Warning: Offsite links are not safe spaces. Articles and comments in the links may contain ableist, sexist, and other -ist language of varying intensity. Opinions expressed in the articles may not reflect the opinions held by the compiler of the post. I attempt to provide extra warnings for material like extreme violence/rape; however, your triggers/issues may vary, so please read with care.

Las Vegas Sun: Deaf students learn about a college option just for them

Image caption: Janeth Gastelum, a Liberty senior, asks a question Thursday during a presentation by a representative from Gallaudet University, an undergraduate liberal arts university in Washington, D.C., for deaf and hard of hearing students.

At Liberty High School this week, the queries came in rapid succession for Nick Gould, a recent graduate of Gallaudet University, the world’s first higher education institution for the deaf: How big is the college? How many dorms? Are there varsity sports? What about scholarships?

Gould, who travels the country on behalf of his Washington, D.C., alma mater, answered in sign language. […]

Gould said Gallaudet “is a place where we can thrive with our deafness, instead of running around it. I don’t think any other university in the world offers that.”

Asperger Square 8: Curing Autism

What I am wanting to say here is twofold. Sometimes the cure is worse than what one is seeking to alleviate. Alcohol allowed more words to flow, but the words were not good ones. They no more represented my true self than my silence had.

jonquil at Rosemary for Remembrance: Nothing was learned [post includes warning: ” triggery for cancer survivors I MEAN IT “]

This is the classic teaching case for engineering risk. Anybody associated with medical devices ought to have heard about it. The lessons learned were clear-cut, one of the most significant being that any such device ought to have a mechanical, non-software-controlled, interlock to prevent its operation with no shields in place.

hkfreeman at The Living Artist: Quick Rant

Stop telling me to go see Avatar in IMAX/3D. […] Think about that next time you ooh and ahh over some new technology. Is it new technology for everyone? Or just those privileged with a culturally approved set of sensory organs?

KTVU.com: Judge Rules Disabled Can Use Devices During Bar Exam

A federal judge in San Francisco ordered a national bar exam organization Friday to provide technological aids requested by a blind law school graduate who plans to take the test next month.[…]

[Stephanie Enyart] said that in order to read material on a computer effectively, she needs a combination of magnified text and a software program that reads portions of the text aloud.

The California State Bar agreed to allow her to use the technology combination for a portion of the exam, but the National Conference of Bar Examiners refused to allow her to use it for two other sections controlled by the national group. The group contended that Enyart’s plan would endanger security of the material and that other accommodations it offered would meet the requirements of the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act.

The adaptations offered by the conference included a human reader, a scribe to write down her answers and/or magnified text.[…]

Outside of court, Enyart said, “I’m glad I now have the luxury of just worrying about the bar exam itself”.

Miami Herald: Disabled teen’s dad wins fight over diaper costs

This week, a federal judge ruled that, for Florida children like Sharett [age 17], diapers are a medical necessity — not a “convenience” — and ordered the state Agency for Health Care Administration to pay for them. The ruling could affect thousands of sick or disabled children throughout the state. […]

Smith, of Miami, is raising Sharett and two other young children on about $1,000 a month in Social Security disability and survivor’s benefits. His wife of 26 years died of a brain tumor. The $200 to $300 he spent each month for diapers for Sharett represented 20 percent or more of his budget.