Report: India's Women 'Treated Worse Than Animals' in Institutions

This is such a disturbing story from India that we couldn't ignore it. Bravo to Human Rights Watch for its report and bringing attention to the issue. Something has to change.

 

NEW DELHI — Women and girls with intellectual disabilities or mental illness in India are subject to forced institutionalization in sometimes overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, verbal and physical abuse, and medication without consent, according to a report released by Human Rights Watch on Wednesday.

The group interviewed 52 women and girls who had been institutionalized because of mental disabilities in the last two years, as well as their families, staff members at the institutions where the patients were treated as well as doctors in four Indian states. The report found 31 cases of electroconvulsive therapy administered “without consent,” though in many cases familial consent replaced patient consent, said Dr. Sanjeev Jain, a psychiatrist in New Delhi.

Child Speech Screenings Proposed

December 02, 2014 03:58 pm Chris Crawford – According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, speech sound disorders affect 10 percent of children overall. Language difficulty is estimated to affect between 2 percent and 19 percent of preschool-age children, and specific language impairment is one of the most common childhood disorders, affecting 7 percent of children. Of the more than 2 million Americans who stutter, half are children. 

Yet despite these statistics, screening for these issues hasn't proved to be either effective or ineffective. 

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) posted a draft recommendation statementon Nov. 18 that re-examined screening for speech and language delay and disorders in children age 5 or younger and found that current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of routine screening.

Mom Knew She Could Wait No Longer

For Nicola Bridges, the wake-up call that changed her life came on March 27, 2013. That’s when the Ramona resident’s phone rang in the middle of the night with news that her son, Jack, was hovering near death in a Maryland hospital.

Nicola Bridges and Tony Oxley left their corporate jobs last spring to purchase the rundown ranch.

Jack Godfrey suffered a severe brain injury when he was assaulted by a fellow student outside a bar near their University of Maryland campus. Although given just a 10 percent chance of recovery, he survived and — after many months of intensive therapy and several subsequent seizures — he returned to school. The experience of nearly losing her eldest son convinced the 48-year-old Bridges that the dream she’d harbored for nearly 20 years could wait no longer.

Congress Expected to Vote on ABLE Act

Congress is set to act this week on legislation that would allow people with disabilities to save money without jeopardizing their government benefits.

Supporters say they expect the U.S. House of Representatives to vote on the Achieving a Better Life Experience, or ABLE, Act on Wednesday and they’re hopeful that the Senate will follow suit on Thursday.

Settlement Relieves Maine Familes

For Cathy Dion of Greene, last week’s class-action lawsuit settlement with state health officials means her autistic son, Ben, will finally come off a waiting list for day treatment.

“He’s been on it since September 2012,” said Dion. Ben, now 20 years old, had received services through the public school system until June, but since then the Dions have been paying out of pocket for care.

Delaware Divided on Housing Issue

The debate that divides Delaware's disability community, especially in matters of housing, has plenty of sharp edges.
Those edges have come into plain view since the federal agency that decides how to steer taxpayer support for disability services has changed the rule on how it will fund home- and community-based services.

NYS Program Focuses on Palliative Care

ALBANY —  The American Cancer Society and 17 other groups in New York state have launched a new campaign to help New York’s 908,000 cancer survivors and millions of others living with life-altering health conditions.

Their goal is to draw public attention to the availability of “palliative care” — help with issues like controlling pain to make life a little easier to bear for those with a chronic illness, whether they are sick and suffering or the disease is in remission and manageable.