Disability News, a biweekly roundup of the best disability-related stories on Yahoo! News, is back from its holiday hiatus. I hope 2012 is off to a good start for everyone!
How has Stephen Hawking lived to 70 with ALS?
Stephen Hawking (Getty photo)
Although he was too ill to make it to his birthday party, Stephen Hawking turned 70 this month in grand style, receiving a special present from London’s Science Museum: an exhibition that draws “on artifacts from Hawking’s study, letters from his archives, and pictures from his family collection to paint a more intimate portrait of the world’s best-known living theoretical physicist.” But, as Scientific American reports, for someone who had a form of the motor-neuron disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosed decades ago, the milestone birthday is a gift in itself. Leo McCluskey, an associate professor of neurology and medical director of the ALS Center at the University of Pennsylvania, says: “On average people live two to three years after diagnosis. But that means that half the people live longer, and there are people who live for a long, long time. … What’s happened to him is just astounding. He’s certainly an outlier.” (Related: Intel is exploring ways to reverse the slowing of Hawkins’s speech.)
‘Personal mobility’ highlighted at major car show
At its exhibition in Detroit this month, the North American International Auto Show debuted a new area focused on transportation for people with disabilities, the Associated Press reports. “It wasn’t that long ago when being disabled meant the end of personal mobility. Those days are gone,” said NAIAS chairman Bill Perkins.
Military amputees inspire through softball
Wounded Warriors (AP)
Imagine a softball team. Now imagine this: “All of the infielders are missing at least one of their legs. Two of the outfielders use those special carbon-fiber running legs, the ones that look like upside-down question marks, for speed. One outfielder is missing a hand, and the right-fielder plays without his entire left arm and shoulder.” The Associated Press profiles the Wounded Warriors, a softball team made up of Army and Marine combat veterans, most of whom rely on prosthetic limbs. Click the photo at right to see more images.
More reading
- Judge rules NYC taxi agency must help disabled riders
- French court fines a discount airline for disabled discrimination
- New Jersey parents say their disabled daughter was denied a transplant
- Why deaf signers might make good airport security screeners
Tags: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Associated Press, disability, New Jersey, North American International Auto Show, Science Museum, Stephen Hawking, University of Pennsylvania
