for the week 8/8/2008 to 8/15/2008
Two women with disabilities in New Hampshire are seeking an apology and considering court action against a store in Manchester after being told by an employee that their service dogs were not allowed inside, it is reported here.
The US Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan (NY) yesterday (Aug 12) against Avalon Bay Communities, one of America's largest apartment developers, saying it unlawfully discriminated against people with disabilities while designing and constructing a 361-unit apartment complex on the the Lower Eeast Side, The NY Times reports. According to the lawsuit, the building has common areas that are not readily accessible to people with disabilities and lacks wheelchair-accessible routes to and from bathroom and kitchen areas within individual units.
The Utah State University press office reports that Gary Kiger, former dean of Utah State University’s College of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences, died Monday, Aug. 11, in Salt Lake City at University Hospital. “Utah State University is greatly saddened by this news,” USU President Stan Albrecht said. “The Utah State University family has lost a valued and much-loved member. Gary’s accomplishments were many, and he will be missed ..." Kiger, along with three other graduate students, was the founder of the Society for Disability Studies (SDS).
According to an internal affairs report released on August 12, two deputies resigned, a third was fired, and another six have been suspended without pay over the incident in which Brian Sterner, a man with quadraplegia, was dumped onto the floor from his wheelchair in Hillsborough County, Tampa, Florida, while being booked by sheriff's deputies, the AP reports.
The Boston Globe features this story about a landmark settlment that will allow for people with brain injuries in Massachesetts to move from nursing homes into community care. The settlement is expected to greatly expand the community-care exception for people with brain injuries and redirect Medicaid money from nursing homes into community care. It envisions that new living arrangements would be developed for people with brain injuries in group homes, special apartments, or at home with their families, with intensive help.
HBO is planning a biopic of autistic author and animal expert Temple Grandin starring Claire Danes, Reuters reports. The movie has been nine years in the making. (via Autism Vox)
