For people with disabilities or long-term health conditions the state of Michigan now offers a six-week workshop that helps you improve your health and manage your symptoms. You will learn how to deal with not feeling well, communicate better with doctors and family members, relax and overcome stress, increase your energy, improve your performance of everyday activities, and stay independent. The program is called PATH (Personal Action Toward Health), and you can get details and find out where the workshop location is in your region by calling Candace Lee at the Michigan Department of Community Health at 517-335-3188, email leec@michigan.gov. For more information at the national level visit National Center on Health, Physical Activity, and Disability.

Our lives can change in a moment. Seemingly mundane tasks can completely alter who we are, how we perceive the world, and how we live. In JoJo Moyes latest novel, Me Before You, meeting Will Traynor will alter Louisa ‘Lou’ Clark's life immeasurably, taking her out of her meek existence as an ‘invisible’ tea shop waitress in a small English town and thrusting her into Will’s life as a caregiver. It will make Lou question everything she’s always known about herself. Once a wealthy and vivacious young businessman, Will had a run-in with a motorcycle has brought his life of world-traveling adventure to a grinding halt. Now a quadriplegic, Will is angry, feels helpless, and is hell-bent on exercising what control he has left over his life.

Both Will and Lou experience a transformation through their time together. Will loses some of his anger and sees that happiness may be possible, and Lou discovers hidden strengths and depths that have been lurking under her timid shell. Me Before You is a bittersweet tale of two people, opposite in disposition, who come together briefly and change their seemingly stagnant lives through their relationship, their interactions, and their care for one another.

A recent change in a federal act fixes coverage gaps and provides a better safety net for families of first responders killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. The action closes gaps in the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Act that had left some first responders without benefits. The program started more than 30 years ago to help families of federal, state and local firefighters, police and medics. The new legislation extends the program to private, nonprofit emergency medical services volunteers and personnel. A push for change came following the 2008 line-of-duty death of Cheryl Kiefer, who worked for Jackson Community Ambulance in Michigan, a private nonprofit service. To learn more, visit the website of Huron Valley Ambulance.

Artists with disabilities, and their allies, living in Washtenaw County are invited to enter the 2nd Annual Allies for Disability Awareness Art Show, Oct. 22-26, 2012 at the Duderstadt Gallery on the UM North Campus. Any type of art is welcome, especially interactive or tactile pieces that can be touched and/or played with. If you want to participate please email disabilityartshow@gmail.com, and they will send you the link for the application Website. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with a final deadline of August 31. This is in conjunction with UM Investing in Abilities Week.

As adults over 55 with low income and disabilities strive to stay in their homes, the threat of theft, fraud, and other forms of financial exploitation increase. To become more educated about this, they, their caregivers and service agencies who assist them, Michigan Ability Partners (MAP) is offering training to increase financial management skills. This is made possible by a grant from The Anna Botsford Bach Fund for Seniors at the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. MAP will promote this service through the organizations in the Washtenaw Elder Justice Coalition. For more information call Misty Hendershot, MAP Payee Supervisor at 734-975-6880.

Doc Watson, whose lightning-speed flatpicking style of guitar playing befuddled those who have tried to emulate it and who brought new life to folk music, died yesterday In Winston-Salem, NC, following complications from colon surgery.

Blinded when he was one, Doc Watson's first instrument was the harmonica. A few years later, at age 10, his father gave him a banjo and a neighbor gave him guitar lessons.

He eventually graduated to the electric guitar, playing with a rockabilly bind with an unreliable fiddle player. To fill the fiddle gap, Doc Watson figured out how to translate that sound to his guitar.

In the 1960s, Ralph Rinzler, a prominent folkie, encouraged Watson to go back to the acoustic guitar. Watson immediately became a hot commodity on the folk music circuit.

Toward the end of the 60s, Merle Watson, Doc's teenage son, joined his dad for a wonderfully successful run, fueled by their performance on Will the Circle Be Unbroken?, the million-plus album by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Doc Watson's career was nearly derailed by his grief over the death of Merle in 1985, the result of a tractor accident.

Watson, who earned eight Emmys despite his deeply ingrained modesty, was 89 years old. His was the second death to rock the North Carolina and the national music world. Beloved Earl Scruggs died in March.

Are you a parent or guardian of a child or an adult with a disability? To help you prepare for the financial implications of possible upcoming life transitions Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living will host a group of experts including an attorney, a financial adviser, bank and insurance representatives, and a disability advocate to discuss ways to plan for successful transitions for children and adults with disabilities. Topics regarding trusts, power of attorney, social security, investments, banking options and life insurance will be covered. Families should bring their questions and any necessary documents to address their concerns. Light refreshments will be served, and there will also be an art and social area for respite for all families who need their children or dependents to attend in order to participate in the meeting. Walk-ins are welcome, but RSVPs are helpful for planning the event. For more information, to RSVP or to request accommodations please contact Carolyn Grawi at 734-971-0277 ext. 16 or at Carolyn@aacil.org.

Tuesday, June 5, 6-7:30pm | Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living | 3941 Research Park Drive | Ann Arbor, MI 48108

The Downtown library has a shelf in the Youth Department known as the Parent Shelf. On this shelf you’ll find a variety of parent-child related books on a multitude of topics- including everything from phonics to tantrums to potty training to diet. These books are available for checkout, and can be found in the catalog when searching “parent shelf,” if you’d like to have one sent to a branch of your choice.

On the parent shelf, and in the regular collection, the library has a slew of books that may answer questions that parents, teachers, and caregivers may have about working with children with special needs. See here for a list of titles in the regular collection, or check out these Parent Shelf titles to get you going:

Positive discipline for children with special needs

No longer a secret: Unique common sense strategies for children with sensory or motor challenges

The learning tree: Overcoming learning disabilities from the ground up

The complete guide to special education: Proven advice on evaluations, IEPs, and helping kids succeed

Terri Wilcox is Secretary for the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan. A goal of this 50 state organization is to increase literacy among the blind, and that means Braille. Braille is literacy for the blind just as reading print constitutes literacy for sighted people. Yet only ten percent of blind children are currently being taught Braille. Join Terri at the Downtown Library on Sat., Jan. 14, 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm to learn more about this initiative and the many other ways she is working to level the playing field for everyone in Michigan.