News

Google recently announced it's starting a program to hire people with autism. With Google Cloud’s Autism Career Program, the company will work with experts from the Stanford Neurodiversity Project to train as many as 500 Google Cloud managers and others who are integral in the hiring process to work more effectively with candidates who have autism. Support will be available for things such as the application and interview. 

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Communicating clearly and effectively about a community-based organization’s capabilities removes one of the biggest barriers to health care contracting for aging and disability community-based organizations (CBOs), allowing for successful cross-sector partnerships and healthier communities. A new toolkit guides aging and disability CBOs seeking partnerships and conducting outreach with potential health care partners.

The Aging and Disability Business Institute has released the Health Care Outreach Toolkit, developed in partnership with Partners in Care Foundation and the Business Institute’s Health Care Outreach working group. It provides aging and disability CBOs with guidance on conducting outreach to potential health care partners and crafting effective messaging.

The toolkit includes customizable messages and potential outreach targets for common types of health care partners—Medicare Advantage plans, Medicaid health plans, hospitals, accountable care organizations, and more. Check out the toolkit and get started on health care outreach efforts today.

A popular tourist attraction in Door County has recently become accessible to all visitors. Eagle Tower in Peninsula State Park now has a ramp to the top. The view from the top of the tower is a sight to see. This article talks about how important it is to make things like this accessible to all visitors. It also talks about the availability of all-terrain wheelchairs. 

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Website accessibility is becoming more and more important. Sites are often tested using a combination of tools. It can be done manually or there are many different automated tools the do it. Recently, a baseline for testing accessibility of web content was developed. The criteria sets a minimum for testing accessibility of websites. 

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Recently, the Wisconsin Disability Vote Coalition released a document of stories about how the new voting bills that were passed will impact those with disabilities. These bills will limit voter access even more than it already is. 

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Meet Sydney. This animal–loving self-advocate keeps busy by participating in various advocacy organizations. She thinks it’s so important to have a voice and speak up for what’s right. She encourages others to get involved in some sort of advocacy. 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.

Sydney is a disability self-advocate in Southern Wisconsin who lives on a farm out in the country. She serves on multiple disability advocacy boards including the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities, the Wisconsin Youth Leadership Forum Inc Board, and the National Council of Self-Advocates. She’s also a Crisis Counselor for Crisis TextLine.

How are you involved with self-determination? 

Sydney involved with self-determination by participating in activities with different disability advocacy organizations and making her own choices in life. She tells us that the best part of being an advocate is having a voice and being able to speak up for what’s not right. She also enjoys doing policy work.

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

The most exciting thing happening for Sydney is that she’s starting her own vlog on the Self-Determination YouTube Channel. She also recently became one of the hosts on the channel.

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

Sydney encourages people who want to be more self-determined to be aware of the different advocacy organizations. “If you aren’t already involved with them, to reach out to them,” she says.

What are some of your hobbies?

Sydney enjoys doing photography. She likes to photograph things like flowers and animals. She also loves taking care of her pets. She has 18 chickens, two cats, and a dog! 

***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 National Center for Mobility Management is a national technical assistance center funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration and operated through a consortium of three national organizations—the American Public Transportation Association, the Community Transportation Association of America, and Easterseals Inc. 

NCMM recently announced two new training/technical assistance opportunities.

Collaborations to Reduce Social Isolation for Older Adults

NCMM is seeking Letters of Interest from State and Tribal Agencies for a technical assistance opportunity to reduce social isolation for older adults. NCMM will facilitate collaborations among state-level agencies within a single state or tribal nation who are interested in working together to address the positive role of transportation in reducing social isolation among older adults. Eligible agencies include state or tribal departments of transportation, public health, aging, and similar agencies that have a role relevant to the issue.

Learn more about the opportunity

Training on One-Call/One-Click Systems

NCMM is seeking Letters of Interest from State, Regional, or Tribal agencies for a two part virtual training on One-Call/One-Click systems. The two-part initiative, requires state/regional/tribal applicants to assist in disseminating information to local communities within their boundaries. NCMM will provide free trainings to local communities selected within selected states, regions, or tribal nations, intending to increase relationships between state, regional, or tribal leaders and local communities implementing One-Call/One-Click systems. Eligible organizations include state departments of transportation, tribal nations, or other state- or regional-level organizations that can fund, provide guidance, and otherwise support local communities in setting up OC/OC systems.

One-Call/One-Click systems inform the public about most, if not all, available transportation options for all populations in a given geographic area. In their full deployment, One-Call/One-Click systems enable users to access trip information; where required, confirm eligibility for and book trips; and pay for trips. This allows community members to plan and implement travel within a single system or seamlessly across multiple systems.

Learn more about the opportunity

Gold. Silver. Bronze. Those have been popular words on TV the last few weeks with the summer Olympics taking place in Japan. Yes, because of the pandemic, it’s a little different because no fans are allowed, but the games have brought some much-needed positive excitement to the world. From the many records broken, to the stunning upsets, to the inspiring stories, it’s been refreshing to hear so many positive news stories after over a year and a half of pretty rough times. The Olympics have also highlighted some pressing issues in today’s society.

As I write this, I can think of three different types of Olympics: The “regular” Olympics, the Paralympics, and Special Olympics. I can’t help but think of the movie Murderball when describing the difference between the Paralympics and Special Olympics. The movie is about wheelchair rugby and in the movie the athletes make a not-so-nice comparison between the Paralympics and Special Olympics. It was trying to illustrate that Paralympians and Special Olympians are very different. Often, there’s confusing between the two which can be very degrading for both parties. Admittedly, I don’t know much about Special Olympics, but they are games for people with mostly intellectual disabilities. From my understanding, the athletes train and compete like other athletes, but it’s more about giving the athletes the opportunities to participate just like everyone else. It’s about having the ability to show personal strengths. The competition isn’t as intense. Whereas, in the Paralympics, the competition is just as intense as it is in the regular Olympics and the athletes are considered elite.

In recent years, both Special Olympics and the Paralympics have received more media coverage. The Paralympics begin a few weeks after the regular Olympics end this month. The opening ceremony and a few of the events will be on tv. I watched the opening ceremony of the last Paralympics a few years ago, and it was cool because I actually knew some of the athletes from Whitewater. I recently looked at the roster for this year’s USA Men’s Wheelchair Basketball team and I realized I still know four or five of the players. In fact, I was talking with one of my caregivers about it and I was saying I couldn’t believe some of those guys are still playing—they were playing on the Whitewater team over 15 years ago.

Watching the Olympics makes me wonder if things were different, would I be athletic? Surely, I probably wouldn’t be an Olympian or anything, but I think I would have done some sports. In a previous entry a few years ago, I talked about my love for sports. I absolutely love watching them—especially football and basketball. As I discussed, besides trying a little recreational power soccer a few nights in college, I’ve never played a real sport. Could I have been in Special Olympics or played in a Miracle League (where kids with disabilities are paired with able-bodied buddies to play baseball)? Probably, but I didn’t. It wasn’t on my radar, and, as a kid, I wanted to fit in with my friends. My sister and brother-in-law are involved in myTEAM TRIUMPH. It’s where able-bodied athletes volunteer to help someone with a disability complete a race. The able-bodied people often pull the person with a disability in a bike cart or an inner tube (while swimming). I know my sister would love for me participate in a race, but, for me, I can’t bring myself to do this. Saying this will make me sound incredibly vain, but, as a fully intellectually capable person, I can’t imagine being put it the spotlight for something others did. It’s amazing my sister and brother-in-law are involved in this, but, unfortunately, I don’t see myself ever doing it.

Competition is good for everyone. It’s motivates us to become better at whatever we’re doing. However, as we’ve seen in this Olympics, the pressure to perform can lead to serious mental health issues. Simone Biles, who was supposed to the gold medal favorite in gymnastics, took herself out of two of the competitions citing mental health issues. As unfortunate as it was, it has brought so much awareness to the issue. Social media has blown up with posts about this. While there are some negative posts out there about how she left her team hanging, most of the posts I’ve seen have fully embraced and supported Simone for recognizing it and stepping away. For many people, including myself, seeing her step away made them realize that it’s ok not to be ok. Besides the pandemic, I think it’ll be the biggest thing remembered from this Olympics. It’s amazing to see how much impact one athlete can have on the world. 

Athletics give us great entertainment. Sports have a funny way of pushing people to their limit, but also bringing people together. They make people realize what they are capable of and how far they can go. They also help us realize that humans are humans, and nobody is perfect. Sports teach us what’s important in life!

***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.

The U.S. Access Board has released a summary report on its four-part series of virtual meetings on making autonomous vehicles (AVs) accessible to passengers with disabilities. The sessions featured presentations by invited speakers who shared information and research results on design considerations and solutions for making AVs accessible to passengers with mobility, sensory, or cognitive disabilities. They also provided an opportunity for members of the public to pose questions and to share information and ideas during the session or through an online discussion platform. 

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The Internet has opened up a whole new world for society, but it's far from being fully accessible to all people. Accessible websites allow users to absorb digital content by senses like sound and sight. They also have keyboard-based and voice-based navigation abilities. One of the challenges of improving website accessibility is that hundreds of new websites are created each minute. 

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