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Tag: disability

  • Colin Farrell: Son is “Amazing Boy”

    Colin Farrell braved the cold weather in New York City to walk the red carpet for his film’s–Winter’s Tale–premiere, but it’s his brave son he gushes about and holds even nearer and dearer to his heart. Farrell’s 10-year-old son James has Angelman Syndrome, a genetic disorder that can impair movement, balance and speech.

    “James is an absolute stud,” he said during a recent interview. “Every day, just breaking down boundaries. He’s an amazing boy.”

    The syndrome was named in 1965 after the doctor who first described it–Dr. Henry Angelman. It is a neuro-genetic disorder characterized by “severe intellectual and developmental disability, sleep disturbance, seizures, jerky movements (especially hand-flapping), frequent laughter or smiling, and usually a happy demeanor.” People with Angelman Syndrome have a much higher capacity for understanding what is said to them than they do for expressing themselves. Most people diagnosed with the syndrome go on to live through adulthood, but rely on others for a good portion of their care.

    Colin Farrell credits James as the reason he checked into rehab back in 2005 for alcohol and drug addiction. He says he is inspired by the little boy every day.

    “Everything he’s achieved in his life has come through the presence and the kind of will that is hard work. He’s a lot to be inspired by,” Farrell said. “Things like walking and talking and eating and feeding himself, all those things that so many of us naturally take for granted because they come so easily, to James, they come somewhat harder … I remember the days when he couldn’t watch ten minutes of a film because he couldn’t sit still, but now he can.”

    James isn’t Colin Farrell’s only child. He also has a son named Henry with Alicja Bachleda. James is his son with model Kim Bordenave.

    When asked if his kids ever see him on the big screen he laughed.

    “Epic — [but] they didn’t know it was me, so that was kind of a bummer,” he joked. “They seemed to think it was alright. I don’t think it went to the top of their favorite list of cartoons, which is a bit disappointing.”

    Raising a child with any kind of disability is a challenge. Loving a child with a disability is often the greatest joy of one’s life. It’s plain to see that Colin Farrell’s love for James is unconditional, and his enthusiasm over his progress is contagious. James and Henry no doubt have a very doting dad.

    Image via YouTube

  • Social Security Administration Overpayments Reach $1.3 Billion

    A new study recently released by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) claims that the Social Security Administration has paid an estimated $1.3 billion in disability insurance benefits to thousands of people who might not have been eligible to receive them.

    The GAO estimates that 36,000 workers received improper disability payments between December 2010 and January 2013.

    According to the study findings, the overpayments may have happened for one of two reasons.

    First, to become eligible for disability insurance payments, potential recipients must go through a five month waiting period designed to insure that their disability is truly long-term. During this time, their earnings must not exceed $1,000 during any given month. The GAO study indicates that many who were receiving disability benefits had income that exceeded this limit.

    Second, once a disabled worker qualifies for benefits, they can take advantage of a trial work period that allows them to return to work for up to nine months while still receiving disability benefits. The GAO study found that many were receiving benefits long after the nine month trial period had ended.

    The Social Security Administration insists that its accuracy rate for making disability payments is 99%. But a spokesperson acknowledged that “even small errors cost taxpayers” and promised that not only would the agency investigate the matter, but it would take efforts to recoup erroneously-made payments from beneficiaries.

    The GAO report sparked controversy at a time when the long-term viability of the Social Security Administration, and specifically its disability program, has been questioned. Earlier this year, a government study estimated that the government disability trust fund will run dry by the year 2016. The government could divert funds from the retirement system, but since the social security fund is estimated to face insolvency by 2033 – three years earlier than prior estimates – that fix isn’t overly attractive to analysts or taxpayers.

    Often referred to as the “congressional watchdog,” the GAO is an independent and nonpartisan arm of Congress charged with monitoring and investigating how the federal government spends tax dollars. It is headed by the President-appointed Comptroller General of the United States.

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  • Man Hits Head And Becomes Piano Savant

    A 40 year old man in Denver dove into the shallow end of a pool 6 years ago and he suffered a severe concussion, hearing and memory loss. A few days after the accident, Derek Amato sat down at a piano and played an original composition that lasted for hours. “As I shut my eyes, I found these black and white structures moving from left to right, which in fact would represent in my mind, a fluid and continuous stream of musical notation.”

    He became only the 30th known person to have a syndrome known as an “acquired savant.” Acquired savant syndrome are instances in which dormant savant skills emerge, sometimes at an extraordinary level, after a brain injury or disease in previously non-disabled people where few such skills were evident before the injury or disease. The other type of savant is the “congenial savant.” They are born with a disorder of the brain such as autism.

    The Idea of being a savant by hitting your head is severe and not at all worth it because you would no longer be a normal functioning adult. But if you had to choose what to become a savant in I’m pretty sure most of us would choose: