The Challenges of Caring for an Adult Child With Disabilities
Hundreds of thousands of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in America are living and receiving care at home. But their aging caregivers, many of whom are parents or siblings, are...
View ArticleAs Older Adults Prepare to Walk Around, Will Infrastructure Let Them?
Shelter-in-place restrictions are being lifted and the country is beginning to open up, which means that more Americans will be eager to get out and explore, or rediscover, their downtowns. But some —...
View ArticleWhen Your Employer Insists You Go Into Work During the Pandemic
Millions of Americans have been instructed by their employers to work from home due to the coronavirus pandemic. But what if your boss insists you continue coming into your workplace, especially if...
View ArticleWhen Handicapped-Accessible in Hotels Really Isn’t
The most unexpected lesson I learned from my 82-year-old mother’s stroke was what mobility-challenged people may face when they need to stay in the country’s more than 54,000 hotels. My education came...
View ArticleWays to Cope When Vision Loss Changes Your Life
In 2012, Tony Owens began having trouble seeing out of his right eye — his good eye. He had lost all of the vision in his left eye during his late 40s, but the Ormond Beach, Fla., resident had been...
View ArticleOPINION: What This Wheelchair User Wants You to Know
I’ve spent three decades of my life in a wheelchair. I know firsthand that my situation can be disconcerting to others. People tend to either completely ignore me or overcompensate by saying and doing...
View ArticleHow Essential Tremor Is Diagnosed and Treated
Robert Chance has lived with an essential tremor in his left hand since he was 6. He managed to help out on his family’s Minnesota farm, although he did have trouble flying kites. After college, Chance...
View ArticleHow the Topic of Mobility Could Come Up This Holiday Season
The holidays are a time for gathering and spending quality time with family members we don’t often see. It may also be the first time you notice a change in their health, such as their pace and...
View ArticleFacing Loneliness and Isolation While Living With a Disability
For many years, Erin Loughran lived independently: she owned a home and car, worked as an adult English language learner instructor, even dabbled in online dating. She now lives with a disability....
View ArticleOur Most Popular Stories of 2018
Next Avenue published nearly 1,000 stories in 2018. Below are the 10 our visitors read the most. Discover something you might have missed or enjoy a previous favorite. Thank you for reading and...
View ArticleThe Steep Cost of Tech Products for Mobility
(This article appeared previously on the website Tech50+.) According to the website Pants Up Easy, which tracks disabilities, some 3.6 million Americans over the age of 15 use a wheelchair for...
View ArticleThe Invisibility of Being Old, Disabled or Both
When you’re an older person in a wheelchair or walking with a cane, people treat you differently. Sure, some might be quicker to open doors for you, but most of the behavioral reactions aren’t positive...
View ArticleWhy I Used to Love Making Jokes About Helen Keller
(Editor’s Note: This video and story were produced by PBS NewsHour.) GEORGINA KLEEGE, Lecturer, UC Berkeley: It’s a common experience for people with disabilities to feel that they are being stared at...
View ArticleWays to Provide for Your Disabled Adult Child’s Future
All parents worry about what will happen to their children after they die. Parents of adult children with a chronic disability have an additional concern: whether the child will have financial...
View ArticleFashion Design With an Eye Toward Aging
When you have Parkinson’s Disease, the daily task of getting dressed can be a source of stress and frustration. You have very few stylish options, and are generally forced into wearing elastic-waist...
View ArticlePlanning a Cruise When You Have a Disability
Yadi Mark, who uses a wheelchair, frequently travels and loves sailing the open sea. She will embark on her 16th cruise this summer with her husband, children and grandkids. What’s the appeal?...
View ArticleThe Gifts of a Pony Named Raindrop
My Irish Catholic father was a difficult man — hard working all his life and hard drinking for much of my youth. Gay boys and their daddies often have complicated relationships, and we did. He sold...
View ArticleGetting Paid for Healthier Patients, Not More Tests
(Next Avenue invited all our 2016 Influencers in Aging to write essays about the one thing they would like to change about aging. This is one of the essays.) As a nurse practitioner providing house...
View ArticleHow I Approached Aging as a Creative Challenge
One of the indignities of aging is that sooner or later our bodies and minds begin to betray us. It’s all too easy to bemoan this inevitable loss of youthful dexterity, stamina, strength and sharpness....
View Article8 Tips to Ask for the Caregiving Help You Need
My parents taught me (Barbara), “To give is better than to receive. Don’t ask for handouts. Pull your own weight.” All great advice to live a self-sufficient existence. Sometimes, however, even the...
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