Wheelchair rugby one of U-M student’s many passions

The wheelchairs crashed with a loud metallic “thunk” that echoed through the gym. Jaffer Odeh, wheeling furiously, slipped through a crease in the tangle of athletes to score another goal.

Several basketball players shooting on adjacent courts at the Rec Center on the University of Michigan’s Flint campus grabbed chairs and watched in silence. The wheelchair rugby teammates continued to bash into each other as they darted around the floor, frequently passing a volleyball.

After one play is whistled dead, Odeh playfully crashes into teammate Felipe Vanegas and Odeh’s chair tips over. “Get up, you pansy,” someone says playfully as a teammate helps Odeh right himself. Continue Reading »

Girl’s family pursues treatments

DETROIT – Laura Jackson doesn’t want to wait for a cure.

Paralyzed in May 2003 while performing a backward flip in a cheerleading stunt, Laura, 16, underwent experimental surgery in China late last year and pursues therapies she and her parents, Daryl and Melody, find promising.

Her story illustrates how some people with spinal cord injuries and their families are devising their own solutions and remedies, even building expensive home gyms. Much like cancer patients and thousands of others who search abroad for cures and treatments, they face questions and skepticism from the medical establishment. Continue Reading »

Friends For Michael

The organization, which was originally founded to help Michael with immediate financial burdens, has turned into much more. We are now a non-profit 501(c)(3), volunteer based, organization that raises funds primarily for spinal cord injury research, grants for victims and their families, spinal cord injury prevention/awareness education and scholarships for locally active high school graduates. We are also one of three founders of the NEW Spinal Cord Injury Association of Kentucky.

The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis

The Miami Project has assembled a broad spectrum of researchers, clinicians, and therapists whose expertise relate directly to the problem of SCI and whose full-time focus is SCI research.

By uniting this broad range of knowledge and talents, the Miami Project team of scientists is accelerating the search for effective treatments for SCI.

BOOK – Alternative Medicine and Spinal Cord Injury

Studies indicate that 40% of Americans use some form of alternative medicine; for individuals with long-term disabilities, learning about their options is even more critical. Written by the former director of the Spinal Cord Research and Education Foundation of the PVA, this is the first book to cover alternative therapies for spinal cord injury. From acupuncture to laser-based therapies, herbal medicine, homeopathy, craniosacral therapy, magnetic healing, and more, the book empowers readers by: Continue Reading »

Disability News Radio Show

Disability News radio talk show focusing on disabilities, disabled, child autism, providing listeners information, autism awareness, education with unique guests and topics.

NEW Legal Defense Fund for Disability Activists

Dear Supporters of Disability Rights and Services:

We are asking you today for your financial support for a Disability Activist Legal Defense and Education Fund (DALDEF) for ADAPT activists who have been or will be arrested advocating for the rights of people with disabilities and older Americans to live and receive services in their homes and communities. Continue Reading »

U of L researcher reverses spinal cord damage in rats

Ms. Wheelchair Kentucky Michelle Bazeley believes that she will see a cure for spinal cord injuries in her lifetime.

According to the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, about 11,000 people sustain spinal cord injuries each year. People with these injuries have a new reason for hope. Continue Reading »

The Spinal Cord Injury Zone Community

The Spinal Cord Injury Zone is the source for information and resources for living with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). Spinal Cord Injury News articles and general info is all here. This FREE informational Knowledge base is all about Spinal Cord Injury. The Spinal Cord Injury Zone is powered by Dreams of a Cure. Until that day, this is the place to find the latest Spinal Cord Injury News and stem cell research.

Progress Report: the ADA and Employment

July 26th, 2005 marks the 15th anniversary of an important date in history – the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Since the passage of the ADA, people with disabilities report feeling less discrimination. But as far as ADA’s impact on jobs – the National Organization on Disability reports employment of people with disabilities has only risen from 32 to 35 percent in the past four years. Continue Reading »