News

A  new show, 'Speechless', is giving people a glimpse into what daily life is like  for families who have someone with a physical disability.  The comedy is based on a boy's life growing up with a brother who has cerebral palsy.  The show depicts the daily challenges and  shows how all of the family members become advocates.  The casting was very unique for  this show.  

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For people with disabilities, accessing the Internet can be a challenge.  An Israeli-based company has created an innovative software system which allows web applications and website owners to make websites accessible without changing their existing code or impacting their website design. The software has "accessibility skins" which allows websites to be changed through step-by-step wizards and then website users are able   to choose  the skin they need to meet their needs.  Examples of skins include partial/complete blindness, epilepsy, and motor disability.

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Parent Peer Specialist – Beloit, WI

Wisconsin Family Ties is seeking a compassionate, motivated individual to work as a Parent Peer Specialist in Beloit. Use your own life experience as a parent or primary caregiver of a child with social, emotional or behavioral challenges to assist other families like yours. This is a great opportunity to get in on the leading edge of the growing peer specialist profession.

Position Description

The Parent Peer Specialist (PPS) will provide information, training, support and advocacy to families in the School District of Beloit as they navigate the various systems and supports serving their children. The PPS will also provide outreach, information and training to schools, local governments, service providers and community organizations. Work hours for this position are flexible; occasional weekend work may be required.

Key Requirements:

• Experience as a parent or primary caregiver involved in the day-to-day care of a child or adolescent with social, emotional or behavioral challenges. No exceptions to this requirement will be considered.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills required. Bilingual (English / Spanish) candidates preferred.
• Experience navigating service systems to obtain services for your child. Service systems include, but are not limited to, mental health, public education, child welfare, substance use treatment, juvenile / family court, and corrections.
• Knowledge of special education processes and requirements
• Knowledge of resources and services available in Rock County and the surrounding area
• Must have a car and a valid driver’s license

Job Summary

Employer: Wisconsin Family Ties, Inc

Location: Beloit, WI

The deadline to apply for this position is October 20, 2016

Send resume and cover letter to info@wifamilyties.org. Please indicate the position title in the subject line of your email.

This job opening is posted as a courtesy. InControl Wisconsin, the Network and our sponsors are not responsible for ensuring the validity of the information in this posting. Potential applicants are encouraged to research the organization and/or person who is hiring and to proceed at your own risk.

 Self-Determination Network News:
September 2016

Connect | Share | Learn | http://sdnetworkwi.org/  

Join our Welcome Team

Are you a viral social butterfly?  Do you like to connect with people with the same interests? Do you enjoy interacting with people online?  We are currently seeking voluntary Network Hosts to join the Welcome Team for the Self-Determination Network.  Applications are due on October 3rd. Find out how to apply today!

Take our One-Minute Poll!

InControl Wisconsin is always looking for ways to better serve our community.  By learning about you, our Network Members, we can better meet your interests.In last month’s Network News, we asked members answer a one-minute poll question about who they are.  We have 492 members on the Self-Determination Network and only three have responded.  That’s less than 1%!  We know we can do better than that!  Help us better be able to help you by taking the one-minute poll now! 

Take five minutes to check out what's happening on the Self-Determination Network:

• Assistance for Service Providers:  Many disability service providers are worried about cuts in services due to new mandates.  Find out about, if passed, a new bill would offer a temporary increase in Medicaid funding for programs for people with disabilities.
• Disability in the Election:  According to new data, voters with disabilities may have a major role in November's election.  Learn why this is.
• ADA Regulations Broaden:  Recently, the Dept. of Justice announced its issuing new regulations to expand who's covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Read about what it now will cover.
• Waiting Lists May Violate ADA:  According to the Dept. of Justice, having people with disabilities on waiting lists for community-based services may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Find out why this may be.
• Caregiver Awards:  The Wisconsin Long-Term Care Workforce Alliance is now accepting nominations for the 2016 Caregiver Awards.  Spread the word!
• Disability Reality Show Wins Emmy:  For the first time ever, a TV show starring cast members with disabilities has won an Emmy Award.   Find out what show it is!
• Disability, and Consumer Attitudes and Preferences Survey:  Here's an opportunity to participate in a survey about consumer attitudes and preferences for individuals with disabilities.
• Call for Presenters:  Proposals are now being accepted to present at the 2017 Multiple Perspectives Conference.  Proposals due December 3rd.
• Transportation Survey:  Here's a chance to take a survey about transportation for people with disabilities.

 Stacy’s Journal

In this September's entry, Stacy talks about how having a physical disability impacts friendships. We encourage you to ask her questions and/or share your experiences as well.

 Upcoming Events                                    

Here's a sample of upcoming events listed on the Self-Determination Network:

• AbilityMKE Now:  September 28th, 9p.m. to 10p.m., Radiowest River, Milwaukee WI   
• Ability Fest:  October 2nd, 4p.m. to 7:30p.m.  The Camelot Golf Club, Lomira WI
• River Falls Parents in Partnership: October 7th-8th, Country Inn, River Falls WI
• Across the Lifespan Conference: November 3rd-4th,  Glacier Canyon Lodge, Wisconsin Dells WI
• Door County Parents in Partnership:  November 4th-5th, Landmark Resort, Egg Harbor WI
• 2017 Multiple Perspectives Conference:  April 13th to 17th, Ohio State's Columbus Campus, Columbus OH 

Post your event on the Self-Determination Network and it can be included in future Network News emails to members! Questions? Suggestions?  Contact Stacy Ellingen. 

The Self-Determination Network is powered by InControl Wisconsin and supported financially by our members and Sponsors. We couldn't keep this Network going with you!  Find out how you can help support the Network.

We would like to thank the Great Lakes ADA Center for providing us with the following information regarding a survey opportunity about transportation for people with disabilities.

We would like to thank the Great Lakes ADA Center for providing us with the following information regarding the 17th annual  Multiple Perspective on Access, Inclusion, & Disability: Seeing Disability at School, Work & Beyond.  Applications for presentations are now being accepted!

The Seventeenth Annual Multiple Perspectives on Access, Inclusion & Disability:

Seeing Disability at School, Work & Beyond

At The Ohio State University’s Columbus Campus

·      April 11, 2017 -        Student Preconference – Disability & Career

·      April 12, 2017 -        Student Poster Competition

·      April 12-13, 2017 -   Main Conference 2 Plenaries & 25 Concurrent Sessions

Multiple Perspectives is an ongoing exploration of disability, a conversation including many voices and reflecting perspectives gained through experience and research; theory and practice, arts and sciences.  This year’s theme,Seeing Disability continues our dialogue

Disclosure can be a personal choice or an environmental imperative this year’s them focuses on how disability is seen in the environment, the individual and their interaction.   Explicit and implicit assumptions from policy and design to everyday choices drive recognition and disclosure at school, work and play.  Proposals exploring these choices and their consequences will be given preference in the review process.  Following our tradition below are two quotes to help you think broadly about this year’s theme as you prepare your proposal.  A little different this year the second quote is the opening verse of a song, links to the full lyrics and a recording are provided.

“Disability doesn't make you exceptional, but questioning what you think you know about it does.” 

Stella Young

“I went for a jog in the city air

I met a woman in a wheelchair

I said ‘I'm sorry to see you're handicapped.’

She says ‘What makes you think a thing like that?’”

Lyrics to Talking Wheelchair Blues by Fred Small

Preference will be given to proposals that reflect this year’s theme; encourage discussions across the typical social, political, and disciplinary boundaries; connect individuals to local, national or international communities; or consider parallels, distinctions and intersections with race, gender and ethnicity.  This year in particular graduate and undergraduate presenters a sought for a strand of sessions focused on student interests and concerns. 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES 2016

Proposal Deadline: International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3, 2016)

Proposals should be submitted by e-mail as an attachment (Word, TXT, or RTF formats)  to ADA-OSU@osu.edu  with MP2016 and your name in the subject line

Proposals must include:

1. Name of each presenter with titles, institutions, employers etc. as appropriate
2. Contact information (phone, mailing address, and e-mail) if there is more than one presenter please indicate one individual as the contact and lead presenter.
3. Title of Presentation (9 words or less)
4. Short Description 20- 35 words.
5. Description (700 words or less) Please describe the content, focus and desired outcomes for the presentation using these questions as a guide.

• What is the format of the presentation (Lecture, Panel, Discussion, Performance, Other)?
• Who is the intended audience (educators, employers, businesses, advocates, students, consumers, researchers, or other)?
• How familiar should the audience be with the topic (beginner, intermediate, advanced)?
• What are your three main goals for the presentation?

Please Note:  The full conference fees will be waived and lunch provided for presenters of accepted proposals. Presenters are responsible for their own travel and lodging.

Questions contact L. Scott Lissner at Lissner.2@osu.edu.

We would like to thank the Great Lakes ADA Center for providing us with the following information regarding another survey opportunity.  This one is on Disability, and Consumer Attitudes and Preferences.

The Marketing Anthropology Project (MAP), a program of the National Business & Disability Council (NBDC) at The Viscardi Center, is conducting a self-selected sample survey on disability, and consumer attitudes and preferences. The survey seeks to better understand consumers whose buying decisions are mostly likely to be influenced by a business' practices toward individuals with disabilities. Please take a few minutes to complete our self-selective sampling survey.

To complete the survey, go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5F6RS8B.

Please feel free to share our self-selective sampling survey with your friends, colleagues and networks. To learn more about NBDC's Marketing Anthropology Project, please email me at bmacsata@viscardicenter.org. Thank you.

Brandon M. Macsata, General Consultant

National Business & Disability Council (NBDC) at The Viscardi Center

200 West 41st Street, 8th Floor, 800
New York, NY 10036

Phone: 516-465-3748

Email: bmacsata@viscardicenter.org

Visit Us on the Web: http://www.viscardicenter.org, or go directly to the NBDC Member Log-In at http://www.nbdc.com

Join the Welcome Team!

Are you a viral social butterfly?  Do you like to connect with people with the same interests? Do you enjoy interacting with people online?  We are currently seeking voluntary Network Hosts to join the Welcome Team for the Self-Determination Network.

As a Network Host, your primary duties would be to welcome and engage new members. Members of the Welcome Team get email notifications when new members join the Network, and then if it is your week (a monthly schedule is created based on hosts’ availability), you would welcome the new member by posting on his/her timeline.  With support from the community manager, you would also be encouraged to post content on your profile and come up with ways to interact with members.

Network Hosts would need to:

• Be able to check email on a regular basis
• Be active in the disability community
• Be familiar with the Self-Determination Network
• Engage and interact with others
• Be willing to learn some “behind-the-scene” tricks of the Network

What would you receive in exchange for joining the Welcome Team? You will have opportunities to:

• Share your skills and knowledge
• Gain new skills, knowledge and experience as a host with an online network (and you can add this to your resume!)
• Connect with your fellow members and get to know them better
• Support an online learning community

Please note that, while we value all our hosts, we are not able to offer paid work opportunities.

Apply to become a Network Host.  Applications are due October 3rd. Contact Stacy at sellingen@incontrolwisconsin.org with any questions you have.

For the first time, a TV series starring a cast with disabilities has won an Emmy Award. Born This Way, which is in its second season on A&E, won for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Series. The unscripted reality show follows a group of seven young adults with Down syndrome along with their family and friends in Southern California.

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There’s a saying that goes something like, “you can’t choose your family, but you can choose your friends.”  As I’ve alluded to in past entries, I’m incredibly blessed to have an absolutely wonderful family but I’m also very fortunate to have awesome friends.  For some people who have disabilities, finding true friends can be challenging. 

For me, since I have pretty severe limitations, it was hard to get people to understand that I was fully cognitively aware.  This was especially the case when I was younger.  It really helped that I was completely mainstreamed from Kindergarten on.  Each year, more and more classmates got to know me.  Teachers and educational assistants were great about making sure students included me.  In fact, I remember my very first day of first grade (I had switched schools because my parents were building a wheelchair accessible house in a different part of the city), my teacher (who I ironically had for two years of Early Childhood previously) took me out of my chair and sat me on a bench with her where she explained my disability to the class. I think that really helped.

Over the years, I made many great friends in school. They got to know me and understand my needs.  Like most kids, I had many “best friends” during my elementary school years.  These friends understood me  (I’m mostly  nonverbal)  and didn’t mind helping  me with things like feeding  and driving my chair (not that I needed help driving, but it was a cool thing to do back then).  They saw past my disability.  I got invited to things like birthday parties just like my peers.   Most of the time, my mom accompanied me to parties to assist me.  I also had many birthday parties and sleepovers.  I was in things like Girl Scouts too.  My parents were all about providing me with opportunities to socially interact. 

My junior high years were interesting years for me.  Because of where we lived, I went to a junior high school than most of my friends from elementary school—including my three “best friends.”  I did make friends during those years, but I also kept in touch with my best friends.  When we went to high school, we were all back together and it was awesome.  As I mentioned in a previous entry, even though I never had a date, I attended every school dance with my friends.  I’m still close friends with these girls today.

When I started at UW-Whitewater, I vaguely knew three people.  I laugh at that now because I have so many friends from college.  UW-Whitewater was different in that since it specialized in serving students with disabilities, it wasn’t unusual for students with disabilities to become friends with other students with disabilities.  In fact, it was more common than not. It  took me awhile to get used to because in my high school, I was practically the only student who had significant physical limitations who was in all regular classes; so for obvious reasons, I did my best  not to  associate myself with  those with cognitive disabilities.  In college, though, since there was such a variety of students with and without disabilities, I learned quickly that it didn’t matter.  Actually, it was very apparent that it was natural for those with similar circumstances to become friends.  I became friends with lots of people who had various types of abilities.  We were there for each other when limitations got in our way, and we also pushed and encouraged each other to reach our highest potential.

At UW-Whitewater, I also quickly became friends with a different group of people—my personal care assistants.  Yes, the care agency tried to prevent it from happening because it was “unethical,” but it’s almost inevitable not to become friends with someone who is helping you with your personal care needs.   Most of my care assistants were students as well, so it was just like I was hanging out with friends.  Obviously, not all of my assistants became close friends (and that’s ok), but I had a great group of girls who had my back.  We’d hang out and do things outside of my shifts.  I’d try to be conscious not to “use” them to help me outside of my shift times, but, to them, it was no big deal to help me with things when they weren’t working—to them, it was like helping a friend.  Like many college students, we’d stay out late and those girls had no problem throwing me in bed when we got back.  The care agency eventually gave up trying to stop our friendship and loved how close we were. 

Four of us became super close and remain close to this day.  We don’t see each other as often as we’d like, but it just makes the times we do get together more special. Recently, my parents and I attended a wedding of one of the girls.  The four girls were back together for a mere few hours, and, on the way home, my mom said, “those girls bring out something in you that no one else can.”   She’s right.  I can only hope our friendship lasts forever.

I understand that being friends with someone who has a physical disability takes some extra effort.  As we get older, my friends have to explain my disability to their significant others and children.  I’m sure that’s not an easy conversation to have, but they do it because they love me and want to remain friends.  Their boyfriends/husbands and children always seem to embrace the situation.  To me, that’s true friendship!

 Where would I be without my friends?  Honestly, it’s a scary thought.  I can’t begin to imagine my life without them.  I’m so incredibly blessed that they chose to become friends with me!

***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.