A Day in the Life of a PWD: Person With a Disability

06/09/2026

Just for giggles...

COMIC STRIP
by wawawiwa comics

Frame 1:
An apple wearing swimming trunks sees a yellow starfish and says, "Oh no! Sea stars can't survive out of the water for too long!"

Frame 2:
The apple says, "I'll save you!", and carries the starfish to the water.

Frame 3:
The starfish, now floating in the water, turns out to be a banana peel.
A peeled banana wearing swimming trunks has returned and stares irritably at the apple.

06/09/2026

Doggy giggles...

COMIC STRIP
by Mark Parisi

A woman opens her front door to greet her date, who is dressed nicely and holds a bouquet of flowers.
The woman's dog stands in front of him and says, "You know what's fun? All I have to do is growl and she'll think you're a bad person."

06/09/2026

Kitty giggles...

COMIC STRIP
by Mark Parisi

A cat reads a card that says, "Honey, I got you this box of catnip". The writing gets erratic and trails of at the end.

In the background, another cat is passed out on its back, surrounded by bits of a shredded box and wrapping paper.

06/09/2026

COMIC STRIP
A Day in the Life of a PWD (Person With a Disability)

Frame 1:
A woman in a wheelchair is talking to a friend.

FRIEND: You shouldn't start using a wheelchair. You're gonna grow dependent on it.

Frame 2:
WOMAN: I certainly hope so! I need mobility I can depend on to maintain my freedom and independence!

06/09/2026

Stem Cells Fast Facts
•CNN•

Here is some background information about stem cells.

Scientists believe that stem cell research can be used to treat medical conditions including Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

About Stem Cells
Sources: National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic

Stem cell research focuses on embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells.

Stem cells have two characteristics that differentiate them from other types of cells:

- They are unspecialized cells that can replicate themselves through cell division over long periods of time.

- Stem cells can be manipulated, under certain conditions, to become mature cells with special functions, such as the beating cells of the heart muscle or insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.

There are many different types of stem cells, including: pluripotent stem cells and adult stem cells.
- Pluripotent stem cells (ex: embryonic stem cells) can give rise to any type of cell in the body. These cells are like blank slates, and they have the potential to turn into any type of cell.
- Adult stem cells can give rise to multiple types of cells, but are more limited compared with embryonic stem cells. They are more likely to generate within a particular tissue, organ or physiological system. (Ex: blood-forming stem cells/bone marrow cells, sometimes referred to as multipotent stem cells)

Embryonic stem cells are harvested from four to six-day-old embryos. These embryos are either leftover embryos in fertility clinics or embryos created specifically for harvesting stem cells by therapeutic cloning. Only South Korean scientists claim to have successfully created human embryos via therapeutic cloning and have harvested stem cells from them.

Adult stem cells are already designated for a certain organ or tissue. Some adult stem cells can be coaxed into or be reprogrammed into turning into a different type of specialized cell within the tissue type - for example, a heart stem cell can give rise to a functional heart muscle cell, but it is still unclear whether they can give rise to all different cell types of the body.

The primary role of adult stem cells is to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are found.

Uses of Stem Cell Research
Regenerative medicine uses cell-based therapies to treat disease.

Scientists who research stem cells are trying to identify how undifferentiated stem cells become differentiated as serious medical conditions, such as cancer and birth defects, are due to abnormal cell division and differentiation.

Scientists believe stem cells can be used to generate cells and tissues that could be used for cell-based therapies as the need for donated organs and tissues outweighs the supply.

Stem cells, directed to differentiate into specific cell types, offer the possibility of a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat diseases, including Alzheimer’s diseases.

Policy Debate
Cloning human embryos for stem cells is very controversial.

The goal of therapeutic cloning research is not to make babies, but to make embryonic stem cells, which can be harvested and used for cell-based therapies.

Using fertilized eggs left over at fertility clinics is also controversial because removing the stem cells destroys them.

Questions of ethics arise because embryos are destroyed as the cells are extracted, such as: When does human life begin? What is the moral status of the human embryo?

Timeline
1998 - President Bill Clinton requests a National Bioethics Advisory Commission to study the question of stem cell research.

1999 - The National Bioethics Advisory Commission recommends that the government allow federal funds to be used to support research on human embryonic stem cells.

2000 - During his campaign, George W. Bush says he opposes any research that involves the destruction of embryos.

2000 - The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issues guidelines for the use of embryonic stem cells in research, specifying that scientists receiving federal funds can use only extra embryos that would otherwise be discarded. President Clinton approves federal funding for stem cell research but Congress does not fund it.

August 9, 2001 - President Bush announces he will allow federal funding for about 60 existing stem cell lines created before this date.

January 18, 2002 - A panel of experts at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recommends a complete ban on human reproductive cloning, but supports so-called therapeutic cloning for medical purposes.

February 27, 2002 - For the second time in two years, the House passes a ban on all cloning of human embryos.

July 11, 2002 - The President’s Council on Bioethics recommends a four-year ban on cloning for medical research to allow time for debate.

February 2005 - South Korean scientist Hwang Woo Suk publishes a study in Science announcing he has successfully created stem cell lines using therapeutic cloning.

December 2005 - Experts from Seoul National University accuse Hwang of faking some of his research. Hwang asks to have his paper withdrawn while his work is being investigated and resigns his post.

January 10, 2006 - An investigative panel from Seoul National University accuses Hwang of faking his research.

July 18, 2006 - The Senate votes 63-37 to loosen President Bush’s limits on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

July 19, 2006 - President Bush vetoes the embryonic stem-cell research bill passed by the Senate (the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005), his first veto since taking office.

June 20, 2007 - President Bush vetoes the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007.

January 23, 2009 - The FDA approves a request from Geron Corp. to test embryonic stem cells on eight to 10 patients with severe spinal cord injuries. This will be the world’s first test in humans of a therapy derived from human embryonic stem cells. The tests will use stem cells cultured from embryos left over in fertility clinics.

March 9, 2009 - President Barack Obama signs an executive order overturning an order signed by President Bush in August 2001 that barred the NIH from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time.

August 23, 2010 - US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth issues a preliminary injunction that prohibits the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

September 9, 2010 - A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit grants a request from the Justice Department to lift a temporary injunction that blocked federal funding of stem cell research.

September 28, 2010 - The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit lifts an injunction imposed by a federal judge, thereby allowing federally funded embryonic stem-cell research to continue while the Obama Administration appeals the judge’s original ruling against use of public funds in such research.

October 8, 2010 - The first human is injected with cells from human embryonic stem cells in a clinical trial sponsored by Geron Corp.

November 22, 2010 - William Caldwell, CEO of Advanced Cell Technology, tells CNN that the FDA has granted approval for his company to start a clinical trial using cells grown from human embryonic stem cells. The treatment will be for an inherited degenerative eye disease.

April 29, 2011 - The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia lifts an injunction, imposed last year, banning the Obama administration from funding embryonic stem-cell research.

May 11, 2011 - Stem cell therapy in sports medicine is spotlighted after New York Yankees pitcher Bartolo Colon is revealed to have had fat and bone marrow stem cells injected into his injured elbow and shoulder while in the Dominican Republic.

July 27, 2011 - Judge Lamberth dismisses a lawsuit that tried to block funding of stem cell research on human embryos.

February 13, 2012 - Early research published by scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University shows that a patient’s own stem cells can be used to regenerate heart tissue and help undo damage caused by a heart attack. It is the first instance of therapeutic regeneration.

May 2013 - Scientists make the first embryonic stem cell from human skin cells by reprogramming human skin cells back to their embryonic state, according to a study published in the journal, Cell.

April 2014 - For the first time scientists are able to use cloning technologies to generate stem cells that are genetically matched to adult patients,according to a study published in the journal, Cell Stem Cell.

October 2014 - Researchers say that human embryonic stem cells have restored the sight of several nearly blind patients – and that their latest study shows the cells are safe to use long-term. According to a report published in The Lancet, the researchers transplanted stem cells into 18 patients with severe vision loss as a result of two types of macular degeneration.

May 2, 2018 - The science journal Nature reports that scientists have created a structure like a blastocyst – an early embryo – using mouse stem cells instead of the usual s***m and egg.

June 4, 2018 - The University of California reports that the first in utero stem cell transplant trial has led to the live birth of an infant that had been diagnosed in utero with alpha thalassemia, a blood disorder that is usually fatal for fetuses.

January 13, 2020 - In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers announce they have created the world’s first living, self-healing robots using stem cells from frogs. Named xenobots after the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis), the machines are less than a millimeter (0.04 inches) wide, small enough to travel inside human bodies. Less than two years later, scientists announce that these robots can now reproduce.

February 15, 2022 - A US woman becomes the third known person to go into HIV remission, and the first mixed-race woman, thanks to a transplant of stem cells from umbilical cord blood, according to research presented at a scientific conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

November 7, 2022 - Scientists announce they have transfused lab-made red blood cells grown from stem cells into a human volunteer in a world-first trial that experts say has major potential for people with hard-to-match blood types or conditions such as sickle cell disease.

February 27, 2023 - According to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, cell therapy, involving adult stem cells from bone marrow, has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in severe heart failure patients.

View CNN’s Fast Facts about stem cells and learn more about these unspecialized cells capable of replicating themselves through cell division.

06/09/2026

Thoughts...?

ARTICLE TEXT:

Swiss man who assaulted protester at 2024 Ottawa defence conference blames low-blood sugar, PTSD

David Henschel returned to Ottawa from his home in Switzerland for sentencing submissions on Friday

~David Fraser · CBC News ·

A Swiss man who assaulted a 21-year-old Palestinian Canadian outside an Ottawa defence conference in 2024 has told court he struck the woman while experiencing low-blood sugar and that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

David Henschel, 58, appeared at the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa on Friday, having returned from his home in Switzerland for sentencing submissions after pleading guilty in July 2025 to assaulting the anti-war protester.

Crown prosecutors submitted earlier this month that he should spend time in jail for the offence, while Henschel's lawyer argued for an absolute discharge.

Henschel was an employee of Swiss munitions firm Rheinmetall Waffe Munition Schweiz AG when he attended the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CANSEC) conference in May 2024.

As part of his guilty plea, Henschel outlined how he was walking in the street towards Ottawa’s EY Centre when he encountered a 21-year old Canadian Palestinian woman in a hijab, who told he he was “actively supporting genocide” by attending the conference.

Henschel swung his arm, intentionally striking the protester in the face with a closed fist. The woman dropped to the ground and Henschel continued walking towards the conference, pushing another protester. He was then arrested.

The struck woman said in a victim impact statement that she had been subjected to a “targeted attack meant to hurt and silence me.”

A local leader in Ottawa’s Palestinian community told the court that “the violent targeting of a visibly Muslim woman wearing a hijab during a peaceful protest was not seen as an isolated event, but as part of an alarming and escalating pattern of anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab sentiment that is increasingly manifesting in acts of physical violence.”

In Henschel’s own sentencing submissions, he relied on the evidence of psychiatrist Greg Passey who said that low-blood sugar had caused Henschel to become “irritable”, while his prior military experience had left him with PTSD, specifically a fear of crowds.

During submissions, Passey told the judge that the number of supporters of the victim who were in the courtroom, having passed through security to get there, were making Henschel feel fear at that very moment.

Crown attorney Moiz Karimjee argued that Passey’s diagnoses were based solely on information reported by Henschel. Karimjee discounted the doctor’s findings as rooted in victim-blaming and anti-Palestinian bias.

A judge is expected to sentence Henschel on July 13.

A Swiss man who assaulted a 21-year-old Palestinian Canadian outside an Ottawa defence conference in 2024 has told court he struck the woman while experiencing low-blood sugar and that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

06/09/2026

Renowned artist Roy Henry Vickers [an artist who lives with color blindness] releases book celebrating 80th birthday

Roy Henry Vickers' new book contains 80 selected works from his long career

Arden McLeod · CBC News ·

Roy Henry Vickers recalls being caught drawing in class by his Grade 2 math teacher.

"100 lines on the blackboard," he told CBC's North by Northwest. "I will not draw in math."

He said the memory is a vivid reminder of when art became part of his life – it always had been.

As Vickers celebrates his 80th birthday, he is also releasing a new book, The Best of Roy Henry Vickers: 80 Selected Works.

Vickers' artwork has been gifted by the province of B.C. to Queen Elizabeth II, former U.S. president Bill Clinton and former Russian president Boris Yeltsin. He is known for work associated with landscapes, coastlines, water and Northwest Coast art traditions.

Vickers was born in Laxgalts'ap Village, B.C. – formerly known as Greenville – on June 4, 1946.

His mother, a village schoolteacher, was of European descent. She gave birth to him in the schoolhouse where she taught, although she hoped to make it to the nearest hospital. Vickers' father was a fisherman of Haida, Heiltsuk and Tsimshian ancestry.

"I was almost born on the ocean. If the boats weren't dried up on the beach, I would have been born in a boat on the way to the hospital in Prince Rupert."

Vickers said he grew up on the water and spent much of his childhood with his father.

"Growing up with a man who never went to school, all of his knowledge came from the land and the sea. He was the one that helped me to look again," he said.

"To respect what I was looking at and see what I see."

He said he was always watching the water, studying its movements, and analyzing the tide.

Vickers lives with colour blindness and said it once felt like a disadvantage, one that prevented him from becoming an RCMP officer — his childhood dream. But while working as a firefighter and spending his downtime drawing, co-workers encouraged him to pursue art.

"Roy, you don't belong here. You should be an artist."

After that, Vickers went on to study traditional First Nations art for two years at the Gitanmaax School of Northwest Coast Indian Art in Hazelton, B.C., in 1973.

He said it was the best decision he ever made.

One art instructor told Vickers that the colour blindness he had viewed as a weakness was actually a strength. He said that is why he uses the strong, bold colours he does — he paints what he sees.

"If you can come to understand who you are and then create from that place of originality, you will create something no one else can do."

Vickers said he's had thousands of people come up to him and say, "I saw your sky. I saw your sunset. I saw your water."

He remembers the best compliment he ever received was when his mother saw his painting Trial Island.

"I love the way you did the waves, I can see the water moving."

He said he spent much of his birthday thinking about his mother.

Vickers said he never knew he could be a storyteller, but all artists who work from inspiration are storytellers. Vickers said storytelling has long been a way of passing knowledge from generation to generation.

For Vickers, those lessons go beyond art and storytelling.

"We require healing," he said, "it's that child that we need to help grow up in life."

As Roy Henry Vickers celebrates his 80th birthday, he is also releasing a new book, The Best of Roy Henry Vickers: 80 Selected Works.

06/09/2026

ARTICLE TEXT:

KLM apologises after Paralympian denied onboard wheelchair on 11-hour flight

Athlete Hannah Babalola says she was told to use the toilet without an aisle chair or leave Cape Town to Amsterdam flight

~Diane Taylor •The Guardian•

The Dutch airline KLM has offered “sincere apologies” to a Paralympic athlete who was denied access to an onboard wheelchair during a long-haul flight so she could go to the toilet.

The cabin crew on the flight later called the police after the request from Hannah Babalola, 37, who is paraplegic and competes in track events, for the wheelchair, known as an aisle chair as it is narrow enough to be used inside a plane. They first handed her a written notice, headed: “Unacceptable conduct and final warning on behalf of the captain of this plane.”

The incident happened on 26 May, when Babalola, who competes for Nigeria and lives in Chicago, was returning home from a wheelchair-racing event in South Africa.

She had booked the KLM return flight from Chicago to Cape Town, via Amsterdam, as a wheelchair-using passenger. The outbound flight went smoothly, but as she began her return journey she was taken to the plane by wheelchair and asked by cabin crew, once she had boarded, if she would require an aisle chair during the flight. When she said she would – the flight to Amsterdam was almost 11 hours – the problems started.

In a conversation with cabin crew and the captain that she asked permission to record, which was shown to the Guardian, a crew member can be heard saying they could not accept a passenger in need of an onboard chair as it was too dangerous to use during a flight in case of turbulence and that Babalola’s two options were to go to the toilet without using the wheelchair or to “offload” from the plane.

“I needed to get home to Chicago to my family and to get to work and I couldn’t ‘offload’ from the flight,” Babalola said.

Security was called by the cabin crew but declined to take any action against Babalola. When the flight landed in Amsterdam, the crew asked the police at the airport to be on standby, but they too declined to take action.

Babalola transferred to a different connecting flight in Amsterdam to complete the journey to Chicago.

She said: “I felt compelled to avoid eating or drinking for the duration of the flight because I feared needing to use the restroom and being unable to access it. I spent much of the flight trying to control my emotions and I found myself crying because of the way I had been treated.

“This experience was humiliating, distressing, and degrading. The situation caused me significant physical discomfort and emotional distress. I believe that the manner in which I was treated raises serious concerns regarding discrimination and equal treatment. All passengers, regardless of disability or personal circumstances, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.”

Babalola made a formal complaint to KLM about her experience.

A member of KLM’s customer service staff replied, stating: “It is very concerning to read about this experience, particularly the distress caused during boarding and throughout the flight. Your account describes a situation that must have felt deeply upsetting and unsettling, especially when travelling with an accessibility need and simply expecting appropriate assistance and respectful treatment.”

They added: “A full review of the circumstances should now be carried out by the appropriate teams. This will typically include examining the reports submitted by the crew and any other relevant information available in relation to the flight. My sincere apologies are extended for the distress and upset this experience has caused.”

The British Paralympian Anne Wafula Strike hit the headlines in 2017 when she was forced to wet herself on a train. The incident triggered a national debate about equal access to transport for people with disabilities.

She said: “Nine years ago I was forced to wet myself on a train because there was no functioning accessible toilet. Almost a decade later, the experience of Hannah Babalola shows we still have a long way to go. It is upsetting that disabled people are having to fight the same battles over and over again just to access the rights that able-bodied passengers have.”

A KLM spokesperson told the Guardian: “We regret that an incident occurred involving one of our passengers on the flight from Cape Town to Amsterdam on 26 May. Out of respect for the privacy of both the passenger and our crew, we find it inappropriate to discuss the details of the situation.”

Athlete Hannah Babalola says she was told to use the toilet without an aisle chair or leave Cape Town to Amsterdam flight

06/09/2026

How we talk about disability matters. With the "r-word" making a comeback in the news and on social media, it is more important than ever to speak out against hurtful and stigmatizing language.

Join ABLE Founder Katie Yohe and Curriculum Consultant Emma MacLean for Communicating about Disability on Monday, June 22 from 6–8pm CST on Zoom. In this interactive conversation about language, advocacy, and disability culture, we'll dig into common questions around disability language, including identity-first vs. person-first language. Together, we’ll explore how attitudes about disability have changed over time and unpack the Medical, Social, and Affirmative Models of disability. Participants will discuss the history behind harmful language and stereotypes, and practice ways to advocate for more inclusive communication in their communities.

This session is ideal for educators, facilitators, artists, caregivers, and anyone interested in becoming a stronger disability ally. Whether you are brand new to these conversations or looking to deepen your understanding, you are welcome to join us and learn together!

Registration is pay-what-you-can at ableensemble.com/events. Sign up to reserve your spot!

[ID: A bright white background. Along the left side, colorful headshots of Katie and Emma. In the top left corner is navyl text reading "Connect & Create: Professional Development Masterclasses" Black text in the center of the image shares the name, date, time, and location of this session along with a short blurb about the session as shared in the caption. ABLE's logo is in the bottom left corner. Black text invites you to scan a navy QR code in the bottom right corner or visit ABLE's event page to sign up.]

06/09/2026

Urine test for autism? There’s piddling evidence (Part 2)
This week in the TPGA newsletter, .willingham.phd is “digging into the many study-related questions I’d have wanted answered had I been a reviewer on this work.”

Subscribe and share if you can!

tinyurl.com/PiddlingEvidence



[image: Screenshot of the latest Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism Newsletter.

Text at the top reads, “Urine test for autism? There’s piddling evidence (Part 2)
This week, I’m digging into the many study-related questions I’d have wanted answered had I been a reviewer on this work.”

Underneath is a photo of a building, reflected in a window. on the window itself, text reads “DATA*”]