BEINEINU NEWS & NOTES
December 5, 2013
INTERNATIONAL
Beineinu Website—The Beineinu administration is discussing various improvements to our website, www.Beineinu.org. We value your input. If you have any suggestions which would make our website more user-friendly, please contact
USA
CEU Opportunity For Occupational Therapists—Bussani Mobility in New York is currently offering CEU opportunities for OTs. For CEU learning opportunities revolving around the topics of mobility and wheelchair-accessible transportation, the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association (NMEDA) and the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) work with companies like Bussani Mobility to offer learning opportunities to hospitals and schools in the Metro-New York region. These free learning opportunities involve classes by certified representatives provide an overview of the mobility industry and the various products available. This establishes a foundation of knowledge that the OTs and students can build upon. As with any educational opportunity, a quiz is given that completes the requirement and earns the AOTA credit. The CEU opportunities presented by Bussani Mobility include support materials for the lowered-floor vans and other driving equipment we sell and service. CEU learning sessions, offered by Bussani Mobility needs to be scheduled 2 to 3 weeks prior so that they may be posted on the NMEDA website ensuring that CEUs earned will be valid per the requirements set down by both NMEDA and AOTA. Contact 877-463-6973 –
Help Change Insurance Regulations--Our Way, for the Jewish Deaf and Hard of Hearing, an agency of the Orthodox Union, is asking each of you to sign this petition to help change the classification of hearing aids so that Health Insurance companies will agree to pay for them. We are asking the federal government to change the status of hearing aids from "optional prosthetic devices" to "essential prosthetic devices." We will be delivering these signed petitions to members of Congress in March. Fax or email the following note to
I, _________________(name) a citizen of ____________(city & state), respectfully request that congress change the classification of hearing aids and assisted listening devices from “optional prosthetic devices” to “essential prosthetic devices”. This change in classification will encourage health insurance companies to pay for essential audiological testing, hearing aid devices, and their maintenance to benefit the hearing impaired citizens of the United States.
Signed_____________________ Date_________________
Behavioral Healthcare Focus Groups--The University of Maryland School of Medicine will be conducting focus groups December 9th, 10th, and 11thfor youth ages 12 - 26 at the UMBC Tech Center. The purpose of the groups is to find out about youth and families' experiences with the behavioral healthcare system. Videotaped sessions will be held in 20-30 minute increments and times will be determined based on participants' availability. Participants will receive $25 gift cards for their time.
For more information, please call or email Casey 410-718-8298,
Building Blocks Magazine—Do you like to write? Building Blocks, a special needs magazine published by the Jewish Press, is now accepting articles for the Family Forum section of their upcoming winter edition. Articles should be about 500 words long, and related to anything related to what they are going through as parents of a child with special needs. It can be informational, inspirational, or humorous, whatever fits your style. Submit all articles to
Telecommunications Survey-- The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Telecommunications Access at Gallaudet University is conducting an online survey to learn about the experiences of adults who are hard of hearing, deaf or have hearing loss in their use of voice telecommunications technology in the U.S. (regular telephones, cell phones, captioned phones, Skype, etc.). The goal is to better understand how such adults use current voice telecommunications technology, what barriers they face using it, and what needs they have for improved accessibility. For the purposes of this survey, voice telecommunications means that the respondent both listen and talk for themselves during telephone calls, even if they also supplement the listening experience by using text (for example, relay or captioning) to read what the other person on the call is saying while listening. Respondents must be 18 years or older; have hearing loss; use voice telecommunications regularly (at least once a week); and have access to the Internet in order to complete the survey. The survey will take approximately 15-30 minutes to complete, depending on the extent of the respondents telephone use. To participatein the survey visit http://tap.gallaudet.edu/telecomsurvey/
ISRAEL
Caregiver ‘Sick Leave’ Days-- The number of "sick leave" days for parents of a person with a disability will be increased, as well as the number of days which can be attributed to 'personal care' of the child with the disability, which will be increased from 15 to 18 per year.
The new law will offer extensive benefits to the parents of a child with a disability, which will include:
- "Sick Leave" payment (from parent's employer) from the very first day of his/her absence due to his/her child's illness or due to the necessary care of the child (in contrast to other workers who are not entitled to payment for the first sick leave day). Calculation of the sick leave will be done also by parts of the day and not only by full days.
- Utilization of partial sick leave days, not only fullAs per the demand of the committee chairman, MK Chaim Katz, it has been determined that the parent's absence will be calculated by the number of hours (not days) missed. MK Uri Maklev (Yahadut HaTorah), of the initiators of the law: "Thus, for instance, the parent will be able to accompany his child to a short examination and then return to his work, without having a full day of work deducted."
- The parent be entitled to be absent from work up to 52 hours per year, in addition to the other benefits stated above, for the purpose of offering personal assistance to his/her child – this, without any deduction from his/her salary. This benefit may be used by one person only, in order to care for the same child.
- An addition of 6 sick leave days per year to each parent in order to assist their disabledThis, in addition to the regular sick leave- and vacation days available to him/her. If the spouse did not use the full benefit, the remaining "unused" days will be transferred to the other spouse. Foster families are also entitled to this benefit. This benefit is annual, and cannot be accumulated over years.
- An addition of 3 regular leave days per year on account of the number of sick leave days (or vacation days if he already utilized all the sick leave days available to him). If the spouse did not use the full benefit, the remaining "unused" days will be transferred to the otherThese days can be accumulated, and are also applicable to foster families.
All these benefits will apply to parents who children are limited in their functioning for 60 days or more.
Kesher Notice--KESHER started a campaign in the social networks with the goal of strengthening our communities throughout the country and raising awareness of the importance of those families of children with special needs. We need YOUR help in order to make more 'noise' and tell our story. When you click here, you will find yourself in Facebook, in that post that emphasizes the importance of our presence – we, parents of children with special needs – in decision-making pertaining to our children.
We ask you to click on the "SHARE" button in Facebook so that we reach the awareness of as many people as possible.
Volunteers Needed For Dementia Patients—Serious volunteers needed For the "Ksharim VeKishurim" Project, which offers activities for people who suffer from memory loss, in order to assist them in preserving their cognitive capabilities. Those who will be found suitable will undergo professional, challenging training during which they will acquire general knowledge about dementia and will receive tools to offer activity to elderly people who are in the early stages of the disease. Training will take place in 8 weekly 3-hour long sessions, at the Yad Sarah House at 124 Herzel Blvd in Jerusalem. For information contact Iris 050-785-9868