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Carla K. Johnson

Worst hospitals treat larger share of poor

Last updated Wednesday, October 5, 2011 - 3:18pm

CHICAGO -- The nation's worst hospitals treat twice the proportion of elderly black patients and poor patients than the best hospitals, and their patients are more likely to die of heart attacks and pneumonia, new research shows.

Business, Health, Hospital care, Hospitals, Medicine, Research Read more Comments

(M. SPENCER GREEN/The Associated Press) In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011, Marc Lazar, autism specialist for Aspiritech, a nonprofit enterprise that specializes in finding software bugs, works with employee Alan Sun, as they test a new program in Highland Park, Ill. Aspiritech hires only people with autism disorders. Traits that make great software testers intense focus, comfort with repetition, memory for detail also happen to be characteristics of autism.

Company hires adults with autism to test software

Carla K. Johnson The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, September 21, 2011 - 7:55am

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — The software testers at Aspiritech are a collection of characters. Katie Levin talks nonstop. Brian Tozzo hates driving. Jamie Specht is bothered by bright lights, vacuum cleaners and the feel of carpeting against her skin. Rider Hallenstein draws cartoons of himself as a DeLorean sports car. Rick Alexander finds it unnerving to sit near other people.

Business, Autism, Computers, Software, Testing, National Read more Comments

Teenager wants to play basketball with service dog

Carla K. Johnson, The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, August 20, 2010 - 4:07pm

CHICAGO -- A teenage girl with cerebral palsy wants to play basketball with her service dog and oxygen tank, but Special Olympics won't let her on the court with other disabled students, according to a federal lawsuit.

Olympics, Medical, Sports, Basketball Read more Comments

(The Associated Press) Nils Higdon, 24, poses for a photo at his Chicago home, in January. Higdon is a self-employed percussionist and music teacher, and sees the age issue as a sign of why the health care system needed reform.

Health premiums could rise 17 pct for young adults

Carla K. Johnson The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, March 29, 2010 - 8:00pm

CHICAGO -- Under the health care overhaul, young adults who buy their own insurance will carry a heavier burden of the medical costs of older Americans -- a shift expected to raise insurance premiums for young people when the plan takes full effect.

Health, Insurance, National Read more Comments

Study finds rise in student injuries in gym class

Carla K. Johnson The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, August 3, 2009 - 8:34pm

CHICAGO -- Injuries to American children during physical education classes increased by 150 percent from 1997-2007, a new study finds, a possible drawback to a movement encouraging more vigorous exercise in schools.

Yet that may have less to do with lively gym programs than with lack of adult supervision, experts said. A decline in school nurses and larger class sizes could be to blame, said the study's senior author Lara McKenzie of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
"Children got hurt by running into equipment or having contact with structures or other persons," McKenzie said. "They had heat stroke, fainting and heart palpitations." Boys had more cuts and broken bones than girls. Girls were more likely to suffer strains and sprains.

Prep Sports, Sports, Teens Read more Comments