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It’s Not Easy Being Green

Lisa Beach
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It’s Not Easy Being Green

My favorite Muppet, Kermit, said it best: “It’s not easy being green.”

Like any good mom, I try to lead my family down the do-the-right-thing path as we go about our suburban lives. This includes adopting environmentally friendly habits as I try to instill a leave-no-trace mentality in my family. Let’s just say they’re about ready to stuff me into the recycling bin with my attempts to “green up” our lives.

“Listen, Mother Earth, you need to chill,” my husband Kevin says to me on a regular basis as I try to shove my save-the-planet philosophy down my family’s throat. I admit that I sometimes go a little overboard in my efforts. I also admit that I sometimes fail miserably at my own green habits due to inconvenience or the reality of living with teen boys. For example, I’ve drilled my kids on the importance of the three big “R’s”: reduce, reuse, and recycle. Yet, despite my best efforts, we often fall short.

Reduce:

The Good: To cut down on all the harmful chemicals and reduce the influx of disposable containers in our home, I sometimes make my own non-toxic cleaning products with simple ingredients like water, vinegar, and lemon juice.

The Bad: While this DIY approach works as effectively as most cleaners, I’m banned from using them when my family is at home because they claim it makes the house smell like pungent salad dressing. Which it does, but only for 10 minutes.

The Ugly: With two teen boys in the house, I’m not against breaking out the Lysol as needed. I’m all for “going green,” but teen messes and smelly soccer cleats demand the toxic big guns, like bleach, alkyl, dimethyl benzyl, and other ingredients I can’t pronounce. Ozone layer, air quality, and clean water be damned! I’m trying to survive two teenagers.

Reuse:

The Good: We own at least a dozen refillable water bottles, which we regularly take to school, work, soccer games, etc. One drink at a time, we’re not adding to the county landfill. Yay, us!

The Bad: While we’ve slowly up graded most of our water bottles to stainless steel or BPA-free plastic over the years, a few “bad plastics” still lurk in our cupboards. For unknown reasons, we’re still holding onto a few toxic, BPA-laden freebies emblazoned with our local radio station’s logo.
The Ugly: At this very moment, we’ve got a case of disposable water bottles sitting on our back porch. Despite our best efforts to bring reusable containers everywhere, we’ve just committed the pinnacle of atrocious eco-crimes. Not only did we buy disposable water bottles, but we bought them in bulk. What kind of monsters are we?

Recycle:

The Good: My family has dubbed me the Recycling Nazi for my zealot-level intensity of recycling. Each week, our recycling bins overflow with aluminum cans, plastic bottles, newspapers, and empty cereal boxes. I’m thrilled that we’ve reduced our carbon footprint.

‍The Bad: Sometimes my overly aggressive efforts tick off my husband, like when he hasn’t yet read the Sunday newspaper, and I’ve already tossed it into the recycling bin by 10 a.m. that morning. (This is where he starts, “Listen, Mother Earth….”)

The Ugly: Like George Costanza picking a Twinkie out of the trash in a classic Seinfeld episode, I’ve been known to pluck a perfectly good empty toilet paper roll out of the bathroom waste can and put it in the recycling bin. My husband thinks I’ve sunk to a new low. But do you know how many trees I’ve saved over the years?

While I’ve got the best of intentions, I struggle with trying to set a good example and then consistently live up to it. For example, rather than waste gallons of water while brushing my teeth, I turn the faucet off until I’m ready to “rinse and spit.” Sometimes my husband or the boys will leave the faucet running full blast while brushing their teeth. “My God, you can bathe a toddler with all the water you’re wasting!” I chastise over the gushing stream. The problem? My hypocrisy comes back to haunt me when they point out that I take longer showers than a construction worker after along, hot day on the job. Damn, they’re right.

Yet, despite my eco-fails, I keep trying to live the green life. In fact, I’ve seriously asked for a compost bin for Mother’s Day for the last five years. So far, no one’s running to Home Depot to fulfill my wish. Instead, I usually receive flowers on Mother’s Day. Of course, when they die, I could have tossed them into the compost bin IF I HAD ONE. The struggle is real, people.

I agree with Kermit. It’s not easy being green.

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Redesigning an Icon to Change How We Think About Disability

Staff Writer
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Redesigning an Icon to Change How We Think About Disability

What does our environment teach us about disability? It’s a simple question with world-changing answers. Answering that question led a team down a controversial path, creating an icon that’s been both praised and rejected, acclaimed and banned.

It all started with a question—what does our environment teach us about disability? It was a question Sara Hendren started asking in 2006 when she had a son with Down syndrome. The question led her to drop out of her PhD program and start exploring what our environment says about disability culture.

Her biggest finding? The limitations of the Universal Symbol of Access, the blue-and-white icon many in the U.S. know as the “handicapped” or “wheelchair” symbol. Its history stretches back more than a half-century, but it wasn’t designed with the disabled in mind. As “disability” was becoming more widely recognized in the 1960s, it was time to create a single universal icon. Danish graphic artist Susanne Koefoed submitted the winning design—a headless stick figure sitting in a wheelchair. Unlike the soft, rounded limbs of other international symbols (think of those of men’s and women’s bathrooms), this figure was made of straight lines. The final version included a circular head to “humanize” it.

In the decades since, the Symbol of Access has served its purpose—it’s become an icon recognized the world over. But Hendren didn’t think it showed a positive view of disabilities, and she wanted to do better. She wanted to change the icon from a static, helpless wheelchair user to a human—a person in control of their life, who happens to have a disability.

The Makings of The Accessible Icon Project

Hendren partnered with philosopher Brian Glenney to start The Accessible Icon Project. But neither Hendren nor Glenney were designers, and their goal wasn’t just to create a new design. They wanted to start a conversation. And what better way to do it than with graffiti? So, about 1,000 copies of a semi-transparent orange decal were placed on “handicapped” signs around Boston in 2011. “We knew that editing the old signs as graffiti would pose questions more provocative than a ‘better’ icon,” Hendren wrote on the Accessible Icon website. But what started as a simple side project quickly snowballed into something much bigger.

When The Boston Globe picked up the story in 2011, Hendren and Glenney knew it was time to formalize their design. They partnered with professional designer Tim Ferguson Sauder to convert their concepts to a standardized format. They made it open source, meaning anyone could use the symbol for anything, no permission or payment required.

Today, the symbol has traveled the world, everywhere from signage at a hospital in New Delhi to the U.S. Treasury. It was added to the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art and mandated for new signage by New York State and Connecticut. It’s been covered by media outlets like The Huffington Post, The Verge, CNN, and the NPR program 99% Invisible. But perhaps the biggest cultural shift happened in 2015, when the symbol was adopted as part of Emoji 1.0 and included by default on Apple devices.

A Sign of Disability-Related Debate

But like any underground project with sudden mainstream attention, The Accessible Icon Project has faced growing pains. The ISO, the organization which maintains the current International Symbol of Access, has rejected the update. Legal concerns over the new icon’s ability to fulfill the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act has caused confusion for businesses.

Perhaps most importantly, some in the disability community have decried it, arguing that its use of movement or singular focus on wheelchairs do more harm than good. There’s also been criticism of the three-person team behind the project, all of whom are able-bodied.

In many ways, the controversy is what the symbol is meant to generate. The symbol isn’t meant to replace everything, but to start a conversation. Co-creator Ferguson-Sauder best summed up the movement in a 2018 interview. “Our symbol is most successful,” he said, “… when there’s lots of wrinkles and questions.”

What’s the Difference Between Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities?

Nancy DeVault
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What’s the Difference Between Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities?

More than 80 percent of seniors plan to reside at home as they age, according to a survey conducted by the Retirement Living Information Center. Beyond that, while the majority would prefer to solicit part- or full-time in-home care if and when needed, respondents cited ‘failing health’ as cause to explore other housing options. Interestingly, those polled said they’d choose an assisted living residence over moving in with family.

Senior-centered housing continues to expand. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there are 15,600 nursing homes in the U.S. occupied by 1.3 million people. That’s in addition to 30,600 assisted living communities with 1.2 million licensed beds, according to the National Center for Assisted Living.

What are Nursing Homes & Assisted Living Facilities

Ashley Chambers, Director of Communications for The Florida Department of Elder Affairs, tells AmeriDisability that assisted living facilities and nursing homes are not interchangeable when it comes to the level of provided care. But what’s the difference? Well, the respective names offer some insight: “Assisted” suggests that, for the most part, seniors live independently (usually in individual apartments); whereas “nursing” homes deliver increased support for those with physical and/or cognitive ailments.

“Generally, assisted living communities offer person-centered care to individuals who need some assistance with activities of daily living, but who do not require round-the-clock skilled nursing care like those residing in nursing centers. Many nursing homes are also known as skilled nursing rehabilitation centers, meaning they offer therapy to individuals following a hospital stay to help them return to the community,” explains Rachel Reeves, spokeswoman for the National Center for Assisted Living. “While assisted living communities may offer some therapy services on-site, they focus more on offering a home-like, long-term care environment that maximizes independence.”

In fact, assisted living residents cannot have health conditions that require 24-hour nursing supervision. The only exception, according to the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, is when an existing resident receives licensed hospice services.

Comparing Nursing Homes vs. Assisted Living Facilities

Wellness

Typically both options offer levels of care to support daily needs, such as bathing, dressing, health/personal care and medication management. In recent years, assisted living facilities have welcomed residents that once would have been directed to nursing care. And both provide a safe and accessible environment, such as with handrails and emergency call buttons.

Chambers shared, “Florida has an initiative for ‘aging in place’ which would allow a resident in a licensed assisted living facility to remain although their condition has deteriorated to a point where they would no longer meet continued residency criteria.” That may be possible because assisted living facilities may hold specialty licenses – i.e., extended congregate care (ECC), limited nursing services (LNS) and limited mental health (LMH) – to provide additional nursing services.

Conveniences

On-site amenities and services make daily living convenient and accessible at both. From needs like meals, housekeeping, laundry and transportation to recreation and various life enrichment opportunities, although these features are greater and more utilized through assisted living.

Cost

According to the National Center for Assisted Living, assisted living is more affordable and the majority of residents use some form of private pay, such as long-term care insurance and personal finances, to cover rent and services. “Although the majority of residents living in assisted living facilities pay privately, there are programs designed to assist with assisted living residency for those who qualify,” shared Chambers, adding, “Although room and board are not covered by Florida Medicaid, services needed by recipients that are enrolled in long-term care plans may be covered.”

Nursing homes can charge upwards of double the cost of assisted living because of increased patient needs. “Nursing home care is primarily paid for by Medicare or Medicaid. Medicare covers skilled nursing care under certain conditions for a limited time; it does not cover long-term care. Many patients use Medicare to cover their nursing home stay for the first month following a hospital visit. Medicaid covers long-term care, and roughly two-thirds of nursing center residents rely on the program,” Reeves said. Other pay options may also be applicable, such VA benefits.

Regulations

Assisted living communities and nursing homes (in the state of Florida) are licensed and inspected by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). “It’s important to look at the long-term care options in your surrounding community to properly see the differences and similarities between settings. Assisted living is unique to the population it serves and often varies state by state. Communities may have residents who are mostly independent, residents who need greater medical assistance, or both. Communities that are able to offer more medical services are perhaps closest in similarity to nursing centers. However, as nursing centers increasingly focus on rehabilitation therapy, these centers have also evolved,” Reeves explained.

If you wish to file a complaint against a licensed healthcare facility regulated by AHCA, contact 1-888-419-3456 / 800-955-8771 Florida Relay Service (TDD number) or complete the online complaint form. For resources focused on ‘aging in place,’ visit the National Aging in Place Council online at AgeInPlace.org.

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The Documentary Changing Hollywood’s Perception of People with Disabilities

Staff Writer
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The Documentary Changing Hollywood’s Perception of People with Disabilities

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CinemAbility:The Art of Inclusion is a documentary that discusses how Hollywood has portrayed members of the disability community for the past 120 years. It uses clips in both old and recent films to shed light on portrayal and stereotypes—and discusses how these impact the disability community today.

What Inspired This Disability Focused Film?

The award-winning film’s director is Jenni Gold, the first female wheelchair user in the Directors Guild of America. Her impressive achievements include winning an Emmy, being a co-founder of Gold Pictures, Inc., and producing a number of films and web series. As a filmmaker whose life was consumed by Hollywood, she was driven by the fact that a documentary on the historical portrayal of the disability community has never been done.

“CinemAbility is in part a love letter to Hollywood, an industry that has consumed my life, and partly a wake-up call. Growing up as a wheelchair user, I found many of the representations of people with disabilities on screen to be confusing. I remember every year my family would watch Affair to Remember when it aired on TV and I always found it odd that after Deborah Kerr became a wheelchair user she could no longer pursue the man she loved. I remember hating the sappy Movie of the Week style representations in the ’70s and ’80s. The person in the wheelchair was always syrupy sweet or angry and bitter,” she said in a statement with Deadline.

Her childhood frustrations with the film industry later compelled her to spend a decade interviewing A-list actors and industry insiders such as Ben Affleck, Jamie Foxx, Geena Davis, Helen Hunt, Kyle MacLachlan, and Daryl Mitchell among many others—and start a conversation on disability portrayals.

Overview of Disability Portrayals 

CinemAbility makes a convincing case that when Hollywood casts people with disabilities—the purpose was to shift the public’s consciousness. For example Raymond Burr used a wheelchair in the detective series Ironside, and Susan Peters played a wheelchair-bound villain in The Sign of the Ram (1948) after a gunshot wound led her to become permanently paraplegic. But this isn’t enough.

Despite the efforts of Hollywood to promote diversity, there are few opportunities for disabled actors as well as available roles in Hollywood. Peter Farrelly even scolded filmmakers and casting directors for their unconscious bias. He said, “it doesn’t say in parentheses ‘good hearing’ or ‘excellent eyesight’ or, you know, ‘with no limp’ … but what a casting agent and a director and a producer sees is an able-bodied person.”

Others interviews were a decade old, but this didn’t make the insights seem outdated. Instead, it highlighted the complicated history of how Hollywood depicts individuals once seen as handicapped. The documentary builds a conversation around these stereotypes which unfairly pigeonhole disabled individuals on the basis of their differences.

Changing Perceptions for Disability Inclusion

How do you solve the problem with portrayals? CinemAbility seems to be the first step. Gold discusses that the aim of the film was to reshape perceptions in a fun and entertaining way. “People normally hear about a disability-themed documentary and they run for the hills, but those brave enough to take a peek are shocked to find they have a good time and laugh while also being challenged intellectually. As a storyteller, that is my entire goal,” Gold says.

Although Hollywood is making progress in terms of casting and inclusion in other categories, much has to be done. Media plays a huge role in how the public sees disabled citizens. We can only hope that this insightful documentary will increase awareness and opportunities for disabled actors.

For more information visit: http://www.goldpictures.com/films/cinemability/

Flame: The Blues and Rock Band

Staff Writer
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Flame: The Blues and Rock Band

While there are a lot of popular mainstream musicians, Flame stands out from the rest of the pack.

While there are a lot of popular mainstream musicians, Flame stands out from the rest of the pack. The band is composed of people with disabilities, which includes Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, and blindness. How did they achieve their success? Here’s what you need to know.

Origin Story

In 2003, Lexington (an agency supporting persons with disabilities) created a talent show to support people with developmental disabilities. During the competition, vocalist Michelle King blew the audience away and emerged as the winner. She later expressed her desire to start her own band, so the agency opened auditions. The rest of the band’s members joined King shortly thereafter. At the beginning, the band booked gigs with the help of the agency, but they soon gained fame on their own across the world.

Rise to Success 

Years later, Flame has gained both national and international success. The band performs more than seventy times per year and sells merchandise like T-shirts and CDs to their fanbase. They’ve played at national and statewide conventions, conferences, schools, private parties, and civic events. For the past thirteen years, they’ve managed to perform a lineup of more than 100 classic rock, blues, country, and pop songs. They’ve also released five albums and a single.

Flame has also become a media darling in America. Talk show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey has showered them with praise. They’ve also been featured on Good Morning America and in People magazine. In addition, lead singer Michelle King sang at the funeral of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics.

If you thought these achievements were impressive, then wait until you read about the places they’ve performed. The band has been in big venues and events like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio; New York’s Apollo Theater; Harvard Law School; the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, and the 2009 Special Olympics.

A Family of Inspirational People

Mary King, mother of lead singer Michelle King, believes that the band has changed her daughter’s life. Michelle has autism and used to be incapable of being independent. “Oh gosh, they have done, I just don’t know how to explain, so much that they have done for her, brought her out so much,” Mary said in an interview with ABC.

The entire band lives in a group home in Gloversville, upstate New York.  Flame’s drummer, David LaGrange, is blind and mentally disabled, and he considers the group as his family. “Our disability will not stop us. We keep going and the more we keep going, we want more people to see what we do, “LaGrange said to ABC. His goal is to play across every radio station to prove to the world that people with disabilities are capable as long as they’re given a chance.

Today, the group inspires children and adults with disabilities to reach out for their dreams. It’s certainly hard to succeed in the music industry, but Flame leads many to believe that they can do it too.

For more information visit the website.

Photo credit: Flame

How Satoshi Tajiri, a Game Designer with Autism, Created an International Phenomenon

Staff Writer
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How Satoshi Tajiri, a Game Designer with Autism, Created an International Phenomenon

Can a disability lead someone to an idea nobody else could have thought of? History says yes. One of the biggest pop culture obsessions of the last few decades has its roots in a childhood hobby influenced by autism. This is the story of Satoshi Tajiri, the man behind Pokémon.

The path to making video games

Growing up, Tajiri exhibited characteristics typical of those with autism. He had a few interests that he focused on intensely, and didn’t enjoy school. In his youth, Tajiri was obsessed with collecting bugs. His friends called him “Dr. Bug” because he was always searching for and finding new bugs to add to his collection. He was also distracted and bored in school. As he grew older, his interest in video games eclipsed his earlier obsession with bug collecting, and he would sometimes skip school just to play in the arcade.

With the mountains of knowledge and interest he had in video games, he started a simple magazine at age 17 with tips, strategies, and hacks he and his friends had discovered. He called it Game Freak. It started out as a few pages stapled together, but he eventually partnered with an artist named Ken Sugimori for custom illustrations for the magazine. Over time, Game Freak became a bigger and bigger publication, reaching over 10,000 readers at its peak. It was at this time that Tajiri realized there were better games that could be made. And he decided to transform Game Freak from a magazine about video games into a creation company itself.

Creating Pokémon

Tajiri loved his days collecting bugs and knew others would find it fun to collect and share things, too. And he knew that experience could create an amazing game. His idea was simple—a video game where players could collect and share different characters. He originally called it Capsule Monsters, inspired by a Japanese fad for toy monsters in small round capsules available at vending machines. But when he pitched the concept to Nintendo in the early 1990’s, they were skeptical. The project was too big, they thought, for a startup game company.

Only one person in the room liked the idea. He was Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Donkey Kong and one of Tajiri’s idols. With Miyamoto’s help, Tajiri began working on his project. During development, he took irregular shifts of a 24-hour period of work, following by 12 hours for sleep. His peers considered him eccentric, but they couldn’t deny his passion for the new game he was developing. Tajiri enlisted the help of Ken Sugimori, the artist from Game Freak, for character design and art. Pocket Monsters, renamed from Capsule Monsters due to copyright issues, was released in 1996 in Japan, and started being tremendously successful.

Up next was the U.S. audience, but copyright issues again stood in the way of the name. Instead, Pocket Monsterswas shortened to the term by which it’s known by today—Pokémon.

An international phenomenon

Over the course of the 2000s, Pokémon exploded in the US and around the world. Starting off as just a Game Boy toy, the franchise today includes playing cards, comics, apps, an animated TV series,and even a life-action film scheduled for release in May 2019. But while its fame has spread, its roots are still in the childhood adventures of Satoshi Tajiri, the creator.

In English, the main character is Ash, but in Japanese his name is Satoshi, named after Tajiri. Ash’s rival in the series is Gary, known in Japanese as Shigeru, an homage to Miyamoto, Tajiri’s mentor who first believed in the project. Through it all, Satoshi used his unique perspective to create a toy few could have imagined. With his autism, Satoshi spent his childhood in exploration, discovery, and collecting. He knew it would be fun for others to partake in the same excitement that brought his childhood alive.

And that viewpoint, which few in the game industry shared at the time, catapulted a simple idea into a multi-billion dollar franchise. “Everything I did as a kid is kind of rolled into one,” said Tajiri in an interview,“that’s what Pokémon is.”

The Best National Parks for Accessible Travel

Staff Writer
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The Best National Parks for Accessible Travel

Wanting to see the wonders of the U.S.National Parks?

The awe-inspiring views, rich natural history, and beautiful escapes are the perfect places whether you’re looking for a quiet vacation, daring exploration, or simple day trip. But for those with disabilities, it can be a more complex picture. Many parks were designed before mandatory accessibility standards, meaning some of the older trails and landmarks aren’t easy to navigate—if at all.

But the National Park Service is making strides to make all parks more accessible, including the current five-year improvement plan effective from 2015-2020. Thankfully, there are plenty of National Parks with great accessibility. Here are the best ones across the country.

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

While the Grand Canyon isn’t easily accessible to most people—including many able-bodied visitors—there are still a number of trails and areas designed to be accessible for everyone. Every park shuttle bus is wheelchair accessible, and you can also get a park Accessibility Permit, which allows access to some areas restricted to the general public. While there are no easy trails into the canyon, the South Rim Trail has sections that are paved and easily accessible.

Sequoia National Park, California

There are a large number of accessible campgrounds at Sequoia National Park, and many of the trails are accessible as well. One of the most famous is the General Sherman Tree Trail. It’s a short path, but finishes at General Sherman, the largest tree on earth. The entire trail is paved and easily accessible.

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado

Wondering how to travel a dune in a wheelchair? The answer is specially-designed sand wheelchairs for adults and children that are available for loan at the park. These chairs have large inflatable wheels that make it easy to see the dunes.The park also boasts accessible campgrounds and picnic areas.

Everglades National Park, Florida

You might not picture the Everglades as easily accessible, but in fact this park is full of accessibility features. Tours offer assisted listening devices (ADLs) on request, many displays have audio explanations and braille, and trails include large print and interpretive signage. Visitor centers, as well as seven trails, are completely wheelchair accessible.

Acadia National Park, Maine

Acadia is considered one of the most well-designed National Parks for accessibility, with a number of trails, visitor centers, museums, picnic areas, and ranger-led programs that are all perfect for wheelchair users. They also provide ASL interpreters with advance notice, and have ALDs, braille brochures, and audio tours available to those with vision or hearing impairments.

Glacier National Park, Montana

This beautiful national park is designed with accessibility in mind. You’ll find a number of wheelchair-accessible trails and facilities all around the park. They also have a number of hearing and vision options.

Zion National Park, Utah

Zion National Park offers a huge number of accessible areas, including museums, visitor centers, trails, lodges, and picnic areas. Be sure to visit Pa’rus Trail, which is eight feet wide, paved, and has a minimal grade change.

Yellowstone National Park, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming

Perhaps the most famous National Park in the country doesn’t disappoint when it comes to accessibility.

You’ll find a large number of wheelchair-accessible paths and facilities across the park. Video presentations are captioned and others include assistive listening. Audio descriptions are available for many of the park’s landmarks, and large print and braille documents are available throughout the park. You can also acquire an “Access Pass,” a lifetime discount and pass available to those with permanent disabilities.

Across the country, there are plenty of U.S. National Parks with great accessibility. And as the National Park service continues to expand their openness to those with disabilities, more trails and vistas are available every year. In fact, check out the Access Pass.

If you want to experience the history, majesty, and beauty of nature across the U.S., these parks are the perfect places to explore.

The Healing Power of Therapy Pets

Lisa Beach
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The Healing Power of Therapy Pets

Talk about making the most of second chances. Two years ago, Maddie, a yellow Labrador, was an abused dog left on the side of the road with her 10 puppies. Taken to Canine Soulmates, an animal foster group, four-year-old Maddie got a second chance when she adopted her handler Jane Nolan in March 2014.

Rather than just living the good life in her new home, Maddie used this second chance to help others. Maddie and Jane work together as a therapy dog team through Pet Partners, a national leader in animal-assisted therapy based in Bellevue, WA.

“I saw that Maddie had a really good temperament and a very kind heart,” explains Jane. “You can’t always find dogs that are mellow, sweet and approachable.”

Dr. Brian Benjamin of Ohio Drive Animal Hospital in Plano, TX, agrees that a good temperament is key for a therapy animal. He points out that adequate training can bring out the most effective results. “A therapy animal shouldn’t have any trust issues,” says Dr. Benjamin. “Plus, you can provide behavioral training so the animal will be patient, not afraid of loud noises, and not aggressive.”

To get her “working papers,” Maddie got evaluated and trained through A New Leash on Life, one of dozens community partners affiliated with Pet Partners. After a physical, behavior evaluation and six months of training in obedience, socialization, and manners, Maddie got the green light.

Therapy Animals Work Wonders

Together, Maddie and Jane visit area hospitals, retirement homes, and other facilities where the healing power of animal-human interaction works wonders. “We just help give a little bit of normalcy to the day and help them feel better,” says Jane, citing how patients’ days are filled with tests, medication, needles, therapies, and exams.

Therapy pets also ease grief, stress and loneliness, which is why Flora Ellias, Dr. Benjamin’s receptionist, takes her three-year-old Irish Wolfhound Sheldon to visit hospice patients. “You can easily see the connection that people have with the dogs,” says Flora, who’s been taking Sheldon on hospice visits three times a month for the past two years. “Some patients are nonverbal until the dogs visit, and then they start talking. Rehab patients with mobility issues will pet and brush the dogs. Even Alzheimer’s patients sometimes recall a pet they had from childhood.”

Dr. Benjamin understands the therapeutic effects that animals can have on people. “There have been studies done that show the simple process of petting a dog or hearing a cat purr can release endorphins that benefit a person’s state of mind.” Jane has witnessed this first hand.

“One five-year-old boy in oncology had lost his sight and was feeling nauseous,” recalled Jane on a past visit to Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. “He was petting Maddie, trying to figure out what she looks like. I said, ‘Do you trust me and Maddie?’ He said, ‘Sure.’ And I said, ‘We’re going to play a game. You’re going to touch her and tell me what part you’re touching.’ After he figured out he was touching Maddie’s head, he said it felt like her heart because she’s so soft, and I thought that was so intuitive of him. It made him calm down and be more relaxed. It was a special moment.”

Think being a therapy animals is just for dogs? Think again. A variety of animals have the potential to serve as therapy animals, including cats, pigs, ponies, birds, guinea pigs and rabbits. To get involved, donate or find a local affiliate, contact Pet Partners, 875 124th Ave NE, Suite 101, Bellevue, WA 98005, 425-679-5500, https://petpartners.org/.

Looking for a Well-Trained, Grateful Pet? Adopt a Senior!

Lisa Beach
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Looking for a Well-Trained, Grateful Pet? Adopt a Senior!

Thinking about adopting a cat or dog from your local animal shelter? While you might be drawn to cuddly kitties and adorable puppies, they require a lot of work. From potty-training and socializing to dealing with their high energy and teething phase, it’s like bringing home a newborn.

The solution? Adopt a senior pet, roughly defined as age seven or older. With an estimated 1.5 million shelter animals euthanized each year, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, older cats and dogs often top the list of high-risk shelter populations. Animals that are sick and/or old are the first to be put-down.

Why adopt a senior pet?

For starters, they’re already house-trained, which means good-bye potty-training phase and the messy accidents that come with it. No need to worry about dogs chewing on furniture either—the teething phase is long gone. Plus, because they’re already socialized, older pets might be a good fit for families with kids and/or other pets. Another bonus? “What you see is what you get” in terms of a pet’s size, personality, and behavior. No more wondering, “How big will my dog be when he’s fully grown?” Finally, when you adopt a senior pet, he comes with a known health history—giving you a heads-up on what to expect in the future.

Elizabeth Berliner, director of shelter medicine at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, points out that just because an animal is older doesn’t necessarily mean he has health issues. On the flip side, Berliner says, “I’m amazed how many families will adopt senior pets in spite of medical conditions. They make it their mission to rescue these animals.”

While many older pets are healthy, some might have illnesses or diseases that require medicine, special diets, or other accommodations, says Lisa Lunghofer, executive director of The Grey Muzzle Organization, a nonprofit that focuses on improving the lives of at-risk senior dogs. For example, if an older animal struggles with mobility issues, you might need to add a ramp, so he can easily maneuver up and down stairs.

Picking a pet

Okay, you’re convinced—adopting a senior pet is the way to go. But how do you pick the perfect older cat or dog for your family? Like adopting any new furry family member, you’ve got to match up your family’s preferences and lifestyle with the prospective pet’s behavior, needs, and personality.

Laura Coffey, dog-lover and author of My Old Dog: Rescued Pets with Remarkable Second Acts, offers another good idea. Talk with the shelter volunteers who have an up-close-and-personal understanding of an animal’s quirks, social skills, health issues, and any special needs. They might know, for instance, that a certain cat prefers to spend a lot of quiet time alone, perhaps making him a bad fit for a large family with rambunctious kids.

Coffey calls older dogs “the most grateful dogs on Earth.” Why? Because often, they’ve gone through some major life upheaval through no fault of their own, such as a family that had to move and couldn’t take their pet with them or an older owner who has died, leaving the pet without a home. “These dogs end up in a shelter where it’s loud, chaotic, disorienting, and they don’t know why they’re there,” points out Coffey. “To bring a dog home is like rescuing them from doggie jail. They blossom once they get out of that scary setting. It’s so meaningful to see how happy and relieved they are.”

And the gratitude goes both ways. You just can’t beat the warm-fuzzies knowing you took in a pet that ran out of options and showered him with love during his golden years.

Thinking of adopting a senior pet? Contact your local animal shelter or rescue organization, or check out these resources:

·      Abandoned Animal Rescue (Texas), www.aartomball.org

·      The Grey Muzzle Organization (funds and provides info on U.S. senior dog programs), greymuzzle.org

·      Muttville Senior Dog Rescue (California), www.muttville.org

·      Fairy Tail Endings (Florida), www.fairytailendings.org

·      Forever Loved Pet Sanctuary (Arizona), http://www.foreverlovedpets.org

·      Senior Animals in Need Today Society (Canada), www.saintsrescue.ca

·      Senior Dogs Project (clearinghouse ofinformation to help older dogs), srdogs.com

·      Susie’s Senior Dogs (facilitatessenior-dog adoptions across the U.S.), www.susiesseniordogs.com

·      Young at Heart Pet Rescue (Illinois), www.adoptaseniorpet.com

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