Thirteen-year-old Anna had been ill for months. The usually cheery middle schooler was dull and listless, plagued by constant migraines and irritated stomach. After the typical culprits of colds and flu, mononucleosis and school or relationship problems had been ruled out, her doctor started a battery of tests to identify the cause, while Anna ... Read more
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Sally Field Issue
Diane Schuur — The Hot Lady Of Cool Jazz
Circa 2006 As a young girl growing up outside of Seattle, the musically precocious Diane Schuur loved to listen to Dinah Washington, a singer who earned the sobriquet Queen of the Blues for her evocative and often emotionally wrenching vocal renditions. And in many ways, Schuur’s life would play out for a while like ... Read more
Sally Field — Promoting Healthy Habits
Circa 2006 So a surfer girl, a flying nun and a woman with multiple personalities walk into a bar… No, wait a minute, that’s not really the start of a joke—it’s the versatile actress Sally Field. This icon of the Baby Boomer generation turns 60 this year, but her wide-ranging performances will always be ... Read more
Headlines — IBM, Marriott, AssistiveWare, Turboset
Circa 2006 CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME CAMPAIGN FOR A FAIR NAME Researchers, doctors and patients have long hated the term chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), because it does not reflect the full range of symptoms from this complex condition of the immune and neurological systems, affecting more than four million Americans. Patients feel the current name ... Read more
Recipes — No-Sin Appetizers
Circa 2006 DIETARY CHOICES PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN REDUCING CANCER RISK Thinking about cancer is something most of us would rather avoid, but today we know that paying more attention to our cancer risk is something that can yield real dividends. Researchers tell us the majority of cancers we face are preventable—not through ... Read more
A Lesson From Mackenzie— I Love My Little Self
Circa 2006 My five-year-old niece, Mackenzie, taught me something today. Again. And undoubtedly not for the last time. Children intuitively instruct those willing to learn, and my son, my nieces and nephews and the elementary schoolchildren I was once expected to teach—but who in fact taught me lessons that linger even now—have convinced me ... Read more
Community Studio — Verizon’s Video-On-Demand
Circa 2006 Call it a cultural history lesson at the touch of a button. Call it an innovative way to get America better connected to public interest topics. Call it whatever you want, but Verizon Communications executives and their partners from different civil rights organizations call it a necessary step in providing consumers the ... Read more
Casting Your Ballot — Making Voting Accessible
Circa 2006 It took the entry of the words hanging chad and butterfly ballot into the American lexicon during the 2000 election in Florida for Congress and the media to wake up to just how difficult it is for many voters to cast their ballots for the candidates of their choice. Unfortunately for many ... Read more
Book Excerpt — Leave No Nurse Behind
Circa 2006 In the midst of a national nursing shortage, many nurses who are able to work and want to work are being denied the opportunity. They are being pushed out of jobs and turned away from unfilled positions, all because they have disabilities. Donna Carol Maheady’s new book, Leave No Nurse Behind: Nurses ... Read more
Jonathan Kuniholm — A New World Of Prosthetics
Circa 2006 Jonathan Kuniholm may never be able to pick the guitar again with his fingers. He’s accepted that. But it doesn’t mean he is not going to try. He’s never been afraid to try things. In 1997, at age 24, Kuniholm joined the Marines because he wanted a challenge in his life. “I ... Read more
George Covington — High-Desert Hijinks
Circa 2006 Nine years ago, when I decided to trade the dusty canyons of Manhattan for the even dustier canyons of West Texas, a number of friends thought that in addition to my eyesight, now my sanity was gone as well. After 20 years in Washington DC and two years in Manhattan, I had ... Read more
Humor Therapy— A Volunteer’s Lament
Circa 2006 When it comes to volunteering, I’m usually the first to speak up… in fact, I volunteer my wife all the time. I knew she’d be dying to chair that PTA strip-tease-a-thon—I just hope I don’t have to pay to get in. It’s tough to be a volunteer, mainly because a volunteer is ... Read more
Senator Harkin — Mental Health Parity
Circa 2006 PARITY FOR MENTAL HEALTH—NOW Dear ABILITY Readers, Last spring, I joined with fellow senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) to inaugurate the Senate Caucus on Mental Health Reform. For me, as a long-time advocate for people with disabilities, forming this working group was a logical—in fact, urgent—step ... Read more
Letter From The Editor — Uncovering Addiction
Circa 2006 Dear Readers, In our office, as in offices across the nation, people can’t help wondering about former Florida congressman Mark Foley, who resigned after national news broke about sexually explicit emails he’d sent to underage congressional pages—allegedly sent over a period of years and continuing even after he had been warned by ... Read more
Osteoporosis — Are You At Risk?
Circa 2006 Your hip bone connected to your back bone, your back bone connected to your shoulder bone… dem bones gonna dance around… or so the gospel spiritual goes, based on the biblical story of Ezekiel, who walked into a valley of dead, dry bones and brought them back to life. These days, for ... Read more
Universal Design — Nc State Leads The Way
Circa 2006 When was the last time you had to scale a flight of stairs with a heavy set of luggage? Or using crutches? Could you cross the threshold into your home on your own if you were seated in a wheelchair? Not every building design fits the needs of every person. But Dick ... Read more
