Community Linkage

Every week there are new press releases, articles, information, and videos popping up concerning Paganism, spirituality, health, or disabilities. Community Linkage is a collection of useful information and sometimes entertainment for you. Not just weekly but every weekday. You can stay informed by adding me to one of your social circles on Google+ or follow me on Twitter.

“‘Untouchable’ Challenging Box Office Record in France” Brent Lang of Reuters and “Yahoo! Disability News: Holiday movies and dining in the dark” by Caroline Que Untouchable is a movie comedy about a rich quadriplegic and his black caretaker, become a box office phenomenon in France last month. It’s been distributed around Europe and the Weinstein company has plans to release a version in the U.S.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otpJgjrJ0ig
VIDEO: Untouchable Trailer (2011). The brilliant french movie Untouchable (Intouchables), directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, starring François Cluzet and Omar Sy. Untouchable Trailer (2011) ©FilmsActu.com Distribution Wizdeo.

Blind French eatery seeks to conquer New York

Dans Le Noir, a chain staffed by blind waiters, will open in Times Square this month. “I wanted to show that a company where 50 percent of staff are very heavily handicapped can perfectly well be profitable, thrive each year and become international like any other one,” said founder Edouard de Broglie, 49. At Dans Le Noir (“In the Dark”), visually impaired waiters guide diners into a pitch-dark room where they are served a multi-course meal. “We tell people: stop hiring handicapped people to fill quotas, but try instead to see how they can be productive within your business,” de Broglie said.

disabilityscoop “Amid Complaints, TSA To Launch Disability Hotline”

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced preparations to launch a toll-free hotline for passengers with disabilities this January. Waiting until after a high travel holiday, such as Thanksgiving, and just such a short time after Christmas and Yule is not just bad PR but it seems like a middle finger in the air. This is something that needed to be available many months, even a few years ago. Even better is Sen. Charles Schumer’s, D-N.Y., idea that the TSA needs to designate passenger advocates, trained to understand many types of disabilities and medical conditions, at every airport to address the needs and concerns of travelers with disabilities. Sen. Schumer petitioned the TSA after several complaints from elderly women in recent weeks. The women claimed because they wore specialized medical devices TSA agents subjected them to strip searches.

This has become and ongoing problem. Last Nov. 2010 I reported to story of Tomas Sawyer a retired special education teacher. “The TSA, religious preferences, disability, and you.”

Thomas Sawyer […] was on his way to a wedding in Orlando, Fla., said he was left humiliated, crying and covered with his own urine after an enhanced pat-down by TSA officers recently at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.” Thomas is a bladder cancer survivor. The x-ray picked up his medical device and he was pulled aside for a pat down. What happened was after several attempts at a private screening, he was escorted to an office. There he informed officers of his urostomy bag (a bag that collects urine through the abdomen). They didn’t listen. Because of this bag he has to wear loose clothing and since his belt was off for the x-ray his pants fell down. He had to request several times to pull up his pants. During the pat-down, when his abdomen was checked the bag opened and urine leaked down Thomas’ clothes. The officers did not acknowledge the incident or offer to help him clean up. Thomas was unable to clean up until after boarding the flight since time was short. He has filed a complaint with the TSA, his congressional representatives, and Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network.

My post about airport security also has travel advice you may find useful.

While doing some research online I came across the Invisible Disabilities Association. It is a very powerful website that supports people who are disabled at first glance look fine.

There are so many types of disabilities considered hidden. Sufferer’s are often told to get over what’s bothering them, to have a more positive attitude or are told it’s just in their head. All these comments come from family and healthcare providers alike. As someone with many Turner’s Mosaic, a genetic disorder, I know how difficult it can be to finally find a truly professional doctor, usually a specialist, who will listen to the patient and go beyond the routine 15 minute consultation to order the right kind of tests and find out what’s going on. I plan on writing more about the trials and wins of hidden disabilities later.