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.

New Mke TE Inclusion Community Connector/Coordinator position open PT starting 2013.MkeTEInclusionCoordinatorPosition2012-13.doc

Project to increase the number of people with disabilities who self-direct their supports.

The Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to develop strategies to inform and train individuals with disabilities to use self-directed supports (SDS).

The goal of the project(s) will be to increase the number of people with disabilities who self-direct their services and supports, including youth transitioning into the Long-Term Care system.These projects also will include a focus on building natural community supports and connections.

BPDD will fund between one and three SDS projects. A total of $80,000 is available, to be allocated for all SDS projects related to this RFP.

SDS projects can focus on single-issue projects such as, but not limited to, community-supported living, community connections, and transition supports. Projects can also have a broader focus on training and education strategies related to choice and decision making for people with disabilities.

The deadline to submit a proposal is January 8, 2013. The entire RFP is available on the BPDD website. For more information, contact Fil Clissa at fil.clissa@wisconsin.gov.

Disability.gov Asks, Whats Your Connection?

By the Disability.gov Team

There are nearly 57 million individuals with disabilities in the United States, and all of them are connected to the people around them in some way. They are sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, coworkers, neighbors and friends.

Yet people with disabilities are often treated as a separate or special population, although the reality for most is that their lives are not segregated.

Keepingthis in mind, Disability.gov (www.disability.gov), the federal government website for comprehensive information on disability programs and services in communities nationwide, created theWhats Your Connection?initiative to commemorate the sites 10^thanniversary.

Launched on October 30, 2012,Whats Your Connection?promotes inclusion and reinforces the idea that people with disabilities, even those who dont identify as having a disability, are not separate, but an integral part of American society.

Has disability touched your life in some way? If so, we want to know how. Disability.gov is asking people nationwide to share their stories in two ways:

• by submitting a photograph online (less than 100KB in JPG format) along with a 250-word maximum caption; or
• by uploading a captioned, one-minute YouTube video that answers the question, Whats Your Connection?

In July 2013, we will pick the top three submissions and ask our Facebook fans to vote on their favorite. Photographs and captions can be emailed todisability@dol.gov; video submissions should be uploaded on YouTube and include the hashtag, #myconnection2, in the title.*

Our goal is to create aWhats Your Connection?movement throughout the country during the next nine months, but we need your help spreading the word. So please post information about the initiative on your Facebook page, tweet about it and tell everyone you meet!

For more information and details on theWhats Your Connection?initiative, please visit Disability.gov atwww.disability.gov/home/newsroom/what's_your_connection.

*By submitting a photograph or uploading a YouTube video with the hashtag, #myconnection2, participants grant permission to the U.S. Department of Labors Office of Disability Employment Policy to display their work on the Disability.gov website; the sites Facebook, Twitter or YouTube page; and future print publications. All submissions will be reviewed and approved by the Disability.gov team prior to being posted on the website or its YouTube page.

ABOUT DISABILITY.GOV

Disability.gov is a federal government website that provides comprehensive information on disability policies, programs and services in communities nationwide. Visitors are connected to thousands of resources from federal, state and local government agencies, academic institutions and nonprofit organizations across 10 main subject areas: Benefits; Civil Rights; Community Life; Education; Emergency Preparedness; Employment; Health; Housing; Technology; and Transportation. The site is managed by the U.S. Department of Labors Office of Disability Employment Policy in collaboration with 21 federal agency partners. For more information, visitwww.Disability.gov.

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

Disability Scoop (www.disabilityscoop.com)

December 4, 2012

Senate Rejects UN Disability Treaty

ByMichelle Diament

Despite strong support from disability advocacy groups, Republican opposition led the U.S. Senate to reject an international disability rights treaty on Tuesday.

In a vote that fell almost entirely along party lines, supporters were unable to secure the two-thirds majority of senators needed to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The treaty calls for greater community access and a better standard of living for people with disabilities worldwide. The measures chief supporter, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said that ratifying the treaty would not require any change to U.S. law, but would afford the nation a leadership role in the international community on disability rights issues. Whats more, Kerry said participation would help ensure that Americans with disabilities would have the same protections abroad as they do domestically.

This treaty is not about changing America, but about America changing the world, Kerry said just before the vote, adding that the issue had become unnecessarily controversial in the deeply-partisan body. This treaty is a test of the Senate. Its a test of whether this body is still capable of voting for change.

Eight Republicans joined all Senate Democrats in voting for ratification in the 61 to 38 vote. Former Republican Sen. Bob Dole, who was injured in World War II, also came to the Senate floor to support the treaty.

However, a majority of Republicans, led by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, fought hard against ratification arguing that the treaty would compromise U.S. sovereignty and threaten the ability of parents to determine whats best for their kids, statements that supporters insisted were not based in fact.

Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum, the Heritage Foundation and the Home School Legal Defense Association rallied their supporters from across the nation to lobby against the treaty. Ultimately, their efforts bested those of more than 300 disability organizations which had united to support ratification.

The U.S. signed the disability rights convention in 2009, but Senate approval was needed in order to make participation official. The Obama administration sent the treaty to the Senate earlier this year asking that it be ratified.

Currently, 126 countries around the word have ratified the disability treaty, according to the U.N.

Source:http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2012/12/04/senate-rejects-treaty/16887/