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. You can stay informed by adding me to one of your social circles on

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It’s festival season, and I’m seeking guest authors to write about their experiences at festivals or gatherings both large and small within the past five years. Find out more here.

And speaking of festivals ….

Summer Solstice

The guess for participant at this years Stonehenge Solstice Celebration ranges from 20,000 – 50,000. Are you disabled and one of the lucky participants? Please share your story with us. Email it to tara.miller21 (at) gmail.com

Stonehenge is an English Heritage Site. This is what they had posted concerning disabled participants and parking.

” Disabled Parking

There is a dedicated parking area in the Solstice Car Park for people with disabilities. Please ask the stewards on entering the Solstice Car Park and you will be shown where to park.

There will also be a free bus service between the designating parking area and Stonehenge for people who are wheelchair-bound, have mobility difficulties or are infirm.

The bus will be available from 1900 hours (7.00pm) on Thursday 20th June to 0830 hours (8.30am) on Friday 21st June. If you wish to make use of this service, please speak to a steward on entering the car park.

Visitors with mobility difficulties, will be given the option to access Stonehenge via the Visitor Centre entry point and the pedestrian walkway under the A344. During this period of the Solstice, this access route will be closed to the general public.

Unfortunately wheelchairs will not be provided by English Heritage.”

Entertainment

Yahoo! Voices “’My Name is Kahn’ Review: Portrayal of Disability in Bollywood” by Dani Skoog
“My Name is Khan is the story of a man with Asperger’s Syndrome whose son is murdered. His wife tells him to leave, and in a fit of anger, tells him that he can return when he has spoken to the president, and told the president “My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist.” The movie follows the main character as he travels the country trying to meet the president and give him his message.”

Director Noelani Mei Lee’s movie Sleight has a Kickstarter campaign.

“A man with Multiple Sclerosis come to Peace with the financial and emotional anxiety that come with being trapped in his own body… Sleight is not about finding a cure. It is about facing the true horror that those with disability face every single day and discovering some way to lead a happy life despite the consequences that come with these handicaps. In our society, disability is treated like a secret. There are small miracles–Social Security, Medicare, family and friends with hearts large enough to take their loved ones in and care for them–that come at great costs.”

Building a custom game controller for the physically disabled.

Technology

Associated Press “High-tech gains get disabled people into workforce” by Martha Mendoza

My husband just recently was placed by Vocational Rehabilitation in a customer service quality assurance position. It’s an an home job which suits his anxiety plus he can work at his own pace which fits his ADD. VR is providing a new computer to meet the companies requirements. If you are looking for employment think about contacting VR.

There are two sides to every story though. I was assisted by a VR independent contractor and they were terrible. The job I got placed in did not understand my disability and I was not accommodated at all.

Health

USA Today “More men take on caregiver role” by Karina Bland
“With Alzheimer’s and other debilitating diseases afflicting more women, the men in their lives are stepping up.”
“Almost 40 percent of caregivers today are men, up from 19 percent 15 years ago.”

For the Heck of It

CBS News Dogs and babies ‘strikingly similar’ around human parents, study finds
by Lauren O’Neil

“A German research paper published this week in the journal PLOS ONE reveals that the relationships between dogs and their owners are strikingly similar in character to the relationships between parents and very young children.

In a study called The Importance of the Secure Base Effect for Domestic Dogs – Evidence from a Manipulative Problem-Solving Task, scientists from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna used interactive, treat-dispensing toys to examine the ways in which dogs interact with their environments.

Researchers found that when a dog’s owner was in the same room as the toy, that dog was significantly more motivated to work for a treat. The dogs were less motivated when nobody was in the room, or when an unknown human was present. A German research paper published this week in the journal PLOS ONE reveals that the relationships between dogs and their owners are strikingly similar in character to the relationships between parents and very young children.

The amount of encouragement owners gave to the dogs had no bearing on the pet’s behaviour – simply having the owner present gave the dogs more confidence. Lead researcher Lisa Horn of the Vetmeduni Messerli Research Institute cited something called the “secure base effect,” typically observed in parent-child bonding, as a possible reason for this phenomenon.”