TheInterfaith Disability Advocacy Coalitionof the American Association of Persons with Disabilities and theNational Collaborative on Faith and Disabilityhave initiated the ADA25 and Faith Campaign to encourage faith communities and organizations to sponsor and join in celebrations and activities related to ADA25. Congregations can sign aFaith Community Proclamationdeveloped in collaboration with the ADA National Network recommitting to the vision of the ADA as well as customizeresources to educational and celebration events.

Publicityis going out through religious organizations and networks but people with disabilities, families and disability organizations can also play a vital role by inviting their own faith community and/or others in their community to participate.

Questions regarding this initiative can be directed to:

Impact is a newsletter series published by the Institute on Community Integration.It includes strategies, research, and success stories in specific focus areas related to persons with intellectual, developmental, and other disabilities. Their recent edition focuses on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Here is a link to the newsletter online. It's described as follows:

A newsletter issue marking the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In thisImpact, the ADA's promise for people with disabilities is seen as both having arrived, and still on the way. For many of the individuals who contributed to this issue, the ADA is a promise our nation has made that Americans with disabilities will have the same opportunity as Americans without disabilities to experience freedom, dignity, meaning, and inclusion. At the same time, a number of contributors talk about ways in which that promise, or the realization of that promise, is incomplete because it doesn't yet fully include everyone. Specifically, there are ways in which people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have often not reaped the full benefit of the ADA because many of the barriers they face in seeking equal opportunity are not yet fully addressed. By sharing this range of perspectives, thisImpactissue encourages readers to both pause to celebrate the anniversary of the ADA as a turning point in our nation's journey, and then continue traveling toward that horizon of full inclusion we have yet to reach.

The Southwest ADA Center is carrying out research to investigate the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). As part of this research, we are asking people who have personal or professional experience on disability issues to complete the attached survey.

The information gathered from this survey will help us 1) understand what aspects of society have become more accessible due to the ADA; 2) understand what areas of society still require further investigation and proposed solutions; and 3) to develop and improve the information, support, and guidance needed to help further the goals of the ADA. These findings will also provide the foundation for further research on the ADA and its impact on people with disabilities.

To share your thoughts and views, please complete the online survey at:https://vovici.com/wsb.dll/s/12291g568bd.The survey takes only about 10 or 15 minutes to complete.

The following news release is forwarded to you for your information:

Campaign for Disability Healthcare Justice

NewHEALTHCARESTORIESFeaturing People with Developmental Disabilities and Their Families

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) is pleased to announce the release of new HEALTHCARESTORIESthat illustrate, as no policy paper can, the obstacles and barriers that stand in the way of getting appropriate, effective health care for many people with developmental disabilities.

These short video stories feature people with developmental disabilities and their families, and an intrepid primary healthcare provider who has defined the field of developmental medicine.

Watch a Preview!

Story tellers speak candidly about their experiences accessing health care. The obstacles they face range from lack of accessible equipment such as CAT scan tables, to encounters with medical professionals who have little or no disability literacy or training, to outright substandard care. Such persistent barriers to health care affect not only our health and wellbeing, but also the quality and length of our lives.

Their stories add an essential human dimension to the large body of research showing that people with disabilities experience health disparities and healthcare inequality. The stories also shine a bright light on the need for longoverdue reforms that are needed if we are to achieve disability healthcare justice.

Use the Videos to Make Change!

We encourage advocates and others to use these free, downloadable video stories to focus attention on these common barriers to care and on how we can eliminate them.

The videos, along with other resources and links, can be found at our HEALTHCARESTORIESwebsiteathttp://www.dredf.org/healthcare-stories/

In 1999, the United States Supreme Court reached a decision on a landmark case for people with disabilities. The Court ruledinOlmstead v. L.C.that unjustified segregation of persons with disabilities constitutes discrimination in violation of title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Court held that public entities must provide community-based services to persons with disabilities when (1) such services are appropriate; (2) the affected persons do not oppose community-based treatment; and (3) community-based services can be reasonably accommodated, taking into account the resources available to the public entity and the needs of others who are receiving disability services from the entity.

Since this decision, thousands of people have had their lives changed. Now the U.S. Dept of Justice is sharing some of these stories on the Internet. Read about Jon, Stephon, Marisa, Nena, and more on the DOJ website.

New York Times

January 15, 2013

Forging Path to Starting Line for Younger Disabled Athletes

By Mary Pilon

Some young disabled athletes are having their own Oscar Pistorius moments not by breaking barriers in the Olympics, but by battling sports officials over whether and how they should be accommodated in competitions with able-bodied athletes.

During his ascent as a world-class runner, Pistorius, a double amputee from South Africa, raised thorny questions about the distinction between disabled and able-bodied athletes.He was allowed to competein last summers London Games after prevailing in a legal dispute that reached the sports worlds highest court.

High schools and youth sports organizations throughout the country are grappling with similarly unusual challenges in finding ways to accommodate students with disabilities.

Should a starting light be used rather than a starting gun for a deaf athlete? Should a swimmer with one arm be allowed to touch the wall with his head instead of his hand? Should a track athlete in a wheelchair be allowed to use arm strength rather than leg muscles to propel toward the finish line?

Federal laws have long provided guidance on what students with disabilities are legally entitled to during the school day. But what constitutes reasonable accommodation or equal opportunity under the law has become widely debated when it comes to after-school sports.

The number of cases involving disabled students in sports is not officially tracked by groups representing the disabled, but lawyers and officials say they are encountering more questions regarding inclusion. The increase in interest has prompted the federalDepartment of Educations Office for Civil Rights to prepare additional guidance.

The courts have made it a gray area when it comes to the question of what exactly is reasonable accommodation in sports, saidPerry A. Zirkel, an education law professor at Lehigh University.

A tennis player from Mesa, Ariz., found herself in that gray area when she was a sophomore. The player, Kiara Chapple, began taking tennis lessons when she was in middle school with the goal of making her high school team and qualifying for tournament play. Deaf since birth, she relied on an interpreter who stood on the sideline to sign the score and aid communication with opponents and her doubles partner.

Chapple said she was surprised when, at a doubles tournament in her sophomore year in 2009, her interpreter was removed after complaints from a coach for the opposing team. Chapple and her teammate, who had been leading, went on to lose.

Chapple, with the aid of the United States Justice Department, filed a legal complaint against the Arizona Interscholastic Association.

I thought it was unfair, Chapple said. They were discriminating, and I have rights to an interpreter. I felt sad. We lost the match, and I couldnt communicate with anyone.

Many laws pertaining to Americans with disabilities are federal mandates, but the financial consequences may fall on local school districts, many of which are facing budget strains. Coaches can also feel poorly equipped to adapt sports for disabled athletes and ensure safe conditions for all athletes.

This is all new to everybody, said Douglas Lipscomb, the varsity boys basketball coach at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga., who has not had disabled athletes on his team. As a coach, youre worried about safety issues for all players, especially with basketball as a contact sport. But in coaching, a lot of situations are dealt with on an individual basis. This is a new area.

Bob Ferraro, the founder and chief executive of the National High School Coaches Association, said coaches may need special training in accommodating disabled athletes.

Its got everyone thinking, Ferraro said. Its unfortunate we dont do more with the rules as far as incorporating the challenges that some athletes have. A coachs role is to provide opportunities for all athletes. And it does challenge the coach tremendously.

In a significant inclusion case in Maryland,Tatyana McFadden, now 23, sued the Howard County Board of Education and won the right to compete in interscholastic competition as a wheelchair athlete during the 2007 track season.

I think more schools are understanding this is important, said McFaddens mother, Deborah. The McFaddens helped promote a state measure requiring schools to include disabled students in sports and other extracurricular programs. At least 12 other states have enacted measures similar to the Maryland law.

We hope the law will pressure people toward inclusion, Deborah McFadden said. But without a federal or state law, its at the will and pleasure of coaches to include kids. Some coaches are fabulous and say, I have no idea how to do this, but Im willing to try. There are resources out there. But were a long way from full inclusion.

The extent to which a school or a coach might need to make accommodations depends on the sport and the disability. In 1990, Louisiana was among the first states to start a wheelchair division for track and field, and Minnesota has expanded bowling, softball, floor hockey and soccer to include wheelchair athletes. Other states have followed, creating separate leagues or rules for integrating disabled athletes.

Mary Kate Callahan, a 17-year-old senior at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Ill., began swimming when she was 6 and hoped to join her high school team. Because of a rare neurological disease she contracted as an infant, Callahan does not have the use of her legs.

Callahan was told that she could not compete at a statewide competition and that her points earned in meets would not be added to her teams totals.

I really wanted to have a true swim meet, Callahan said. I wanted to compete against the best. Swimming is part of my high school experience.

Illinois Attorney GeneralLisa Madigan took on Callahans case as a co-counsel and helped win a settlement in September that allowed her to swim at the state meet, along with at least six other high school girls with disabilities.

The attorney generals office is continuing to litigate on behalf of all student-athletes with disabilities for a settlement, and Callahan is seeking to participate on her schools track team this spring.

We didnt change much, Renee Miller, Callahans swim coach, said of how the team accommodated Callahan in the pool. We made sure we had a bus to accommodate a wheelchair so she could travel with us and made sure that schools we traveled to could accommodate her.

This is a unique area for a lot of coaches, and sometimes you have to make it up as you go. You need to do that for a lot of kids, though.

Miller said she was concerned about the way Callahan would be treated at meets at other schools. We wanted total inclusion, and I knew the issue with the association wasnt moving quickly enough for Mary Kate, she said, referring to the Illinois High School Association. We realized there would be some obstacles to overcome, but we didnt think it would be as big as it was. It was breaking new ground."

Some athletes have faced arguments that their inclusion may pose a safety risk.

Rose Hollermann, 17, of Elysian, Minn., wanted to compete in track at her school. Hollermann uses a wheelchair as a result of a car accident in 2001.

Hollermann, who wrote a 15-page paper on Pistorius for a school assignment, had competed in basketball, sled hockey and track in middle school. She wanted to race against able-bodied track athletes, and she requested that the Minnesota State High School League create a system so her points could count toward the teams total in competitions.

Initially, the state association had concerns about safety issues like wheelchair collisions, according to a lawyer who represented the group.

Theyre big, complex machines, said Kevin Beck, the lawyer. Safety is always a big issue.

A separate wheelchair division was created, in which Hollermann mostly raced alone, and her points did not count toward the teams total.

Im a competitive person, Hollermann said. And they put me in a place where I wasnt very competitive, just in a race by myself. I almost hit people because they didnt even realize there was a race going on.

She added: I just didnt get the fact that they were saying I had an advantage because I was in a wheelchair. How do I have an advantage because I cant use half of my body? It didnt make any sense to me.

Hollermann won a legal settlement last year that allowed her to race alongside able-bodied athletes.

Chapple, the deaf tennis player, also reachedan agreement with her state association. The settlement with the Arizona Interscholastic Association allowed her the use of an interpreter.

Weve reinforced our process regarding children with disabilities, said Charles Schmidt, the associate executive director of the association. We want every child to have an opportunity to participate.

Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/sports/disabled-athletes-suit-up-raising-questions-of-logistics-and-fairness.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&emc=eta1 (Long URL and may appear on more than one line in this message. Copy and paste the entire URL into your browser)

This article is forwarded to you by the Great Lakes ADA Center (www.adagreatlakes.org) for your information.

The following information is forwarded to you by the Great Lakes ADACenter (www.adagreatlakes.org) for your information:

I am a researcher for the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center forWireless Technologies (also known as the Wireless RERC). We are funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to promote the accessibility and usability of wireless technologies by people with all types of disabilities.

We are currently conducting two surveys, and I was hoping I could count on you to fill them out. The surveys are described below with links:

- Survey of User Needs - this is a general survey on use and usability ofwireless technologies. It is our cornerstone survey.https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SUN_2012-2013

- Survey on Emergency Communications - this survey focuses on the two sides of emergency communications: a) contacting emergency response services (fire and rescue, ambulance, etc.) during a personal emergency; and b) receiving alerts during public emergencies like severe weather, forest fire, etc.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Emergency-Communication-2012

We use the data from these surveys to inform government regulators and the wireless industry about the wireless needs and wants of people with disabilities. Wireless technology changes at a very rapid pace. And, regulators and engineers need to be aware of your views and experiences. We report only summaries of the data, never individual data.

You can see some of our publications at: www.wirelessrerc.org/content/publications-presentations

If you are a caregiver for loved ones, you can fill out the surveys for them.

When I collect a enough responses I will make the survey data available.

If anybody prefers to complete the survey over the phone, or on paper, please let me know. My contact information is below:

Thanks!

John Morris, Ph.D.

Research Scientist

Wireless RERC

Shepherd Center

2020 Peachtree Road, NW

Atlanta, GA 30309

404-367-1348

john_morris@shepherd.org