5 posts tagged “disability”

Warning: This video may be disturbing. If the video is not available, please check back. Youtube.com is temporarily down.

This video has been running on much of the national news over the last couple of days. It shows a partially paralyzed man, with some type of spinal cord injury, being dumped out of his wheelchair and on to the floor by a Hillsborough County, Florida deputy.

The man had been involved in an incident in October 2007 which resulted with him being charged with fleeing and attempting to elude law enforcement officers. At the time, he was also charged with blocking an intersection.

This video captured the abuse as the man was being booked into the county jail on January 29. The deputy, Charlotte Marshall Jones, has been suspended without pay. The supervisors, present at the time, have also been suspended but with pay.

This is a grossly disgusting act on the deputy's part. It turns my stomach to think that such abusive, uncaring, unsympathetic people exist in this world. Charlotte Marshall Jones should be fired and criminal charges should be filed against her.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said it will do whatever it can to make the situation right with the victim. Yeah, you think? If I were him, I'd be in touch with my attorney.

Earlier this week, Good Morning America produced a segment on a new device to help those with certain physical disabilities. The device is called WalkAide and was developed to help a common symptom known as "Foot Drop". Foot Drop occurs when spinal cord injury or disease interrupts the nerve to muscle communication causing the foot to drag while walking. Foot Drop is common in patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

The WalkAide, nicknamed "Brain in a Box", costs about $4,500. For more information, link to the Good Morning America website to see the video segment by clicking here: Brain in a Box.

You can also link directly to the company's website here: WalkAide.com

In an early November forum to address issues of disability, some of the 2008 Presidential candidates pledged their support. Several Democratic Presidential candidates spoke before a crowd of nearly 600 people, many with disabilities. John McCain was the only Republican to participate via the phone.

Summary of Achievements/Pledges:

Christopher Dodd - Co-sponsored the Americans with Disability Act in 1975. Helped pass the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Senator Hillary Clinton - Promised to reinstate former President Clinton's executive order requiring federal agencies to hire 100,000 people with disabilities over a five year period. She would also abolish federal rules that cut disability benefits when disabled people get jobs.

Former Senator John Edwards - Also promised to reinstate the executive order on hiring.

Senator Joe Biden - Pledged to remind the public about the nation's core values, including equality and dignity for all.

Representative Dennis Kucinich - Promoted his single-payer health care system. Shared his severe stuttering problem as a child.

Former Senator Mike Gravel - Has a plan to give policy decisions to the people by direct vote. Also shared his struggle with dyslexia as a child.

Senator John McCain - Focused on health care for disabled veterans.

Scientific work leading to an advance in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy will be published in the December issue of Cell Stem Cell, an international research journal focusing on stem cell research. The research combines several cutting-edge technologies working together effectively. The findings show an advance in treating lab mice with the disease.

Modified stem cells extracted from the leg muscles of human patients were treated outside of the body and then injected into the bloodstreams of six mice. The treatment would involve using the patient's own "adult" stem cells; using the body's own cells reduces the likelihood of immune system rejection.

The work also combines another scientific technology known as exon-skipping, which involves inserting DNA into the cells, allowing the body to ignore a gene mutation that leads to the disease.

The treated mice showed stronger leg muscles and provided for longer running time on a treadmill than the untreated mice.

There was no mention of when this therapy might move into human clinical trials; and, it is not clear how this advance will translate to the other 39 Muscular Dystrophies.

Click here for information on The Muscular Dystrophy Association or to read more on this research click here for Cell Stem Cell.

Murderball is a documentary which was released in 2005. It's a film about paraplegics who play full-contact rugby in wheelchairs. I have yet to see this movie, but it is on my must-see list before year's end. It's pure testosterone on wheels -- hmm, and kind of hot! Just based on the trailer alone, I don't think I'd be tough enough for a sport like this, but there's always wheelchair ballet; if there's not, there should be.