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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: disability

disability stories: 30 news summaries

1 - 20 of 30 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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 IT Firm Puts Autism to Work 

Software tester finds niche for those with the disorder

Oct 15, 09 12:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Danish entrepreneur—and father of a son with autism—has figured out a profitable way to serve the needs of blue chip companies and the underemployed members of the autism community. Thorkil Sonne’s company, Specialisterne, does repetitive software testing, turning its employees’ disability into an asset. “... More »

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autism • disability • Denmark • Asperger's Syndrome • information technology • autism spectrum disorder • Specialisterne • software testing • repetition

Social Security Faces Grim Forecast for 2010, 2011

Payouts will exceed tax receipts for first time since 1980s

Sep 27, 09 4:40 PM CDT
(AP) - Big job losses and a spike in early retirement claims from laid-off seniors will force Social Security to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes the next 2 years, the first time that's happened since the 1980s. The deficits—$10 billion in 2010 and $9 billion in... More »

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taxes • retirement • disability • deficit • unemployment • baby boom • Social Security • budget deficit • retirement benefits


 Book Tour 
 Puts Ted Jr. 
 in Spotlight 

Kennedy son, advocate for the disabled, may yet enter politics

Sep 13, 09 5:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - When Ted Kennedy Jr. starts publicizing his late father’s memoir on 60 Minutes tonight, he will emerge into a political spotlight he has shunned since losing a leg to cancer more than 30 years ago, the Boston Globe reports. Friends have tried to prod him into office, but for... More »

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politics • Ted Kennedy • disability • 60 Minutes • Ted Kennedy Jr

Fired Disabled Woman: Abercrombie a 'Sweatshop'

Brit won nearly $15K for wrongful dismissal

Aug 16, 09 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - The 22-year-old British student with a prosthetic arm who won nearly $15,000 in a discrimination lawsuit against Abercrombie & Fitch compares its working conditions to a sweatshop. “I found it disturbing,” Riam Dean tells the Daily Mail. “There were so many people in such a tiny... More »

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London • workplace discrimination • prosthesis • disability • harassment • Abercrombie & Fitch

(Newser) - The London woman banished to the Abercrombie & Fitch stockroom because of her prosthetic arm has been awarded more $13,000 by an employment tribunal, the BBC reports. Riam Dean wore a cardigan to cover the joint between her prosthesis and her body, but the sweater clashed with the retailer’... More »

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London • workplace discrimination • discrimination • prosthesis • employment • disability • harassment • tribunal • Abercrombie & Fitch • disability rights • Riam Dean

Cambodia Bans 'Miss Landmine' Beauty Pageant

Government sees
insult; organizers aimed to promote awareness

Aug 3, 09 5:50 PM CDT
(AP) - The Cambodian government said today it will not allow a "Miss Landmine" beauty pageant to take place later this week, calling it an insult to the disabled. "The land mine beauty contest would make a mockery of Cambodia's land mine victims," a government spokesman said. "The... More »

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Cambodia • disability • beauty pageant • land mines • Angola • Miss Landmine • Morten Traavik

Abercrombie & Fitch Sued By Disabled Clerk

Student 'hidden in back' because prosthetic arm didn't fit trendy 'look'

Jun 25, 09 4:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - A British woman with a prosthetic arm is suing Abercrombie & Fitch for workplace discrimination, the Guardian reports. The trendy clothing retailer shifted her to backroom duties to hide her from customers, telling her that a cardigan she wore to cover the link between the prosthesis and her arm contravened... More »

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workplace discrimination • discrimination • disability • Abercrombie & Fitch

 Got Talent 
 Dancer, 73, 
 Collects 
 Disability 



Shows little sign of ailment in routine

May 25, 09 11:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - A 73-year-old breakdancing grandfather may have more skills than just the moves he's flashing on Britain's Got Talent, reports the Daily Mail. Fred Bowers also collects more than $100 a week in disability for a bum leg not evident on the British reality show. “I’ve no idea... More »

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television • reality TV • dance • disability • benefits • Susan Boyle • Britain's Got Talent • Fred Bowers • break-dancing

(Newser) - Sean Stephenson is 30 years old, 3 feet tall, and can’t walk without help. And that’s why he is a successful motivational speaker, psychologist, and former Bill Clinton staffer, the Chicago Tribune reports. When he broke his leg at age 10—his condition, osteogenesis imperfecta, makes him vulnerable... More »

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Chicago • disability • psychology • motivational speaker • Sean Stephenson • osteogenesis imperfecta

(Newser) - Muslims consider canines unclean, which was a problem for a blind Muslim woman who wanted a guide dog. So she got a guide horse. Mona Ramouni of suburban Detroit is getting used to 3-year-old miniature horse Cali—“this is a really awesome little horse,” she told the AP—... More »

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Islam • Detroit • Michigan • Muslim • disability • blindness • braille • guide dog • miniature horse • animal trainer

Judge Nixes New Trial for Man With 47 IQ

Texas 18-year-old's 100-year molestation sentence will stand

Apr 8, 09 11:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - Witness after witness testified about the severity of Aaron Hart’s mental disabilities—his former special education teacher said he functions below a 1st-grade level—but Texas judge Eric Clifford ruled against giving the 18-year-old a new trial or sentencing hearing, the Chicago Tribune reports. Hart, whose IQ is... More »

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mental retardation • child molestation • trial • disability • learning disabilities

Octuplets' Mom Collected $165K in Disability

Work injury aggravated
by her pregnancy

Feb 6, 09 3:03 AM CST
(Newser) - A California agency paid Nadya Suleman over $165,000 in disability benefits for an on-the-job back injury, records obtained by AP reveal. Suleman was employed at a state mental health hospital from 1997 until December, although records show that her injuries—which were aggravated by pregnancy—left her unable to... More »

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mothers • baby • disability • multiple births • octuplets • Nadya Suleman

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

 Disabled Bite Back 
 Over Animal Guides 

Some suspect animal owners of abusing of special privileges

Jan 4, 09 2:09 PM CST
(Newser) - Miniature horses trek through supermarkets and monkeys queue up at restaurant buffets these days—all to guide the blind, the disabled, and the anxiety-ridden, Rebecca Skloot writes in the New York Times Magazine. But the increasing prevalence of wild and farm service animals among the civilized is reigniting the debate... More »

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disability • horse • parrot • psychiatric disorders • dog • animal • Americans With Disabilities Act • disability rights

 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

 Korea Backs Monopoly 
 for Blind Masseurs  

Profession will remain reserved for the blind in South Korea

Oct 31, 08 5:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - A South Korean court has upheld a law allowing only blind people to work as masseurs, the AP reports. The profession has been reserved for the blind for almost a century, but a legal battle had raged for years over the constitutionality of the rule. The perceived threat to their... More »

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South Korea • disability • blindness • masseuse • constitutionality • disability rights

 Brown's Failing 
 Eyesight 
 Raises 
 Concerns 

PM's damaged vision may be getting worse, friends worry

Oct 12, 08 12:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - If Gordon Brown promises not to turn a blind eye to the financial crisis, he could mean that literally—the British prime minister lost the sight in one of his eyes in a rugby accident as a teenager. But now advisers are worried that Brown could lose the already-diminishing sight... More »

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Gordon Brown • disability • blindness • Britain • cataracts

OPINION

 Time to Ditch the Word 'Retard'? 


Sep 21, 08 2:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder is just the latest example of how the word "retard" has become a pop-culture phenom, but the movie also has served as a catalyst for disability advocates who claim that the word is offensive and must go, writes Lynn Harris in Salon. Are they right?... More »

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disability • hate speech • Tropic Thunder • disability rights • Down Syndrome

S. Korea's
Blind Masseurs Protest Threat
to Livelihood

Government opens profession to sighted

Sep 19, 08 12:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Blind masseurs in South Korea are protesting what they see as the end of a way of life—and their livelihood, CNN reports. Police arrested 26 yesterday who gathered on a bridge and threatened to jump because the government is for the first time allowing sighted people to become licensed... More »

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South Korea • disability • blindness • masseuse • constitutionality • disability rights

OPINION

How Thunder's Joke Hurts
the Disabled

'Retard' a painful word for mother of daughter with Downs

Aug 16, 08 7:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Patricia E. Bauer suffers every time her Downs syndrome daughter hears the word "retard." When Bauer saw ads for Tropic Thunder, which jokes about retardation, they echoed every insult that her blond, blue-eyed daughter had endured for 24 years. After weeks of debate, Bauer remains stunned by... More »

MORE ABOUT:
marketing • mental retardation • disability • DreamWorks • Ben Stiller • movies • Tropic Thunder • Simple Jack • disability rights

1 - 20 of 30 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


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