JFActivist

President Celebrates International Day of Persons with Disabilities

From the White House (12.3.09):

 

For Immediate Release

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, 2009
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

This year, in an effort to renew our global commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms for persons with disabilities, the United States became a proud signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This treaty represents a paradigm shift, urging equal protection and benefits for all citizens, and reaffirming the inherent dignity and independence of the 650 million people living with disabilities worldwide. Today, as we commemorate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we celebrate the skills, achievements, and contributions of persons with disabilities in America and around the world. We recognize the progress we have made toward equality for all, and we rededicate ourselves to ensuring individuals with disabilities can reach their greatest potential.

Despite our increased efforts, persons with disabilities continue to face barriers to their full participation in society. In the United States, Americans with disabilities still experience discrimination in the workplace and in their communities. In developing nations, 90 percent of children with disabilities do not attend school, and women and girls with disabilities are all too often subjected to deep discrimination. If we are to move forward as a people, both at home and abroad, all individuals must be fully integrated into our human family.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is a time to renew our commitment to the principles of empowerment, dignity, and equality. The United States has co-sponsored and joined consensus on the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee's resolution titled, "Realizing the Millennium Development Goals for Persons with Disabilities." We must continue to embrace diversity and reject discrimination in all its forms, and insist on equality of opportunity and accessibility for all. Let our efforts remind us that when we work together, we can build a world free of unnecessary barriers and include every member of our international community.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 3, 2009, as International Day of Persons with Disabilities. I call on all Americans to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

BARACK OBAMA

Disability Coalition Supports Health Reform that Includes Home and Community Based Services and Supports

From the JFA Moderator:

Last Friday, November 6, in anticipation of the House vote on Health Reform, the Justice For All Action Network (JFAAN), a coalition of diability-lead organizations and allies, sent the following letter to every member of the House of Representatives. 

>>> For More Information on JFAAN and its Current Work

November 6, 2009

 

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader Boehner, and Members of the House of Representatives:

The disability community has been advocating for over twenty years for the equitable choice to receive support services in their own homes and communities rather than nursing homes or other institutions.  We believe this is a civil rights issue.   Though there has been progress reducing the institutional bias in Medicaid, we hope during this Year of Community Living (July 2009 – July 2010) and as we celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), this progress can continue.

For this progress to occur we believe the Administration and Congress must work with the states and the disability community in two areas.  One is stronger enforcement of the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision and the other is protection of Medicaid optional home and community services in healthcare reform legislation.   The recent October 30^th letter from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Regional Office to the State of Missouri,  detailing how they are not complying with the Olmstead decision and the steps CMS wants them to take in order to come into compliance,  is a positive example of what the disability community would like to see continued all over the country.

 >>> For more on the CMS Letter

States are currently reducing home and community services and people with disabilities and their families are being threatened with having to go into an institution because there are few community service options available.  Though we understand the economic realities confronting states, we believe that criteria must be developed and enforced by Department of Health and Human Services –Office of Civil Rights, CMS and the Department of Justice that protects our rights to services in the most integrated setting.   States currently have little guidance on what implementing the Olmstead decision means and we believe many states are currently violating the decision’s language of services in “the most integrated setting.  We believe the Administration should work with the disability community, National Governors Assn and the National Conference of State Legislators to assure the community integration rights of people with disabilities are protected.

The reform of the healthcare delivery system has been one of the highest priorities on the agenda of most national and state disability rights advocacy organizations in the country.  Expanding coverage to the uninsured and those of us with pre-existing conditions are just two of the major benefit of all the proposals that are currently moving forward in Congress.  People with disabilities of all ages have a personal stake in the outcome of the debate on how acute medical and long term services and supports are delivered and paid for though most of the discussions have surrounded doctors, hospitals, durable medical equipment, insurance companies and other payers of healthcare services.

 The Congressional proposals use the expansion of Medicaid as the payer for those currently uninsured for those up to 133% of poverty in the Senate bill and 150% of poverty in the House.  This is a logical approach because the legislation builds on a system that is established in every state in the country.  We support the expanding of Medicaid funding for the uninsured with some protections for those currently receiving Medicaid services.

Our concern is how the expansion of Medicaid for the low income uninsured will affect the delivery of Medicaid optional services for people with disabilities at a time that states are currently under extreme budget restraints and are reducing not only Medicaid optional services but also slashing education and other needed human services. Proposals in Congress have states picking up between 5%-23% of the costs of covering the low income uninsured.  Governors have expressed their concerns about  how absorbing  this increase will increase their deficits and may result in massive cuts in education and human services.

 The fact that all Medicaid home and community services are optional make them particularly vulnerable to cuts though these community long term care services are less expensive and overwhelmingly preferred over nursing home and other institutional services.  Currently US long term care policy makes it mandatory for states that choose to deliver Medicaid funded services must provide nursing home services.  The rebalancing of the long term care system, moving from funding focused on nursing homes and other institutions to a system giving a real choice for home and community services, has been accelerating over the last decade.  It would be a major irony if one unintended consequence of health care reform legislation was to reverse this rebalancing trend by putting states in the position to make the difficult and wrenching decision to cut home and community services and other optional services.

Though there are proposals to protect  from states cutting out Medicaid optional populations there is nothing in the bills that would prohibit states from cutting Medicaid optional services like home and community 1915 (c) waivers and/or the Personal Care Option.  We ask you to work with us to put in language in the legislation that will protect home and community services and continue the rebalancing of the long term care system that gives people with disabilities of all ages a real choice for services in the most integrated setting.  

President Obama declared that the year from July 2009 to July 2010 as the “Year of Community Living”.  On July 26, 2010 the disability community will celebrate the 20^th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA.  We hope that strong enforcement of the Olmstead decision and the passage of health care legislation by Congress will promote the values and principles of integration, inclusion and independence that are at the foundation of the ADA and of people with disabilities lives in the community.

If you have any questions, please call or email Andrew Imparato, President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities (mobile: 443-386-2935  or email aimparato@aapd.com) or Bruce Darling, National Organizer for ADAPT (mobile: 585-370-6690 or email bdarling@cdrnys.org).

 

For an Institution and Barrier Free America,

 National

ADAPT

American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)

Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN)

Coalition for Community Integration

Disabilityworks

Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA)

Little People of America

National Center for Environmental Health Strategies, Inc.

National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations (NCMHCSO)

National Council on Independent Living (NCIL)

National Spinal Cord Injury Association

National Telecommuting Institute (NTI)

National Youth Leadership Network (NYLN)

Not Dead Yet

Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE)

TASH

United Spinal Association

 

State

Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Association of New York State (CDPAANYS)

Disabled Action Committee (DAC Virginia)

Michigan ADAPT

NC Disability Action Network

New Jersey Association of Community Providers (NJACP)

New York Association on Independent Living

New York State Independent Living Council (NYSILC)

New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS)

Starkloff Disability Institute

Statewide Independent Living Council of GA, Inc.

Texas State Independent Living Council

 

Local

Boston Center for Independent Living

Chicago ADAPT

ECBConsulting

FRIDA

Paraquad

S.E. Kansas ADAPT

PA: Harkin to Speak about Disability Law and Policy

Thornburgh Family Lecture series
Disability Law & Policy

Senator Tom Harkin
U.S. Senator from Iowa

Monday, October 26, 2009 1–2:30 p.m.

Reception to follow

University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Barco Law Building, Teplitz Memorial Courtroom

3900 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Tom Harkin
Since first being elected to the U.S. Congress in 1974 and later to the U.S. Senate in 1984, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) has led the fight to ensure equality amongst the millions of Americans with disabilities.

Harkin considers the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 his signature legislative achievement. Known as the “Emancipation Proclamation for people with disabilities,” this landmark law protects the civil rights of millions of Americans with physical and mental disabilities. The law has literally changed the landscape of America by requiring accessible buildings and transportation and workplace accommodations for people with disabilities. Harkin learned firsthand about the challenges facing people with disabilities from his late brother, Frank, who was deaf from an early age. To preserve the intent of ADA after several court rulings weakened standards, Harkin led efforts to pass the ADA Amendments bill to ensure that all Americans with disabilities are protected from discrimination. It was signed into law in September 2008.

Harkin currently serves as chair or a senior member of several Senate committees.

“People with disabilities—like all people—have unique abilities, talents, and aptitudes. And America is better, fairer, and richer when we make full use of those gifts.”
–Senator Tom Harkin

If you have accessibility needs or questions, please call 412-648-1418.

The Thornburgh Family Lecture Series in Disability Law and Policy is sponsored by the Thornburgh Forum for Law and Public Policy. The series was created through the generosity of Dick and Ginny Thornburgh. As 2003 recipients of the Henry B. Betts Award, the Thornburghs donated the proceeds from the award to the University of Pittsburgh to establish this lecture series. The fund has been supplemented by grants from the Office of the Chancellor, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, and School of Law.

This course has been approved by the Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board for one and one-half (1.5) hours of substantive credit. Register at the door.

Helen Keller Unveiled in Capitol

Helen Keller Statue Unveiled in the Capitol Rotunda

AAPD Celebrates Installation of Helen Keller Statue in US Capitol Building

A dedication ceremony for the memorial statue of Helen Keller was held in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday October 7.  Helen Keller is famous as the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts  (Radcliffe, 1904), was world famous as a speaker, writer and political activist, and is a symbol and icon for people with disabilities.

 

Many AAPD board and staff attended the event including Andrew Imparato, President & CEO, AAPD Board Members Meredith Ryan-Reid, Kelby Brick, Bobby Coward and Wendy Elliiott-Vandivier, and staffer Jenifer Simpson.  The statue is the first child to be depicted in The National Statuary Hall and the first well-known person with a disability.

Speakers at the event included Congressional Representatives Nancy Pelosi (CA), John Boehner (OH) and Steny Hoyer (MD), in addition to Senators Mitch McConnell (KY) and Harry Reid (NV).  Additional remarks were made by Carl Augusto, President & CEO of AFB, and Governor Bob Riley of Alabama.

Every speaker lauded Helen Keller's lifetime achievements as a “change agent” including stating she is now "among the immortals" now that her statue is added to the National Statuary Collection.  Several speakers quoted Keller's statement: "Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the face" and referred to her as "a true American hero."

Representatives from many disability organizations attended including Dan Arabie, President of the American Association for Deaf-Blind, Melanie Brunson, Executive Director of the American Council of the Blind, Carl Augusto, President & CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind, and Kelly Buckland, Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living.  Other groups represented included the National Association of the Deaf, AG Bell Association for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing, and the Helen Keller National Center.  Over 400 people attended the dedication event in the historic & spectacular U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

More on Helen Keller at http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=1

More on the US National statuary collection at http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/index.cfm

More on the Capitol Rotunda at http://www.aoc.gov/cc/capitol/rotunda.cfm

URGENT: Save Long Term Services and Supports in Health Care Reform

From CCD (10/7/09):

URGENT: We understand that the CLASS Act is coming under attack as the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committees begin to merge the two bills into one Senate health reform bill.  Please have lots of people sign and FAX the attached message (Download CLASS Act letter) to their Democratic Senator who serves on one of those Committees (Finance or Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP)).  This is urgent.  Please spread the word and get people to FAX these messages ASAP.

The message needs to be FAXed to Capitol Hill offices tonight (October 7) and Thursday morning (October 8). For your Senator's Fax info go to your Senator's website at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Whatever you can do would be great.  The CLASS Act and the CFC Option are complementary and CLASS supports the CFC Option.

Disability Mentoring Day Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Press Release from AAPD (10/5/09):

 

AAPD’s Disability Mentoring Day Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary
Program promotes career development for students & job seekers with disabilities

WASHINGTON, DC – October 5, 2009 – AAPD’s Disability Mentoring Day (DMD), a large-scale effort to promote career development for nearly 20,000 students and job seekers with disabilities nationwide, will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year with the program’s kickoff in Duluth, MN, as well as various activities throughout the U.S.

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the largest cross-disability membership organization in the U.S., coordinates the program, which is held annually on the third Wednesday in October in conjunction with National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

“Employment is the key to economic empowerment for people with disabilities, and for 10 years, Disability Mentoring Day has been connecting employers to job seekers with disabilities while exposing them to a range of career options,” said Andrew Imparato, President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities. “Disability Mentoring Day is a business-driven program, where DMD employer partners demonstrate their commitment to recruiting and hiring talented people with disabilities.  DMD provides the catalyst for forming mentoring relationships between those employers and students and job seekers with disabilities.”

DMD, which began as a White House initiative with less than three dozen students in 1999, promotes career development through hands-on career exploration and ongoing mentoring relationships. Local DMD programs are created through a network of 350 volunteer DMD Coordinators in all 50 states and 23 foreign countries, who organize mentoring, job fairs or on-site job shadowing between students and job seekers and employers.

Along with 2009 DMD Sponsor and Sponsor of the DMD 2009 National Launch, Wal-mart Stores, Inc., AAPD will celebrate the 10th Anniversary of DMD at the site of our largest rural program in the country, Duluth, MN on Oct. 12 and 13. AAPD is highlighting the Duluth DMD as an example of engaging more than 1,000 youth with disabilities in a one-day career exploration program with an expected 100 national and local employers. In addition to the career fair, AAPD will also host a town hall forum on green jobs with the Minnesota State Council on Disability; special guest Kathy Martinez , Assistant Secretary of the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor; and representatives of the other 2009 DMD national sponsors, including:

DMD Lead Public Sponsor, Social Security Administration; Darden Restaurants, Inc.; Verizon; Job Accommodation Network (JAN); the U.S. Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP); the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM); the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); Amerigroup; Novartis; PricewaterhouseCoopers; Northrop Grumman; Chartis; and GettingHired.com.

For more information about DMD or to find the local DMD Program in your area, visit www.aapd.com/dmd or e-mail dmd@aapd.com.

LPA: October is National Dwarfism Awareness Month

From LPA (10/2/09):

LITTLE PEOPLE OF AMERICA RECOGNIZES OCTOBER AS

NATIONAL DWARFISM AWARENESS MONTH

 

October has been declared National Dwarfism Awareness Month by Little People of America.  Little People of America (LPA) is a national support organization for people with dwarfism and their families.  LPA provides peer, parent and medical support for the dwarfism community. 

LPA began in 1957 with actor Billy Barty and 20 short-statured friends.  The first LPA meeting was monumental for a group of people who were severely mislabeled and misunderstood by society.  Today, Little People of America is a thriving international organization providing much needed support, education, educational scholarships, and community outreach.

In declaring Dwarfism Awareness Month, LPA hopes to raise positive awareness around dwarfism, address common misconceptions, and increase opportunities for people with dwarfism around the country. 

“People with dwarfism are no different than any other person.  We may just need a well-placed stool.  Our members are children, college students, business professionals, doctors, engineers, mechanics, artists and teachers.  We can do anything an average-height person can do,” says Lois Lamb, LPA President and a person with dwarfism.

"Raising a child with dwarfism is new for most parents.  Being part of LPA has made a tremendous difference.  My daughter and I both have great friends and role models.  High school is not an easy time for most teens, but neither of us feels alone in dealing with any extra challenges," says Joanna Campbell, average-height mother of a teen with dwarfism.

More about LPA and dwarfism:

• There are over 200 distinct forms of dwarfism and skeletal dysplasias.
• People with dwarfism are generally not taller than 4' 10" at adult height. The typical height range is 2'8" to 4'5".
• Eighty percent of people with dwarfism have average-height parents and siblings.
• There are an estimated 30,000 people in the United States and 651,000 internationally with a type of dwarfism.
• In July 2009 the word "midget" was declared inappropriate and offensive. Preferable terms are: having dwarfism, short stature, little person, lp, and the medical terminology use of dwarf.  A person's name is always the most preferred.
• LPA has registered a complaint with the FCC over the use of the "m" word.  Our goal is to raise awareness around the offensive impact of the word in order to eliminate use of it in media, popular culture and in everyday language. 
• LPA has 6500 members across the United States and includes 70 chapters active in all 50 states.
• Skeletal Dysplasias affect bone growth, but generally do not affect cognitive abilities.
• LPA hosts an annual national conference each July which draws 2500 attendees for a week of activities, including educational and medical workshops, sports, and social networking and events.

For more information about National Dwarfism Awareness Month, please visit www.lpaonline.org or call 1-888-LPA-2001.  Events supporting National Dwarfism Awareness Month will be occurring throughout the United States all during the month.  Contact the chapter in your area, or the Regional Coordinator for Dwarfism Awareness Month listed on the website.

The National Dwarfism Awareness Month program is dedicated to increasing public knowledge about people with dwarfism. 

Mission of LPA    "LPA is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with dwarfism throughout their lives while celebrating with great pride Little People’s contribution to social diversity.  LPA strives to bring solutions and global awareness to the prominent issues affecting individuals of short stature and their families."

The LPA National Office is located in Southern California. You may also contact Joanna Campbell, Executive Director at info@lpaonline.org or (714)368-3689.

PBS to Air Film on Disability Advocates

Disabilities Awareness Highlighted this Fall on PBS with Premiere of Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy

The film BODY & SOUL: DIANA & KATHY chronicles the life of two of the country’s most remarkable advocates for people with disabilities. Diana Braun, who has Down syndrome, and Kathy Conour, who has cerebral palsy, met three decades ago and vowed to fight to live independent lives. Fearful of being shut away in a nursing home or forced into a state-run institution, Diana and Kathy broke the rules, escaped the system, and modeled a grand experiment in independent living.

>>> For Air Dates

As a result of their efforts today Diana and Kathy are well-known as a tireless and dynamic pair of lobbyists and activists in the disability movement.  Although Kathy is non-verbal, through the help of a mouth stick and the Pathfinder assistive communication device, she writes articles for national magazines and has a lively email correspondence with leaders in the disability rights movement.  Kathy also serves on boards, and continues to lobby effectively for disability rights--Kathy was once even arrested, power chair and all. Diana drives, cooks, shops, takes care of scheduling doctor’s appointments and has been Kathy’s personal assistant and friend for more than 35 years. 

The film chronicles a journey from their home in Springfield, IL to Washington, D.C. The trip is physically dangerous and technically illegal—Medicare rules require them to be homebound. History has shown, however the benefits of breaking rules can sometimes outweigh the risks. Although they comprise the largest minority in the United States, people with disabilities are routinely denied equal access and rights. BODY & SOUL: DIANA & KATHY exemplifies the abilities of people with disabilities and helps us understand an important and complex social issue.

The film almost didn’t happen, however. When Diana Braun and Kathy Conour approached Alice Elliott, and asked her to make a film about them, Alice was reluctant. She had just spent five years making her previous film, the Academy Award®  nominated short documentary The Collector of Bedford Street, and wasn’t ready to plunge into another project.

It had been Kathy’s life long dream to have a documentary made about her, so she wouldn’t give up. After visiting Diana and Kathy in Springfield, Illinois, Alice realized what unique subjects they would be and was won over by Kathy’s persistence. For five years, Diana and Kathy gave Alice complete access to their lives. During that time, they filmed in Washington, D.C., as well as Chicago and Springfield. Told in an intimate, vérité style, BODY & SOUL: DIANA & KATHY brings audiences into a private world and sweeps us into a way of life rarely seen on screen and seldom understood.

The film has received a number of awards and recognitions, including a nomination from the International Documentary Association for the Distinguished Short Documentary Award and the TASH Positive Images in Media Award (shared with Including Samuel). The film was produced, directed, and filmed by Alice Elliott (The Collector of Bedford Street) and edited by Rose Rosenblatt (The Education of Shelby Knox, Live Free or Die), original music by Rick Baitz. BODY & SOUL: DIANA & KATHY is a co-production of Alice Elliott and the Independent Television Service (ITVS), with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

BODY & SOUL: DIANA & KATHY, will have its television premiere this fall on PBS in as part of the network’s National Disabilities Awareness programming (check local listings).

More about BODY & SOUL: DIANA & KATHY can be found at www.dianaandkathy.com You can also follow them on Twitter at DianaandKathy or become a fan on Facebook from our web site.

Ted Kennedy Jr. Takes Spotlight to Honor His Father and His Cause

From the Boston Globe:
THE KENNEDY MANTLE
Son shuns spotlight, but not duty

By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff  |  September 13, 2009

When he stepped to the lectern in Boston’s Mission Church last month to eulogize the father he considered his best friend, Ted Kennedy Jr. mesmerized the nation, and reduced many listeners to tears, with a story of a sled, a snowy hill, and a father’s love.

When his father’s memoir goes on sale tomorrow, the younger Kennedy will be back in the national spotlight, standing in for the man who shared his name as he fulfills one last outstanding duty, to promote the legendary senator’s life story.

It is an undertaking sure to spur assessments, already rampant, of his potential to inherit the family political mantle.

For most of his 47 years, Kennedy has avoided the glare of the media. Friends say he revels in the privacy and normalcy of his life ...

Busy with his family, his advocacy for the disabled, and his growing Manhattan asset management firm, Kennedy did not have to volunteer to publicize “True Compass,’’ Senator Kennedy’s autobiography, written before his death on Aug. 25. But to Ted Jr., the senator’s middle child and eldest son, the mission felt essential: to bring a three-dimensional portrait of his father to the public, encompassing his inner life as well as his legislative successes...

The cancer that forced the amputation of his right leg was the defining event of his life, he has said. It struck at his self-confidence, but gave him empathy and a cause to fight for, a way to use the influence that came with his life as a Kennedy.

He calls his activism for the rights of disabled people his life’s work, and spends about two hours a day on it, giving speeches around the country and laboring on behalf of the American Association of People with Disabilities, where he is a board member.

“It shaped who I am,’’ he told the Globe in 1996. “And you know, if someone offered me a pill today that would somehow magically grow my leg back, I would say no . . . It helped me gain a whole lot of perspective.’’

A Yale Law School graduate, he used his legal training to further his knowledge of health care, first at a New Haven firm, Wiggin & Dana, where he helped corporations comply with disability law, then as counsel for the Connecticut Hospital Association...

>>> For the Full Article

>>> For Ted Jr's 60 Minutes interview
(aired Sunday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. ET/PT)

AAPD Accepting Applications for 2010 Hearne Leadership Awards

AAPD Accepting Applications for 2010 Hearne Leadership  Awards

The Paul G. Hearne Award is an annual award presented by AAPD as an initiative to recognize and honor emerging leaders within the national cross-disability civil rights movement. The award is named in honor of Mr. Paul G. Hearne, a pioneer, advocate, activist, and national leader for people with disabilities.

Each year, AAPD selects up to two individuals whose work, life, and passion mirrors the life and legacy of Mr. Hearne. Award recipients will each receive $10,000 to help them continue their progress as leaders. They will also have an opportunity to meet and network with national disability leaders at the AAPD Leadership Gala in Washington, DC each March. U.S. residents with any type of disability are eligible to apply.

AAPD is now accepting applications for the 2010 Hearne Award, to be presented at our 2010 Gala. To apply for the 2010 Hearne Award, please download the application in Word format from the AAPD Website, complete it electronically, and submit it as an attachment via email to awards@aapd.com. If you have any questions about AAPD’s Hearne Award please email us at awards@aapd.com. or call 1-800-840-8844.