What's new?

By Louise Kinross

This is a photo of my son with "Betty" at a volunteer job he does at an adoption centre for cats. He loves it! He has a whole bunch of tasks that he works through. Cleaning cages, sweeping, feeding, brushing, socializing. He's waiting to handle his first "adoption."

What's new with you?

Here are some stories you may be interested in.

When doctors should say I don't know The Atlantic
Fascinating interview with author Steve Hatch on his new book Snowball In A Blizzard: A Physician's Notes on Uncertainty in Medicine: "By the time you get to med school, you're already primed to think that everything is about a right answer. Then what happens when you get into the practice of medicine is, it's a lot of fuzzy variables.

Where are the disabled actors? The Independent
Hollywood could play a role breaking down bigotry against disabled people, but for now "diversity" is just an act.

World's first armless pilot, BBC World Service
In case you missed it, this is a fabulous interview with Jessica Cox, a 33-year-old Arizona woman whose life changed the first day of Grade 8, when she decided to leave her prosthetic arms at home. Now she's the first pilot to fly with her feet.

People with learning disabilities are still not recognized as fully human being The Guardian
Excellent piece by Sara Ryan on the preventable death of her 18-year-old son with autism and epilepsy who drowned in a bath in NHS care in Britain.

Judge calls sex assault a 'gross breach of trust' The Toronto Star
This is a terrifying story about how an overnight care worker at a group home in Toronto was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman with a developmental disability in a group home. Thankfully the woman could speak. It's chilling to think of what would have happened otherwise.