Cerebral Palsy

For most people, dialing a phone or chopping a carrot is a simple task. But if your hands have been weakened by multiple sclerosis or arthritis, such tasks may seem impossible. However, help is available in the form of new technologies and devices that compensate for loss of strength and mobility. Area residents are welcome to learn more about such devices at Mobility Day set for 9 to 11:30 a.m. Sept. 23 at Centenary United Methodist Church's Christian Life Center on Perryville Road at the entrance to Millennium Park.

Attorney General Jack Conway announced Tuesday the indictment of nine people connected to the Carter County adult-care facility where Michael Price of Danville died. Conway said the nine are charged in connection with a pattern of abusive behavior against different adult residents of Community Presence Inc. Each is charged with abuse of an adult, unlawful imprisonment, and first-degree wanton endangerment. Each could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Investigators with the Office of the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control Division initiated an investigation in cooperation with the Grayson Police Department after the 25-year-old Price, a resident at Community Presence, died suspiciously in October.

A second person has been charged in the death of a Danville man who was living in a Grayson group home. Michael Price, 25, who suffered from cerebral palsy, died in October allegedly due to an illegal choke hold administered by caretakers at Community Presence Inc. who were trusted and paid to watch over him. Price is said to have died while in a prone restraint, a restraint that has been prohibited by law. According to the Carter County...

The Danville/Boyle County Chamber of Commerce hosted the fourth annual Youth Appreciation Luncheon at Inter-County Energy's community room on May 10. In cooperation with the three local high schools, 12 students were chosen for recognition in overcoming difficulties in their lives and staying in school. Master of ceremonies was Steve Rinehart, immediate past chairman of the Danville-Boyle County Chamber of Commerce and director of community education. Rinehart's comments addressed what many of these students have been, or are, dealing with.

The waiting room of the Kids Can Do Pediatric Therapy Center is not like that of most doctor's offices, typically adorned with fancy paintings on the walls and copies of outdated magazines on the end tables. Instead, colorful construction-paper butterflies decorate the waiting room, displaying the handwritten name of their makers on their wings. On one wall, duck, train and butterfly coat hangers are placed about three feet from the ground for easy reaching and a shelf of games such as Scrabble and Memory can be seen in the next room.

In case you don't know, premature births are on the rise in the United Sates and right here in Kentucky. According to the latest final data from the National Center for Health Statistics, the percentage of babies born prematurely has risen to more than 12.5 percent, the highest level in two decades, and a more than 30 percent increase since 1981. In 2004, more than half a million babies were born prematurely in the U.S. In an average week in Kentucky, 154 babies are born preterm (less than 37 weeks of pregnancy)

McDowell Wellness Center has used horses for several years as part of its rehabilitation program for pediatric patients. The concept is known as hippotherapy. The Wellness Center is enhancing its hippotherapy program by relocating it from the Wellness Center to a nearby stable. McDowell Wellness Center's hippotherapy services are provided at a stable on Cliffside Farm, located on Chenault Bridge Road just off Ky. 34 in Garrard County. The stable, owned by Blair Cunningham, is within 10 miles of the Wellness Center.

About 10 years ago Kay Edgington stayed busy with memberships in many clubs and organizations. Now she has narrowed her interests to one: the Wilderness Trace Child Development Center. "I quit everything else and put my heart in that organization," she says of the non-profit agency that is supported by the United Way. After hearing a speaker at a Kiwanis meeting, Edgington made her decision to devote her energy to the center that helps children with everything from mild disabilities, such as speech delays, to disabilities such as Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy and autism.

HARRODSBURG - The Mercer County Adult Day Care Center is open to more clients of varying ages and disabilities and its new director hopes to attract more people to the program. The program has shifted from what is called a social model to a medical model, Carrie Dotson said last week during her first week on the job as the center's director. The change in its characterization means there are more medically-trained people on staff and it is not limited to people 65 years old and older.