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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: disabled

disabled stories: 15 news summaries

(Newser) - Not too long ago the mentally disabled—or "retarded" people, as we called them then—were often hidden away in medical institutions, neglected by their families, and subjected to horrific policies such as forced sterilization. Eunice Kennedy Shriver changed all that with the Special Olympics, which started in her... More »

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disabled • obituary • civil rights • Kennedy family • Special Olympics • Eunice Shriver

Disabled Identify With Heroes
at Comic-Con

'You have legs, you can become a warrior,' says fan at SD convention

Jul 25, 09 5:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - It’s no accident that some of Comic-Con's most popular heroes are X-Men’s wheelchair-bound professor and Daredevil’s blind avenger. Many of the San Diego convention’s 125,000 guests say they relate to the struggles of their favorite superheroes, the Los Angeles Times reports. “You feel like... More »

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James Cameron • disabled • San Diego • comics • wheelchair • avatar • X-Men • comic books

(Newser) - Police are interrogating two men they say were caught on videotape in the home invasion-murder of a wealthy Florida couple who adopted 12 children, several of them disabled, reports the Pensacola News Journal. Eight of the children of the murdered couple, Byrd and Melanie Billings, were home at the time... More »

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Florida • adoption • crime • murder • disabled • adoptive parents • Byrd Billings • Melanie Billings • Beulah

tv review

 New MTV News Show 
 Puts Disabled in Control 

New MTV show a surprising success

Feb 5, 09 7:13 PM CST
(Newser) - A new MTV show that features the mentally disabled interviewing celebs and average folks, isn’t as offensive as it sounds, Ellen Gray writes in the Philadelphia Daily News. The show—How's Your News? from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, is actually an inclusive endeavor that proves... More »

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television • disabled • celebrity • disability • Trey Parker • Matt Stone • Down Syndrome

super bowl

 Terrible Towel Has 
 Wonderful Story 

Steelers announcer's legacy has changed the lives of many

Jan 30, 09 11:26 AM CST
(Newser) - When beloved Steelers radio announcer Myron Cope told fans to bring gold and black towels to a 1975 playoff game, he had no idea he was sealing his fame. Cope's legacy, the Terrible Towel, has become a Pittsburgh legend and brings in huge profits—which he turned over to a... More »

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Super Bowl • disabled • Pittsburgh Steelers • Pittsburgh • Super Bowl XLIII • sports fans • Terrible Towel

 Obese? Court Backs 
 Two Seats for 
 One Fare 

Those 'functionally disabled by obesity' get fare break in Canada

Nov 21, 08 3:36 AM CST
(Newser) - Obese air travelers in Canada who need two seats must be given the extra seat for free, Reuters reports. The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear an appeal from Air Canada and two other airlines after they failed to win a lower court appeal on the fare issue.... More »

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obesity • disabled • obese • Air Canada • airline passengers • airline seats • Candadian Transportation Agency • Federal Court of Appeal • Supreme Court of Canada

 Iraq Vets Hit by Financial Woes 

Disabled veterans struggle to find jobs, keep homes

Nov 18, 08 9:29 AM CST
(Newser) - Many soldiers returning from Iraq are finding themselves up against a new enemy: their finances. Unemployment, lack of credit, and foreclosures all seem to be hitting veterans harder than the average citizen, the New York Times reports. "You fill out a job application and you can’t write ‘... More »

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veterans • disabled • US military • foreclosure • disability • unemployment

 Time to Redefine 
 'Disabled' Design 

Accessible design leads to better products for everyone

Nov 2, 08 10:14 AM CST
(Newser) - The world is long overdue for a major change in how devices for the disabled are both perceived and designed, an industry leader says. In fact, it's time to stop designing disabled-access items altogether, Northwestern professor and author Don Norman tells CNN. Why not just make it so showers, baths,... More »

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disabled • product design • disabled access

OPINION

Hockey Mom's Policies Won't Help Disabled Children

Palin, McCain set to continue policies that 'trample the weak, hurdle the dead'

Sep 10, 08 2:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - The image of Sarah Palin as a take-no-prisoners hockey mom doesn’t square with advocating for special-needs kids, Marianne Leone writes in the Boston Globe. She may have a newborn with Down syndrome, but the “warrior culture” that suits "pit bull" Palin has "no place for the... More »

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health care • John McCain • disabled • children's health care • Sarah Palin • Chris Cooper

Advocates for Disabled Protest Tropic Thunder

Protests, boycott planned over depiction of mentally disabled

Aug 11, 08 4:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - Advocates for the mentally disabled are calling for a national boycott of Tropic Thunder, Reuters reports. The film features a character named Simple Jack, played by Ben Stiller, who is repeatedly called a “retard” in the film. "We are asking people not to go to the movie and... More »

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disabled • Tropic Thunder

Disabled Models Take
Brave Turn on Reality TV

Half a million tune in to premiere of UK show

Jul 5, 08 9:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - She may have only one arm, but Debbie van der Putten loves her body, and she thinks Britain will too. Ven der Putten is one of eight disabled girls competing in the BBC’s latest reality TV sensation, Britain’s Missing Top Model. Half a million people tuned in to... More »

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television • reality TV • disabled • model

 Bush to Overhaul
 Access for Disabled 

Proposal would vastly expand 1990 disabilities act

Jun 16, 08 7:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - With an eye to aging Boomers and Iraq vets, the Bush administration is set to propose wide-ranging new rules to improve disabled access to public spaces from retail stores to golf courses, the New York Times reports. The move, which updates  implementation of the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act, would... More »

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Bush administration • White House • disabled • disability • proposals • disabled access • Americans With Disabilities Act

Runner Blasts Olympics for Indecision

Amputee sprinter
says IAAF should help, not hassle him

Jul 16, 07 8:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - Oscar Pistorius, the South African double amputee fighting to run in the 2008 Olympics, finished seventh in a British 400m trial yesterday, and was then disqualified for running out of his lane. But his performance, substantially off his best, wasn't what was bothering him afterwards. Pistorius lashed out at the... More »

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disabled • 2008 Beijing Olympics • Oscar Pistorius

Courts Debate Definition of 'Retarded'

Ruling on death penalty's constitutionality generates more questions than answers

Jun 11, 07 11:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - Sentencing the mentally retarded to death is unconstitutional, and individual states set the cut-off between disabled and competent—sounds simple, but in practice, the Supreme Court's 2002 ruling has proven nearly impossible to enforce. At issue, the LA Times reports, is the gray area between low IQ and retardation, a... More »

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death penalty • disabled • mental retardation • death row • US Supreme Court • constitutionality

Lazy Gamblers Rent Scooters in Vegas

In the land of easy money,
tourists up the ante on indolence

May 25, 07 5:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - In Las Vegas, motorized scooters offer access to expansive casino floors to the elderly, the disabled—and now the lazy. For 40 chips a day, a growing number of young, healthy tourists are renting the scooters so they can hop from the slot machine to the craps table at up... More »

MORE ABOUT:
elderly • gambling • Las Vegas • scooters • laziness • disabled • handicapped • casino

15 Stories


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