26 times, 20 of them on Northwest since he began traveling in 1992. He said accommodations for the disabled at Northwest in the 1990s and early 2000s gradually improved, but have declined in the past three to four years.
"It's the consistency; sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not," he said. "I've had a couple of bad experiences."
Drouillard said last October on a flight departing from Detroit he was not given a "bulkhead" seat -- first row behind business class, which has more leg room -- even though at least one person in one of the seats indicated she was willing to trade.
"The people there didn't know what 'reasonable accommodations' means," Drouillard said.
He said he requested the seat when he first purchased it in July. He was first told one was not available then told to arrive early, and employees would find another passenger to trade with him. But that never occurred. About two-thirds of the way through the flight, a woman in one of the seats indicated she would give up her seat.
Parking an issue
In 2005, Drouillard fell from a special wheelchair, called an "aisle chair," the airlines use to transport disabled people from the terminal into their seat because an employee failed to strap him in and left him. The incident occurred before he was to be lifted from the aisle chair to his seat on the airplane.
"I ended up on the floor," he said. "At first I thought my ankle was broken because my shoe came off a little bit, and it looked like it was twisted. When I said, 'Oh my God, I think my ankle is broken,' that got some attention."
Drouillard, who weighs more than 200 pounds, said another common problem is Northwest sometimes deploys staffers who are not strong or trained to lift him from the aisle chair into his seat.
"I'm a pretty big guy, not easy to lift," he said. "I don't want to get hurt or someone else to get hurt."
Drouillard, who drives a specially equipped SUV, says in the lawsuit he was denied "accessible parking" due to lack of spaces and/or lack of signage to direct a disabled person to spaces.
He says he also has experienced long waits while waiting to be removed from an airplane.
Drouillard noted that the accommodations decreased about the same time Northwest completed the Edward H. McNamara terminal at Northwest World Gateway. However, Bernstein attributed it to the airlines' lack of attention and resources.
"They have cut staff and don't have the necessary protocol and procedures," Bernstein said.
Drouillard is divorced and has three adult children.
Besides Drouillard, plaintiffs include Deborah Thomas and Emma Daniels, both of Detroit, James Keskeny of Pickney and Jill Babcock of Farmington.
Source:
Macomb Daily, MI
Task force addresses needs of the disabled
Scottdale-area residents concerned about treatment of disabled people met recently.
The group, calling itself the Westmoreland County Disability Task Force, hopes to address the needs of the disabled and work with feedback from those in need of assistance.
Members from several area agencies attended the meeting to gauge the wants and needs of the disabled in the county.
"Today will be a brainstorming meeting in which we can discuss information about the people of Westmoreland County who are living with disabilities," resident Norene Price said at the initial meeting. "We are hoping to get together a good group of concerned people who are willing to go for it and work to get something accomplished."
The first topic of discussion was the major one.
"Transportation -- or lack of -- is our No. 1 concern," Price said.
An informal discussion on the issues of transportation was then held, with the layout of the county itself addressed as the cause for problems in the area.
"Unlike Allegheny County, which is made up a great deal by the city of Pittsburgh itself, Westmoreland County is a big county and it's more rural in general," said Steven E. Chopek of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. "It consists of many smaller remote towns that pose problems for public transportation."
Housing was also a topic that was discussed, stressing the lack of good, affordable living quarters for those with disabilities and also for the elderly.
"There is not enough good housing available for people with disabilities," Chopek said. "The public attitude needs to change to a more proactive attitude."
Other topics discussed at the meeting included consumer and community awareness of the Americans With Disabilities Act, veterans with disabilities, the identification of local service organizations, and voting issues and problems for those who suffer from disabilities.
The group also discussed playing host to an awareness and anniversary celebration of the ADA, with the date being set tentatively for sometime in July.
"We want to embrace all people with disabilities and not just those with physical disabilities but those with developmental disabilities as well, and we have lots and lots of work to do," said Victoria Campbell of the Three Rivers Center for Independent Living. "We need to get out there and beat the bushes. We can't get everything solved in one day. None of us can work without the other and we all need to join forces to move ahead with this."
The group is offering an open invitation to all area service groups and organization. The group's next meeting will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Music n' More on Broadway in Scottdale.
Source:
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA
The group, calling itself the Westmoreland County Disability Task Force, hopes to address the needs of the disabled and work with feedback from those in need of assistance.
Members from several area agencies attended the meeting to gauge the wants and needs of the disabled in the county.
"Today will be a brainstorming meeting in which we can discuss information about the people of Westmoreland County who are living with disabilities," resident Norene Price said at the initial meeting. "We are hoping to get together a good group of concerned people who are willing to go for it and work to get something accomplished."
The first topic of discussion was the major one.
"Transportation -- or lack of -- is our No. 1 concern," Price said.
An informal discussion on the issues of transportation was then held, with the layout of the county itself addressed as the cause for problems in the area.
"Unlike Allegheny County, which is made up a great deal by the city of Pittsburgh itself, Westmoreland County is a big county and it's more rural in general," said Steven E. Chopek of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. "It consists of many smaller remote towns that pose problems for public transportation."
Housing was also a topic that was discussed, stressing the lack of good, affordable living quarters for those with disabilities and also for the elderly.
"There is not enough good housing available for people with disabilities," Chopek said. "The public attitude needs to change to a more proactive attitude."
Other topics discussed at the meeting included consumer and community awareness of the Americans With Disabilities Act, veterans with disabilities, the identification of local service organizations, and voting issues and problems for those who suffer from disabilities.
The group also discussed playing host to an awareness and anniversary celebration of the ADA, with the date being set tentatively for sometime in July.
"We want to embrace all people with disabilities and not just those with physical disabilities but those with developmental disabilities as well, and we have lots and lots of work to do," said Victoria Campbell of the Three Rivers Center for Independent Living. "We need to get out there and beat the bushes. We can't get everything solved in one day. None of us can work without the other and we all need to join forces to move ahead with this."
The group is offering an open invitation to all area service groups and organization. The group's next meeting will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Music n' More on Broadway in Scottdale.
Source:
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA
Special benefits for Malaysian Disabled
If you are disabled or your families/children, you can register with The Welfare Department of Malaysia to get assistance as follows:
Benefits
- Free medical treatment in public hospitals.
- Fare concession from MAS, KTM & Transnasional.
- Free passport.
- Special education in special schools and integrated classes.
- Financial Aids and Artificial Equipments.
- Disabled Workers’ Incentive Allowance .
- Rehabilitation & institutional services, and vocational training provided by JKM / NGOs.
- Job opportunities in public or private sectors.
- Income tax deduction.
- Free road tax.
- 50% sales tax exemption for purchase of national cars & motorcycles.
- Free monthly phone rental from Telekom Malaysia.
Please bring along:
For Registration with Social welfare Department
- 1 photocopy of child’s Birth Certificate.
- 1 photocopy of child’s NRIC (if above 18 years old).
- 3 NRIC-sized photographs of child.
- Diagnostic letter from doctor (optional).
For Registration with State Special Education Department
- 1 photocopy of child’s Birth Certificate.
- 2 passport-sized photographs of child.
- Diagnostic letter from doctor (optional).
Smart Casual / Baju Melayu / Baju Kurung.
For more information, please contact:
Miss Lee: 04 - 6585396 (Asia Community Service)
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