Articles

Startup makes clothes for the disabled

2009-11-17T14:28:00Z

via WESTFAIR online
by Kelly Liyakasa
Nov-13-09, 03:10 PM

This week the Bedford resident debuts online Ross Daniel Adaptive Apparel (RDAA), a stylish sock line designed for disabled children and teenagers who are fitted with orthotics.

Her son Ross was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at a young age.

He turns 16 next week.

Steadfast in transforming her pain into a passion that can help others, Kleiman does not leave room for personal pity.
"It was the hardest decision of my life, but the best," she said of enrolling son Ross in The Center for Discovery in Monticello some years back. "It gave him a social life that I couldn’t give him."

'Glee' wheelchair episode hits bump with disabled

2009-11-12T00:44:00Z

via USA TODAY
By Lynn Elber
November 10, 2009

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The glee club members twirl their wheelchairs to the tune of Proud Mary and in joyful solidarity with Artie, the fellow performer who must use his chair even when the music stops.

The scene in Wednesday's episode of the hit Fox series Glee, which regularly celebrates diversity and the underdog, is yet another uplifting moment — except to those in the entertainment industry with disabilities and their advocates.

For them, the casting of a non-disabled actor to play the paraplegic high school student is another blown chance to hire a performer who truly fits the role.

"I think there's a fear of litigation, that a person with disabilities might slow a production down, fear that viewers might be uncomfortable," said Robert David Hall, longtime cast member of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

All of that is nonsense, said Hall: "I've made my living as an actor for 30 years and I walk on two artificial legs."

CA, IL, LA, and PA: Speak Out! EEOC Town Halls on ADA Amendments Regulations

2009-11-12T00:15:00Z

Speak Out! EEOC Town Halls on ADA Ammendments Regulations

From the EEOC (10/20/09):

The EEOC will be hosting a series of forums for public input throughout the country in coming weeks to obtain direct input from the business/employer communities as well as the disability and disability advocacy community on EEOC's proposed regulations under the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA).

Presided over by EEOC's Acting Chair, Stuart J. Ishimaru, Acting Vice Chair, Christine Griffin, and Commissioner Constance S. Barker, as well as DOJ’s Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Samuel Bagenstos, Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Mazen Baswari, and Chief of the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division, John Wodatch, the Town Hall Listening Sessions are an opportunity for these officials to hear directly from stakeholders of all perspectives on the proposed regulations.

Five-minute time slots to address the panel will be available from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Some of the slots will be available on an advance registration basis and some on first-come, first-served sign up basis at the events. Members of the public are also invited to attend and view the proceedings, with space available on a first-come, first-served basis.

As a reasonable accommodation, there will be limited availability to provide public input by telephone. To request this accommodation you must register in advance.

Individuals representing themselves or organizations are urged to take advantage of this opportunity to provide input on the EEOC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which can be viewed, along with a question-and-answer guide, at www.eeoc.gov.

Sign Language Interpreters, CART, and assistive listening devices will be available. If you need printed materials in an alternative format please email Elisa.gonzalez.ctr@tma.osd.mil Please let her know what you need and the location (city) of the event you will be attending.

Both EEOC and DOJ want to encourage all individuals and organizations who cannot attend an event to make sure you submit comments and attachments electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking Portal. The ID # is 3046-AA85. Written comments may also be submitted to Stephen Llewellyn, Executive Secretariat, EEOC, 131 M Street, NE., Suite 4NW08R, Room 6NE03F, Washington, DC 20507. Comments may be transmitted by facsimile ('FAX'') machine by dialing (202) 663-4114. (This is not a toll-free number.) Only comments of six or fewer pages will be accepted via FAX transmittal. Comments must be submitted on or before November 23, 2009.

California:

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division announce a full-day Town Hall Listening Session, on Monday, October 26, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at California Endowment, 1111 Broadway, 7th floor, Oakland, CA 94607.

For more information, or to register as a speaker, please contact Ms. Linda Li at 415-625-5618 (TTY 415-625-5610) or at Linda.Li@eeoc.gov

Illinois:

The U.S.Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division announce a full-day Town Hall Listening Session, on Tuesday, November 17, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Access Living, 115 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60654

For more information, or to register as a speaker, please contact Ms. Rita Coffey at 312-353-7254 (TTY 312-353-2421) or at Rita.Coffey@eeoc.gov

Louisiana:

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division announce a full-day Town Hall Listening Session, on Friday, November 20, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the University of New Orleans Training Resource and Assistive-Technology Center (UNO-TRAC), 2000 Lakeshore Drive, New Orleans, LA 70148.

For more information, or to register as a speaker, please contact Maple Thomas at 504-595-2827 (TTY 504-595-2958) or at Maple.Thomas@eeoc.gov

Pennsylvania:

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division announce a full-day Town Hall Listening Session, on Friday, October 30, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Liberty Resources, 714 Market Street, Suite 100, Philadelphia, PA 19106

For more information, or to register as a speaker, please contact Ms. Mary Tiernan at 215-440-2671 (TTY 215-440-2610) or at Mary.Tiernan@eeoc.gov

Pass this information on to your friends and colleagues. Downloadable Notices are attached below.

>>>Download EEOC Notice for Chicago

>>>Download EEOC Notice New Orleans

>>>Download EEOC Notice Philadelphia

>>>Download EEOC Oakland Notice

Research suggests attitudes toward people with disabilities are changing

2009-11-12T00:01:00Z

via examiner.com
by Steve Carter
Dallas Disability Examiner
October 30, 11:16 AM

Employers’ negative attitudes and fears have long been a barrier to the employment of individuals with disabilities. Accordingly, attitude literature on the employment of people with disabilities has focused almost exclusively on employers. However, due to their influence over business practices, the successful employment of people with disabilities is also contingent on the views of the consumer.

A recent study published in the Journal of Rehabilitation indicates that this attitude is becoming more positive toward companies that hire the disabled.

The study extended previous studies that focused on the attitudes of employers by going directly to
the consumer. Consumer attitudes toward companies that hire individuals with disabilities were assessed through a national public survey.

COBRA may fill insurance needs if taking Social Security disability

2009-11-02T21:33:00Z

by Janet Kidd Stewart The journey
via Chicago Tribune
November 1, 2009

Q: If you are on Social Security disability, can you get any kind of health insurance discount?

I'm 56, have had Parkinson's disease for 10 years and have worked full time for 36 years. My husband, 60, had a heart transplant 12 years ago and is retired. We both have insurance, and we need both for the check-ups and routine stuff.

If I get on Social Security disability, I will get my full pension but lose my health care insurance for both of us. It's hard to get new insurance with pre-existing conditions. I also have other health problems affecting my ability to work. Should I apply for SSD and try to find new insurance or keep trying to work? We also both need insurance for our medications because we take a lot, and they are very expensive.

D.M.

A: First, check to see whether your husband's policy would pick up some or all of the decrease in your coverage if you lose your insurance.

If you do need more coverage, you can most likely continue your current coverage for up to 18 months under COBRA, the health benefits provisions of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, said Dorothy Clark, a spokeswoman for the Social Security Administration.

If it is determined that you are disabled, that period can be extended another 11 months. And if you are approved for disability benefits, Medicare will kick in after the 29 months of COBRA expires, she said.

Of course, under COBRA, you will likely pay not only your contribution but also the employer's portion of the insurance bill.

Hate Crimes Bill Protecting People With Disabilities Headed To White House

2009-10-23T21:26:00Z

By Michelle Diament
October 23, 2009

The Senate approved legislation Thursday to make crimes committed against a person based on their disability a federal offense.

The hate crimes legislation, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this month, is an expansion of the 1968 hate crimes act. Currently crimes committed based on a person's race, color, religion or national origin are protected under federal law. The new legislation would add disability, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected statuses.

The measure, which was attached to a defense spending bill, passed the Senate on a vote of 68 to 29. Most Republicans opposed the legislation, saying it was unnecessary.

Expanded hate crimes legislation has long been sought by many advocates. The Bush administration opposed the legislation, but the tone changed dramatically when President Barack Obama took office.

In June Attorney General Eric Holder urged the Senate to pass the new bill and now it appears set for enactment. In order to become law, the bill must be signed by Obama, who has indicated his support.

"The action by Congress today to pass this vital legislation is a milestone in helping protect Americans from the most heinous bias-motivated violence," Holder said in a statement Thursday. "The passage of this legislation will give the Justice Department and our state and local law enforcement partners the tools we need to deter and prosecute these acts of violence."

A Justice Department study released earlier this month found that people with disabilities are 50 percent more likely to experience nonfatal violent crime than those without disabilities.

Furthermore, about one in five crime victims with disabilities say they believe their disability was the reason they were targeted.

GettingHired.com a National Sponsor of Disability Mentoring Day

2009-10-15T14:55:00Z

GettingHired.com is pleased to be a national sponsor of the 2009 Disability Mentoring Day program and to have been a participant in the DMD National Launch and 10^th Anniversary Celebration held in Duluth, Minnesota on Monday, October 12^th. GettingHired.com joined with the other prestigious national sponsors, including GettingHired.com's Employer partner Amerigroup and Service Provider partner the Job Accommodation Network to support this great program.

The Disability Mentoring Day Program began in 1999 with just 11 students with disabilities job shadowing in the White House under the Clinton administration. Now, 10 years later, DMD has grown to provide job-shadowing, career fairs and mentoring opportunities to more than 85,000 students and jobseekers with disabilities in all 50 US states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and in 24 countries world-wide. DMD is the nation's largest job-shadowing program designed for people with disabilities, which allows career exploration to take place outside of the hiring context so that jobseekers with disabilities can meet and learn about employers committed to hiring from this diverse and untapped workforce.

Disability Mentoring Day is hosted by the American Association of People with Disabilities. AAPD has been a member of GettingHired.com's Advisory Council from its earliest days.

GettingHired.com exhibited at the DMD Career Exploration Expo in Duluth on October 13^th. An estimated 1000 students with disabilities and other job seekers with disabilities attended the Expo, interacting with national and local employers, and of course learning about the resources available to them at GettingHired.com, resources that in the words of David Hale of AAPD, "represent a terrific new online resource for youth and jobseekers with disabilities, supporting online job supports and job postings, as well as online mentoring."

Click here to find a mentor on GettingHired.com

Click here to sign up to become a mentor on GettingHired.com

Kessler Foundation Urges Improvement in Employment Opportunities for the Disability Community

2009-10-15T14:48:00Z

via REUTERS
Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:00am EDT

Kessler Foundation Urges Improvement in Employment Opportunities for the Disability Community Largest Minority Population in the U.S. Faces Serious Employment Challenges

WEST ORANGE, N.J., Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Kessler Foundation, one of the largest non-profits supporting individuals with disabilities, is honoring National Disability Employment Awareness Month by calling attention to the serious challenges facing the disability community in this key area. With more than 55 million people affected by disabilities, this, the largest minority group in the United States, faces unique obstacles in the area of employment. Kessler Foundation and the programs it funds provide critical support and opportunities to individuals with disabilities facing employment challenges.

"For decades, Kessler Foundation has worked to improve the quality of life of individuals with disabilities through advanced medical research and grants for employment opportunities," stated Rodger DeRose, President and CEO of Kessler Foundation. "For this large population, many needs in the area of employment are not being met -- nor is the scope completely understood." While the greater than nine percent rate of unemployment in the general population is widely considered unacceptable, consider the 16.9 percent rate in the population with disabilities -- a rate that exceeds that of the general population's by almost 80 percent. "Finding a job is hard enough, having a disability makes it even harder," emphasized DeRose. This is why Kessler Foundation awards grants to organizations that are exploring creative ways to expand employment options for people with disabilities.

"Gainful employment is integral to a person's independence and self esteem," said Elaine E. Katz, Vice President of Grant Programs and Special Initiatives at Kessler Foundation Program Center. "There are numerous resources available to assist individuals with disabilities to enter or reenter the workforce but more is necessary to raise awareness of these resources and to meet the needs of this dynamic group." The Program Center grants address transportation needs, workplace access, and assistive technology in the workplace, as well as vocational training, job placement and other employment services. Funded programs serve high school and college students, young adults with disabilities and wounded veterans disabled by injuries sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result of Kessler Foundation's focus on employment programs, people with disabilities are undergoing training, attending college, and finding meaningful employment in a variety of settings including retail stores, laboratories, government facilities, offices and agribusinesses.

To promote awareness of people with disabilities as skilled and loyal employees, Kessler Foundation encourages businesses to hire people with disabilities through business networks and educational outreach. The Foundation is a national partner for a new advocacy initiative called Disabilities at Work. Established and managed by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Disabilities at Work acknowledges and rewards businesses that support people with disabilities by identifying such businesses to consumers in a "Back the Plaque" campaign.

Kessler Foundation leads the way in linking science and grantsmanship so that people with disabilities can lead more productive, independent and fulfilling lives.

About Kessler Foundation

Kessler Foundation, established in 1985, is one of the largest public charities supporting people with physical disabilities. The Foundation's goal is to improve the lives of people with physical disabilities by raising, managing and distributing resources to support Kessler Foundation Research Center, its cutting-edge research facility and by supporting the efforts of other non-profit organizations that serve individuals with disabilities. Kessler Foundation Research Center conducts a range of research programs designed to improve function and quality of life for persons with physical disabilities due to spinal cord and traumatic brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis and other neurological and orthopedic conditions. Kessler Foundation also supports programs that promote the employment of people with disabilities through its Program Center's "Transition to Work" Signature and Community Employment Grants. The Foundation's Special Initiative Grants also support educational programs like 'ThinkFirst,' an injury prevention program aimed at children and teens. Kessler Foundation has a full-time staff of 90 individuals, divided between two locations in West Orange, New Jersey.

SOURCE Kessler Foundation

Megan Driscoll, +1-212-805-8034, Megan.driscoll@emanatepr.com or Julia Ehrenfeld, +1-212-805-8030, Julia.ehrenfeld@emanatepr.com, both of Emanate PR, for Kessler Foundation

No limitations for the disabled

2009-10-13T16:44:00Z

via The Miami Herald
By Jordan Levin
jlevin@MiamiHerald.com

Choreographer Karen Peterson has been making pieces for disabled dancers, people whose ability to move has been changed by muscular dystrophy or other ailments, for 20 years. But when she met visual and video artist Maria Lino, Peterson discovered a collaborator who brought a new vision into her dancemaking -- insight that stemmed from the many years Lino lived with her quadriplegic brother, who had cerebral palsy.

"My brother was very much part of my family," Lino says. "He was never institutionalized. I learned a certain level of compassion that I don't think I would have if he had not been part of my life. You really appreciate how life wants to survive, regardless. His mind was clear, the problem was motor. We had to do everything for him. But it was really a joy to be with him. He had these health problems but he loved joking and talking."

AAPR Endorses Petition for Wheelchair Accessibility on Airplanes

2009-09-22T13:51:00Z

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 21, 2009) - The Association for Airline Passenger Rights (AAPR) today endorsed a petition being circulated by Sally O'Neill, a 17-year old girl with cerebral palsy, calling on the airline industry to comply with the mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. The petition calls on the airline industry to modify the first seat in the first row to allow passengers with disabilities using wheelchairs to remain in their wheelchairs during flight.

"After consulting with numerous professionals with disabilities having expertise in accessibility and safety standards, we determined that the 'O'Neill petition' was an important initiative to support," said Brandon M. Macsata, Executive Director of the Association for Airline

Passenger Rights. "Forcing people with disabilities to travel using non-disabled standards when safe alternatives are available is not consistent with the principles laid out in the ADA."

Macsata further stated, "This petition asks that the first seat in the first row of the airplane be removable with the capability to have tie-downs inserted when needed to accommodate a wheelchair, or that the airlines develop a solution to this urgent need. Modifying 1-2 seats per airplane represents an investment to further improve air travel for passengers with disabilities -- especially people with cerebral palsy."

To learn more about the O'Neill petition, please contact UCP Family Support, 11731 NE Glenn Widing Drive, Portland, Oregon 97220, or call 503-777-4166 x232.

The Association for Airline Passenger Rights is a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt, nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote fairer customer service and accessibility standards in the airline industry and to improve passenger satisfaction. AAPR was formed in response to growing dissatisfaction among American consumers toward the airline industry.

According to the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a polling organization that rates over forty-three businesses in ten sectors based on in-depth interviewing and computer-based extrapolation of its results, the Big Six legacy airlines (full-service providers with national or international flight routes) rate the lowest of all sixteen industries surveyed in the first quarter of 2008.

For more information about the Association for Airline Passenger Rights, please visit www.flyfriendlyskies.com or contact AAPR directly at info@flyfriendlyskies.com.

Not Just ‘That Blind Person’

2009-09-18T19:17:00Z

via The New York Times
Published: September 12, 2009

IN high school I took the train from my home in Briarcliff Manor, north of New York, into Manhattan to take dance lessons with Syvilla Fort in a studio over a bar on 44th Street.

I danced with the Alvin Ailey company for a while but never made the top group. I also worked at Philipsburg Manor, a restored Colonial house in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. Nothing prepares you for public speaking like appearing in a colonial style dress and mobcap in front of 50 or 60 sixth graders staring you down.

I qualified for early admission to Wellesley College, so I played hooky much of the remainder of my senior year. I had done well in school, so I had what Max Weber, the German social scientist, called legitimacy credits, and I could goof off a bit. I graduated from Wellesley with credits from M.I.T. as well.

At 18, I learned that I had a variety of retinitis pigmentosa. Other than being unable to drive and having difficulty recognizing people, I didn’t have a significant disability until my early 30s. I feel blessed by that because blindness is such a profound stereotype. Blindness scares people and makes it difficult to achieve. People don’t see you as you, they see you as “that blind person.” I was lucky not to have to fight that. I was the only female in my classes at M.I.T., so I was already beating back one stereotype. It would have been difficult if not impossible to fight two at once.

Findings Could Lead To Improved Lip-reading Training For The Deaf And Hard-of-hearing

2009-09-18T19:08:00Z

via ScienceDaily

Sep. 13, 2009 — A new study by the University of East Anglia (UEA) suggests computers are now better at lip-reading than humans.

A research team from the School of Computing Sciences at UEA compared the performance of a machine-based lip-reading system with that of 19 human lip-readers. They found that the automated system significantly outperformed the human lip-readers – scoring a recognition rate of 80 per cent, compared with only 32 per cent for human viewers on the same task.

Furthermore, they found that machines are able to exploit very simplistic features that represent only the shape of the face, whereas human lip-readers require full video of people speaking.

The peer-reviewed findings will be presented for the first time at the eighth International Conference on Auditory-Visual Speech Processing (AVSP) 2009, held at the University of East Anglia from September 10-13.

The study also showed that rather than the traditional approach to lip-reading training, in which viewers are taught to spot key lip-shapes from static (often drawn) images, the dynamics and the full appearance of speech gestures are very important.

Miss International increasing disability awareness

2009-09-18T19:03:00Z

By Karen Meyer
via abc7chicago.com

September 13, 2009 (WLS) -- Beauty pageants are not just about looks. But some like the International Pageants are based on accomplishments. This is why a profoundly deaf candidate was crowned Miss International.

Even though Jayna Altman's reign as Miss International 2008 ended several weeks ago, her commitment to increasing disability awareness will never end.

"My platform is, I can inspire confidence in your abilities now with the focus that we're all born differently, we all have different types of strengths and weaknesses, and in those weaknesses, rather than labeling it as disability, it's just a different type of ability," Altman said.

Student dances despite disability

2009-09-18T18:56:00Z

By Jess Nall, Staff writer
via TheNews.org
Published: Friday, September 11, 2009
Updated: Friday, September 11, 2009

Kristin Knabel, freshman from Louisville, Ky., never chooses to “sit this one out;” instead she chooses to dance. Leann Womack’s song “I Hope You Dance” could be her theme song.

Knabel spends at least one day a week practicing dance and has never let her wheelchair stop her.

Knabel was born with Spina bifida, a condition that left her paralyzed from the waist down.

“I’ve been dancing for 13 years,” Knabel said. “I love it. Dancing is what I want to do with my life.”

Knabel began dancing when she was 5 years old after her baby sitter introduced her to a local dance group.

Knabel dances with the Diane Moore Dance Academy in Louisville, Ky.

“The group that I am in is called the Miracle Dancers,” Knabel said. “We perform during the Crusade for Children in Louisville. Crusade for Children helps kids with disabilities and we have opened the event every year since before I began dancing.”

The group consists of approximately 35 dancers, all of whom have a disability.

Social Security Disability Program Embraces HiTechnology

2009-09-09T15:00:00Z

September 6, 8:09 PM
By Paul Proto
Tampa Social Security Disability Examiner
via examiner.com

It is estimated that 3.3 million claims for disability benefits will be filed by year's end. The disability programs have evolved since their inception. It is now it is an imperative in order to deal with the growing number of claim expected as the "babyboomers" reach the so called illness and injury prone years. SSA continues to push the envelope in the practice of embracing technology. The latest announcement, heralding the collaboration between SSA and Microsoft, involves using their software "Health Vault" as a tool to collect medical information to expedite disability claims. http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/ms-healthvault-pr.htm

It is not only the prospect of adjudicating the number of cases anticipated that concerns the program's designers. The back log of claims has resulted in severe delays requiring some individual to wait of up to 3 years for a disability determination. Another technological solution was recently described by the Commissioner of SSA. "This year, through Compassionate Allowances and our Quick Disability Determination process, over 100,000 Americans with severe disabilities will be approved for Social Security disability benefits in a matter of days rather than the months and years it can sometimes take," said Commissioner Astrue.