THE DERBY CITY NSCIA NEWSLETTER

Message From the President

Dear Members & Friends-

As of this writing, no speaker has been scheduled. If one is not available, a video will be shown. Pizza and soft drinks will be provided. Please note the meeting location change in the calendar. We are not meeting in the 10th floor dining room.

April's meeting will be held at 6:30 at Frazier Rehab, 10th floor dining room.

- David Allgood

The following is from the internet....editor
COMPUTERS OPEN WORKFORCE TO DISABLED
By David S. Joachim

 For 24 years, Pamela Post, a victim of a panic disorder called agoraphobia, has been afraid to leave her house. She managed to find work for a time, at a company partly owned by a man who also had a panic disorder. He gave her a private office in a house, to make her feel at home and to shield her from the office bustle that could bring on the attacks.
    But 3 1/2 years into the job, even those accommodations were no longer enough. Her husband left her, and her 19-year-old daughter, who drove her to work, married and moved out.
    "All of a sudden the panic attacks got out of control," Ms. Post said. "I don't drive, so I didn't know what I would do."
    After a year with no job, she came across Willow, an outsourcing company that was starting a program to train at-home workers to take calls for companies like Teleflora and Palm. Today, she works from home in Deltona, Fla., sets her own hours, and supports herself. And the panic attacks have subsided. "It's been a godsend," she said.
    Such arrangements are bringing jobs to thousands of people with disabilities, including those with spinal cord injuries and vision loss. Fast computers and broadband connections have become so inexpensive and reliable that location is now not an issue for certain jobs, like customer service.

     At the same time, an abundance of technology is available to help disabled people operate computers, like software that lets a blind person use a keyboard instead of a mouse to navigate a program, and voice synthesizers that turn text into speech. There are also alternatives to the mouse for people with limited use of their arms.

    Stephen Singley, 41, who is quadriplegic as a result of a car accident 20 years ago, has a special setup that helps him take calls for Office Depot from his home in Centerville, Ut. His right arm, which has limited movement, is strapped to the armrest of his wheelchair, allowing his hand to pivot on a trackball and his pinky knuckle to tap a clicker. A splint with a rubber tip is hooked to his palm so he can type on a keyboard sitting on his lap.

    "You would think that typing one key at a time would be slow, but I can type 25 wpm accurately," Mr. Singley said. He puts in 20-24 hours a week, requiring extended breaks so his girlfriend can give him his medication and prepare him for his meals.

    No one has statistics on just how many disabled people work from home as phone agents. But the market research firm IDC says that about 112,000 home agents—both disabled and not—were working for outsourcing firms like Willow, Alpine Access of Golden, Colo., and J.J. Lodge of Hammonton, N.J., at the end of 2005. That number is expected to climb to 300,000 by 2010. That does not count employees of companies that hire their own home agents. Many new jobs will go to people who are disabled or to people who care for them, several specialists said, because there are more programs to train them.

(Continued On Page Five)  

THE DERBY CITY NSCIA NEWSLETTER

Derby City Area Chapter
of the
National Spinal Cord Injury
Association

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

The Derby City Area Chapter of the N.S.C.I.A. is a membership organization for individuals with spinal cord injuries, their families, and health professionals.  Founded in 1984 as a Charter Member of the N.S.C.I.A., it was incorporated under IRS Section 501 (c) 3 as a not for profit organization.  The Board of Directors consists of the Officers, Past President and the Board Members At Large.

***
OFFICERS

PRESIDENT
David Allgood - (502) 589-6620

VICE PRESIDENT
Adam Ford - (502) 425-2206

TREASURER
Tom Stokes- (502) 957-5865

LIAISON TO FRAZIER INSTITUTE
Jill Farmer

FUNDRAISING CHAIR
Betty Perry—(502) 647-0368

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY/WEB MASTER
Michael Feger- (502) 647-0368

PAST PRESIDENT
Adam Ford- (502) 425-2206

BOARD MEMBERS AT LARGE-

Mike Perry
      Kelly Young   

NSCIA
DERBY CITY CHAPTER
NEWSLETTER

Editor- Barbara Davis
Contributor- David Allgood

Visit Our Website at
www.DerbyCitySpinalCord.org

2006 SCHEDULE OF FRIENDS FOR MICHAEL SPINAL, INC. CORD INJURY ORGANIZATION

April ??  UK/UL Basketball Alumni vs FFM Ballgame
                details yet to come.
April 6-9 Barren Heights Retreat—work weekend
                (see FFM website for details on the retreat).
April 22   Barren Heights Retreat—Open House
                  2006 retreat weekends begin June 2).

May 4       Pegasus Parade—Louisville, KY
May 15     Friends for Michael travels to Indianapolis for the Annual Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation Racing to Recovery Dinner. Many IRL drivers and owners are present and available for autographs and photos. The 2nd annual Michael Andretti Driver's Award will be given to an IRL driver at this event. Tickets are available for purchase by calling Cindy Norton, (502) 396-3214 or go to www.samschmidtparalysisfoundation.org.

June 3        Dairy Queen Day at Eminence. 25% of all proceeds for the day will be donated to FFM. We will provide games and entertainment throughout the day. Corn Hole Tourney to be discussed.

August 3     6th Annual Friends f or Michael Sponsor/Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. Featured guest to be announced. Non-sponsor tickets available for $25.
August 12    5th Annual Disability Day at Kentucky Speedway sponsored by Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation, Sunrise Medical and Friends for Michael. (This event is for SCI survivors and family to go "behind the scenes" at Indy racing).

September 13 6th Annual Friends for Michael Celebrity Golf Scramble and Auction featuring Hall of Fame Coach Denny Crum as Honorary Chairman. See website at www.friendsformichael.org for application and information.

November 3    Annual Friends for Michael Day at the Downs. Sit in Millionaire's Row. Be on hand to present the Frirends for Michael award to the winning jockey. Come have a fun day at the races!
See www.friendsformichael.org* for information and application.

*Other events will be added to this website as they are planned and organized. Call Cindy Norton (502) 532-7071, (502) 396-3214, Pat Wallace, (502) 845-0806, Kelly Woods (502) 532-7979, or Stuart Schmidt at (502) 291-0929.

THE DERBY CITY NSCIA NEWSLETTER

Refrigerator Calendar
*2006

     MARCH     

6th   -  Elderly & Disabled Advisory Council Meeting
Mon    1:00-2:30 p.m.; TARC; 1000 W. Broadway; Board Room.
          
20th  -  Derby City Chapter Meeting, 10th floor dining room; 6:30 p.m. 
Mon    Frazier Rehabilitation; 220 Abraham Flexnor Way
 
18th -  Metro disAbility Coalition Meeting; 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.; PVA Office on Goss Avenue.
Sat      Speaker to be announced; if questions, contact Terri Leasor at 589-6620 or at      mdclouky.org

APRIL

3rd   - Elderly & Disabled Advisory Council Meeting
Mon   1:00-2:30 p.m.; TARC; 1000 W. Broadway; Board Room.

17th  - Derby City Chapter Meeting, 10th floor dining room; 6:30 p.m.
Mon    Frazier Rehabilitation; 220 Abraham Flexnor Way. 
                  
15th - Metro disAbility Coalition Meeting; 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.; PVA Office on Goss Avenue.
Sat      Speaker to be announced; if questions contact Terri Leasor at 589-6620 or mdclouky.org

For More Information Call
David Allgood at 502-589-6620

THE DERBY CITY NSCIA NEWSLETTER

From the Internet...ed
LEADER DOGS MAY SOON NEED A TICKET TO FLY
By Jerry Wolfe

    A proposed change in the Air Carrier Access Act might force disabled people to buy airline tickets for their guide and service animals when traveling by air in the United States and overseas.

    "The current policy is that you go on the plane with your dog and the animal sits at the owner's feet," said Pat Paterno, manager of media relations at Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester Hills. "The Department of Transportation wants to permit airlines to charge for an extra seat or to put the dogs in the cargo hold or have the disabled person and service animal wait for a less crowded flight."

    Leader dogs, founded in 1939, has had about 13,000 graduates. It pays for 300 visually impaired and blind students each year to visit the facility and be trained to use guide dogs, which cost about  $38,000 each. Lions Club and private donors often cover the cost of providing a guide dog for a blind person. "This is going to negatively affect thousands of people," said Paterno.

    Joan Frolig of the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners estimated there are about 25,000 Americans working with assistance dogs.

    The proposed changes in the Access Act were first made Nov. 4 when the DOT published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the Federal Register concerning air travel by passengers with disabilities.

    "The stated goal was to clarify existing rules and make air travel more accessible for disabled Americans," IAADP said in a statement. "However, a segment of that document would have the opposite effect for a portion of the disabled American community."

    Rod Haneline, chief operating officer of Leader Dogs, Inc. noted, "The airlines talked about this before, and now apparently the DOT has issued proposed rules to authorize airlines to charge a disabled passenger for an extra ticket if the disabled person's service dog doesn't fit into the small amount of floor space directly in front of where the disabled person is sitting on an airplane."

    The alternative being proposed, Haneline said, is the team would be separated with the service dog going into the cargo hold or both waiting for a later flight where there might be room for both the disabled person and the service animal to sit in the cabin.

    "This is not fair," he continued. "The dog is your choice of a mobility tool. You're being discriminated against, in essence, because your choice of a mobility tool doesn't fit perfectly into their seat."  Friends and members of the IAADP have flooded the DOT Public Comment site with more than 1,500 responses critical of the proposed rule changes.

    "The issue is crucial to our freedom to travel with a guide, hearing or service animal," Frolig says. "We expect the final rules to take effect this summer." She said DOT first said it was a safety issue and now the airlines say it is a financial burden because they can't charge for a second seat.

    If this rule goes into effect, Frolig says, "It will make travel unaffordable for many disabled Americans. It deprives us of the access rights we've had for over 30 years, and there has never been a complaint from a passenger to DOT about service animals."

THE DERBY CITY NSCIA NEWSLETTER

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY, CONT'D

These jobs pay relatively well, from $10 - $14 an hour to $20 an hour for those who earn a commission when taking orders over the phone. Firms like Willow, based in Miramar, Fla., often treat their agents as independent contractors, with no benefits, but many disabled agents qualify for Medicare.

    Customer service is not the only job that can be moved into the home. Janet Eckles, 53, of Orlando, Fla., who is blind, works full time for Language Line Services of Monterey, Calif., taking calls from hospitals and courts that need a Spanish translator. Clients call a central number and are routed to either Ms. Eckles or hundreds of other translators. She uses a computer to train other Language Line interpreters over the phone. For that, she uses a Windows program called JAWS (Job Access With Speech). It is customized to let her navigate her computer using a keyboard rather than a mouse, and it reads the out put into one ear while she talks to a trainee, like a television anchorwoman taking cues from a producer. "It does take some getting used to," she said.

    Some call center operators have found that disabled workers stay in their jobs longer and are more loyal than other workers. They also tend to be older and better educated, and they will work for less. "This is an untapped pool of labor that doesn't have many other options," said M.J. Williard, who runs the National Telecommuting Institute in Boston, an advocacy group that trains disabled workers for jobs. Ms. Williard works with state vocational programs to help her disabled clients find jobs.

FOR SALE!!!!***

97 Mercury Sable LS; station wagon. Leather interior; 6-cylinder; 6-passenger seating; rear-facing third seat; Braun wc topper; Monarch hand controls. 93,000 miles. Price negotiable.

Call Ruth @ 239-9754 after 5 p.m.
2001 Dodge Intrepid. 30,000 mi; leather interior; automatic transmission; Braun overhead wheelchair carrier & hand controls. Call Ruth at 239-9754 after 5 p.m.

*2003 Ford F-250 lift-equipped green/gray van; leather seats, TV, DVD player. Playstation hookup, am-fm radio. Rick Miller, 937-2245.

*Shower Chair; 2 yrs old, negotiable; 2 RoHo cushions; low profile; $150 each; Invacare 900 Action Power Chair; 4 yrs. Old; $600. Call 448-5296.]

*Cookbooks for Sale: Recipes compiled by Chapter members; $10:00. Call David @ 589-6620.

*Video tapes for sale. Various topics related to spinal cord injuries. Call David Allgood or Buddy Lawson.

***If assistance is needed to pay for any of the above items, contact Kentucky Assistive Technology Loan Corporation at  for information on loans at 5% interest to qualified candidates.

THE DERBY CITY NSCIA NEWSLETTER

You are cordially invited to join us!

The Derby City Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association
consists of people with spinal cord injuries and similar physical conditions, their family members, friends, and
professionals or other interested parties.

We meet:

WHEN- Third Monday of every month from 6:30 to 9:00 PM
WHERE- Frazier Rehab Center , 4th floor Dining Room
220 Abraham Flexner Way

If you wish to be a member, donor, and/or be on the mailing list of the Derby City Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association please complete and mail the following form to the address below