As Football Season Heats Up, Youth Concussions May Rise
A concussion is a brain injury caused by a bump or blow to the head that can change the way your brain normally works. Even what seems to be a mild bump or blow to the head can be serious. As many as 3.8 million sports- and recreation-related concussions are estimated to occur in the United States each year.
To help ensure the health and safety of young athletes, CDC developed the “Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports” initiative to offer information about concussions—a type of traumatic brain injury—to coaches, parents, and athletes involved in youth sports. The “Heads Up” initiative provides important information on preventing, recognizing, and responding to a concussion.
To learn more about Heads Up and download fact sheets.
State Sued over Gateway Exams and Special Education Accommodations
Latricia Wilson should have graduated from Westside High School in 2002. Though she completed all of her coursework, Wilson did not receive her high school diploma because she failed the state's Algebra I Gateway exam.
Last month, Wilson filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the State Board of Education to discontinue the use of the Gateway as a graduation requirement. Wilson was diagnosed with a learning disability and would like to see alternative testing that takes learning disabilities into consideration.
"We filed on behalf of the students of Tennessee who are similarly situated," says Javier Bailey, Wilson's attorney. "I believe it's unconstitutional to have a standardized test of this nature without recognizing the fact that some students have disabilities." To read more about Latricia.
Vets with New Disabilities Get Employment Support
Before enlisting, Christina Hill delivered the mail. In the Army, she was a Blackhawk helicopter mechanic. After a 127mm rocket explosion in Iraq left her with shrapnel wounds, bone loss in her right arm, nerve damage in her leg left and post-traumatic stress disorder, neither of those careers was still open to her. Or much else."If an employer sees you have a disability, they believe your capabilities are minimized," said Hill, 24, of Royal Oak, Mich. "I don't want a job like that. I don't see myself having set limits so I figure I should work for myself," said Hill, who served four years in the Army — including a 15-month tour in Iraq — before leaving as a sergeant last November.
So it's back to basic training for Hill and 19 other disabled vets in the inaugural "Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities," a training program at the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University for veterans disabled during their service in Iraq and Afghanistan. To read more about the program.
New Treadmill Aims to Help Stroke Surviors and Others.
A weird treadmill is pushing people at a Baltimore, Maryland, research hospital into sloppy versions of Michael Jackson's moonwalk, in hopes of training stroke survivors and others with brain injuries to walk normally again.
The custom-built treadmill hides a split belt -- one side can move one foot backward while the other moves forward, and at different speeds. It can be a wild ride: Your brain must automatically adjust how you walk so you won't fall down.
Scientists at the Kennedy Krieger Institute are tapping into that unconscious adjustment, using a brief workout to jolt patients who usually limp and lurch back into a normal stride, one they retain for a few minutes after the treadmill stops.
The discovery: Separate nerve networks control how each leg moves, networks that can be retrained to change someone's innate walking patterns, at least temporarily. To read more about the treatment.
New Prosthetic May Help Dolphins and Troops
Prosthetic specialist Kevin Carroll travels the country tackling the toughest human amputation cases, so it was only natural that he was also drawn to Winter -- the only known dolphin to survive the loss of her powerful tail flukes.
"My heart went out to her, and I was thinking I could probably put a tail on her," said Carroll, vice president of prosthetics at Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc.
Recreating one of the most powerful swimming mechanisms in nature turned out to be a lot tougher than expected. But after months of experimenting, Carroll and a unique team of experts are well on their way to, as one of them puts it, "MacGyvering" a tail for Winter. To read more about the work.
Speaking of Prosthetics - If you, a friend or loved one has had difficulty getting TennCare or other insurers to pay for new or replacement prosthetics we want to know. Send your story to Louise McKown at lamckown@icx.net.
News Bytes
Abuse in Nursing Homes & Liability - It's not how Peggy LeNoir expected to celebrate her father's birthday, looking at disturbing pictures taken from his nursing home bed. "I seen a black eye. He got a bruise on top of his head. He got bruises on his back. His back is bruised up and swollen and I see marks on his leg." says LeNoir. To read the whole story. To read an alert sent out by Citizen Action regarding possible legislation to limit nursing home liabilities.
Medicaid Data on Institutions and HCBS - Medicaid data for FY 2006 provides extremely helpful information to analyze and compare how your state distributes and allocates its Medicaid Long Term Care expenditures between its institutional versus community-based services. Nationally, for all disabilities, 60.6 % of Medicaid's long term care expenditures went to institutions, including intermediate care facilities. In contrast, 39.4% of all Medicaid's long term care expenditures went for community services, i.e., for waivers (i.e., both PD/A and MR/DD), personal care option, and home health services in the community. To read more about this analysis.
Restraint and Seclusion Practices - A new group has ben formed - Families Against Restraint and Seclusion - to end restraint and seclusion (i.e., time out room) abuse of kids with disabilities in schools and residential placements. They have a survey for parents/guardians of kids who have been physically restrained and/or secluded in day and residential schools, which can be found here.
Sleepless in Tennessee? - A good night's sleep is becoming ever more elusive for the average American — and it's a problem that plagues us at all ages, from infancy to adulthood. Now three new papers in the Sept. 1 issue of the journal Sleep tackle the question of sleeplessness: two studies illuminate the reasons why teens and adults don't sleep enough. With teens, a major culprit is cellphone use; with adults, it's work. Meanwhile, a third study of young children reveals that sleep deprivation in early life may lead to future behavioral and cognitive problems. To read more about the studies.
Coalition Quarterly - Summer Edition - If you received this summer's edition of the Coalition Quarterly you probably noticed a first for us. The edition included an envelope that readers could use to either join the Coalition, learn more about the Disability Action Network or other Coalition Programming. If you haven't read the issue yet, now would be a great time! To read it online visit: http://www.tndisability.org/Coalition_Quarterly.php
Job Opportunities
STEP Seeks Executive Director - Candidates should have a background in special education, advocacy and non-profit management or supervisory skills. BA or combination of degrees and experience required. Those interested in applying for the position should forward a current resume and letter of interest to BNTWAGNER@aol.com by October 1, 2007. Qualifying candidates will be contacted to arrange for interviews. STEP, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. To read more about this position.
