disabled

Stories 41 - 56 | << Prev 

Disabled Model Show Handicapped by Sincerity

Britain's Missing Top Model tries to make contestants into heroes

(Newser) - A British reality show about disabled women competing to win a spot as a fashion model has mostly admirable intentions, but ultimately does more harm than good. "There is something both bold and troubling about Britain’s Missing Top Model," writes Alessandra Stanley in the New York Times...

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Unsung 'Civil Rights Hero'

(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...

Disabled Identify With Heroes at Comic-Con

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

(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...

2 Grilled in Murder of Parents Who Adopted Disabled

(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...

New MTV News Show Puts Disabled in Control

New MTV show a surprising success

(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...

Terrible Towel Has Wonderful Story
 Terrible Towel Has 
 Wonderful Story 
super bowl
Jan 30, 2009 11:26 AM CST

Terrible Towel Has Wonderful Story

Steelers announcer's legacy has changed the lives of many

(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...

Obese? Court Backs Two Seats for One Fare

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

(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....

Iraq Vets Hit by Financial Woes
 Iraq Vets Hit by Financial Woes 
Nov 18, 2008 9:29 AM CST

Iraq Vets Hit by Financial Woes

Disabled veterans struggle to find jobs, keep homes

(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 ‘...

Time to Redefine 'Disabled' Design

Accessible design leads to better products for everyone

(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,...

Hockey Mom's Policies Won't Help Disabled Children

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

(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...

Advocates for Disabled Protest Tropic Thunder

Protests, boycott planned over depiction of mentally disabled

(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...

Disabled Models Take Brave Turn on Reality TV

Half a million tune in to premiere of UK show

(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...

Bush to Overhaul Access for Disabled

Proposal would vastly expand 1990 disabilities act

(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...

Runner Blasts Olympics for Indecision

Amputee sprinter says IAAF should help, not hassle him

(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...

Courts Debate Definition of 'Retarded'

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

(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...

Lazy Gamblers Rent Scooters in Vegas

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

(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...

Stories 41 - 56 | << Prev 
Most Read on Newser