Category: Living with Disability

As we’ve reported in the past, unemployment among adults living with disabilities remains extremely high—as high as 80% in some parts of the country. That’s despite the fact that many disabled employees make terrific contributions to their workplaces.

That’s why some parents with the means to do so are starting businesses where their children and other disabled individuals can be trained and employed.

Most of these businesses are one-offs that can only accommodate a small group of employees. But Bitty & Beau’s Coffee is an exception.

Established by Amy and Ben Wright in 2016, the Wilmington, North Carolina-based business now has 23 franchises in 12 states that employ more than 200 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Employees, including individuals with Down syndrome, autism and cerebral palsy, receive whatever accommodations they require. The family sometimes calls the business a “human rights movement disguised as a coffee shop.”

The Wrights were inspired to open the first Bitty & Beau’s by their younger children—Bitty and Beau— who have Down syndrome. Bitty and Beau have two older sisters—Lily, who has autism, and Emma Grace. The couple’s mission is to create “a path for people with disabilities to become more valued, accepted and included in every community.”

In 2017, Amy Wright was named the 2017 CNN Hero of the Year for her work on behalf of people with disabilities. When she accepted her award, Wright told the cheering crowd, “people with disabilities have been in the shadows for too long. But not anymore.” She also had a message for Bitty and Beau, who were watching the presentation at home. “I would not change you for the world, but I will change the world for you,” said Wright.

Wright’s award came with $100,000, which enabled her to expand the business. Eventually, the Wright’s would like to open shops in every state in the United States and beyond.

When prospective employees at Bitty & Beau’s receive job offers, they don’t just get emails. They get parties. For example, when the first Bitty & Beau’s was set to open in Boston, prospective employees were bussed to a location where friends, family, franchise owners and support staff were waiting with surprise job offers, balloons and Bitty & Beau’s logoed aprons. Check out this video of one such hiring event. In other cases, Bitty and Beau’s representatives surprise new hires at their homes surrounded by their families.

Interested in owning a Bitty & Beau’s coffee shop? According to the business’s website, it will cost you between $451,000 and $844,550, including an initial franchise fee of $40,000. Franchise owners must have $200,000 in liquid capital and an $800,000 net worth. Based on the smiles and tears on that video, it’s worth every penny.

For more information about Bitty and Beau’s, visit bittyandbeauscoffee.com.

Photo credit: Filma Production

 

At Enabling Devices, we’re all about finding ways for individuals with disabilities to access life’s peak experiences. That’s why we were so excited when we learned about the invention of a new adaptive cockpit that allows wheelchair users to experience the thrill of flying through the “Microsoft Flight Simulator,” a series of flight simulator programs for Microsoft Windows operating systems.

The cockpit was created during the Microsoft Global Hackathon at the Israel Garage – one of 12 spaces all over the world where hackers, makers and innovators envision solutions to local and worldwide challenges. The Garage team was assisted by engineers at the Microsoft Israel R&D (research and development) Center. Previous Microsoft Garage creations include the Xbox Adaptive Controller, Eye Control for Windows 10, and Seeing AI.

The adaptive cockpit is wheelchair accessible, providing adequate space for motorized or regular wheelchairs and room for a copilot. It includes “a portable aluminum structure and three monitors that provide a 180-degree, panoramic viewing angle for the pilot,” writes Suzanne Choney, a writer for the Microsoft News Center.

“From their cockpit perch, they fly alongside birds over oceans, urban landscapes, forests carpeted with trees and golden deserts. … cables are hidden so they don’t get in anyone’s way. The cockpit doesn’t require using a keyboard, except for a sign in, which can be done by a staff member. Players use a hand-operated throttle and joystick to maneuver the plane. While that can be an issue for patients whose hands are not agile, the team modified the joystick’s sensitivity to allow for easier distance control.”

After development of the adaptive cockpit was complete, its first stop was ALYN Hospital, a pediatric rehabilitation center in Jerusalem, where 13-year-old Etai Rimel had the opportunity to try it out. Etai lost his leg and sustained brain injuries after he survived a catastrophic car accident. With a professional pilot at his side, Etai was able to experience the sensation of flying over his home from the adapted cockpit. After the virtual flight, the teen said, “It was a once-in-a lifetime experience to be able to fly wherever I want. …I really enjoyed controlling the machine. For a whole hour, I was in a very different world from my everyday life, like a free bird, like escaping from reality.”

The cockpit’s next landing was at a site that is part of the House of Wheels, an Israeli nonprofit day center for young people with disabilities. There, Netanel Gvili and Yaniv Wanda, both twentysomethings with cerebral palsy, had the opportunity to give it a whirl. After using the flight simulator, Gvili said he enjoyed the feeling of independence that the simulated flight offered.

“I can choose where to fly. How to fly. It really simulates a flight. Computer games are not new to me, but all of the additional connected devices with the adaptive cockpit are really cool.”

Clinicians say the cockpit is therapeutic for users.

“The Microsoft cockpit is especially helpful since it involves hand-eye coordination,” says Dr. Maurit Beeri, director general of ALYN. “It’ll give the child an experience of occupational therapy, speech therapy, concentration, cognitive development – and most importantly, it’s fun.”

Warning: This is not your typical celebration of spring blog post.

It’s not that we’re not happy to see signs of spring. Warmer weather, songbirds, and blossoming buds are all welcome harbingers of this wonderful time of year.

Yet, recent current events—i.e., the war in Ukraine—make it difficult to maintain a cheerful and optimistic attitude. The war is catastrophic for everyone in Ukraine but perhaps most of all for the estimated 2.7 million Ukrainians with disabilities.

We’ve seen the news coverage of thousands of Ukrainians fighting to save their country, while others attempt to flee war-torn cities and towns to save their lives. Their efforts are heroic and unimaginable for most of us who live in the West. But what about Ukrainians who are unable to fight or to flee? The story of Ukraine’s disabled isn’t covered as much but is arguably even more tragic. Many bomb shelters are inaccessible to wheelchair users, while individuals who are immunocompromised who make it to a crowded bomb shelter face the danger of contracting a deadly disease. Those who need medication to prevent seizures or other health challenges also struggle to stay alive. The greatest tragedy of all may be that some disabled children in Ukrainian institutions are sometimes left behind.

Wondering how you can help? Here are some organizations working to help disabled Ukrainians that need your support.

1. Fight for Right
This NGO defends the rights of Ukrainians with disabilities. It is headed by Ukraine human rights advocate Yuliia Sachuk, who was selected as an Obama Leader by the Obama Foundation, recognizing her as an emerging leader in Europe who has demonstrated a commitment to advancing the common good. Fight for Right is helping disabled individuals and their families to evacuate safely and providing them with necessary funds. The organization is also aiding those who are unable to leave Ukraine by providing food and medication. To support Fight for Right, visit its GoFundMe page.

2. Joni & Friends
Christian organization Joni & Friends is mobilizing churches in Ukraine to find and evacuate individuals with disabilities in the country. Once disabled individuals are found and brought to safety, representatives from Joni & Friends meet them at the Polish border and transport them to Germany or the Netherlands. As a message on the organization’s website reads: “we are currently working with our contacts to relocate these precious people into welcoming homes where they will have food, blankets, medical care, and urgently needed hospital supplies—things even as simple as catheters for urinary drainage.” Joni & Friends has a 3-Star “Give with Confidence” rating from Charity Navigator.

3. Bright Kids Charity
This Ukrainian organization is focused on providing support such as groceries, high-nutrition food, and hygiene products to families of children with disabilities who are not able to evacuate. Bright Kids Charity is on the GlobalGiving.org giving platform. Global Giving vets all charities it accepts on it site for authenticity and impact.

4. International Committee Red Cross (ICRC)
Among the many other services it provides, the ICRC sends visiting nurses to individuals with disabilities who are sheltering at home. Based in Switzerland, the organization has won several Nobel Peace Prizes and has an excellent reputation as an impactful charity. The organization claims on its website that 93.5% of all monies donated are used for field work.

5. National Assembly of Persons with Disabilities of Ukraine (NAPD)
NAPD is an association of 120 organizations that represents the interests of people with disabilities in Ukraine. The organization remains active during the war and is focused on helping individuals who remain in the country as well as advising those who wish to leave on evacuation, border crossing, and humanitarian assistance.

6. Inclusion Europe
Inclusion Europe is working with the VGO (an all-Ukrainian NGO Coalition for Persons with Intellectual Disability) to help individuals with disabilities and their families who are unable to leave the country. The NGO is providing food, water, medicines, hygiene products, and other goods to these families. Inclusion Europe says that 100% of donations to the Ukraine people affected by the war will be used to assist the disabled and their families.

7. Polish Association for People with Intellectual Disability (PSONI)
Many Ukrainians with disabilities and their families who are able to leave Ukraine, need a great deal of assistance once they arrive in their new countries. PSONI, an NGO that is part of the European Disability Forum, is raising money to provide support for these individuals when they arrive at Poland’s borders. According to the European Disability Forum’s website, the funds PSONI collects will be used for “for short-term and long-term accessible accommodation, accessible transportation to cross the border, rehabilitation equipment (e.g., wheelchairs, crutches, rehabilitation beds…), medical supplies (e.g., catheters, diaper pants…), food, assistant and psychological support, translators of Polish to/from Ukrainian/Russian, etc.”

Consult your tax adviser on tax deductibility of donations to international non-profits before making a donation.

When he was just four years old, Joshua Miele was badly burned and blinded after a neighbor with mental illness poured a bottle of acid over his head.

Nowadays, Miele who is 53 and a 2021 MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, is making the world more accessible to other blind and low vision people.

A principal accessibility researcher at Amazon, Miele previously worked at the Smith Kettlewell Eye Research Institute. He studied physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and went on to earn a Ph.D. in psychoacoustics—(the science of sound perception) there.

Originally, Miele planned to use his education to prepare him for a career in aeronautics. But after an internship at NASA, he told People magazine, “the tools a scientist needs for measuring, recording and analyzing data were not easy for someone who was blind to use.”

It was then that Miele realized his true calling—building tools that he and other blind and low vision people could use to better access life-changing technologies. According to Miele’s MacArthur grant recipient page, he has invented various tools including “Tactile Maps Automated Production (TMAP), a web-based software that generates tactile street maps of any location that can be printed with at-home Braille embossers. He designed a set of tactile maps for every station of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system—including platforms and street-level features—that is compatible with an audio smart pen, making it possible for blind travelers to virtually explore and plan their route through the BART system.”

Additionally, Miele has worked to improve features on smart phones and portable devices for blind people. For example, the WearaBraille he built, “has sensors attached to users’ fingers to allow them to type Braille text without a special keyboard.”

Of late, Miele has focused on making visual digital technologies, like graphics and streaming video such as YouTube, more accessible to blind and low vision individuals. During his tenure at Amazon, Miele has lent his expertise to projects such as making Braille compatible with Fire tablets and developing a feature on camera-enabled Echo devices that tells users what’s in their pantries.

Miele also instructs blind students soldering—a process of joining two metals together that is needed for prototyping and building electronics. His goal is encouraging more blind and low vision students to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology engineering and mathematics). Among other things, Miele plans to use the $625,000 MacArthur grant to create an open-source foundation that shares the latest research about accessibility for the blind and disabled.

Despite the challenges he has faced since the childhood attack, Miele told People that his resulting disability and facial scarring “was not a tragedy or horror show. It’s just the way things turned out. Yes, it was painful, yes it completely changed my life. I am now burned and I wasn’t before. But I want parents of blind children and parents of disabled children to know that this is not a tragedy. It is just a challenge. It is something that people just have to get through.”

Last week, the American Library Association (ALA) announced the winners and honorees of the 2022 Schneider Family Book Awards. The annual awards, established by retired clinical psychologist and author Katherine Schneider and her family in 2003, honor “an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.”

As a blind child growing up in Michigan, Katherine Schneider loved books and loved to read. But it wasn’t always easy for Schneider—the first blind student to graduate from the Kalamazoo, Michigan, public school system—to obtain the books she wanted to read in Braille. It was also rare to find books that depicted the experiences of people with disabilities.

Speaking to attendees at the first presentation of the Schneider Family Book Award at the ALA Annual Conference in 2004, Schneider explained: “When I was growing up, the librarian at the Michigan Library for the Blind was my hero. He sent me books in Braille and on records from the Library of Congress collection. …That special librarian and my mother who read me many books that were not available in Braille or on records, whetted my thirst for knowledge. The upshot of that thirst was a Ph.D. from Purdue and a very satisfying thirty-year career as a clinical psychologist.”

While Schneider was fortunate to have a librarian and a mother who helped her access literature, she was still frustrated that so few children’s books depicted the experiences of people with disabilities. “In the 1950s when I was in grade school, the only media mentions of blind people were of Helen Keller, Louis Braille, and the seven blind men who went to see the elephant [a parable],” said Schneider. “Other disabilities fared no better.”

The Schneider Awards are designed to address that inequity. Every year, awards are given in three categories: young children; middle grades; and teens. Books must feature a main or secondary character with a physical, mental, or emotional disability. However, “the disability experience” must be “a part of a character’s full life, not the focus of the life.” Schneider Award winners receive a $5,000 prize as well as a framed plaque.

In addition to establishing the Schneider Family Book Awards, Schneider, who also lives with fibromyalgia, sponsors the National Center on Disability and Journalism’s “Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability.” The award is the only one of its kind.

Schneider is the author of several books that deal with disability and aging. Her most recent, “Hope of the Crow: Tales of Occupying Aging” (Wheatmark) was published in 2020. She is also the author of “Occupying Aging: Delights, Disabilities and Daily Life” (Dog Ear Publishing) and “To the Left of Inspiration: Adventures in Living with Disabilities” (Dog Ear Publishing).

Below are the winners and honorees of this year’s Schneider Family Book Awards.

 Young Children

 Winner:
“My City Speaks” (Kids Can Press)
Written by Darren Lebeuf and illustrated by Ashley Barron, this picture book tells the story of a daddy/daughter day in the city, described by a young girl who is blind.

Honors:
“A Walk in the Words” (Penguin Random House)
Written and illustrated by Hudson Talbot, “A Walk in the Words,” is about a boy with a reading disability.
“A Sky-Blue Bench” (Pajama Press)
Written by Bahram Rahman  and illustrated by Peggy Collins, this book tells the story of an Afghani girl returning to school with a new prosthetic leg.

 Middle Grades

Winner:
“A Bird Will Soar” (Penguin Random House)
By Alison Green Myers, “A Bird Will Soar” is about a child with autism who loves birds.

Honors:
“Stuntboy, in the Meantime” (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books)
By Jason Reynolds, this book tells the story of a boy superhero with anxiety.
“A Kind of Spark” (Knights of Media)
From Elle McNicoll, a neurodivergent author, comes a book about a young girl with autism who rallies for a memorial to the “witches” who were killed long ago in her Scottish town.

Teen

Winner:
“The Words in my Hands,” (Annick Press)
Written by the author Asphyxia, this book tells the story of a deaf teenager searching to discover herself through creativity and social justice work.

Honor:
“A Face for Picasso: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome,” (Macmillan)
Written by Ariel Henley, “A Face for Picasso” is a memoir about growing up with a facial disfigurement.

For more information about the Schneider Family Book Award and Dr. Katherine Schneider, visit the ALA.

Here at Enabling Devices, we’re well aware of how technology can change lives for the better. Technology enables individuals living with disabilities to gain independence, participate in their communities and have richer and more satisfying lives.

The expansion of a Tennessee program called Enabling Technology, is set to make a dramatic difference in the lives of disabled people in the state.

Developed by Tennessee’s Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD), Enabling Technology began as a pilot project in 2017. The project was intended to help Tennesseans living with disabilities become more independent by providing them with smart technologies they could use in their homes and communities. Initially, 200 individuals benefited from the program, which decreased their reliance on caregivers in various ways.

According to the Government of Tennessee’s website, the Enabling Technology project reduced the amount of in-person attention that disabled individuals needed from caregivers by implementing two-way audio and video communication in their homes that provide “remote support and reminders to assist a person in independent living.”  Caregivers were able to check in with clients without traveling to their homes while clients could reach their caregivers remotely, when necessary, without requiring their around the clock presence.

This aspect of the project was especially advantageous during the COVID-19 pandemic, when in-person care was risky for caregivers and clients alike.

The project also taught disabled individuals to use “sensors, mobile applications, remote support systems, and other smart devices….to gain more control of their environment. “

For example, residents learned to use tablets to regulate thermostats and lighting and to open doors in their homes. Enabling technologies, including Eyedriveomatic, which allows users to navigate their wheelchairs with eye movements, and Voiceitt, which uses speech recognition technology to translate the utterances of individuals with speech differences, make independent movement and communication easier.

And new technologies, such as an app that helps people navigate the transit system, help people with disabilities travel independently. All these technologies increase community participation and options for education, socialization and employment.

The expansion of the Enabling Technology project would not have been possible if it were not for funding from the U.S. Government’s 2021 American Rescue Plan.

As Disability Scoop reports, the ARP prompted TennCare (the state of Tennesee’s Medicaid program) and DIDD to make “a historic investment of $400 million.” Reportedly, the amount represents “the largest single investment in home and community-based services in the state’s history.” TennCare and DIDD plan to use $5.5 million of the $400 million toward expanding the Enabling Technology program.

According to Disability Scoop, “This money is opened up to CHOICES participants, a state program that’s meant to provide seniors and those with physical disabilities support at home.”

Thanks to the increase in funding, more than 2,000 participants stand to benefit from this groundbreaking effort. Will other states follow suit? We sure hope so!

As the pandemic heads into its third year, it’s natural to feel depressed, angry and exhausted. After all, COVID-19 has necessitated all sorts of unwanted lifestyle changes. And people with disabilities have faced even greater hardship than the average person.

But the situation isn’t entirely bleak. The pandemic forced certain developments in the areas of employment, technology, healthcare, entertainment and education that have benefited individuals with disabilities.

Now, we’re faced with the challenge of ensuring that those benefits don’t disappear when the pandemic is finally over. “The experience gained throughout the pandemic could also teach us how listening to and embedding the needs of people with disabilities in ‘non-pandemic times’ might allow us to create systems that are better for everyone, and potentially more responsive in times of crisis,” write Mikaela Patrick and Dr. Giulia Barbareschi for the Global Disability Innovation Hub.

Here are some of the positive changes that have taken place over the last two years.

 1. The American Rescue Plan
On March 11, 2021, President Joe Biden signed The American Rescue Plan (ARP). The plan allocated $12.7 billion for home and community-based services (HCBS) through March 2022. The ARP covered expenses such as internet and assistive technology for individuals with disabilities who worked remotely. It also provided funding for transportation, job coaching and personal care attendants.

2. Remote Employment
The pandemic forced employers to allow their employees to work from home, something disabled workers have requested for decades. The acceptance of remote employment created opportunities for individuals with disabilities to qualify for jobs that weren’t available to them pre-pandemic.

3. Improved Technology
Because so many employees worked remotely during the pandemic, assistive technology was compelled to keep up with the needs of the remote workforce. Thus, online accessibility features got better. For example, “Speech-to-text software has improved dramatically over the last year as more and more people have utilized it while working from home,” writes Lucy Currier of Disability Horizons. “Every operating system now has … accessibility features built-in.”

Likewise, websites have become more accessible and video calling software “has become more inclusive, with new features having been added,” says Currier.

4. Telehealth
The pandemic has brought telehealth into the mainstream with most healthcare organizations now offering patients the option to see their physicians through telehealth platforms. The change makes it easier for individuals with mobility, financial and transportation challenges to receive medical care from their own homes.

5. Food delivery
During the pandemic, food delivery became an option for anyone who could afford a relatively small delivery fee. This benefited anyone wishing to avoid going to the grocery store, but especially people with disabilities facing mobility and transportation issues or increased vulnerability to the virus because of medical conditions.

6. Online classes
While virtual learning was challenging for children—especially those with disabilities—in some cases online classes were a boon. For example, individuals with disabilities looking for convenient option for exercise suddenly had access to fitness classes of all kinds from all over the world.

7. Virtual sightseeing
Listening to a concert or attending a museum online isn’t the same as being there. Yet, the pandemic has forced arts organizations to make their offerings available to visitors who don’t feel safe making in-person visits. Now, you can “travel” to distant lands, enter inaccessible historic buildings, or have a front row seat to a Broadway production just by turning on your TV or computer! We’ll take it!

If healthy eating, exercise and weight loss are at the top of your 2022 New Year’s resolutions list, you’re not alone. These goals are very common but also difficult to achieve.

Sticking to a diet and exercise regimen is especially challenging for individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities who “are far more likely to be overweight, with rates of obesity for disabled adults and children 58% and 38% higher than for their able-bodied counterparts, respectively,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The propensity for being overweight and sedentary puts disabled individuals at increased risk for obesity and health problems such as cardiovascular disease, sleep disorders, gastrointestinal problems and Type 2 diabetes.

Yet, with the right information, guidance and community, there is hope for disabled young adults who want to keep their weight down and minimize their risk for obesity-related health complications.

For example, a pilot program out of the University of Cincinnati found that “young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID) were able to lose or maintain their weight with a system of education and support in place.”

The year-long program included 17 young adults, six parents and 10 staff members who participated in a program that included lessons on healthy eating and exercising; and group sessions that used goal-setting to motivate participants.

The program taught participants about healthy eating using MyPlate, the United States Department of Agriculture’s dietary guidelines. The young adults were educated about the food pyramid and five food groups as well as portion size and the presence of vitamins and minerals in food. They were also coached to eat fewer unhealthy foods.

The exercise segment of the program included material about the health benefits of exercise.  Participants were introduced to different types of exercise and helped to recognize how finding exercise they enjoyed makes it easier to commit to a fitness routine.

During the program, the young adults participated in group interviews where they shared their impressions of the program. They were weighed and measured at different intervals throughout the year.  Parents were asked to complete surveys about their adult children’s progress. At the end of the program, two participants had lost significant amounts of weight while the others maintained their weights. According to News Medical Life Sciences, both participants and parents were satisfied with the results of the program.

While this program appears to have positive results, experts agree that the best time to familiarize children with ID and autism about nutrition and fitness are when they are young. According to a report by Bright Hub Education, “children with intellectual disabilities face certain nutritional issues as they reach adulthood, thus increasing the need for nutritional education. … Teaching students about nutrition in school can give them the tools they need to minimize their risks of these conditions by eating healthy.”

Bright Hub recommends that teachers use hands-on lessons to teach students about healthy eating. If classrooms have play kitchens, teachers are advised to use play food to teach nutrition. Teachers are also encouraged to teach students about the food pyramid. One effective multisensory teaching technique is to lay down “a large sized version of the food pyramid with the type of food and the number of servings written in bold in each section.” Students can then be asked to put the appropriate play food in each section of the food pyramid.” If play food isn’t available, teachers can use photos of food in the same way.

Parents can reinforce lessons at school by taking children grocery shopping and involving them with food preparation, menu planning, prep cooking and table setting. Children can also be encouraged to exercise along with their parents and siblings.

As the popular Ray Stevens song goes, “Everybody’s beautiful in their own way…”

We couldn’t agree more. But until very recently, it was difficult to find beauty products that were accessible to all. Those that did exist were typically available through small, independent companies and weren’t sold in chain stores or at department store makeup counters.

With its new disability friendly packaging, beauty brand Olay North America has taken a major step forward in changing the status quo of the beauty industry.

In early November, Olay, which is owned by Procter & Gamble—an American multinational consumer goods corporation that makes everything from Pampers to Tide to Bounty to Crest—announced it would begin selling its most popular skincare products with a newly designed limited edition “easy open lid.”

The lid will make opening popular Olay products, including the Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream, Vitamin C + Peptide 24 Face Moisturizer, Retinol 24 Face Moisturizer and Collagen Peptide 24 Face Moisturizer, easier for individuals with a range of disabilities including arthritis and joint pain, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, fine motor challenges and limb length disparities. Additionally, the lid features the label “skin cream” in braille. Products with the easy open lid are available on Olay’s website at olay.com/opentochange.

The innovative design comes as a result of customer feedback and was created for individuals with disabilities in consultation with disabled consumers. It is not clear why Olay decided to make the easy lid a limited edition. Hopefully, it will continue production if the design change is well received.

“We were honored to work closely with a passionate group of people to bring this easy open lid to life,” said Chris Heiert, Senior Vice President of Olay in a recent press release.

“As a global brand, it’s our responsibility to ensure that ALL consumers have access to products that serve their needs and fit seamlessly into their daily lives. But we can’t do it alone, which is why we’ve chosen not to patent this lid, and rather share the design widely with the beauty community. Our hope is that others will join us in our efforts in making products more accessible for everyone.”

To encourage the beauty industry to embrace inclusive product design, P&G is offering the design for the easy open lid on its website at no charge to other beauty brands.

Back in 2018, P&G’s Herbal Essence haircare line updated its shampoo and conditioner bottles so that people with low vision and blindness could distinguish between the two products. The brand’s shampoo bottles are designed with four raised lines on the bottom of the plastic containers while the conditioner bottles have a raised grid of eight circles. This small change makes a big difference to those who cannot read the products’ labels.

P&G says these design changes are just the beginning. The corporation has made a commitment to make all its packaging easier to open by the year 2025.

With the holiday season underway and inflation wreaking havoc on Americans’ budgets, most of us would welcome the opportunity to save some money. If you or a family member has a disability, chances are you have many additional expenses that make staying within a budget especially challenging.

Fortunately, there are ways to have fun without breaking the bank. People with disabilities are sometimes offered discounts for travel, entertainment, and more.

We’ve done some research about discounts for people with disabilities — during the holiday season and beyond — that may be flying under the radar. Here’s what we discovered:

1. Regal Cinemas
If you’re fully vaccinated and feel ready to go back to the movies, Regal Cinemas has you covered with free wheelchair-accessible seating, and free admission for an assistant/companion who accompanies a guest with disabilities.

2. Amtrak
Traveling this holiday season? If so, be sure to check out Amtrak’s discounts for people with disabilities. According to the company’s website, “Amtrak offers a 10% rail fare discount to adult passengers with a disability. Passengers with a disability travelling on Downeaster trains (Boston, Massachusetts, to Portland, Maine) are eligible for a 50% discount. Child passengers with a disability are eligible for the everyday 50% child discount plus an additional 10% off the discounted child’s fare, regardless of the service on which they travel. Amtrak also offers a 10% discount for persons traveling with a passenger with a disability as a companion. Those designated as a companion must be capable of providing the necessary assistance to the passenger with a disability.

3. Club Go
Lucky enough to be vacationing for the holidays? Club Go describes itself as “the world’s only discount club for travelers with disabilities.” The company offers a special platform called Accessible Go and offers deals of up to 60% off hotels, motels, and resorts.

4. AT&T
The telecom company offers discounted landline and wireless phone plans of to 25% off for individuals with disabilities.

5. National Library Service
Holiday season is a wonderful time to curl up with a good book. NLS offers free braille and talking book library service for people with low vision or blindness and those with reading disabilities. According to the NLS website, “Through a national network of cooperating libraries, NLS circulates books and magazines in braille or audio formats, which are instantly downloadable to a personal device or delivered by mail free of charge.”

6. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Heading to New York City for the holidays? Be sure to visit the Big Apple’s magnificent museums. Individuals with disabilities who visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art can expect the museum to provide listening devices, audio guides, large print booklets, wheelchairs, and other accessibility services. Best of all, caregivers get in for free!

7. C4 HealthLabs
Many people find relief from a variety of symptoms in CBD products. If you have a documented disability, you can receive 10% off your purchase from C4 HealthLabs.

8. License to Fish
Did you know that many states offer free fishing licenses to people with disabilities? Check out this article from fishing experts Tackle Village, which contains all the information you need to reel in the savings.

9. Brooklyn Museum
If you’re in New York City over the holidays, head over to The Brooklyn Museum.  The museum offers $10 admission to people with disabilities, and their caregivers receive free admission.

10. San Diego Zoo
Who doesn’t love a trip to the zoo? Zoos including the San Diego Zoo, the Virginia Zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo, and the San Francisco Zoo are among the many zoos that offer free or discounted admission for people with disabilities and/or their caregivers. Check out your local zoo to see if there are deals to be had.

Note: Many of these discount programs may require proof of disability. Please see websites for additional information.

Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that one in four American adults—61 million—live with some sort of disability.

That number is expected to rise as the Baby Boomers—the generation born between 1946 and 1964 – continue to age. According to the Population Reference Bureau, while Americans are living longer, “a growing body of research suggests that baby boomers in their 50s and 60s are in poorer health—with more chronic disease and disability—than earlier generations at the same ages …”

But Baby Boomers aren’t the only group joining the ranks of the chronically ill and disabled. COVID “long haulers” —those with lingering symptoms of COVID-19 that can be debilitating—are also struggling with chronic illness and disability. Many “long haulers” are young, and some find themselves unable to work because of their symptoms. They are also finding it challenging to qualify for disability benefits and to find physicians who understand their disease and how to treat it.

As Dr. Claire Pomeroy, an infectious disease physician and researcher, writes in a Scientific American article, “Unlike the common cold or even influenza, this virus causes a bewildering array of symptoms that persist long after the acute illness is resolved and can render some affected unable to resume their usual activities.”

Pomeroy says that while scientists and physicians seek answers to the medical questions posed by long COVID, it is up to public health and policymakers to be ready for long haulers and their healthcare needs, including disability insurance, workers compensation and other services.

In recent months, long haulers have begun organizing and forming advocacy groups that are pushing for research and treatment options to address their myriad symptoms. In some ways, long COVID sufferers have an advantage over people with similar symptoms who don’t know where their illnesses originated. Knowing why they are ill may make it easier to get the attention of members of the medical establishment, scientists, philanthropists, and public health experts.

Says Ed Yong, a science writer for The Atlantic: “The risk is that long COVID becomes yet another neglected disease whereby some uncounted number of people become debilitatingly sick every year and fruitlessly bang for help on the door of an unconcerned medical establishment. But a better future is also possible, in which long-haulers—vocal, united, and numerous—finally galvanize research into the long-term consequences of viral infections; in which such research proceeds quickly as patient experts become partners; in which the world gets ways of preventing and treating long COVID, ME/CFS [Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome] and other marginalized conditions…”

Here at Enabling Devices, our hope is that the efforts of long haulers will influence researchers, physicians, and healthcare administrators to find cures and treatments, not only for long COVID but also for the millions of other individuals with more than 7,000 rare and as yet, incurable diseases.

The pandemic isn’t over yet. But thankfully, for those of us who are fully vaccinated, this year’s holiday season promises to be far more festive than last year’s.

While this return to some semblance of normalcy is a welcome relief, for families with disabled children, the prospect of a return to large social gatherings can be a mixed blessing.

Here are some tips to ensure that your family’s Thanksgiving is a good time for all.

1. Don’t forget the masks!

Bummer though it may be, the facts are the facts. Even if teens and adults in your family have received their vaccines, as of this writing, vaccines have just been authorized for children under 12. And while being fully vaccinated generally provides good protection, those who are older or immunocompromised can still get quite sick if they contract the virus. According to Healthy Children.org, a website from the American Academy of Pediatrics, “children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) may be at increased risk for more severe illness and complications. This includes children with chronic physical, developmental, behavioral or emotional conditions, disabilities, and those with medically complex conditions.”

 2. Plan Ahead

Careful planning is key to successful holiday activities. If you’re traveling by plane, train or other means of public transportation, be sure to pack books, snacks, portable toys and sensory items such as a weighted vest, to keep children busy and calm on the trip. If your child is medically fragile, find out about healthcare facilities in the community you’re visiting. Double check hotel reservations, especially if you will require special accommodations for your child.

3. Prepare your child

After nearly two years of limited social interactions, your child may need to brush up on her social skills. Talk with her about what to expect at holiday gatherings and remind her of social protocols. Roleplay appropriate behaviors and reacquaint her with family members and friends through photos and memory sharing. Social stories are great way to teach children with social skills challenges to navigate the holidays. Special education advocate Lisa Lightner’s blog, A Day in Our Shoes has some great Thanksgiving-themed social stories that can serve as a jumping off point.

4. Talk with your host

If your holiday plans include visiting a friend or family member’s home, get the lay of the land beforehand. Have an open, honest discussion about your child’s needs and how best to accommodate them at the event. For example, find out what’s on the menu. If your child is on special diet or is just a picky eater, there’s no need for the host to change the menu. If you know what’s being served, you can supplement the meal by bringing food your child favors. Similarly, if your child becomes overwhelmed by large groups, noise, smells or other sensory experiences, ask your host if she would mind directing you to a space where your child can go to rest, play quietly, or watch TV if he becomes overstimulated. Most hosts will be more than happy to accommodate your child. If that’s not the case, maybe you should consider skipping the event.

 5. Don’t overdo it

While holiday season can be joyous, it can also be exceedingly stressful. After almost two years of quarantine, most of us are feeling anxious about returning to large gatherings. Children, especially children with disabilities, may feel this anxiety even more intensely than the rest of us. Respect that and adjust your holiday plans accordingly. If you and your family aren’t ready to resume pre-pandemic levels of socialization, that’s completely legitimate. Friends and family who love you will understand.