The Last of the Iron Lungs

11-21-17 National:

Martha Lillard spends half of every day with her body encapsulated in a half-century old machine that forces her to breathe. Only her head sticks out of the end of the antique iron lung. On the other side, a motorized lever pulls the leather bellows, creating negative pressure that induces her lungs to suck in air.

In 2013, the Post-Polio Health International (PHI) organizations estimated that there were six to eight iron lung users in the United States. Now, PHI executive director Brian Tiburzi says he doesn’t know anyone alive still using the negative-pressure ventilators. This fall, I met three polio survivors who depend on iron lungs. They are among the last few, possibly the last three. ..Continued..

How to Communicate With Deaf People When You Don't Know Sign Language

10-19-15 National:

When you don’t know how to connect with a deaf or hard of hearing person, you can complicate the process—or worse, shut them out entirely. If you need to communicate with a deaf person, here’s what you should do.

Politely Get Their Attention

With a hearing person, you can call their name or shout something like “Hey!” But that obviously won’t work with someone who can’t hear you. They need to see you.

According to the Deaf-Hearing Communication Centre (DHCC), you have a few basic options for getting their attention that aren’t considered rude: ..Continued..

Federal judge orders Texas prison system to provide cooled quarters for heat-sensitive inmates

7-20-17 Texas:

HOUSTON — In a searing 100-page rebuke of the Texas prison system, a federal judge Wednesday ordered state officials to provide air-conditioned living quarters for elderly, disabled and other heat-sensitive inmates at the Pack Unit northwest of Houston.

The judge’s ruling — which chastises prison officials for “obstruction” and “deliberate indifference” to inmate suffering — gives the state 15 days to draft a plan to ensure that 475 vulnerable inmates have living units cooled to no more than 88 degrees and that 1,000 others have easy access to indoor respite areas. The prison must also develop a heat-wave policy to prevent further injuries and install insect-proof window screens.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison does not require prison officials to install air conditioning throughout the prison, but suggests staff could adjust housing assignments to make sure inmates with health problems sleep in cooled dormitories.

Ellison — who spent five hours at the Pack Unit in the summer of 2014 to feel the heat for himself — cites Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s writing on Siberian prison conditions in ordering the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to bring its prisons up to modern standards.

“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons,” Ellison wrote. “To deny modern technology to inmates today for the simple reason that it was not available to inmates in past generations is an argument that proves too much. No one suggests that inmates should be denied up-to-date medical and psychiatric care, or that they should be denied access to radio or television, or that construction of prison facilities should not use modern building materials. The treatment of prisoners must necessarily evolve as society evolves.” ..Continued..

Prison rehabilitation ‘made pedophiles & rapists more dangerous’ – report

6-27-17:

Prisoners who took the taxpayer-funded Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP) – a six-month psychological group therapy course – were at least 25 percent more likely to be convicted of further sex crimes than those who did not, according to an independent study seen by the Mail on Sunday.

The newspaper says those convicted of physically attacking children were especially likely to reoffend after taking the course, which has cost more than £100 million ($127 million) since it was set up in 1991.

Before the report was compiled, about 1,000 prisoners had taken the “core” program across eight jails, and the worst offenders did an extended course. The courses involved discussions to help sex offenders understand their crimes, increase awareness of victim harm, and to stop reoffending.

The core and extended programs have now been cut by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The ministry was reportedly initially reluctant to accept the findings, but after they were independently endorsed, were forced to act.

The newspaper accuses Liz Truss, the former justice secretary, of keeping the independent study secret. ..Continued..

Kenguru, the first drive-from-wheelchair EV, enters production

6-25-17:

See Pics at Website

The Octogenarians Who Love Amazon’s Alexa

6-9-17 National:

A community of San Diego retirees is using the personal-assistant gadget to listen to audiobooks, keep current with family news, and control home appliances.

When Lois Seed wakes up in the morning, one of the first things she says is “Alexa, what is the weather?” Seed, who is 89 and has low vision because of macular degeneration, finds it convenient to get weather information by speaking to the Alexa voice-activated assistant on her Amazon Echo. She also asks her Echo to tell her the time and to play classical music from her former hometown radio station.

“Life is more enjoyable [with Alexa],” she says, proving that the recent Saturday Night Live spoof about Alexa and seniors couldn’t be further from the truth.

Seed and about 50 other residents at the Carlsbad by the Sea retirement community near San Diego have been testing the personal-assistant technology inside their homes since late February. Front Porch, the nonprofit organization that runs the community, devised the pilot program after residents expressed interest in Alexa and asked to try it.

Some older adults have been using Alexa on their own to alleviate loneliness and set medication reminders, but Front Porch appears to be the first retirement community to study the technology’s impact in depth. And it wants its residents’ experiences to help inform how future versions of Alexa might better serve the elderly. The group could represent a sizeable new market for Amazon. More than one million Americans reside in assisted-living facilities today, and that number is expected to double by 2030. ..Continued..