2008

From ATWiki

Contents 1 Arts & Entertainment 2 Education 3 Government & Advocacy 4 Health & Science 5 Sports 6 Technology 7 Deaths 8 References

Arts & Entertainment

• November 14 - The 4th Moscow Disability Film Festival: Breaking Down Barriers opens in Moscow, Russia.

• April 29 - Jerry White publishes I Will Not Be Broken: 5 Steps to Overcoming a Life Crisis, a book he wrote in response to losing his leg in a land mine accident in 1984.

Education

• April 29 - The Sousa Cobra Stock team, a group of 8th grade special education students from Sousa Middle School, win the central region Stock Market Challenge sponsored by the Maryland Council on Economic Education.^[1]

Government & Advocacy

• January 15 - Federal employees with severe disabilities at lowest percentage in 20 years. Report issued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), known as "Participation Rate of People with Targeted Disabilities in the Federal Work Force" says that people with severe disabilities accounted for slightly less than 1 percent of the government's workforce. ^[2]

• January 28 - The first ruling on golf course accessibility. The U.S. District Court in San Fransico rules that Marriott International violated the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 "by failing to provide accessible golf carts as a reasonable accommodation for plaintiffs." ^[3]

• March 5 - AAPD Presented 2008 Henry B. Betts Award to International Human Rights Disability Advocate Eric Rosenthal.^[4]

• April 3 - Ecuador ratifies the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and Optional Protocol today, becoming the 20th State Party to the Convention and thereby triggering the treaty's entry into force.^[5]

Health & Science

• January 7 - Scientists are able to restore walking in mice after a spinal chord injury. ^[6]

Sports

• January 14 - Paralympic 400m star Oscar Pistorius is denied entry into the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games when the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ruled his prosthetic limbs give him an advantage over able-bodied opponents and contravene rules on technical aids. ^[7]

• May 12 - The Northeast Independent Living Program hosts their 5th Annual Golf Tournament For Independence at the Georgetown Country Club in Georgetown, MA.

• September 6 - The 13th Paralympic Games are scheduled to open in Beijing, China. ^[8] The Beijing mascot will be Fu Niu Lele, the Cow. "Cows, symbolic of a down-to-earth, diligent, staunch and never-say-die spirit, are adopted to show the unremitting spirit of athletes with a disability in being the best they can be." ^[9]

Technology

• January 29 - Touch Bionics the company that developed the world's first commercially available bionic hand incorporates in the U.S.^[10]

• February 1 - The FDA approves Medtronic's Endeavor Zotarolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent for use in treating patients with narrowed coronary arteries. The decision marks only the third approval of a drug-eluding stent in the U.S.^[11]

• February 18 - AssistiveGaming.com, a site for accessible gaming on Mac OS X, is launched . AssistiveWare launched AssistiveGaming.com which featured articles about general gaming topics, reviews discussing individual games, and short descriptions of games with a special focus on their accessibility. ^[12]

• February 28 - Touch Bionics signs U.S. distribution agreement with Southern Prosthetic Supply (SPS) to distribute the i-LIMB, the world's first commercially available bionic hand.^[13]

• March 31 - The Epilepsy Foundation announces action against hackers who posted high-flicker images to the Foundation's forum causing seizures in many users.^[14]

• April 1 - Toidi-Naru launches the iMind, a super light mind switch headset, that utilizes technology from existing 'mind gaming' headsets and features more than twenty tiny sensors to read thoughts and analyze even the most subtle facial movements all in an effort to control an iPod.^[15]

Deaths

• March 24 - John Slatin - Slatin was the founding Director of the Accessibility Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. John, who is blind, was also the co-chair of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group from 2005 to 2006.^[16][17]

• March 26 - Jerald Jordan - Deaf sports leader. Jordan was the president of the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf from 1971 to 1995.^[18]

References

1. ↑ "[http://www.k12.dc.us/File.aspx?id=8 Sousa MS Special Ed Students Win 2008 Stock Market Challenge]." District of Columbia Public Schools. Press Release. April 29, 2008. Accessed on May 12, 2008.
2. ↑ http://www.newmobility.com/newsDetail.cfm#article11093
3. ↑ http://www.newmobility.com/newsDetail.cfm#article11093
4. ↑ "AAPD Presented 2008 Henry B. Betts Award to International Human Rights Disability Advocate Eric Rosenthal." Bender Consulting Services, Inc. 2008. Accessed on April 28, 2008.
5. ↑ "Ecuador Ratifies UN Disability Rights Treaty, Triggering Entry into Force." Rehabilitation International. April 3, 2008. Accessed on April 4, 2008.
6. ↑ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080106193147.htm
7. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/athletics/7141302.stm
8. ↑ http://en.beijing2008.cn/paralympic/
9. ↑ http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/beijing2008/graphic/n214070923.shtml
10. ↑ "Touch Bionics expands U.S. presence." Touch Bionics. Press Release. January 29, 2008. Accessed on April 28, 2008.
11. ↑ "FDA Approves Drug-Eluting Stent for Clogged Heart Arteries." Federal Food and Drug Administration. Press Release. February 1, 2008.
12. ↑ http://www.closingthegap.com/detail_open_access.lasso?-Search=Action&-Table=indexsearch&-MaxRecords=1&-SkipRecords=0&-Database=EditorialWEB&-SortField=DateModified&-SortOrder=descending&Department=temp
13. ↑ "Touch Bionics signs U.S. distribution agreement with SPS." Touch Bionics. Press Release. February 28, 2008. Accessed on Arpil 28, 2008.
14. ↑ "Epilepsy Foundation Takes Action Against Hackers." Epilepsy Foundation. Press Release. March 31, 2008. Accessed on May 12, 2008.
15. ↑ "iMind: the Mind-control iPod accessory". Telegraph Media Group Limited. April 1, 2008. Accessed on April 1, 2008.
16. ↑ "Dr. John M. Slatin." RampWEB, Inc. 2007. Accessed on March 25, 2008.
17. ↑ Slatin, Anna. "John passed away peacefully 10pm Mon, March 24." The Leukemia Letters. Blog. March 25, 2008. Accessed on March 25, 2008.
18. ↑ "Longtime Deaf Sports Leader Jerald Jordan Dies." USA Deaf Sports Federation. March 29, 2008. Accessed on April 1, 2008.