JFActivist

NCD Urges Elimination of Electric Shock and Other Aversive Punishments

via The National Council on Disability (7.18.11): 

NCD Urges Elimination of Electric Shock and Other Aversive Punishments

The National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency that advises the President, Congress, and other federal officials and entities on policies and programs affecting Americans with disabilities, submitted comments today supporting amendments to regulations proposed by the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services to restrict electric shock and other aversive punishments for students with disabilities.

Under the amendments, 'treatments' causing physical pain – such as "spanking, slapping, hitting or contingent skin shock" would no longer be permitted. There are two public hearings scheduled on the proposals, a July 20 hearing at the Worcester Public Main Library and a July 22 hearing at the John McCormack Building in Boston. Written comments are due Aug. 1.

>>>For the Press Release

Transportation Security Administration Criticized for Treatment of Passenger with Severe Mental Illness

via the Association for Airline Passenger Rights (6.15.11):

Association for Airline Passenger Rights Expresses Outrage Over TSA's Treatment of Passenger with Severe Mental Illness; Cruel Treatment Exhibited by TSA Agents Warrants Immediate Review

The Association for Airline Passenger Rights ("AAPR") today expressed outrage over the Transportation Security Administration's ("TSA") cruel treatment toward a 22-year old passenger with several mental illness despite concerns expressed by his family that he had the mental capacity of a 2-year old. The incident, which occurred at Metro Detroit's McNamera Terminal (DTW) while the family was flying to Disney World, demonstrates that an immediate need exists for TSA's to review its policies to prevent future abuse and humiliation of passengers with physical, sensory, cognitive and mental disabilities. AAPR contends that the incident violates the spirit of the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA).

"We don't accept airlines violating the rights of passengers with disabilities, and we need to hold our government to the same basic standards," argued Brandon M. Macsata, Executive Director of the Association for Airline Passenger Rights. "This sort of inexcusable treatment of a passenger with severe mental disabilities, who was under parental supervision at the time nonetheless, cannot and must not be tolerated. If it wasn't a violation of the ACAA law - which is designed to protect very basic rights afforded to passengers with disabilities - then it surely goes against the spirit of the law"...

>>>To Read More on This Incident...

Do YOU have a travel horror story? Please share your experience below or send to policy@aapd.com.

TASH to Host Briefing on National Efforts to Restrict the Use of Restraint and Seclusion Practices

Via TASH (6.13.11):

TASH to Hold Congressional Briefing on National Efforts to Restrict the Use of Restraint & Seclusion Practices in Schools June 28

How you can help: 

1. Please attend if you are in the Washington, D.C., area. RSVP to Dara Baldwin at dbaldwin@tash.org 

2. Spread the word by downloading the congressional briefing flyer and sharing this important announcement with friends, family, colleagues and members of the media 

Tuesday, June 28, 2011
12-1:30 p.m. ET
B-338 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.  

TASH welcomes all congressional leaders, legislative staff, advocates, educators and families to participate in this important briefing on national efforts to restrict the use of restraint, seclusion and aversive interventions in school settings. This critically important educational briefing will be held on Tuesday, June 28, from 12-1:30 p.m. ET in Room B-338 Rayburn House Office Building. 

Children are injured and traumatized by restraint, seclusion and aversive interventions every day in schools across the United States. In January 2009, the National Disability Rights Network issued a report detailing the harmful use of these interventions in more than two-thirds of states, involving public and private school children as young as three years old. 

To learn more about the dangers of seclusion and restraint in schools, successful strategies for helping schools transition into safe schools that no longer use seclusion and restraint practices, and understand the merits of current public policy efforts to reduce the use of these dangerous practices, please join us for the upcoming congressional briefing on June 28. Since lunch will be provided, the courtesy of an RSVP is requested (please email Dara Baldwin at dbaldwin@tash.org). 

Speakers include  

Barb Trader, Executive Director, TASH
Joan Gillece, Project Manager, National Association of State Mental Health Program DirectorsMichael Remus, Director of Student Support Services, Deer Valley Unified School District
Linda Bambara, Professor, Lehigh University College of Education
Janice LeBel, Director of Program Management, Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Child & Adolescent Division
Phyllis Musumeci, Founder, Families Against Restraint and Seclusion 

Co-Hosts of the Briefing include the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, National Down Syndrome Society, National Autism Association, and Families Against Restraint and Seclusion 

>>>For More Information on the Briefing...

>>>To Download a Flyer...

Abuse in Residential Care Facilities: How Long Will It Continue?

via Time Magazine (6.7.11): 

Why So Much Abuse Is Allowed to Continue in Residential Care

by Maia Szalavitz

The stories are beyond horrifying: an autistic boy crushed to death by a "restraint" gone awry; a disabled woman's diaper pulled aside as she is raped; an elderly woman left to lie on a urine-soaked box spring for six days after being beaten.

In two of the nation's largest states, major media investigations this spring revealed hellish conditions in institutions for the disabled: The New York Times exposed ongoing violations, including physical and psychological abuse, in state-run homes for the developmentally disabled, while the Miami Herald uncovered similar tales of maltreatment and neglect in assisted-living homes for the elderly...

>>>For the Full Article...

How do you feel that institutional living settings increase PWD's vulnerability? How can these abuses of power be prevented? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

TN Man with Cerebral Palsy Wrongfully Accused of Drunk Driving

via KnoxNews (6.6.11): 

Lenoir City man alleges false arrest in lawsuit against Loudon sheriff, 4 others

By Natalie Neysa Alund

Garry Palmer sang his dead wife a gospel tune he wrote as he sat beside her headstone May 17, 2010, at Lake-view Cemetery in Loudon County.

It was the same routine the Lenoir City resident had performed every day since 53-year-old Brenda Palmer succumbed to kidney failure in 2008. But this particular evening took a path the 59-year-old man never expected and, he believes, changed his reputation forever.

Palmer has cerebral palsy.

He shakes.

He walks with a limp.

His speech is slurred.

On his way home that night, he accidently struck a dog that darted in front of his pickup truck. Deputies responded, and, Palmer said, because of his medical condition, wrongfully assumed he was driving drunk and sent him to jail. Now he has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit accusing Loudon County Sheriff Tim Guider, three county deputies and a court clerk of false arrest, failure to train officers, malicious prosecution and a constitutional rights violation...

>>>For the Full Article...

How do you feel situations like this can be prevented? What would increased education for law enforcement look like? Share your thoughts in comments below.

 

A System in Disarray: Mistreatment and Mismanagement at NY Institutions for People with Developmental Disabilities

via the NY Times (6.5.11):
  

A Disabled Boy’s Death, and a System in Disarray

by Danny Hakim

...On a February afternoon in 2007, Jonathan, a skinny, autistic 13-year-old, was asphyxiated, slowly crushed to death in the back seat of a van by a state employee who had worked nearly 200 hours without a day off over 15 days. The employee, a ninth-grade dropout with a criminal conviction for selling marijuana, had been on duty during at least one previous episode of alleged abuse involving Jonathan...

In the front seat of the van, the driver, another state worker at Oswald D. Heck Developmental Center, watched through the rear-view mirror but said little. He had been fired from four different private providers of services to the developmentally disabled before the state hired him to care for the same vulnerable population.

O. D. Heck is one of nine large institutions in New York that house the developmentally disabled, those with cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome and other conditions.

These institutions spend two and a half times as much money, per resident, as the thousands of smaller group homes that care for far more of the 135,000 developmentally disabled New Yorkers receiving services.

But the institutions are hardly a model: Those who run them have tolerated physical and psychological abuse, knowingly hired unqualified workers, ignored complaints by whistle-blowers and failed to credibly investigate cases of abuse and neglect, according to a review by The New York Times of thousands of state records and court documents, along with interviews of current and former employees...

>>>For the Full Article...

 

How can recorded accounts of these institutions' mistreatment of residents and irresponsible management of funding be used to advocate for quality living situations for people with developmental disabilities? Please share your thoughts in comments below. 

Facebook Under Fire: Refuses to Take Down Pages Offensive to PWD

via DisabilityScoop.com (5.31.11):
 

Disability Advocates Call out Facebook Over Offensive Pages

by Michelle Diament

A group of disability advocates is charging that Facebook is turning a blind eye to profiles and pages on the social network that they say are offensive to people with disabilities.

In an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, advocates point to profiles and pages on the social network with names like “I am retarded and proud of it” and “Re Tard” that persist even after repeated reports to site administrators. They also claim that profiles critical of individuals with disabilities feature stolen photos of kids with special needs that have been ripped from personal Facebook pages.

More than 1,000 people have signed on to the letter spearheaded by Steven and Holly Tischer, who have a son with Down syndrome and run the organization Tischer’s Troops, which supports inclusion.

They plan to present the letter to Facebook officials on Wednesday by asking supporters to post it to the notes section of Zuckerberg’s Facebook page.

>>>For the Full Article...

 

If Facebook does not respond to the Tischer's letter, what advocacy steps should our community take from there? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

White House Monthly Disability Briefing

via AAPD (5.26.11):  

White House Monthly Disability Briefing

U.S. Departments of Transportation, Education and Labor Report Progress in Disability Rights Advocacy

By Jenifer Simpson, Government Affairs, AAPD

On Thursday May 27, 2011 AAPD participated again in the monthly disability outreach call that is hosted by Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy. This briefing focused on recent efforts and some updates by the U.S. Departments of Transportation (DOT), Education (DOE) and Labor (DOL) on steps they are taking to implement and enforce non-discrimination of people with disabilities.

Transportation

The U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, provided an update of his department’s various efforts to ensure accessible transportation, stating that accessibility is “One of our highest priorities at DOT,” and noted the importance of accessible transportation to employment, shopping and other activities. He also stated that “All people have physical limitations and all can expect disabilities as they get older.”

Travel: He said DOT will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Air Carriers Access Act (ACAA) in the fall with an event. He mentioned the ADA regulations issued in 2010 that ensure that boats and ships don't discriminate, that is, vessel operators cannot charge extra for accessibility related services, cannot require someone to have an attendant and must have knowledgeable people available with information about accessibility and to resolve concerns of people with disabilities. He also said DOT was working with the U.S. Access Board on several rulemakings for construction guidelines for passenger vessels and on accessible public rights of way, such as streets, sidewalks and intersections.  He said that they were also working to finalize regulations on new and altered rail stations so people with disabilities can have access.

Airplanes and Airports: LaHood said DOT would issue Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) soon. One will focus on airport and airline accessibility such as check-in areas, kiosks, airline websites, accessibility of in-flight entertainment, toilets on single-aisle planes, and service animals for psychiatric support.  Another NPRM will focus on airport services such as service animal relief areas, captioning of waiting area TVs, and lifts used for getting on planes.

Enforcement: LaHood reported on DOT efforts to conduct better ACAA enforcement noting settlements with air carriers last year and civil penalties ranging from$125,000 to over $2 million, the largest ever assessed by DOT for a non safety-related violation.

Education

Russlynn Ali, the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) then spoke about the Office of Civil Rights division (OCR) at DOE and made an announcement about accessible technology in education.

Enforcement: She said that OCR has twelve regional offices around the nation that enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the ADA. She said these offices field complaints from everyone and urged call listeners to contact these regional offices. She said that “Secretary Duncan wants to work proactively with schools, colleges and universities to ensure non-discrimination” and “to help with compliance on front end.”  She said they have conducted nineteen compliance reviews over past the past two years, leading to improving education opportunities for many students with disabilities.

Accessible Technology: In follow-up guidance that DOE sent in June 2010 to college and university presidents on accessible E-book readers and other technology, Assistant Secretary Ali has now sent a new guidance letter on technology for students with disabilities. This “Dear Colleague” letter was sent to elementary and secondary schools, institutions of higher education, school boards, school superintendents and others on May 26, 2011.  Ali said the new guidance “makes it clear that any emerging technologies, especially E-book readers, needed to be fully accessible” or other accommodations to disability “made in a timely way.” She said that the guidance includes an FAQ and other material and suggestions for teachers and others be as proactive and responsive as possible. Letters and Guidance are below.

Labor Department

Patricia Shiu, the Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) at the U.S. Department of Labor then spoke. She said OFCCP “is totally committed to full employment of people with disabilities, to have access to good jobs and to retain those jobs.” She noted that her office is one thirty of federal agencies that enforces civil rights and is “on the front lines for those who seek work and who are at work.” She said that “OFCCP was born in civil rights era.”  She said that “those who contract and subcontract with the federal government must not discriminate in employment,” adding that “taxpayer dollars should never be used to discriminate.”

She said that one in four Americans works for a company with a federal contract, which is about 200,000 companies who receive over $700 million dollars annually. She said “enforcement actions should have positive ripple effect,” and her office has “a legal and moral responsibility to the public trust we hold.”  She added that “being a federal contractor is a privilege, not a right, and they must abide by the law.”

New Regulations: Shiu said they were in the process of reforming the current OFCCP regulations.  Last July 2010 they began the process with an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on Section 503 non-discrimination requirements in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  With receipt of comments from the ANPRM they have drafted a Proposed Rule on affirmative action and non-discrimination obligations of federal contractors and their subcontractors, sent to OMB on May 24, 2011, and which is under interagency review before it will be released for further public comments.

Ms. Shiu spoke about herself briefly, saying she had been a civil rights attorney for over 26 years, representing immigrants, people for whom English is a second language, garment workers, African American factory workers and people with disabilities. She said that “work is not about a paycheck but also about respect and self worth and financial security.” She added that “Workers want to be valued and want to work.” She also reiterated the Administration’s commitment to hire 100,000 people with disabilities over the next five years and that DOL is working on that.

Other Updates

Housing Lawsuit:  Following these federal department updates, Kareem Dale provided some updates such as on the recent filing of a suit by US DOJ against the owners, developers, designers and construction company for nine multi-family housing buildings in Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. These complexes comprise over 2,000 apartments and the investigation is looking at accessibility of the apartments and access to the leasing offices among other issues.

Accessible Money: Kareem Dale then mentioned the recent release by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving of a free downloadable app called “Eye Note.” This can be used by blind people on I-phones to read the denomination of money. Dale noted how “Technology when accessible, gives access” and send he uses the app himself.

Presidential Citizen’s Medal: Dale said that the White House was still receiving nominations for the 2011 Presidential Citizens Medal, and that the close date was May 31 and encouraged listeners of the call to visit the website, see who has been nominated or to submit a nomination.

Further information from the briefing:--

DOJ Housing Discrimination Press Release, at http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/May/11-ag-646.html

Education Department materials:

To read the Dear Colleague Letter to elementary and secondary schools, see http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201105-ese.html.
To read the Dear Colleague Letter to institutions of higher education, see http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201105-pse.html.
The FAQ is available at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/dcl-ebook-faq-201105.html.  To read the June 29, 2010 letter, see http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-20100629.html .

Federal Contract Compliance: DOL-OFCCP, more information at http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/

Air Travel: DOT-ACAA, more information at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publications/disabled.htm

 Presidential Citizens Medal: To nominate someone, go to the website at http://www.whitehouse.gov/citizensmedal

 

How do you feel about the steps DOL, DOT, and DOE are taking to implement and enforce non-discrimination of people with disabilities? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

 

Deaf Professor Wins Suit Over Firing

via Amarillo Globe-News (5.28.11):  

Deaf Professor Wins Suit Over Firing

A Lubbock County jury has decided Texas Tech University should pay a former professor more than $500,000 for discriminating against him because he is deaf.

Michael L. Collier, a deaf, tenure-track assistant professor hired to teach American Sign Language and other courses relating to deaf culture, was abruptly dismissed in October 2006.

The jury found Collier's disability was directly related to his termination...

"We wanted to show Tech it's wrong to bully a disabled person," said Bob Schmidt, one of Collier's attorneys.

He said the damages and pay the jury awarded Collier made it clear it is not OK for the university to treat disabled professors like second-class citizens.

>>>For the Full Article

 

How do you feel higher education institutions can increase inclusion for not only faculty members, but staff and students with disabilities as well? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

Man Dumped from Wheelchair by DC Police Speaks Out, AAPD's Helena Berger Comments

via MyFoxDC.com (5.23.11):   

Disabled Man Injured During Arrest at U Street Metro Speaks

by MAUREEN UMEH & MATT ACKLAND 

A wheelchair bound man, arrested by Metro Transit Police last week in an incident some say was unjustified is speaking out. It comes as Metro Police officials launch a formal review of the incident.

Dwight Harris ended up with injuries to his face that required several stitches and a huge bandage after his arrest Thursday afternoon outside the U-Street/Cardozo Metro stop.

A witness captured the incident on their cell phone and posted it on YouTube.

Harris was arrested for assault on a police officer and drinking in public.

"They tell him to stand, and he can't really stand if he's in a wheelchair, and they slammed him on the ground, and the whole side of his face is just leaking," said Fields.

The American Association of People with Disabilities is also commenting about the video. Acting CEO Helena Berger says she was shocked when she first saw it.

"This is not the first time that someone with a disability is basically mistreated, and I think this goes to the bigger question: Where's the training for law enforcement?" Berger said.

The two officers have since been placed on administrative leave.

>>>For the Full Article

The U St. incident is not the first time law enforcement has used unwarranted and brutal force against a person with a disability. In 2008, Tampa, FL deputies dumped a quadriplegic man from his wheelchair. In 2009, Alabama police pepper sprayed and tasered an innocent deaf man.

How can we prevent police brutality against people with disabilities? What would improved training for law enforcement look like? Share your thoughts in comments below.