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Thousands of people in Wisconsin have been labeled " adjudicated incompetent" to vote under state laws. In Wisconsin, a court may determine someone is incompetent to vote. However, the state lacks a defined system to track people who receive this label.

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Meet Emily. This karaoke singing young lady keeps busy by doing all sorts of fun activities. She loves to travel and play sports. She loves participating in activities with different groups and encourages people to join. We’re so fortunate to have her as a member of the Self-Determination Network!

What's your story?  Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Emily turned 30 years old on St. Patrick's Day. She has a boyfriend named Mitchell, and they have been dating for eight years. “We like to sing karaoke, go to parties and dances, and bowl together,” she says. She lives in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin now, but she’s from Illinois. She sings in a choir and also does lots of activities with Champions of Fond du Lac which is a group for people with disabilities. She enjoys taking an online cooking class every week and she also bowls.

What does Self-Determination mean to you? Why is it important? 

Emily explains that she likes to make her own decisions and vote. She wants to spend time with people she likes, and she wants to work to make money. “I want to do things for myself like shopping, deciding what I want to eat and where I want to live, and planning my activities,” she says. Her iPad is important to her, so she can do online classes, Facebook, and Facetime with her friends.

Tell us some good news - what's the most exciting thing happening for you (or in Wisconsin) in terms of self-determination?

Emily tells us that at a recent People First meeting they talked about voting rights. She was happy to learn that she can get help filling out her ballot.

What tip or resource would you like to share with people who want to be more self-determined?

Emily encourages people not to be afraid to say what you want and to ask for help. Try new things and be safe online. She encourages people to join People First and go to state meetings like the Self-Determination Conference. 

What are some of your hobbies?

Emily is looking forward to getting outside more when the weather is nice. She loves to bowl and play bocce. She also likes to do chores around the house like laundry, take out the trash, get the mail, keep her room clean. she likes to travel. She tells us that they are going to Arizona in a few weeks, and in July, they are taking a train across the country to San Francisco.

***We love hearing the views and opinions of Network members. We need to mention that the views and opinions expressed on this site are those of the person who is sharing them. They do not necessarily reflect InControl Wisconsin or any of our supporters and funders.

The caregiver shortage has only gotten worse. The problem will only worsen if the jobs don't improve, advocates say. The solution? Better pay, more training and options for career advancement. Since immigrants make up a large portion of the direct-care workforce, immigration policy also needs to be addressed, some say. 

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Advocates are highlighting a system of state tax credits across the US that allow employers to pay employees as low as $3 an hour. Disability advocates have made progress in recent years. Thirteen states have passed laws banning the subminimum wage exemptions for people with disabilities.

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Whether it’s getting your foot in the door for a company you want to work at, getting an important question answered, gathering information for a critical decision one has to make, getting in touch with the right person about something important, or getting something that you really need approved by the state, most people have benefited from having connections at some point in their lives. Connections can come from all different facets of one’s life. When people are fortunate enough to happen upon the right people in various aspects of their life, it often turns out to help them in ways they didn’t foresee. Having connections helps everyone find their way through life. People with disabilities are no different. In fact, for many different reasons such as preconceptions, isolation, and the lack of resources, we likely rely on connections more than most people. For people with disabilities, the power of networking and finding connections is crucial in our lives.

In previous entries, I’ve explained that, ironically, my mom was a special education teacher before I was even born. She was teaching for several years before I was even born. Some call it fate...I don’t think it’s coincidence that I came along and had some challenges. Obviously, I was too young to realize it for quite some time, but it was a huge blessing to our family. Not that mom had all of the answers, but she had some knowledge of disability and knew of the resources available to help us navigate through the system to get what I needed to be successful. She was aware of our rights and she knew what to advocate for. She knew the process of IEP meetings and what services I needed. Albeit, it got a little awkward when she became a Program Support Teacher (where she reviewed IEP paperwork and attended meetings for students in different programs) and then had to switch roles and be the parent during some of my meetings that got heated (I feel like every kid with significant needs has at least one or two intense meetings during their school years). The team did a good job of understanding she needed to be a parent in those situations, though. 

I don’t even remember how this happened, but my sophomore year of high school, we began looking at UW-Whitewater. I believe that I got a brochure in the mail about a camp they put on for people who use augmentative alternative communication devices. For various reasons, I never ended up going to the camp, but, through one of my groups on the Internet, I connected with the organizer of the camp. He was a student at Whitewater and had very similar needs. I talked with him via email, and his hometown was only 20 minutes away from where we lived. My mom and I ended up going to his house to meet with him. I was amazed to learn that someone like me could go away to college and succeed. The summer before my junior year, my mom and I went to see the campus of UW-Whitewater. for the first time. Obviously, it was way too early to do a formal visit, but I wanted to see if it was something I’d be interested in. We met with my friend again—this time at his apartment. After that visit, I knew that was where I wanted to go. It was because of a by chance connection on the Internet that I found an amazing opportunity that ultimately shaped the rest of my life.

When I moved to Whitewater, I literally knew two people . One was the organizer of the camp and the other was a girl I met during my pre-enrollment day (Whitewater has students with disabilities come to campus a few months before to meet with people at the Center for Students with Disabilities). The girl I met also had very similar needs. She graciously gave me her contact info and we began talking. In the months prior to moving down there, I asked her all sorts of questions about college. Looking back, there’s no doubt that I bugged her with pretty silly questions, but she was good about answering them. As luck would have it, that summer we learned that we’d be neighbors in the dorm for my freshman year . She took me under her wing that year and showed me the ropes. As I met more people, I obviously made a lot more connections. Like everyone else, having connections helped me navigate college life.

About my third year of college, my mom forwarded me and email she received from her work about an online mentoring opportunity for students with disabilities.  It was through Midwest Alliance which was associated with UW-Madison. I ended up mentoring high school students with disabilities for about five years, but that isn’t the point I want to make. The manager of the program really connected with me and ended up asking me to be on a panel for a session at the Transition Conference. Being able to attend that conference literally changed my life because I was introduced to the world of disability advocacy. At the conference, I was able to attend sessions about employment for people with disabilities which happened to be perfect timing because at the time I was struggling with DVR to find employment. I ended up connecting with the presenters of one of the sessions, and, although in a very roundabout way, that connection led me to becoming self-employed and working with the organizations I do. It’s really incredible to think about all of the connections it took for me to be where I am today. It’s simply amazing!

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be able to make even more connections that have personally benefited me through the advocacy work I’m involved in. Knowing the people to contact when I have a question or need something has been so helpful. I’ll just share one recent example.  Our wheelchair accessible van was totaled in mid-February. It was literally my only means of transportation. Right away, I posted on Facebook asking if anyone knew of any funding resources for van modifications. Much to my surprise, I learned that I could ask for a one-time expense through IRIS. My awesome consultant had never done one before, so she and her supervisor worked together to get the process started literally right away. They found out that I needed to have an accessibility evaluation done. They contacted my Independent Living Center to set it up. The Independent Living Center knows me as I’ve done some work with them over the years. They understood the urgency of the matter and they were able to squeeze me very quickly and do the assessment. They were amazing and we had the report early the next morning. It was submitted to the state. I waited a few days and then I reached out to someone who works in DHS and has presented many times to a state council that I’m on. He was able to connect me with the person who does one-time expenses, and later that day we received word that it was approved! The multiple connections that made it happen so quickly is remarkable.

As a person who has a significant physical disability that affects my speech, to say I’m proud of all the connections I’ve made would be a huge understatement. I realize that it takes some extra time and effort to communicate with me and get to know me. I’ve been beyond lucky to have so many incredible people who have done just that. Without all those connections, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. The connections have led to opportunities I never dreamed of. Everyone has different connections that influence their path in life. I’m incredibly fortunate to have so many connections that have led me to where I am today!

***The views expressed here are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of InControl Wisconsin, the Network or any of our sponsors.

Going into the April 4th supreme court election, Wisconsin voters are still confused about ballot assistance and ballot return assistance. This is due to the February 2022 ruling that said voters must return their own ballot, making no exception for people with disabilities. A federal judge did later clarify that voters with disabilities can have assistance returning their ballot, but many people are still confused. People are being told wrong information by municipal clerks and poll workers. All of this is leading to mass confusion for the April election.

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RRTC on Community Living Policy: The purpose of this particular RRTC is to engage in disability policy research, statistical analyses and modeling, knowledge translation, development of informational products, and dissemination to contribute to policies that facilitate and improve community living outcomes among people with disabilities.

View more details and application instructions.

Please visit the link above for more details about the grant opportunity and application process. This grant opportunity closes on May 22, 2023.

RRTC on Research and Capacity Building for Minority Entities: The purpose of this particular RRTC is to generate new knowledge about the experiences and outcomes of individuals with disabilities from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds that can be used as a foundation for developing interventions to improve those outcomes. Another purpose of the RRTC is to conduct research on the feasibility and effectiveness of methods and models to enhance disability and rehabilitation research capacity and infrastructure at minority-serving institutions.

View more details and application instructions.

Please visit the link above for more details about the grant opportunity and application process. This grant opportunity closes on May 22, 2023.
 

Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERC) Program Funding Opportunity

The purpose of the RERC program is to improve the effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act by conducting advanced engineering research on and development of innovative technologies that are designed to solve particular rehabilitation problems or to remove environmental barriers. RERCs also demonstrate and evaluate such technologies, facilitate service delivery system changes, stimulate the production and distribution of new technologies and equipment in the private sector, and provide training opportunities.

RERC on Prosthetics and Orthotics: The purpose of this particular RERC is to conduct research, development, and related activities toward advances in prosthetics and orthotics technologies that improve health and function, employment, or community living outcomes among people with limb loss or impaired limb function. 

View more details and application instructions.

Please visit the link above for more details about the grant opportunity and application process. This grant opportunity closes on May 22, 2023.
 

A proposal in Congress would do away with Medicaid's institutional bias and guarantee people with developmental disabilities access to services in the community. Backers of the measure known as the HCBS Access Act say the bill would eliminate waiting lists for community-based services over time by increasing funding for the program, providing grants to states to expand their service capacity and taking other steps to bolster the workforce of caregivers who support people with disabilities.

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