JFActivist

Disability Mentoring Day 2011—Connections

From AAPD (10.14.2011):

 

 

By Lara Schwartz,

We live in a connected world.  Facebook can tell us what our high school friends had for dinner.  Mobile phones and texting make many people available around the clock.  When I told my daughter how I used to go to a pay phone to call my cassette-based answering machine – and that I was really impressed at the technology that allowed me to play it remotely when it came out— she looked at me like I’m from another planet.  It is another planet in many ways.

One thing hasn’t changed:  when it comes to building a career, there is no substitute for face-to-face connections.  There is no substitute for a human relationship with someone who knows what we’re capable of doing.  Think back on your careers—for most of us, there is a critical human connection that made a difference for us.  A teacher, supervisor, or colleague who connected us with a wonderful opportunity.  Someone who reviewed our resume and encouraged us to apply for our dream job. An internship where we showed off our talents and proved that we we ready for the next thing.  A human, face-to-face connection that worked.

Today AAPD, our partners, and volunteer networks celebrate the launch of Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) 2011.  For thousands of students and job seekers across the country, DMD is provides a first-hand experience with the work force.  Through a variety of events such as job shadowing, job fairs, and workshops, DMD participants have an opportunity to make a connection that matters.  Over the years, DMD has led to lasting relationships that lead to career advice and internships or jobs. 

DMD provides a fantastic opportunity to connect. To learn more, visit http://www.aapd.com/site/c.pvI1IkNWJqE/b.5606851/k.CDB/Welcome_to_the_Disability_Mentoring_Program.htm

There are many other ways to promote employment opportunity for people with disabilities:  whether you choose to participate in a school mentoring program, hire a person with a disability in your own workplace, or advise a neighbor about career building, you are making a contribution.  Our nation’s laws also affect employment opportunity.  AAPD advocates for equal access to education and health care, investments in accessible transportation, and long-term support programs that promote rather than suppress employment opportunity.  Please sign up for action alerts so that you can be a part of this work:
http://www.aapd.com/site/c.pvI1IkNWJqE/b.5607285/k.42E6/Take_Action_Make_Your_Voice_Heard.htm

Then connect with friends, colleagues, and family members and ask them to join in, too.

The Self-Defined Perspectives of Women and Girls with Disabilities

via the Center for Women Policy Studies (7.29.11):

In 2011, the Center launched an online series of new Barbara Faye Waxman Fiduccia Papers On Women and Girls with Disabilities. The 2011 Barbara Faye Waxman Fiduccia Papers will present the self-defined perspectives of women with disabilities – both in the USA and globally – on such topics as: access to health care, reproductive rights and health, violence against women and girls, women and AIDS, educational equity, family life and parenting, employment and economic development, balancing work and family, participation in Government at every level – from local to national to international.

>>>To View the Fiduccia Papers

Study Finds Bullying More Common Among Students with Disabilities

via DisabilityScoop (7.29.11):

Study: Bullying More Common Among Students with Disabilities

by Michelle Diament

Kids with disabilities and other special health care needs are at increased risk for bullying and generally show less motivation to succeed in school, new research indicates.

The findings come from a study published this week in the journal Pediatrics that looked at more than 1,450 students in fourth through sixth grade attending three rural school districts in Maryland and West Virginia.

Through surveys of the students and their parents, researchers found that about 1 in 3 kids in mainstream classrooms at the schools had some type of special health care need ranging from asthma and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to emotional and behavioral disorders.

>>>For the Full Article

Let Deaf Americans Serve Their Country

via the Washington Post (7.21.11):  

by Robert Weinstock

In May 1971, near the end of my junior year in high school, I participated in Armed Forces Day activities at the U.S. Naval Academy. I was immediately enchanted by the academy and Annapolis. When I returned to school the following week, I asked my guidance counselor if I could apply to the Naval Academy. He said that he didn’t think so, “because you have to be able to hear to serve our country"...

My outlook changed in the fall of 1972, when I entered Gallaudet College (now university) as a freshman. For the first time, I lived and studied among other deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Thirty-nine years later, I know there is no limit to what a deaf person can do...

>>>For the Full Article

Agricultural Marketing Service Partners with AAPD Internship Program

via the USDA blog (7.19.11):

AMS Partners with American Association of People with Disabilities Internship Program

By Robert Keeney, AMS Fruit and Vegetable Programs Deputy Director

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) recently became a participant in the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) Internship Program, which brings students to Washington, DC, to gain valuable working experience working. This is the first year that our agency has participated in this program.

AMS is utilizing our relationship with AAPD to create a more diverse workforce, one that includes more employees with disabilities.  We understand the importance of designing employment practices that consider the needs of all employees A diverse workforce introduces everyone to unique perspectives that ultimately help us find innovative approaches to solving problems and solidifying our business model.  This is one of the ways AMS can continue to provide services that benefit everyone in the greater public.

This summer, Maya Ariel, an undergraduate student studying business administration at Rochester Institute of Technology, joined AMS as an intern for the agency’s Fruit and Vegetable Programs.  In her position, Maya, who is Deaf, helps Christopher Purdy, the program’s business development specialist, identify ways for AMS to partner with other organizations and market the program’s services.  By providing Maya with the accommodations she needs to be successful, AMS has gained a truly valuable team member.  

AMS values its partnerships with diverse organizations, such as AAPD, that enable us to identify, attract and recruit top-tier talent.  We encourage students to take advantage of the internship program so that they can become familiar with the agency and learn about other career opportunities.

We support AAPD’s belief that people with disabilities are an important and intricate part of diversity in the workforce.

AAPD recently came to USDA Headquarters to chronicle a day in the life of an intern.  Video footage of Ariel and the rest of the AAPD interns’ summer experiences will be available by visiting the AAPD Internship Program Web site in the early fall.

>>>To Read the Blog Post

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

Meet Mark! AAPD to Host Virtual Town Hall with New President & CEO

via AAPD (6.21.11):

 

What’s On Your Mind? Ask AAPD’s New President & CEO Mark Perriello!

Take the opportunity to share what’s on your mind! Join AAPD’s new President & CEO Mark Perriello for a virtual town hall at noon on Wednesday, June 29. Mark will answer your questions live about the future of AAPD, employment issues, disability, the 2012 presidential election and any other issues affecting our community.

We want to learn what’s important to YOU – our community. Our town hall is open to anyone, and there will be video, audio and live captioning

This is your chance to let us know what you’re thinking!

You can participate by tuning in to www.livestream.com/AAPD.To submit a question, please email it to [email protected].

We will be accepting questions prior to the event and live during the event.

 

Students with Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities Prepared for Workforce

via the White House Office of Public Engagement (6.20.11): 

Making History for Students with Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities

by Rayna Aylward

As high school seniors all across the country graduated this week, history was quietly being made in Washington, D.C. at the Department of Education for 23 D.C. public school students with developmental and intellectual disabilities. They, like their peers across the country, were graduating too. They all participated in a program called Project SEARCH. The 15-year-old program now operates in 39 states and four foreign countries, but this is the first year that the federal government has hosted the project in three agencies including the Departments of Education, Labor and Health and Human Services.

The goal of Project SEARCH is to prepare high school seniors with developmental and intellectual disabilities for employment. Instead of attending classes in a regular high school, the participating students reported to work every day in one of the federal agencies. They received vocational training from a special education teacher for part of the day, and then worked as interns in different offices, learning skills that would prepare them for paid employment in the government or private sector. Job coaches who were part of the Project SEARCH team accompanied the students to their assigned offices to teach them the specific job skills needed to fulfill each task...

>>>For the Full Article...

 

How do you feel about the expansion of Project SEARCH? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

 

Celebrating Victory, Honoring Leadership, Remembering Justin Dart, Jr.

From AAPD (6.17.11):

Celebrating Victory, Honoring Leadership

by Sarah Peterson, Former JFA Moderator

June 22 is a historic day for the disability community. Not only does it mark the anniversary of the 1999 Supreme Court Olmstead decision which affirmed the right of people with disabilities to live in their homes and communities, but it also marks the anniversary of the death of Justin Dart, Jr. who is widely recognized as "the father of the Americans with Disabilities Act," "the godfather of the disability rights movement," and co-founder of Justice for All.

In a time when the rights of many people with disabilities are in peril, it is important to remember the strength of our collective roots, acknowledge our current allies and rededicate ourselves to the work ahead.

There are no words to describe what Justin Dart meant, and continues to mean, to the people whose lives he touched, to the disability community nationwide, and to the movement worldwide. He was a leader like none other. I, unfortunately, never had the joy of meeting Justin Dart personally. However, I draw tremendous inspiration, guidance, and power from his life and words as documented in his manifesto, With Liberty and Justice For All: Toward a culture of Individualized Empowerment, and in the stories reported by his friends.

C-SPAN has recently posted the video of his memorial service in their video library. I encourage advocates, young and old, to spend time watching, listening and learning about Justin's life and vision of a "revolution of empowerment." Justin taught us: "Get involved in politics and advocacy as if your lives depended on it. They do, and the lives of our grandchildren. You can be a soldier of justice. You can be a revolution of one. The dedicated, total effort of a single individual to struggle for the human dream is a monumental, irreversible victory for the person and for humanity. That is real happiness. That is the good life." 

As we face major reductions in services at the national, state and local levels, as Congress considers deep cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, food stamp programs, TANF and Social Security, these words are as applicable today as they ever were.

Lead On, Patriots!

>>> For AAPD's Justin Dart Memorial Page

Youth with Disabilities Making Art, Gaining Recognition

via DisabilityScoop (6.16.11): 

Artists With Special Needs Featured In National Exhibit

by Michelle Diament

An art exhibit featuring the work of students with disabilities from across the country kicks off this week in Washington, D.C. before heading out on a national tour.

The exhibit features 102 pieces — everything from paintings to sculptures and photographs — produced by students from each state and the District of Columbia. The artwork was selected from more than 4,700 entries from students ages 5 to 15 by a panel of judges that included artists and art educators.

Half of the winning artists have disabilities, but the work of all students — two representing each state — will be displayed side by side in an effort to support inclusion in the arts, according to organizers from VSA and CVS Caremark.

The exhibit will be on display at Union Station in Washington, D.C. until June 26. Dates and locations for other stops of the traveling exhibit are still being arranged, organizers said.

VSA — the group behind the exhibit — was started by Jean Kennedy Smith, a sister to President John F. Kennedy, and focuses on increasing opportunities in the arts for people with disabilities.

Picture above is a mixed media piece by Kory, 12, from Annapolis, Md. Kory's piece is one of the works featured in VSA's art exhibit.

>>>For the Full Article...

How can we support greater inclusion for people with disabilities in the arts? Please share your thoughts in comments below.