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Deadline Approaching to Apply for AAPD Summer 2010 College Student Internships - Friday Jan. 8th

2010-01-04T18:27:08-08:00

The American Association of People with Disabilities is searching for college students with disabilities to apply for the 2010 AAPD Summer Internships. These outstanding opportunities include paid travel and paid fully-accessible housing and living stipends.

Congressional Internship Program - Hosted by AAPD; sponsored by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation - provides students interested in government, politics, law, or leadership the unique opportunity to intern on Capitol Hill for members of Congress.

Federal IT Internship Program - hosted by AAPD; sponsored by Microsoft - provides students pursuing careers in IT the unique opportunity to intern in IT divisions of federal agencies.

Currently-enrolled undergraduate college students with any type of disability pursuing any type of undergraduate degree are encouraged to apply.

For more information - and to apply by the Friday January 8, 2010 deadline - go to www.aapd.com/aapdinternship/.

Lennard Davis: Let Actors With Disabilities Play Characters With Disabilities

2009-12-21T20:05:23-08:00

Excerpted from the Huffington Post - 12/14/09 - Chicago, IL- Have you noticed that almost no actors who play Othello blacken their faces anymore? Of course not, blackface is considered distasteful at best and racist at worst. Nowadays Othello is routinely played by an actor of color or the color issue might be highlighted in a different way, as in a recent production directed by Peter Sellars, in which Othello and Desdemona were played by white actors while all the other cast members were of color.

We get it with race in the context of theater this way, but not with disability. Whenever a protagonist is disabled, it is more likely than not that a non-disabled actor will play the part. Recently there was uproar in the Deaf community over a New York adaptation of Carson McCuller's "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" in which the central character Singer who is deaf and mute is played by a hearing actor. And disabled actors protested the use of sighted Abigail Breslin in a production of the life of Helen Keller when a blind actress might have done the job as well if not better. The television program "Glee" is receiving critiques because, although it includes a singing and dancing wheelchair user, the actor who plays the part isn't disabled. And Larry David has come under fire for his use of not one but ...

two actresses who can walk playing wheelchair users in a single episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
The issue isn't purely ideological. There are an increasing number of actors with disabilities who have trouble getting parts and for whom these major roles would be a great opportunity. According to a recent article in The Hollywood Reporter, out of a total of 600 characters on television shows in a given season, only 12 will have a disability. And of those, most will be played by non-disabled actors. A third of disabled actors have faced active discrimination by being denied auditions or not being cast in a role because of their disability.

Read the entire article at http://www.InclusionDaily.com/news/2009/red/1214d.htm

2010 Sprout Touring Film Festival!

2009-12-17T23:34:46-08:00

As the New Year approaches, it's not too soon to start marking your calendars for noteworthy events! The 2010 Sprout Film Festival will be held in New York City on Friday April 30th - Sunday May 2nd at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's New Uris Education Center.

The Sprout Film Festival was founded in 2003 and programmed and supported by Sprout, a NYC-based non-profit organization, is dedicated to bringing innovative programming to people with developmental disabilities. Sprout has been making videos related to the field of developmental disabilities since 1995 and has witnessed the myriad benefits these videos have for this population and the general public. Click here to see a sampling of previews from these powerful films.

In addition to the annual Sprout Film Festival in New York City, the SFF has begun touring the country, screening an ever-growing selection of films to areas around the United States. For information and updates on periodic screenings, please call the Sprout office toll-free 888-222-9575 or email: stff@gosprout.org. Send your email address to be notified when the Sprout Film Festival comes to a venue near you, and help promote disability awareness through these powerful, educational films !

Baseball is Life ...

2009-11-21T20:23:25-08:00

... the rest is just details.
For most people, this draws a smile; they've seen the bumper sticker, bought the T-shirt. But for New York's Arlington High School graduate Thomas Kirkpatrick, the sentiment is very real.

His self-published book, "The Old Boys of Summer: 100 Years of Baseball (1845-1945)" explores the history and evolution of the great American pastime, and like any good sportswriter, his words resonate far from the playing field.

Kirkpatrick's love of the game comes through his own remarkable story, one he details in the book's final pages. Like baseball, Kirkpatrick has been close to the brink; he's faced trial after trial, but through it all, he’s kept his head up and kept swinging.

Twelve years ago, when Thomas was ten, he was hit by a pickup truck. The accident left him with injuries including severe brain trauma, a broken femur, a fractured pelvis, and a crushed ribcage. Doctors gave him less than a one percent chance of survival. Remarkably, Kirkpatrick pulled through.

"They had conceded my death, but I wasn't dead and I had no plans on dying; I was down, but not out," he wrote. Kirkpatrick remained on life support for more than a month before he woke from his coma. It was then that the real battle began, the road less traveled to recovery, as Kirkpatrick wrote.

Initially paralyzed, the accident left Kirkpatrick with limited motor skills. He couldn't eat solid foods and he couldn't talk. It took a formidable spirit and an incredible family effort to pull through his recovery.

"I told him he was allowed to feel sorry for himself for five minutes," his father said. "and it was human and natural to feel that way. But after that, he just had to move on." Shortly after the accident Thomas, unaware of the severity of his injuries, asked to be signed up for the local youth football team.

After months of therapy, Thomas regained some movement in his hands and

re-learned to speak and eat. He was bound to a wheelchair but could stand for small periods of time. Thomas was playing Little League baseball the year of the accident, and also enjoying his second season playing youth football for the Hudson Valley Knights. In his own words,”football is my love, but baseball is my passion."

In his book, Thomas's account of his young sporting career is poignant; touching but never despairing or pitiful. It is this attitude that got Kirkpatrick back on the football field in his senior year at Arlington High School. Although he couldn't physically play, he was a member of the varsity football team, giving

the players half-time talks and encouragement from the sidelines. He was duly honored at the end of the season with his teammates.

Thomas wrote that to be out there one more season was a crucial juncture in his life, "It was closure, I guess." In future, he hopes to be completely free of a wheelchair or assistance.

Shortly after graduating, he began the project that would become the book, which took a year to write. Thomas is hoping that his book will gain attention. "All I need is the right person to read it", he says. He hopes to write for a sports magazine and "who knows? Maybe I'll write another book!"

Thomas was recently interviewed on the Coop & Tobin Morning Show, WPDH 101.5, Poughkeepsie, NY.

Visit Thomas's website at www.thomaskirkpatrickonline.com.

New Mobility Magazine Person of the Year 2009: Scott Rains, of the Rolling Rains Report

2009-11-08T19:09:08-08:00

Scott Rains has been designated as Person of the Year 2009, by New Mobility Magazine! Congratulations, Scott!

Scott's key accomplishments nationally and around the world to assist, encourage and improve travel for the PWD community will be featured in the January 2010 issue of New Mobility Magazine. This award recognizes persons who have made significant contributions to the advancement of inclusion in one or more specific arenas, showing integrity and good will. Scott has diligently shared relevant aspects of his international travel experiences with the PWD community on his blog; the Rolling Rains Report. Scott is also a valued member of the [with]tv leadership team, and made numerous contributions to this blog.

Read and subscribe to his blog at Rolling Rains Report.
See his latest posting, "Disability Pride and World Travel" on the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) at Accessible Tourism - Forum.

Dancing Wheels

2009-10-20T21:19:34-07:00

Have you heard about the first modern dance company school to integrate professional stand-up and sit-down (wheelchair) dancers?

The talented and professional group of performers at Da ncing Wheels have an active touring schedule in locations around the US.

Mary Verdi-Fletcher, President and Founding Artistic Director, a pioneer in the field of integrated dance, started the company in 1980, and for more than a quarter of a century, Dancing Wheels has performed, taught and inspired children and adults of all abilities around the world. In the U.S, the company presents more than 100 performances reaching audiences of 125,000 each year.

For the upcoming season, Dancing Wheels has just announced that legendary choreographer Donald McKayle has been commissioned to create a new work for the Company! Professor McKayle has chosen a piece from Duke Ellington's Far East Suites, and will be in residence at Dancing Wheels for three weeks in November, to begin work with the dance ensemble for a May 2010 performance.

View the website at www.dancingwheels.org for more information, photos, and the schedule of performances.

For information about touring, or if you wish to book a performance: touring@dancingwheels.org. To contact President/Founding Artistic Director Mary Verdi-Fletcher: mary@dancingwheels.org, For issues regarding grants, communications, and development, contact Dana Kuhn at dana@dancingwheels.org. For general inquiries or comments, e-mail info@dancingwheels.org or to reach the School of Dancing Wheels, e-mail: school@dancingwheels.org.

Gary Norman: Lesson in Leadership

2009-09-09T21:58:48-07:00

Gary Norman, Baltimore attorney, mediator and founder of Norman Access and Conflict Resolution Consultants Group,
is the recipient of Ohio's Wright State University Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award for 2009.

He has met WSU's stringent criteria for achieving career success while making a positive impact at the local, state, and national levels. His standards of integrity and professionalism have earned him the respect of colleagues, associates and the university community.

Gary, who is vision-impaired and partnered with guide dog, Langer - a nine-year-old Golden Retriever - will also be honored as an inductee at the 2009 "Ten Outstanding Young Americans" by the Jaycees at an awards ceremony in Orlando FL on Sept. 26th.

Gary serves as Chair of the Animal Law Section of the Maryland State Bar Association, and is leading the planning for the first 2010 MSBA animal law symposium. He is the Immediate Past President of the Maryland Area Guide Dog Users, Inc., an advocacy and education based non-profit that he established.

Gary is a noted speaker, and has plans to campaign for elected office in the future. His first book chapter, The Disabled, Service Animals, and the Law, appeared in Litigating Animal Law Disputes: A Complete Guide for Lawyers (2009).

Students Build a Car that the Visually Impaired Can Drive

2009-08-28T19:40:55-07:00

The same technology that lets cars drives themselves allows the visually impaired to drive too. Virginia Tech undergraduates packed an all – terrain buggy with technology lifted from the university’s DARPA Urban Challenge entry to create a car the visually impaired can drive. The semi-autonomous vehicle uses a laser range finder, voice software and other sensory technology. It worked flawlessly when visually impaired drivers took the wheel on a closed course. Advocates for the visually impaired joined the lead researcher in calling the vehicle a breakthrough in independent living for the visually impaired.
“We are not only excited about the vehicle itself, but also, the potential spinoff technologies from this project that could end up helping the visually impaired,” says Dennis Hong, the Director of the University’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory.
   In 2004, the National Federation of the Blind issued a challenge, when it called on universities to develop a vehicle for the visually impaired. Virginia Tech accepted the challenge in 2006,- the only university to do so, recieving a $3,000 grant to begin the project.
   The Visually Impaired Challenge team at Virginia Tech’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory built the buggy. The steering wheel is hooked up to a distance monitor that gathers information from laser range finders. It uses voice software to tell the driver how far to turn the wheel.
   A vibrating vest provides cues to follow when accelerating and decelerating. The vest vibrates in different places – the back, belly and the shoulders-to convey different commands. When the entire vest vibrates, it means, “slam on the brakes!”
“The 2009-2010 team will be applying technology to an electric vehicle to eliminate the vibration caused by the motor altogether." The system, called Airpix, shoots compressed air through tiny holes on a screen in real time, to provide a layout of the area surrounding the vehicle. Drivers can "read" map with a hand, much like Braille. Hong said he needs more feedback from the visually impaired to refine the system.
All this technology is clearly in its earliest stages. We’re a long way from the day when the visually impaired join us slogging through the morning commute. But the Federation of the Blind hailed the vehicle and the promise it offers.
"It’s a great first step," Wes Majerus, an access-technology expert for the federation, said in a press release."As far as the differences between human instructions and those given by the voice in the blind Driver Challenge car, the car’s instructions are very precise. You use the technology to act on the environment – the driving course- in a very orderly manner."

The Real Truth about Reasonable Accommodations

2009-08-21T21:39:11-07:00

by Nadine Vogel, President, Springboard Consulting LLC

Many would-be employers cite the cost of accommodations as a barrier to employing people with disabilities. If only they knew that nearly half of all accommodations cost nothing. That’s right. Nothing. In a 2006 survey conducted by the Job Accommodation Network ( JAN), a service of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, 46 percent of the employers surveyed reported that the accommodations needed by employees and job applicants with disabilities cost absolutely nothing. The typical onetime expenditure for accommodations that did have a cost was $500, but only $300 more than what was typically needed for an employee without a disability in the same position.

In order to disabuse potential employers of the myths surrounding reasonable accommodations, I believe it’s important that the disability community know the facts as well. To that end, I’d like to give you fuel for your fire:

Accommodation Benefits

When the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) surveyed employers about making accommodations, they found the following:

Accommodations are effective.

Seventy-five percent of the respondents reported that the accommodations they implemented were either "very effective" or "extremely effective."

Employers experience multiple direct and indirect benefits.

The most frequently mentioned direct benefits were:

o Retaining a valued employee (86 percent);

o Increasing the employee’s productivity (71 percent);

o Eliminating the costs associated with training a new employee (56 percent).

The most widely reported indirect benefits were:

o Improving colleague interaction (67 percent);

o Increasing overall company morale (58 percent); and

o Increasing overall company productivity (56 percent).

Accommodations produce financial benefits.

According to the employers who participated in JAN’s study, on average, for every dollar they put into making an accommodation, they "got back" a little over $10 in benefits.

Armed with this knowledge, you can be an advocate for yourself and other job-seekers with disabilities.

My new book, Dive In, Springboard into the Profitability, Productivity, and Potential of the Special Needs Workforce* provides the information that employers need in order to make the business case for employing and properly supporting people with disabilities, parents of children with special needs, and older workers with age-related impairments. Dive In provides facts, and success stories. I’d love to hear yours.

Contact Nadine at (973) 813-7260 or nadine@springboardconsult.com .

New Resource Provides Information for International Visitors to the U.S. who are Blind or have Low Vision

2009-07-31T07:38:58-07:00

Excerpted from Mobility International USA

When Ms. Uyanga Erdenebold, a blind student from Mongolia, arrived at Louisiana State University on a Fulbright Program scholarship, she had to get used to a new city, a new country, and the rigors of graduate school – not to mention the humidity. As she pursued her Master’s degree in Library Science, she learned to travel independently with a white cane, honed her computer skills, and read extensively for her studies. Ms. Erdenebold reported being forever changed by her experience in the United States, which she describes as "an interesting, dynamic and encouraging one."

For international professionals and students who are blind or have low vision, visiting the United States just became easier. The National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE) has published a new informational tipsheet to assist international blind and low vision visitors in preparing to come to the United States. This tipsheet contains a variety of resources about access and independent living.　

Read: "Blind Visitors to the United States: What you need to know" at:http://www.miusa.org/ncde/tipsheets/blindvisitorstousa.
　
This free resource includes:

Guidance for locating resources—orientation and mobility services, dog guide training, public transportation access, live reader services, etc.
Tips on independent living—cooking, laundry, managing money, etc.

Information about learning Braille and accessing audio- or E-books
Considerations for locating and using assistive technology

Primary emphasis of this new informational guide is on enhancing the U.S. experience of blind visitors who are coming for academic or professional training, but the resources may also be useful to U.S. residents and international people traveling to the United States for other reasons.

Mobility International USA is a cross-disability organization serving those with cognitive, hearing, learning, mental health-related, physical, systemic, vision and other disabilities. Their mission is "Empowering people with disabilities around the world to achieve their human rights through interational exchange and international development."