Frida links

for the week 7/4/2008 to 7/11/2008

Its reported here that a certified nursing assistant (Escambia County, Florida) has pleaded no contest to charges that she physically abused a female patient with developmental and physical disabilities at a Pensacola nursing home.

The title of the Department of Mental Retardation will be changed through a provision of the state budget by the Legislature. The new name will be the Department of Developmental Services, it's reported here.

The House Speaker's rostrum will be reconstructed to provide accessibility for wheelchairs, the Washington Post reports.

"People want a perfect world and a perfect baby, but the world is not perfect," says Diana Sanderson, a university educated English woman with spina bifida who has spoken out against terminating pregnancies simply because the baby may not be perfect.

A Seattle family have alleged that they were left stranded at Sky Harbour Airport over the weekend when Southwest Airlines refused to allow them to board a connecting flight because their children, both of whom have disabilities - one has cerebral palsy, the other is autistic - were too disruptive.

A British woman has claimed a NHS hospital "starved" her elderly mother rather than continue her care, the BBC reports. Her 88-year-old mother was being treated for dementia and C.difficile.

A Dutchess County (NY) teacher has been charged with the statutory rape and and sexual abuse of a developmentally disabled student who attends the school for special needs in which she teaches, WABC reports.

A man is accused of leaving his elderly and disabled parents in a locked car for three hours, causing the death of his father, it is reported here.

A Brooklyn (NY) bus driver has been arrested on charges that he sexually abused a 14-year-old student with developmental disabilities, its reported here.

Disability advocates have spoken out in support of a 15-year-old girl with quadriplegia who was not allowed to fly with WestJet using her personal comfort harness, Canada's Leader Post reports.

The UK Telegraph reports that a British couple may have made a joint suicide attempt because they were unable to manage the care of their daughter, who is autistic.