disability

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Vets With PTSD May Have Been Denied Benefits

Military is reviewing thousands of records

(Newser) - The military is speeding up a review of the records of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans discharged with post-traumatic stress disorder to determine whether they were improperly denied benefits. The agreement stems from a class action lawsuit filed by seven combat veterans who alleged the military illegally denied benefits...

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...

IT Firm Puts Autism to Work
 IT Firm Puts Autism to Work 
Oct 15, 2009 12:25 PM CDT

IT Firm Puts Autism to Work

Software tester finds niche for those with the disorder

(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. “This...

Social Security Faces Grim Forecast for 2010, 2011

Payouts will exceed tax receipts for first time since 1980s

(Newser) - 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...

Book Tour Puts Ted Jr. in Spotlight

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

(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...

Fired Disabled Woman: Abercrombie a 'Sweatshop'

Brit won nearly $15K for wrongful dismissal

(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...

Abercrombie Loses Lawsuit Over Clerk's Prosthetic Arm

(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’...

Cambodia Bans 'Miss Landmine' Beauty Pageant

Government sees insult; organizers aimed to promote awareness

(Newser) - 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...

Abercrombie & Fitch Sued By Disabled Clerk

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

(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...

Got Talent Dancer, 73, Collects Disability

Shows little sign of ailment in routine

(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 how...

Motivational Speaker, 3 Feet Tall and Rising

(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...

Muslim Woman Leans on Guide Horse

(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—...

Judge Nixes New Trial for Man With 47 IQ

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

(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 47,...

Octuplets' Mom Collected $165K in Disability

Work injury aggravated by her pregnancy

(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...

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...

Disabled Bite Back Over Animal Guides

Some suspect animal owners of abusing of special privileges

(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...

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 ‘...

Korea Backs Monopoly for Blind Masseurs

Profession will remain reserved for the blind in South Korea

(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...

Brown's Failing Eyesight Raises Concerns

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

(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...

Time to Ditch the Word 'Retard'?
 Time to Ditch the Word 'Retard'? 
OPINION
Sep 21, 2008 2:26 PM CDT

Time to Ditch the Word 'Retard'?

(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?...

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