Tag Archives: disabilities

Memorial Healthcare System Adaptive Sports Program

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

Sports and exercise are not activities that can only be enjoyed by athletes. They are also activities that help those with physical health impairments and conditions to become active and healthy. Memorial Healthcare System is striving to promote and spread this message by creating their own Adaptive Sports Program to provide recreational and athletic… Read More »

Work incentives Protecting Health Coverage for People with Disabilities

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

By: Claudia Luna Extended Medicare Coverage for Working People with Disabilities For beneficiaries receiving SSDI As long as your disabling condition still meets our rules, you can keep your Medicare coverage for at least 8 ½ years after you return to work. (The 8 ½ years includes your nine month trial work Period) Your… Read More »

Kids Crusaders Corner

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

Welcome to this month’s edition of Kids Crusaders. It is so hard to believe that August is coming to a close. I’d like to open this month’s article by saying that in the beginning of 2014 when I was asked to write for the monthly newsletter for DIG, I was honored. This would be… Read More »

DIG Litigation Update – $625,000 settlement to ensure accessibility in Section 8 project based housing developments.

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

On April 17, 2015, Housing Opportunities Project for Excellence, Inc. (HOPE) and six residents of two developments in Miami Gardens and Opa-Locka, Florida settled a lawsuit with Charter Management and Miami Property Group, and obtained significant changes in the policies and procedures of their housing development to ensure that all residents are able to… Read More »

Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) Projects

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

By: Lesly Quin WIPA projects are community-based organizations that receive grants from SSA to provide all Social Security and SSI disability beneficiaries (including transition-to-work aged youth) with free access to work incentives planning and assistance. Each WIPA project has counselors called Community Work Incentives Coordinators (CWIC) who: Provide work incentives planning and assistance to… Read More »

Livescribe computerized pen helps students with disabilities

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

By: Sharon Langer The UC Berkeley Disabled Students Program did a pilot test of a computerized pen using its students with learning disabilities. The goal of the study was to see if use of the pen would eliminate the need for note takers in the classroom. Forty students with a variety of physical and… Read More »

Classroom Accommodations

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

By: Anastasia Gaertner Children who have a learning disability and may be struggling to reach their full potential in the classroom could require an accommodation or a modification to help them thrive. An accommodation is a change in the way that a student takes in information or communicates their knowledge back to the teacher,… Read More »

Kids Crusaders Corner – Nick’s Adventure in Disney World – Part 3

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

Welcome back to the March edition of Kids Crusaders Corner. This month I will wrap up the last of my 3 part story that began in January regarding a solo trip that I took my son Nick on for his 16th birthday. (If you haven’t read the first two parts, please do, as it… Read More »

#GetYourMindOut Campaign

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

I write to separate my mind from my body. My readers can hear my drunken diction only if I want them to hear it. They only see my skewed body when I want them to see it. My ability is only defied by the limitations that lay between my machine and me. The #GetYourMindOut… Read More »

Medical Marijuana and Epilepsy…. The Wait Continues for Medically Needy Children and Other Qualified Patients

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

By: Seth A. Hyman I’ve learned from being the parent of nine year old medically complex Rebecca “Becca”, that for one reason or another, it always seems that children and individuals with disabilities are too often the ones who are neglected and end up with the short end of the stick. My story sheds… Read More »

Litigation Update: Anthony gets to keep Stevie in School!

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

By: Matthew Dietz On February 10, 2014, United States District Court Judge Beth Bloom ruled that Broward County School District violated Anthony Merchante’s rights, as a child with a disability, by denying his right to have a seizure alert animal accompany him at his elementary school. Anthony’s mother, Monica, requested that the school allow… Read More »

Cruising with your Service dog

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

Dogs have long been the companion of our U.S. Navy Sailors on vessels for their ability to build morale. In the early days, dogs often served a more practical function by leading patrols onto foreign shores to search for food and warn of any dangers lurking out of eyesight. Now, most cruise ships allow service animals on board their ships…. Read More »

Traveling with a Disability

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

By: Anastasia Gaertner Traveling with a disability or with a person who is disabled can be a hassle and can create stress for what should be a fun experience. There are many different ways to minimize the hassle that can arise from planning a trip and accounting for a disability. The Transportation Security Administration… Read More »

Dog Friendly Hotels

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

Like all other public accommodations, hotels are required to allow persons with service animals in any room in the hotel, and provide equal accommodations to its guests with service animals. However, many hotels have realized that all dogs, not only service dogs, are part of the family, and vacations would not be the same… Read More »

Disney World*****My Holiday vacation

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

By: Sharon Langer Now that I am an active member of the DIG legal team, I view the world through a different lens. I find that I cannot visit a restaurant, a hotel or even Disney World without looking around to see if those places are universally accessible to all. My trip over the… Read More »

Kids Crusaders Corner

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

By Julie Fioravanti This is Part 1 of Julie’s story.  Stay tuned for more in the next newsetter.  Happy New Year everyone! We are off to a chilly start here in upstate New York with temperatures hovering at -8 degrees (not counting the wind chills). So to warm things up a little, I thought I… Read More »

A Mother of an Adult with Down Syndrome’s Worst Nightmare

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

A Mother of an Adult with Down Syndrome’s Worst Nightmare Mr. Dietz, I have just found a note hanging on my door that Reflections will not be renewing my lease. my worse fear, Karl has been hiding in his room since this has all began. the officer had told the Manager that this was… Read More »

ABLE Act of 2013: Update

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

By: Aaron Carter Bates On Friday, September 19th, Federal lawmakers announced that a deal was reached to permit The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act of 2013 (S. 313/H.R.647) to move forward in Congress. The ABLE Act was introduced in 2013 and, with a model based on IRC 529 college savings plans, aims… Read More »

WWII Veteran Receives His Purple Heart After 70 Years

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

By: Chris Arroyo  Robert C Bohm was born October 8, 1920 in Lorraine, Ohio. He lived in Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa growing up and graduated from Muscatine High School in Iowa. On October 29, 1940, he signed up for the US Army. His first tour was in North Africa and his job was a… Read More »

Deaf Mom-to-be gives Birth in the Wrong Hospital?

By Disability Independence Group, Inc. |

“Hello this is Byron, Cheylla needs your help…” As a lawyer practicing civil law, you rarely receive a cry for help at 8:45 in the evening from a client. I knew that it was happening again – another client who is Deaf that could not get an interpreter for medical care. I represent Cheylla… Read More »