ULY /J UNE J LLEN A S ’ EPPARD L EF Volume 2009Volume D $4.99 MAGAZINE VOLUME 2009 DEF LEPPARD’S RICK ALLEN JUNE/JULY THE VOICE OF OVER 50 MILLION AMERICANS 2 ABILITY ABILITY 3 MANAGING EDITOR Gillian Friedman, MD EDITORS Diane Chappell Dahvi Fischer Renne Gardner Sonnie Gutierrez Pamela K. Johnson Josh Pate David Radcliff Denise Riccobon, RN Jane Wollman Rusoff Maya Sabatello, PhD, JD Romney Snyder MANAGING HEALTH EDITOR E. Thomas Chappell, MD Edward M. Kennedy HEALTH EDITORS Serve America Act Larry Goldstein, MD Natalia Ryndin, MD 6 SENATOR HARKIN — The Community Choice Act CONTRIBUTING SENATOR U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) 8 HUMOR — Blame Bin Laden CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Linda Boone Hunt Gale Kamen, PhD 10 ASHLEY’S COLUMN — International Language of Pizza Laurance Johnston, PhD Andrea Kardonsky Extremity Games Rick Allen and Lauren p. 34 Deborah Max 12 ADVENTURE SKILLS — More Than a Workshop Myles Mellor - Crossword Puzzle Paula Pearlman, JD LISE COX — The Blind Leading the Blind John Paizis 14 Richard Pimentel Allen Rucker 16 H’SIEN HAYWARD — Volunteering, Travel and Bulls Kristen McCarthy Thomas Betsy Valnes KATRINA — Stormy Stories HUMOR WRITERS 18 Jeff Charlebois George Covington, JD Gene Feldman, JD 28 GEORGE COVINGTON — A Brush With Andy International Volunteer p. 16 Paralympic Games Beijing WEB EDITOR Joy Cortes 30 DRIVEN — Beyond an Accessible RV GRAPHIC ART/ ILLUSTRATION 34 DEF LEPPARD’S — Rick Allen Tapping Drum Therapy Scott Johnson Keriann Martin Melissa Murphy - Medical Illustration 43 PERFECT CIRCLES — One-of-Kind John Michael Stuart PHOTOGRAPHY Nancy Villere - Terri Cheney p. 50 46 OBAMA SIGNS — Kennedy’s Act Expanding Community Service Music Within CrushPhotoStudios.com TRANSCRIPTIONIST 50 TERRI CHENEY — Bipolar or Mood Rainbow Disorder Sandy Grabowski DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS AFFAIRS 58 HAWAII — Wheels To Water John Noble, JD MARKETING/PROMOTIONS 62 CROSSWORD PUZZLE — Guess Your Best! Jo-Anne Birdwell Jacqueline Migell Andrew Spielberg 64 EVENTS & CONFERENCES Volunteering Blind p. 14 PUBLIC RELATIONS ABILITY’s Crossword Puzzle ABILITY’s JSPR 74 SUBSCRIBE TO ABILITY MAGAZINE NEWSSTAND CIRCULATION CONTENTS John Cappello WWW.ABILITYMAGAZINE.COM EDITORIAL [email protected] ADVERTISING DISTRIBUTION CORPORATE SHIPPING For advertising Warner Publishing Services 8941 Atlanta Ave. ON ROFITS information e mail A Time-Warner Company Huntington Beach, CA 92627 N -P [email protected] Faxon - RoweCom Library Tel 949.854.8700 ABILITY Awareness/Fuller Center or call Services TTY 949.548.5157 Habitat for Humanity 949.854-8700 ext 306 Ebsco - Library Services Fax 949.548.5966 Ashley Fiolek p. 10 Swets Blackwell PUBLISHER Chet Cooper ABILITY Magazine is published bimonthly by C.R. Cooper, 8941 Atlanta Ave. HB, CA 92646 (ISSN 1062-5321) All Rights Reserved. Subscriptions: $29.70 per 1 year (6 issues). Periodicals postage rates at Irvine, CA and at additional mailing offices. The views expressed in this issue may not be those of ABILITY Magazine POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ABILITY Magazine, Attention Subscriptions Manager, PO Box 10878, Costa Mesa, CA 92627; Volume 2009 Def Leppard’s Rick Allen June/July Library of Congress Washington D.C. ISSN 1062-5321 Printed in U.S.A. © Copyright 2009 ABILITY Magazine The ABILITY Build program outreaches to volunteers with disabilities to help build accessible homes for low income families. We are currently seeking corpora- tions, organizations and churches to sponsor more homes. This award-winning program builds homes and awareness, changing the lives of everyone involved. abilitybuild.org [email protected] abilityawareness.org ABILITYABILITY 5 5 program, the allowable expenses under the program are often capped on a monthly or yearly basis. Sometimes these capped amounts may not be sufficient for an individ- ual with a disability, due to the nature of the services and supports that are necessary to live in the community. Or the services may be capped in other ways, such as limited enrollment, limited services, limited disabilities, limited ages, or de facto exclusion of particular conditions. The vast majority of people prefer to remain in their com- munity and receive the assistance they need with daily The Community Choice Act: Change We Need living at home. This is true for people with physical dis- In 1990, Congress overwhelmingly passed the Ameri- abilities, intellectual and developmental disabilities. The cans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA sets out ability to choose to receive community based services four goals to truly bring people with disabilities into the and supports is critical to allowing people to lead inde- mainstream of society: equal opportunity, full participa- pendent lives, play an active role in day-to-day family tion in the community, independent living and economic life, have jobs and participate in their communities. self-sufficiency. Nine years later, the United States Supreme Court, in the Olmstead v. L.C. decision, made My bill, the Community Choice Act, simply requires that clear that the ADA gives individuals with disabilities all Medicaid eligible individuals with disabilities have a the right to make the choice to receive their care in the choice between receiving care at home or in an institution. community rather than in an institutional setting (a nurs- ing home or intermediate care facility for the intellectu- The Community Choice Act requires that Medicaid ally disabled). This year marks the 10-year anniversary recipients with conditions serious enough to qualify for of the Olmstead decision. an “institutional level of care” must be given access to personal care services in the community, even in states Unfortunately, 10 years later, federal law still only that do not currently offer these services or offer them to requires that states cover nursing home care in their a limited population. Personal care services under the Medicaid programs. There is no similar requirement that Community Choice Act include help with accomplish- states provide eligible Medicaid recipients home and ing the activities of daily living such as dressing, community based care services. As a result, individuals bathing, grooming and eating; and help with instrumen- with significant disabilities often face the untenable tal activities including shopping, chores, meal prepara- choice of either receiving their necessary care in a nurs- tion, finances and health related functions. At the same ing home or other institution, or receiving no services at time, the combination of financial eligibility limitations all. This is unacceptable. and requirements on the severity of the condition under Medicaid impose realistic limitations on these govern- The statistics are even more disproportionate for adults ment funded services. with physical disabilities. In 2007, 69 percent of Medic- aid long-term care spending for adults with physical dis- Studies show the cost of providing services at home or abilities paid for institutional services. Only 6 states in the community is much lower than in an institutional- spent 50 percent or more of their Medicaid long-term ized setting; that, because providing home and commu- care dollars on home and community-based services for nity based care services is less expensive than nursing older people and adults with physical disabilities while home care, it allows more people to be served; and that half of the states spent less than 25 percent. This imbal- use of home and community based services can slow ance continues even though, on average, it is estimated growth in Medicaid spending. that Medicaid dollars can support nearly three adults with physical disabilities in home and community-based Addressing our vast unmet long term care needs in the services for every person in a nursing home. near future is critical. It needs to be a part of health care reform. The Community Choice Act has the potential not Although every state has chosen to provide certain ser- only to genuinely reduce the numbers of people with dis- vices under home and community-based waivers, these abilities living in institutionalized settings, but also to services are unevenly available within and across states, reduce or delay nursing home admissions and to allow and reach a small percentage of eligible individuals. Indi- more individuals to receive needed personal care services, viduals with the most significant disabilities are usually while providing Americans with disabilities choice about afforded the least amount of choice, despite advances in where to receive the services and supports they need. medical and assistive technologies and related areas. In many states there are significant waiting lists for these Sincerely, waivers, and this often results in the worsening of current disabling conditions or the exacerbation of secondary con- ditions. Even after one is deemed eligible for a waiver Senator Tom Harkin 6 ABILITY ABILITY 7 wrapper touches my leg when I’m swimming in the ocean, I think it’s a jellyfish. I know it’s cumbersome but walk those ten meters to a trash can. Who knows? You might even find something good to nibble on. I’m not seeing much responsibility in this generation. Society has provided “outs” for our detrimental actions. If you drink too much, you’re considered to have an uncontrollable disease. If you cheat on your spouse, you couldn’t help it because you’re a sex addict. Every other radio commercial is a company offering to get sixty per- cent knocked off your credit card bill because you put yourself in debt. After all, why should you be responsi- here is a dying art in the world today. It is called ble for paying for your big screen television? That’s out- taking responsibility for one’s own actions. It usu- rageous! It’s not your fault that the store let you slap it Tally means that you were wrong doing something. on your Visa. But, come on, who wants to ever admit they were wrong? We feel sorry for actors or sports figures that fall to the I must admit, irresponsibility is a big peeve of mine.