Voting in Kansas is easier than ever. With advance voting, any registered voter can vote by mail or in person before election day.

• Advance voting application http://kssos.org/forms/elections/AV1.pdf  (Español) http://kssos.org/forms/elections/Spanish/AV1%20(Spanish).pdf
• Or contact your county election officer to request an application for an advance voting ballot. http://kssos.org/elections/elections_registration_ceo.asp
• Complete the application and return it to your county election officer.
• You can have your ballot mailed to you starting 20 days before the election.
• You may vote in person in the county election office starting the Tuesday before election day, or up to 20 days before the election, depending on the county.
• All ballots must be post-marked on or before Election Day and received no later than three days after the election.
• Any mailed advance ballot may be hand-delivered to the county election office or any polling place within the county by close of polls on Election Day.
• Sick, disabled or Non-English Proficient voters may receive assistance in applying for and casting advance voting ballots.

Important 2018 Election Advance Voting Dates

October

• Tuesday, October 16 - Last day to register to vote before the general election.

• Wednesday, October 17 - First day advance ballots are mailed. In person advance voting may begin.

• Tuesday, October 30 - Deadline for voters to apply for advance voting ballots to be mailed for general election.

November

• Monday, November 5 - Noon deadline to cast advance voting ballots in person in office of county election office.

• Tuesday, November 6 (General Election Day) - Mailed advance voting ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received in the county election office no later than the third day following the election. Advance ballots may be hand-delivered to the county election office or to any polling place within the county by close of polls.

Are you ready to engage in voting rights advocacy for the disability community? The American Association of People with Disabilities’ REV UP (Register, Educate, Vote! Use Your Power) Campaign, in partnership with Disability Organizing Network, is hosting a series of free webinars on election accessibility this fall.

On September 21 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, AAPD and DOnetwork will be hosting Access Barriers to Voter Education Materials. “The webinar will explore how political campaigns, hosts of candidate forums, and election officials can make their materials and information more accessible to people with disabilities. Webinar presenters include the National Council on Independent Living and the Center for Disability Empowerment.” You can register for this webinar at the DOnetwork website. 

Stay tuned as other webinars and events are posted, including the next webinar in the series, which will be held in mid-October. 

CHRIL (Collaborative on Health Reform and Independent Living) provides disability stakeholders with accurate, current, accessible and actionable information on how recent changes in health policy affect the community living and integration of working-age adults with disabilities. While the CHRIL devotes significant time to knowledge translation, our research findings to date have not been widely used in disability advocacy efforts.

We do good work and try to get our research findings to disability advocates and policymakers. But our tables and graphs just aren’t enough. That’s why we are starting a new project called “Disability Stories about Health Policy.” The Disabilities Stories Project will help support and contextualize our research findings with personal stories from people with disabilities. This application has been reviewed and approved by the Washington State University Institutional Review Board.

We will be presenting at the APRIL Conference, if you are interested in participating, please notify us after our conference presentation. We will be scheduling interviews during the APRIL conference week. You may also email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone (509) 368-6979 where you will be asked to sign a copy of our consent form.

For more information please follow this link: https://www.chril.org/disability-stories-project/

Mindfulness-based practices can bring people with brain injury a sense of well-being and empowerment. These techniques can help reduce stress and support healing. Please join this free, one-hour webinar, which covers the benefits of mindfulness-based practices, the basic science and evidence behind these practices, and practical ways to incorporate them into everyday life.

Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 2 pm

Register

By Andy Rausch and Joe Reinecker

Alzheimer’s is a disease that currently affects the families of approximately 5.7 million Americans. “Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia,” explains Fort Scott Medicalodge Administrator Lynette Emerson. “Dementia basically means memory loss. Sometimes people are just diagnosed with dementia because they don’t know what type of dementia it is.”

Statistics say that one in ten Americans who are age sixty-five and older has Alzheimer’s Disease. Of those, almost two-thirds of those inflicted are women.

Emerson says some signs to look for in loved ones are them forgetting how to do things they do every day. “A lot of people start forgetting how to get back home from a place they routinely travel to,” she said. “But if they’re having difficulty finding a new place, that’s different because directions can get mixed up. But if it’s something they have always known how to do, that’s troublesome.”

According to Emerson, another sign of Alzheimer’s is someone suddenly forgetting how to do basic functions in the home, like turning on the microwave. “My husband’s uncle is dealing with this now, and he’s always farmed and known everything about tractors. But now all of that seems very foreign to him. What’s happening is that the connectors in the brain are experiencing issues, such as plaque build-up. Those connectors aren’t making those connections anymore, so people don’t remember those routine things they’ve done before.”

Although there are currently no medications that can cure Alzheimer’s, there are a number of medications that will slow down the progress of the disease. “If someone gets started on that medication early, you do see the progression slow down tremendously as opposed to those who do not take the medication,” said Emerson.

Emerson also said it is important for Alzheimer’s patients to keep their minds stimulated and not isolated. “If someone isolates themselves, they’re not going to be using the functions of their brain,” said Emerson. “That’s the very worst thing a person with Alzheimer’s can do.” Emerson said activities like word searches and crossword puzzles are good ways for these individuals to stay stimulated. She said continuing to read and having conversations with other people are always beneficial.

Emerson said the Alzheimer’s Association’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s, which used to be called the Memory Walk, will be held on Saturday, September 15th, in Pittsburg. This year the walk will be held at Gorilla Village at Pitt State University. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for people who have family members struggling with Alzheimer’s or people who just want to support the cause to come together,” said Emerson. “It’s a morning event, and it’s a very easy two-mile walk. A lot of people use the walk as a family reunion, to get together and walk and remember their family members who have passed away with Alzheimer’s. There are other activities going on along with that, including music and a silent auction. I would really encourage people to come out and support the cause.”

Anyone interested in attending can register at eight a.m. that morning. There will be a ceremony at nine, with the walk following at nine-thirty.