A scholarship opportunity for writers and artists living with spinal cord injuries:
Long time Quality of Life grantee, Vermont Studio Center, has announced four four Craig H. Neilsen Foundation Fellowships for month-long studio residencies for artists and writers with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI).
Each of these fellowship awards includes a $500 stipend for travel and expenses during the residency and, if necessary, a room, board, and travel stipend for a personal care assistant.
Craig H. Neilsen Foundation Fellowships applications are due February 15, 2012 as part of VSC's fellowship awards deadline.
For a complete listing of fellowship awards available at VSC's February 15, 2012 application deadline, please visit the Vermont Studio Center's website.
Handling finances can be difficult, especially if you have the burden of student loans. While student loan payments can be deferred for economic hardship, an individual who is living on Social Security Disability may not be able to afford their student loan payments.
There is an option for those who are totally and permanently disabled, and receiving SSDI benefits - the student loan discharge. A student loan discharge will eliminate your student loan debt to the federal government. The application process can be a difficult one, not unlike applying for Social Security Disability. The application has to be approved by a panel of medical doctors, but in the end, it can ease worries when there is a financial hardship.
To learn more about the application process, as well as tips for getting through the paperwork, check out my recent article, Student Loan Discharge for the Disabled.
The Accessible Mainstream Game of the Year Award for 2011 goes to Star Wars: The Old Republic. The AbleGamers Foundation gave this award to BioWare and LucasArts because the developers took the time to make the game accessible in so many ways. Specifically they included:
"full subtitles, queue-able actions, multiple action bars, area looting, auto looting, and built-in mouse sensitivity. Other built-in features such as automatically turning to face the monster you are killing, mini map colors being colorblind friendly, full subtitles, and the ability to control the entire game from the keyboard or with the mouse"
To read the full story and reviews, check out AbleGamers.com
I admit, I didn't think much about mobility issues until I became disabled. My grandparents were using walkers, but I never thought that what they were using could be improved upon. It seemed to me that using those bulky aluminum walkers were what you could expect to use if you became disabled.
It wasn't until this past year that I began thinking about the use of walkers and canes in my own life. I needed assistance walking, but had decided there was no way I was going to use one of those ugly walkers, because using one of those would mean I was as old and dilapidated as the walker I was using.
My thoughts on this have slowly changed as I've seen some more attractive canes on the market. They have attractive patterns, but don't seem very functional for the disabled. The grips are usually just wood, and the patterns on the cane tend to chip and get marked up easily.
Luckily, I did find a company that has merged the two ideas, Nova Medical Products. Sue Chen, founder and CEO, has made it her mission to provide beautiful, fashionable and durable mobility items for the disabled. Personally, I've used their canes, which have a very comfortable rubber grip that conforms to the inside of your hand. As an individual who has rheumatoid arthritis, this one little detail makes all the difference. Their Zoom 20 walker, which I also have, is attractive and easy to transport. I can use it and not feel "dilapidated" any more!
If you've been using old, worn out mobility items, check out my recent article with Sue Chen, a.k.a. the "Walker Stalker." She's giving America a "Mobility Makeover" - something the disabled both need, and deserve!
The Walker Stalker - An Interview with Sue Chen
