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Welcome to the Weekly Reading Roundup! Stay informed with our latest selection of accessibility news highlights, curated for you!
LOCAL NEWS
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $138.5 million in grants for more than a dozen state housing agencies to expand the supply of housing and supportive services for low-income persons with disabilities across America. Funding made possible by HUD’s Section 811 Project Rental Assistance (PRA) for Persons with Disabilities program will allow 18 state housing agencies to develop strategies to identify and refer low-income persons with disabilities to eligible homes, and to provide them with rental assistance and supportive services. This announcement advances the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals to reduce housing costs, boost supply, and expand access to affordable housing for low-income families, veterans and persons with disabilities.
One in five people in the United States struggle with learning or attention disabilities, according to the Learning Disability Association of America. While they can make learning challenging for students and tricky to pinpoint, there are some ways you can identify and treat them effectively.
WJZ spoke with Julie A. Morrison, Psy.D. of Columbia, Maryland, who has 35 years of expertise in treating children and adolescents with learning difficulties. She says even the most driven individuals can find school and life significantly more difficult when they have a learning or attention disability.
USA NEWS
FOX 5: Innovative surfboard gives kids with disabilities on Long Island the chance to hit the waves
A group of college students have created a new kind of surfboard that is helping children with disabilities catch a wave on Long Island.
The Adaptable Board is a retrofitted surfboard that features a racing seat and are wider than average and more stable, in order to give people with disabilities the chance to safety ride the waves.
CONSUMER AFFAIRS: The United States of Disability: 1 in 4 Americans identify as disabled
More than 1 in 4 – over 70 million Americans – reported having a disability in 2022. If you consider that each of those people has relatives, friends and family members, disability touches nearly everyone in the U.S.
These perhaps alarming stats come from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which conducts an annual survey of the disability rate. The Social Security Administration, meanwhile, maintains a list of disabilities that are so severe they qualify for quick approval for financial assistance.
GLOBAL NEWS
THE TELEGRAPH: Disability activist unable to collect award as organisers forget ramp
As Paris shines under the global spotlight of the Olympic Games, technological innovations are enabling people with visual impairments to take it in.
Each Olympic venue is a mosaic of singular stories, from the athletes to the spectators. Even before the Paralympic Games begin later this month, Paris 2024 organizers strove to make the Olympics more accessible.
“For these Games, we wanted to carefully listen to the ecosystem of people with disabilities,” said Ludivine Munos, a former Paralympic swimming medalist responsible for integrating accessibility as part of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee.
DESERET NEWS: Colin Farrell launches foundation for adults with disabilities like his own son
The Irish actor is launching the Colin Farrell Foundation, which aims to support adult children with intellectual disabilities and their families through advocacy, awareness, education and programs.
The foundation seeks to create accessible, community-based housing and day programs for adults with intellectual disabilities. It also has a goal of opening a camp for children with intellectual disabilities and their families.
As Paris shines under the global spotlight of the Olympic Games, technological innovations are enabling people with visual impairments to take it in.
Each Olympic venue is a mosaic of singular stories, from the athletes to the spectators. Even before the Paralympic Games begin later this month, Paris 2024 organizers strove to make the Olympics more accessible.
“For these Games, we wanted to carefully listen to the ecosystem of people with disabilities,” said Ludivine Munos, a former Paralympic swimming medalist responsible for integrating accessibility as part of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee.
MASHABLE: Google enhances Pixel and Android devices with AI-powered accessibility features
Google has unveiled new artificial intelligence (AI) accessibility features designed for Pixel smartphones and Android devices. Among the four new features, two are specifically tailored for Pixel smartphones, while the other two are accessible to a broader range of Android devices. These enhancements are intended to assist individuals with low vision, vision loss, hearing impairments, and speech difficulties.
CULTURE NEWS
FOX 2: Canton friends create kids book about disability empowerment called 'Kevin Can'
Living with disabilities themselves, the friends created "Kevin Can" – a children’s book about a boy who uses a wheelchair and can do it all, just a little bit differently.
"He’s just kind of showcasing all the fun things that someone who uses a wheelchair could do," Flanagan said. "One of the things people often assume when they see me in a wheelchair is, ‘oh you must not have any fun’ and we want to showcase, ‘yeah, Kevin has lots of fun.’"
The book is centered on disability empowerment, highlighting concepts like accessibility, inclusion and more.
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: Creative Community Calls on Hollywood to “Greenlight Disability”
Inevitable Foundation, the non-profit that focuses on supporting mid-career disabled screenwriters, is following up a July study on disability portrayals in film and television with a call to action in Hollywood.
The open letter, released on Wednesday, coincides with a billboard campaign in Las Angeles and New York City calling out the 66 percent of respondants to the study that expressed dissatisfaction with on-screen representations of disability and mental health.
WBUR: Meet Jamal Hill, the Paralympic swimmer embracing a disability he didn't know he had
At the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics, U.S. swimmer Jamal Hill took home the bronze medal for the 50-meter freestyle. Hill, who’s from Inglewood, California, is competing again in this year’s Paralympics in Paris in the S9 category 50-meter freestyle.
S9 is the category of disability. Hill has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder — a rare degenerative nerve disease — and will compete against athletes with similar disabilities.
Hill didn’t experience symptoms of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder until he was 10 years old. The onset of the disease put Hill into a paralytic state and hospitalized him for several days.
John McFall is a para-astronaut, and he hopes the first person with disabilities will enter the International Space Station by 2030 — before the complex is slated to retire from service later that year.
A European Space Agency (ESA) reserve astronaut, McFall was selected for the program in 2022 based on his experience as a trauma and orthopedic specialist, surgeon and exercise scientist. McFall also has lived experience with a disability as he has used prosthetics regularly since the amputation of his right leg at age 19, following a motorcycle accident. (He even won a bronze medal in the 2008 Paralympics in the 100-meter sprint, class T42.)
WIRED: How to Watch the 2024 Summer Paralympics—and Why You Should
Usually held in the two weeks after the Olympic Games in the same host city, the Paralympics showcase the best athletes with physical disabilities from around the world competing for their home countries. (The Paralympics are not to be confused with the Special Olympics, which feature athletes with intellectual disabilities.) This year, the Summer Paralympics will take place from August 28 to September 8 in Paris, France.
Quick history lesson: The origins of the Paralympics began shortly after World War II, during the 1948 London Olympics, where 16 wheelchair-using veterans participated. The first official Paralympic Games took place in Rome in 1960 and featured 400 athletes from 23 countries. Since then, the Games have taken place every four years and now feature 4,400 athletes in 22 sports (the Olympics have 32), with 549 gold medals up for grabs.
