Category: Disability Culture

BREAKING NEWS: Medicare Covers Seat Elevation for Medicare Beneficiaries using Power Wheelchairs

From Independence Through Enhancement: Complete Post through this link…

We are thrilled to announce that CMS decided to cover seat elevation in all power wheelchairs for the purposes of performing all transfers or to improve reach in performing mobility related activities of daily living (MRADLs) in their homes. This is a major expansion of coverage from the preliminary coverage decision announced in mid-February and CMS attributed these coverage improvements to the 2,130 public comments received by wheelchair users, advocates, clinicians, and researchers. The final seat elevation Decision Memo can be viewed HERE.

For the first time, CMS determined that seat elevation in power wheelchairs is considered “primarily medical in nature” and is, therefore, covered durable medical equipment (DME) under both traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Seat elevation will be covered in Groups 2, 3 and 5 Complex Rehabilitative Technology (CRT) power wheelchairs when a patient needs seat elevation to transfer from one surface to another, with or without caregiver assistance, assistive devices, or lift equipment or to improve one’s reach in order to perform MRADLs. Seat elevation will also be covered in non-CRT power wheelchairs when determined by Medicare contractors to be reasonable and necessary.  Individuals must undergo a specialty evaluation performed by a licensed/certified medical professional who has specific training and experience in rehabilitative wheelchair evaluations.

This decision is effective immediately but CMS will consider new coding and payment determinations in the future. Beneficiaries who are most likely to benefit from this decision include people with Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, spinal cord injury, paralysis, ALS, limb amputation, Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, myositis, and other mobility-related conditions.

Psychiatric Detentions Rise 120% in First Year of 988

By Rob Wipond: Complete Post through this link…

As contacts to the new 988 hotline number have risen, so have call tracing and police interventions.

The rapid growth of the new 988 mental health hotline has been greeted with positive media coverage. As many people expected, calls, texts, and chats to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, now renamed “988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline,” started climbing immediately with the launch of the 988 number in July of 2022. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the nonprofit that was given centralized control over the 988 system, Vibrant Emotional Health (VEH), have been releasing monthly updates on key metrics.

In April 2023, compared to April 2022, calls answered increased by 52%, chats by 90%, and texts by 1022%. The trend was heralded by federal Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to CNN: “Our nation’s transition to 988 moves us closer to better serving the crisis care needs of people across America. 988 is more than a number, it’s a message: we’re there for you.”

However, as previously reported by Mad in America, a percentage of people who contacted the former National Suicide Prevention Lifeline were subjected to geolocation tracing of their phone, computer, or mobile device. The Lifeline advertised itself as a place for confidential discussions about suicidal feelings but, according to its own policy, if a call-attendant believed a person might be at “imminent risk” of taking their own life in the next few hours, days, or week, the call-attendant was required to contact 911 or a Public Safety Answering Point to send out police and/or an ambulance to forcibly take the person to a psychiatric hospital.

Many Lifeline users described the experiences of betrayal, public exposure, police interactions, loss of freedoms, and forced psychiatric treatment as dangerous, harmful and traumatizing.

So, since the transition to 988, has anything changed? As contacts to 988 rise, how many people are getting forcibly subjected to these types of unexpected, unwanted interventions?

It appears detention numbers are climbing dramatically, too—even as VEH, SAMHSA, and many news outlets continue to obfuscate the facts publicly.

Contacts and Detentions Rising Together

For the ten-month period from July 2022 to April 2023, the new 988 Lifeline received more than 4 million total contacts—on pace to double the average 2.4 million calls annually to the Lifeline from 2017 to 2021.

The 988 metrics that are publicly shared, though, do not include any information about call tracing and involuntary interventions.

Harmony in the Brain: Unraveling the Neuroscience of Music

From Neuroscience News (Video): Complete Post through this link…

Unlock the power of music and its profound influence on the human brain in this Neuroscience News video! We delve into how music engages multiple areas of the brain, its role in evoking emotions through the release of dopamine, and its therapeutic applications, particularly in memory-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Join us as we explore the fascinating field of the neuroscience of music, revealing why tunes have such a universal appeal and power.

0:00 How is music related to neuroscience?

0:34 Why is music important in neuroscience?

0:47 What do neuroscientists say happens when we listen to music?

2:05 What’s the neuroscience behind music therapy?

Hearing Aids Are Changing. Their Users Are, Too.

By Neelam Bohra: Complete Post through this link…

As more young people risk hearing loss, over-the-counter hearing aids are providing new options, but also confusing choices.

Ayla Wing’s middle school students don’t always know what to make of their 26-year-old teacher’s hearing aids. The most common response she hears: “Oh, my grandma has them, too.”

But grandma’s hearing aids were never like this: Bluetooth-enabled and connected to her phone, they allow Ms. Wing to toggle with one touch between custom settings. She can shut out the world during a screeching subway ride, hear her friends in noisy bars during a night out and even understand her students better by switching to “mumbly kids.”

A raft of new hearing aids have hit the market in recent years, offering greater appeal to a generation of young adults that some experts say is both developing hearing problems earlier in life and — perhaps paradoxically — becoming more comfortable with an expensive piece of technology pumping sound into their ears.

Some of the new models, including Ms. Wing’s, are made by traditional prescription brands, which usually require a visit to a specialist. But the Food and Drug Administration opened up the market last year when it allowed the sale of hearing aids over the counter. In response, brand names like Sony and Jabra began releasing their own products, adding to the new wave of designs and features that appeal to young consumers.

1 in 10 People Suffer From Autoimmune Diseases

From Neuroscience News: Complete Post through this link…

Summary: A study of 22 million people found autoimmune disorders now affect around one in 10 individuals, with women more affected than men.

The research also revealed socioeconomic, seasonal, and regional disparities among several autoimmune disorders. The researchers suggest such variations are unlikely to be attributable to genetic differences alone, and may point to the involvement of potentially modifiable risk factors such as smoking, obesity, or stress that contribute to the development of some autoimmune diseases.

The study also confirmed that in some cases, a person with one autoimmune disease is more likely to develop a second, indicating that some autoimmune diseases share common risk factors, such as genetic predispositions or environmental triggers.

Key Facts:

  1. Autoimmune diseases affect around 10% of the global population, with 13% of women and 7% of men being affected.
  2. The study used a large dataset of anonymized electronic health records from the UK, covering 22 million people, to investigate 19 of the most common autoimmune diseases.
  3. The research found that there are socioeconomic, seasonal, and regional disparities among several autoimmune disorders and that some autoimmune diseases share common risk factors, such as genetic predispositions or environmental triggers.

Crip Up the Kitchen: Tools, Tips, and Recipes for the Disabled Cook

by Jules Sherred: Complete Post through this link…

Pre-order Price Guarantee. On Amazon

“I’ve never felt so understood and supported as I did reading Crip Up the Kitchen. Sherred is the kitchen whisperer for chronic pain folks like me who have avoided that room in the house for most of my life.” ―J. Albert Mann, author of The Degenerates and Fix

A comprehensive guide and recipe collection that brings the economy and satisfaction of home cooking to disabled and neurodivergent cooks.

cripping / crip up: A term used by disabled disability rights advocates and academia to signal taking back power, to lessen stigma, and to disrupt ableism as to ensure disabled voices are included in all aspects of life.

When Jules Sherred discovered the Instant Pot multicooker, he was thrilled. And incensed. How had no one told him what a gamechanger this could be, for any home cook but in particular for those with disabilities and chronic illness? And so the experimenting―and the evangelizing―began.

The kitchen is the most ableist room in the house. With 50 recipes that make use of three key tools―the electric pressure cooker, air fryer, and bread machine―Jules has set out to make the kitchen accessible and enjoyable. The book includes pantry prep, meal planning, shopping guides, kitchen organization plans, and tips for cooking safely when disabled, all taking into account varying physical abilities and energy levels.

Organized from least to greatest effort (or from 1 to “all your spoons,” for spoonies), beginning with spice blends and bases, Jules presents thorough, tested, inclusive recipes for making favourites like butter chicken, Jules’s Effin’ Good Chili, Thai winter squash soup, roast dinners, matzo balls, pho, samosas, borshch, shortbread, lemon pound cake, and many more.

Jules also provides a step-by-step guide to safe canning and a template for prepping your freezer and pantry for post-surgery. With rich accompanying photography and food histories, complete nutritional information and methods developed specifically for the disabled and neurodivergent cook, Crip Up the Kitchen is at once inviting, comprehensive, and accessible. If you’ve craved the economy and satisfaction of cooking at home but been turned off by the ableist approach of most cookbooks―this one’s for you!

Gallaudet, U.S. Naval Academy debate the issue of deaf people serving in the military

By Victoria Hallett: Complete Post through this link…

Four students — two from Gallaudet University and two from the United States Naval Academy — made history Thursday night by participating in an unprecedented debate hosted by Gallaudet’s Center for Democracy in Deaf America (CDDA). In front of a packed crowd at the Gallaudet University Field House, they competed in mixed teams, each with one representative from both schools and using a combination of American Sign Language and English. Their mission was to tackle the question: Should deaf people be allowed to serve in the United States military?

Gallaudet’s Trent Mora and United States Naval Academy midshipman Jason Santiago took the affirmative stance, maintaining that combat has evolved with technology, making it possible for deaf people to perform effectively in more roles. Arguing against the inclusion of deaf service members were Gallaudet’s Lexi Hill and United States Naval Academy midshipman Roy Choi, who asserted that auditory communication remains vital in combat zone scenarios.

A pre-debate poll of those in attendance, which included more than 100 high school students from deaf schools and programs nationwide, found that 73 percent were in favor of deaf people in the military, and only 27 percent were opposed. So when Hill stepped onto the stage for her opening remarks, she acknowledged that she was taking on an unpopular stance. “I like to challenge myself, and I like to view perspectives that are varying and different than mine. I think that’s the whole point of debate,” she explained.

Hill and Choi relied on storytelling to make their case, starting with the scene around them in the Field House. “USNA and Gallaudet have come together and worked tirelessly for this event and coordinated CART, interpreters, CDIs, and still, regardless of all of that effort, something will be lost in translation this evening,” Hill noted. “Now imagine that situation in the fog of war.” They asked the audience to envision ships that have lost their engines, bunkers that have been attacked, and other catastrophic incidents.

Fake sign language is spreading on TikTok. Deaf people are worried.

By Amanda Morris: Complete Post through this link…

Sign language has become trendy on TikTok, but many videos feature incorrect signs, sparking fears the trend will cause lasting damage to American Sign Language.

Anthony Eagle Jr. is big on TikTok. He boasts over 850,000 followers, many of whom love the way he performs sign language renditions of songs. There’s just one problem — the sign language is sometimeswrong.

When Eagle, 39, of Winston-Salem, N.C., signs the song, “Love the Way You Lie,” his rendition is riddled with mistakes, like signing the word “lie” with two hands in the wrong position. To a deaf person who uses sign language, it looks like gibberish.

The Washington Post asked Sheena Lyles, 37, of Baltimore, a Deaf comedian on TikTok, to demonstrate several sign language mistakes made on social media. Here she shows the right way to sign “lie,” as well as the wrong way used by Eagle in his video.

ZAPPAR CREATES ACCESSIBLE QR CODES FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED SHOPPERS

From VENKAT: Complete Post through this link…

Zappar, a UK based company has come up with a new accessible QR code solution that will help blind and partially sighted people access product information on store shelves and in cabinets at home relatively quickly.

“Accessible QR” brings a slight modification to the regular QR code that we are all familiar with by including a unique, patent pending D3 “dot-dot-dash” pattern around it. This pattern increases the scanning distance of a standard QR code by 7x, enabling visually impaired people to find the information they are looking for from a much farther distance. The accessible QR code not only identifies the product but also provides all the product details in a structured way that can be easily read by VoiceOver. To read these QR codes effectively, Zappar has introduced a new app called Zapvision.

Professor’s award-winning research ‘has broken new ground’ in helping autistic children to communicate 

by Cynthia McCormick Hibbert: Complete Post through this link…

Northeastern professor Ralf Schlosser has dedicated his career to breaking down communication barriers faced by minimally verbal autistic children. 

When he started working at Northeastern 25 years ago, that meant enlisting the help of expensive, dedicated, specialized and somewhat stigmatizing technology.

More recently, Schlosser has been a leader in employing mainstream mobile technologies such as iPads and animation to allow children with severe communication impairments to do everything from requesting a glass of water to delivering a lecture on a school topic.

“The field has shifted to general consumer-level technologies, like the iPad, smart speakers and smart watches. It helps them communicate better and it’s non-stigmatizing because you and I also might be wearing a watch,” Schlosser says.

“About 30% of autistic children have little or no functional speech and benefit from augmentative and alternative communication strategies and devices. That’s the population I work with,” he says.