Community Linkage

Patheos “Service Is Power” By T. Thorn Coyle

“Service is part of our religion. It doesn’t have to be, but the more we include it, the stronger, healthier, and wiser we all become.” www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Service-Is-Power-T-Thorn-Coyle-03-01-2011.html

Zach Anner, who has cerebral palsy, won his own show on the Oprah Winfrey Network

New York Times “Two Winners, Two Potential Shows” by Brian Stetler www.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/arts/television/28arts-TWOWINNERSTW_BRF.html

Watch the plot episode of Rolling Around the World with Zach Anner
www.oprah.com/own-your-own-show/Your-OWN-Show-Webisode-Rolling-Around-The-World-With-Zach-Video

“Vital Signs: Disability rights activists stage protest inside state GOP headquarters” by Shawn Doherty The Capital Times
host.madison.com/ct/news/local/health_med_fit/vital_signs/article_29898a84-413e-11e0-bada-001cc4c002e0.html

“A line of advocates, activists, and people with disabilities, some in wheelchairs, maneuvers its way through the slush Thursday, past honking horns and over puddles, from Capitol Square to a squat, nondescript office building at 149 E. Johnson. “Our homes, not nursing homes!” the protesters shout. Bringing up the rear on crutches, his right leg amputated below his knee, is John Nousaine. He has driven down from Superior to join this mission.
The line of 25 or so protesters closes in on its target: the state Republican Party headquarters. While an advocate holds the door open, a stream of motorized wheelchairs twists, turns, bumps and backs its way through the building’s narrow halls until it comes to a halt in a small lobby right outside the office of the party’s startled executive director, Mark Jefferson. A few protesters and a service dog roll right on in to Jefferson’s office, past several glass and brass elephants and an autographed Badgers football, and up to his desk.
“What’s this about?” he asks.
“It is about our lives!” says Dane County Board Supervisor Barbara Vedder, who was paralyzed in a car crash years ago and gets around in a wheelchair.
It is around noon Thursday, the start to what will be a two-hour occupation of the state GOP headquarters, the latest salvo in a battle by advocacy groups to get word out about Medicaid provisions buried in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill that would, they say, allow his administration to gut the public health programs many of them depend on.”

Disability Scoop

“Bogus Service Animals Prompt New ADA Rules”
“As service animals become increasingly common, so too do cases of pet owners who abuse the system by feigning disability. Now at the request of disability advocates, the Justice Department is preparing to crack down.” www.disabilityscoop.com/2011/02/24/bogus-service-animal-rules/12402/

“Disability Advocates On Edge After Cuts To Special Olympics, Other Programs”
www.disabilityscoop.com/2011/02/23/disability-cuts-special-olympics/12395/

News-Sentinel “New tool helps hearing impaired enjoy TV” Jordan Guinn Lodi
The Wi Series is a device that streams sound from a television or electronic device directly into a hearing aid.
www.lodinews.com/business/article_56eca447-38ea-5447-a501-e6fbe90e7fed.html

CNet News “Wheelmap.org: Rate wheelchair accessibility” by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore http://news.cnet.com/8301-27083_3-20035562-247.html