Seabridge Bathing's Blog » disability http://blog.seabridgebathing.com For the elderly, disabled, and those who care for them Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:16:58 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Busting Myths About VA Health Care http://blog.seabridgebathing.com/2011/09/01/busting-myths-about-va-health-care/ http://blog.seabridgebathing.com/2011/09/01/busting-myths-about-va-health-care/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:33:45 +0000 admin http://blog.seabridgebathing.com/?p=512 The fol­low­ing post was orig­i­nally fea­tured on the VA’s VAn­tage Point blog. By Alex Hor­ton

Rumor mills are per­ma­nent fix­tures in schools, offices and wher­ever peo­ple con­gre­gate, and most of the time they’re pretty innocu­ous.  But myths and rumors that deal with health–in this case Vet­er­ans health–are a seri­ous mat­ter that can pre­vent qual­i­fied Vets [...]]]> The fol­low­ing post was orig­i­nally fea­tured on the VA’s VAn­tage Point blog.
By Alex Hor­ton

Rumor mills are per­ma­nent fix­tures in schools, offices and wher­ever peo­ple con­gre­gate, and most of the time they’re pretty innocu­ous.  But myths and rumors that deal with health–in this case Vet­er­ans health–are a seri­ous mat­ter that can pre­vent qual­i­fied Vets from seek­ing the care they both need and deserve.  Many have come up in the com­ments sec­tion, and oth­ers I hear from the guys in my old unit.
The myths won’t die unless they are addressed pub­licly and clearly, so we present you with the most com­mon we hear, and the straight­for­ward answers they need.

Five Myths About VA Health Care

Myth Num­ber One - I wasn’t injured in the ser­vice, so I’m not eli­gi­ble for VA health care.

Sta­tus: False -
One of the most com­mon myths revolves around eli­gi­bil­ity for health care at VA. Many think that you have to first estab­lish a dis­abil­ity rat­ing before you can start to make appoint­ments, see doc­tors and receive med­ica­tion. That is not the case. If you served in the mil­i­tary, even dur­ing peace time, and were hon­or­ably dis­charged, you likely qual­ify for VA care.  Even if you don’t meet those require­ments, spe­cial cir­cum­stances might apply, like Viet­nam ser­vice, expo­sure to Agent Orange and house­hold income. The best way to find out if you qual­ify is to sub­mit an appli­ca­tion for health ben­e­fits.  You can fill one out online or at a VA Med­ical Cen­ter.  If you are an Iraq or Afghanistan Vet­eran, there are spe­cial com­bat Vet­eran ben­e­fits from VA, like tem­po­rary access to den­tal care and guar­an­teed access to Pri­or­ity 6 for five years (unless you are eli­gi­ble for a higher pri­or­ity group).  See the pri­or­ity enroll­ment groups here.

Also, if new reg­u­la­tions are estab­lished regard­ing health ben­e­fits, VA will auto­mat­i­cally reassess your case if it’s on file.

Read more: http://militaryadvantage.military.com/2010/11/busting-myths-about-va-health-care/

MilitaryAdvantage.Military.com

]]> http://blog.seabridgebathing.com/2011/09/01/busting-myths-about-va-health-care/feed/ 0 Traveling with a disability? 14 ways to travel easier http://blog.seabridgebathing.com/2010/05/18/traveling-with-a-disability-14-ways-to-make-it-easier/ http://blog.seabridgebathing.com/2010/05/18/traveling-with-a-disability-14-ways-to-make-it-easier/#comments Tue, 18 May 2010 22:45:38 +0000 admin http://blog.seabridgebathing.com/?p=277 If you travel with a disability, handicap, physical limitation, mobility limitation, or developmental disability, have special needs, or use an electric wheelchair or handicap scooter, it’s a good idea to learn as much as you can to make disabled travel easier.

Or if you’re a mature traveler or senior who is a slow walker or [...]]]> If you travel with a disability, handicap, physical limitation, mobility limitation, or developmental disability, have special needs, or use an electric wheelchair or handicap scooter, it’s a good idea to learn as much as you can to make disabled travel easier.

Or if you’re a mature traveler or senior who is a slow walker or just wants a slower pace, becoming more informed about disabled travel services and disability travel resources, will lessen the anxiety that often accompanies disabled travelers.

The following travel tips, resources and information for the disabled will help make trips, tours, holidays and vacations a lot easier for you, or for a child with a disability, whether short-term or long-term.

1. Plan your trip well in advance! Do you need to order extra supplements, medications or renew prescriptions, fix eyeglasses or change prescriptions, get a physical, have dental work done, have your wheelchair fixed or tuned up, etc.?

2. If possible, always book your travel through an agency that specializes in helping people with disabilities. This is important because specialized travel agents and tour operators for the disabled are experienced and can save you some awful headaches.

They offer a lot of good tips and a wide range of services for the handicapped traveler. Among other things, they can arrange for a: wheelchair at the airport, wheelchair accessible hotel room, wheelchair rental, lift-equipped accessible van, full van, minivan, RV, handicap scooter, or any other handicap vehicle.

Travel agents for the disabled can help arrange accessible transportation, help plan the best accessible cruise, give cruise line and cruising tips, arrange travel insurance and take care of special needs.

Agents can check with hotels for: inner and outer door widths to accommodate your wheelchair, ADA-approved handicap bath tubs, grab bars, or for roll-in showers. Just tell them your needs.

Travel agents can help you find cheap airfare, cheap tickets, cheap flights, cheap travel auto insurance, cheap hotels, cheap car rentals, cheap cruises, cheap vacations and cheap travel of all kinds.

3. Besides taking along your travel agent’s phone number, you’ll also want to take with you the phone numbers for the travel agencies that specialize in disabled travel at your destination, in the event you can’t reach your own agent.

These travel agents may know how to solve problems that come up regarding your hotel, car or van rentals, etc., even if you didn’t order your tickets through them.

For the rest of the tips, please visit http://www.hotwireflights.net/14-ways-to-make-traveling-with-a-disability-easier

]]> http://blog.seabridgebathing.com/2010/05/18/traveling-with-a-disability-14-ways-to-make-it-easier/feed/ 1 Disability No Block to this Graduate! http://blog.seabridgebathing.com/2009/07/09/disability-no-block-to-this-graduate/ http://blog.seabridgebathing.com/2009/07/09/disability-no-block-to-this-graduate/#comments Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:18:33 +0000 admin http://blog.seabridgebathing.com/?p=46 Jasmine Bethea may have been born with a disability, one where she was told she would not even be able to learn, but that did not stop her from graduating this week. She has proven her doctors and everyone else wrong, not only graduating – but doing so with honors. Jasmine’s doctors had told her [...]]]> Jasmine Bethea may have been born with a disability, one where she was told she would not even be able to learn, but that did not stop her from graduating this week. She has proven her doctors and everyone else wrong, not only graduating – but doing so with honors. Jasmine’s doctors had told her mother Lorraine to put her in an institution and go on with her life.

Jasmine was born with Cerebral Palsy. Her mother refused to just, ‘give up,’ on her daughter, and with her mother’s love Jasmine flourished. Jasmine is unable to speak, but she sure can learn. She uses a power chair to get around, and has mastered the use of a computer through a keyboard that has a device enabling her to tap the keys. She completed the twelfth grade.

Continue reading Disability No Block to this Graduate!…

]]> http://blog.seabridgebathing.com/2009/07/09/disability-no-block-to-this-graduate/feed/ 0