Insights, Blogs & News
Tip of the Day: How to Encourage a Friend with an Invisible Disability
Take the time time this next week and call one friend with an invisible disability and ask them if you can help them with an errand or chore before Thanksgiving. Clean a room, take them shopping, rake their leaves or help with a few loads of laundry. By helping them, you allow them to save their energy for other important items they have been putting off. Easy for you, overwhelming for them. What are friends for anyway!
ADA Revisions Limit Service Animals to Dogs — Says No to Others
ADA revisions define service animals. ADA Revisions published in the Federal Register on September 15, 2010 clarified the definition of service animal and revised the Americans with Disabilities Act regulations. Most of us are familiar with guide dogs for the blind or visually impaired and hearing dogs for those who are deaf or hearing impaired. We may even know of service dogs that provide assistance to people using wheelchairs. Service animals also help with many other types of disabilities. For example, someone with a seizure disorder or diabetes may be alerted by their service animal to impending attacks before the person […]
Turtles Share Life Lesson in Giving a Hand
When one turtle is on his back, the other doesn’t fault him for getting himself in that position and walk away. He doesn’t tell him he just needs to try harder and he doesn’t stand there giving advice. He simply walks over and helps him up in his time of need. Of course, when dealing with a chronic condition, friends and family would most likely do the same if it were that easy. They would simply turn their loved one back onto their feet and on their way. The problem is that there is not always a quick fix, so people often get frustrated with […]
Boo! Oh yea, eek!
“Boo.” Oh yea, eek. It was a year ago this week that, for the first time, I went through a Halloween Haunted House. I never thought I was haunted house material. So it was with some hesitation and – ok, let’s be honest – downright fear (but not for the usual reasons) that I somewhat reluctantly agreed to participate. “No, really, it’s ok. I’ll wait for you guys in the car. I’ll be fine. Take your time. Have fun.” Peter and Wayne weren’t letting me off that easily. No, leave it to them to be good friends. The kind that […]
Woman with Lupus Finalist in Sears Contest
Pediatric Neuropsychologist, Dr. Lori Wilson is asking friends, family and fellow persons living with chronic illness to vote for her cousin, Susan Kohn. Susan is a finalist in a Sears contest, as a result of her husband’s submission of a video. Lori wrote: My cousin, Susan Kohn, was diagnosed with Lupus earlier this year. Before this illness, she had been very active, energetic, and worked as a special needs teacher, working with many students with autism. I hope that as they get more of a handle on her medication and treatment, that the daily pain she exeriences will minimize, and that […]
You’re Weird!
“You’re weird.” Not the typical diagnosis one hears at the doctor’s office. Stranger still, it wasn’t me hearing it. If it had been, it wouldn’t have been ultra surprising. For several (ahem) decades, this body has routinely presented an out-of-the-ordinary case for my medical team to investigate. I figure it’s my contribution to science. Hey, I help where I can. So it was nice, for once, not to be the anomaly, the one deemed weird. My friend “Julie” asked me to go with her to a follow-up appointment at her neurologist’s office. For the last several months, Julie has experienced […]