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Memory, Selma Blair, ADA, and 100,000 Free Google Minis

 

By Rob Gerth

Here's what's been Trending@KesslerFdn. Items that might be of interest to our community.

Memory Challenges in TBI, SCI, and MS

Last week, we recorded a podcast with Dr. Nancy Chiaravalotti, director of the Center for Traumatic Brain Injury Research and Center Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Research at Kessler Foundation. We talked about her life and her study of memory, which is important to a wide range of conditions including TBI, MS, and spinal cord injury. At the end are some great memory tricks that anyone can start using today. We also talk about her latest grant for $1.8M from the National Institutes of Health for a study entitled, “Evaluation of a Theory-Driven Manualized Approach to Improving New Learning and Memory in Multiple Sclerosis." The goal is to gathering evidence on how impairments in new learning and memory negatively affect the everyday lives of many individuals with MS, including their ability to function effectively in work and social settings.

Learn how to volunteer for one of our studies. We need healthy volunteers too.

Selma Blair Talks About Her MS

There's a couple of interesting articles about Selma Blair in the latest People magazine. One focuses on how she has been dealing with MS one year out from being diagnosed, and the other on her new Alinker bike that's helping her get around.

Learn more about Kessler Foundation's research on multiple sclerosis.

Volunteer for one of our MS studies.

29th Anniversary of the ADA

Of course, we were talking about the 29th anniversary of the ADA in the office last week. Media coverage was just OK this year. We'll see much more on the subject a year from now no doubt. There are two articles about the ADA at 25 that caught our eye and are still relevant. The Wharton blog talks about how the internet is not accessible enough and how jobs for people living with disabilities are still lagging behind Europe.

... the key is to give people who want to be a part of the mainstream and to contribute to the collective benefits of society the opportunity to do that. Removing barriers for people with disabilities is an important step in doing so ...

And here in New Jersey we found a bit of wisdom from four years ago on the West Windsor Bicycling and Pedestrian Alliance website titled "Why the ADA is Important to All of Us."

The ADA has had a huge impact on the lives not only of people living with a disability, but also on their families, friends and colleagues. However, the impact spreads wider still. An elderly person opening a heavy door by pushing a button, a passenger at the station pulling a heavy bag up a ramp, a parent with a stroller using a curb ramp at an intersection: all of these are examples of how changes mandated by the ADA benefit all of us.

Three quick things about Kessler Foundation and disability employment:

100,000 Google Home Minis

In honor of the 29th anniversary of the ADA, our friends over at the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation have partnered with Google Nest to provide up to 100,000 free Google Home Minis to people living with paralysis and their caregivers. Amazing! What's the plan for the 30th anniversary?