Virtual Ability: March 2014

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Save the Date: April 26 Mental Health Symposium- Free and Virtual- you're invited!

Quality of Life is this year's Symposium theme. Attend this year's sessions about well-being, aging and a healthy life, and more. This symposium offers easy and free access to current authors and current research, plus learning and sharing with colleagues and friends from all over the world. You can attend this virtual conference from the comfort of your own Second Life® viewer!

New to the virtual world of Second Life®? Find out more or join and get a free avatar and training at http://www.virtualability.org/sign-up-for-second-life/

Visit the website to check the current schedule to plan your participation.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Who are Mrs. A and Mr. B?

They are patients using healthcare in the United States. They are people with disabilities. They have real names, but it’s quite possible that their healthcare professionals don’t know them all that well. And, it’s quite possible that, in spite of good intentions, they face disparities in accessing, receiving, and benefiting from healthcare.

Why?

They are people with disabilities.

Researchers have already carefully shown that being poor, being a person of color, or living in certain areas of the country create disparities in a person’s ability to access, receive, and benefit from healthcare. In a unique three-year research project funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the University of Pennsylvania Perleman School of Medicine is teaming up with Virtual Ability, Inc. to explore healthcare disparities impacting people with disabilities across the US.

One exciting component of this large research project is the inclusion of people with disabilities as experts. They contribute their expertise gained through participation in healthcare systems. Moreover, with the help of Virtual Ability, Inc., the “Mrs A and Mr B” project utilizes the unique capacities of virtual worlds like Second Life® to gather people with disabilities, people without disabilities, and clinicians into groups for discussions that explore healthcare disparities, document them, and reveal systemic trends and patterns.

You can keep tabs on this exciting and innovative research by visiting http://www.HealthcareEquitability.org. In fact, you can PARTICIPATE in the research by visiting the forum at that site and adding YOUR personal story to the project.

Virtual Ability, Inc. is a non-profit corporation based in Colorado, USA. Our mission is to enable people with a wide range of disabilities by providing a supporting environment for them to enter and thrive in online virtual worlds like Second Life®. Visitwww.virtualability.org

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

If I only could save some money....

Here’s a fact that many people without disabilities do not realize:

If you live in a country where you qualify for government subsidy (medical care, living support, food support) based on the fact that you have a disability that is preventing you from working, you also generally face a “cap” on how much money you are permitted to save before you lose those benefits. Currently, individuals receiving some types of government benefits in the US generally cannot have any more than $2,000 at any given time without forfeiting those benefits.

It’s a real catch. Those benefits are what is making it possible for you to survive. And, you also know you want to save up so you can move out of your mom’s house, live independently, purchase transportation, and complete your college degree so you can get a professional job. BUT, if your great uncle Joe passes away and you get a small inheritance that would open these doors to self-sufficiency and sustainable independence… you immediately lose your health benefits and all the other funding that allows you, in the moment, to make ends meet! Yes, someday, you’ll not need those subsidies, but gosh, now you DO!

Or, same scenario, let’s say you finally DO land a job offer. Hooray! Then, you realize: Income you earn from your new job will not possibly be enough to cover your medical care needs, the special food you need for your health maintenance, the transportation costs you will have until you can save enough for your car, plus the costs of daily life. Forget about being able to save up for completing college…

You’re in a pickle. You WANT to take the job, become a wage earner and tax payer, but you’re stuck. You will lose the very benefits that allow you to reach those goals.What if there was some sort of “tax-free disability savings account” that would allow you to save money to pay for these items? What if you could save up to further your long term independence without totally risking your eligibility for benefits like Social Security? What if you could retain Medicaid no matter how much you are able to save?
You might want to read more about the ABLE Act, a piece of federal legislation before the US Congress right now. Take a peek at this brief article published recently on www.disabilityscoop.com: Congress Eyeing Tax-Free Disability Savings Accounts. Or, check out the articles published by the National Down Syndrome Society, MDA, or others (just google “Able Act”). There are even links to a petition in support of the Able Act, and discussions about how this act might help families plan for the financial future of their child with a disability.

How might something like this make a difference in your life?

Virtual Ability, Inc. is a non-profit corporation based in Colorado, USA. Our mission is to enable people with a wide range of disabilities by providing a supporting environment for them to enter and thrive in online virtual worlds like Second Life®. Visit www.virtualability.org

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Virtual Ability Conferences Now Archived on its Website

Each year, Virtual Ability presents two international conferences. The Virtual Ability Mental Health Symposium is held on Virtual Ability Island in Second Life® in April or May of each year. The Virtual Ability International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference (IDRAC) brings international experts and practitioners together each September.

Mark your calendar! April 26, 2014 is this year's Mental Health Symposium! The theme is Quality of Life.

To explore what Virtual Ability has offered in the past, please visit our website:
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Mental Health Symposium 2013: Do You See ME?
http://www.virtualability.org/conferences/mh-symposium/mh-symposium-2013/

Mental Health Symposium 2012: Thinking Positively About Mental Health
http://www.virtualability.org/conferences/mh-symposium/mh-symposium-2012/

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International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference 2013
http://www.virtualability.org/conferences/idrac/idrac-2013/

International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference 2012
http://www.virtualability.org/conferences/idrac/idrac-2012/