Do you have a disability? Did you vote? What was your voter experience? The United States Election Project estimates that the turnout of eligible voters for the 2014 midterm election was the lowest, around 36.3%, since 1942.

For eligible voters with disabilities, simply getting to their polling place can be a struggle. As a result, voters with disabilities turnout at even lower rates. This results in less-representative elections - despite the fact that 16 percent of the population is considered to have a physical, developmental or learning disability, while the2010 U.S. Census puts the figure as high as 19 percent, or one in five Americans.

Read more about this discrepancy and efforts around polling place accessibility, getting out the vote efforts, and voter turnout.

• Huffington Post Article: It's 2014, But It's Still Difficult For People With Disabilities To Vote
• ADA.gov: Voting Polling Place Solutions
• ADA and Voting
• GoVoter.org: Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered Complete their voter experience survey

The Rocky Mountain ADA Center,a member of the ADA National Network is sponsoring a survey of individuals with disabilities to understand the impact of access to transportation on social opportunities. The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete online atTransportation Access for Persons with Disabilities.

Those who complete the survey may elect to be entered into a randomly selected drawing for one of eight $25 Visa gift cards.

The Rocky Mountain ADA Center, a member of the ADA National Network, is a federally funded program providing technical assistance regarding disability issues. This survey will be used to inform the training, materials, and telephone consultation services available from the Rocky Mountain ADA Center (www.adainformation.org)and other members of the ADA National Network.

If you would like additional information, please contact Keith Christensen atkeith.christensen@usu.eduor435 797-0507.

Thank you for taking the time to participate.

Acceso de Transporte para Personas con Discapacidades

Disability rights activists celebrated the U.S. Supreme Courts decision eliminating the constitutional challenges to the landmark Affordable Care Act health care law. The law, which makes health care more accessible and affordable for millions of Americans, has a particularly significant impact on Americans with disabilities as a result of a number of provisions of the law, including the elimination of barriers to providing coverage for preexisting conditions, expanded access to medical equipment and services, and increased options for where individuals can receive services, including in their homes.

Other benefits of the law, as outlined by the Department of Health and Human Services, include an expanded Medicaid program, greater access to preventive services and the ability of individuals to stay on their parents plans until age 26, thereby making it easier for people with disabilities or chronic conditions to get insurance.

Furthermore, as ADAPT noted in a release following the decision, the law furthers the promise of the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court Olmstead decision, which gives people with disabilities the right to receive long-term care supports in the most integrated setting in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. One potential downside of the decision is that the ruling eliminated the federal governments authority to penalize states for choosing not to expand Medicaid, including provisions encouraging states to provide community services as an alternative to institutional services.

Governors of several states, for both political and financial reasons, have already indicated they will not expand their programs to increase coverage as the law allows. As one ADAPT official explained, it is important to put pressure on states to take advantage of these opportunities and not bend to the potential fiscal pressures. This is one of the great civil rights fights of our time: to ultimately see all people with disabilities live integrated in the community, not locked away in segregated settings." The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released an analysis of the impact of health care reform on individual state budgets, which includes talking points for advocacy efforts to encourage states to embrace the opportunity.

The US Census Bureau has published some information marking the 22^nd Anniversary of the ADA. These statistics are taken from Americans with Disabilities: 2010: http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p70-131.pdf">www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p70-131.pdf

Population Distribution

57 million

Number of people with a disability living in the United States in 2010. They represent 19 percent of the civilian noninstitutionalized population.

By age

8 percent of children under 15 have disabilities.

21 percent of people 15 and older have disabilities.

17 percent of people 21 to 64 have disabilities.

50 percent of adults 65 and older have disabilities.

20%

Percentage of females with a disability, compared with 17 percent of males. (When adjusted for the aging of the population, the disability rate was 18 percent for both males and females).

Specific Disabilities

8 million

Number of people 15 and older who have a hearing difficulty. Among people 65 and older, 4 million have difficulty hearing.

8 million

Number of people 15 and older with a vision difficulty.

31 million

Number of people 15 and older who have difficulty walking or climbing stairs.

4 million

Number of people who used a wheelchair to assist with mobility. This compares with 12 million people who used a cane, crutches or walker.

On the Job

41%

Percentage of people 21 to 64 with a disability who were employed.

28%

Percentage of people 21 to 64 with severe disabilities who were employed. This compares with 71 percent for individuals with nonsevere disabilities.

Income and Poverty

$1,961

Median monthly earnings for people 21 to 64 with a disability, compared with $2,724 for those with no disability.

$1,577

Median monthly earnings for people 21 to 64 with severe disabilities, while those with nonsevere disabilities had median monthly earnings of $2,402.

$2,838

Median monthly earnings for people 21 to 64 with disabilities associated only with communication, including blindness or difficulty seeing, deafness or difficulty hearing, and difficulty having speech understood.

29%

Percentage of people 15 to 64 with severe disabilities who were in poverty, while 18 percent with nonsevere disabilities were in poverty.

Program Participation

59%

Percentage of people 15 to 64 with severe disabilities who receive public assistance. Thirty-three percent receive social security benefits. This compares with 9 percent of adults 15 to 64 with nonsevere disabilities that receive Social Security benefits.

28%

Percentage of adults with severe disabilities who receive food stamp benefits, compared with 8 percent for those with no disability.

11%

Percentage of people 15 to 64 with severe disabilities who receive public housing assistance. This compares with 9 percent of people 65 and older with severe disabilities.

Health Insurance

48%

Percentage of adults 15 to 64 with severe disabilities who receive government health coverage.

40%

Percentage of adults 15 to 64 with severe disabilities who have private health insurance coverage.

23%

Percentage of people with severe disabilities who receive Medicare coverage.

35%

Percentage of people 15 to 64 with severe disabilities who receive Medicaid, while 9 percent have dual coverage, receiving Medicare and Medicaid benefits.

21%

Percentage of people 15 to 64 with severe disabilities who were uninsured, not statistically different from the 21 percent of those with nonsevere disabilities.

Editors note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Facts for Features are customarily released about two months before an observance in order to accommodate magazine production timelines. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureaus Public Information Office: telephone: 301-763-3030; or e-mail: <pio@census.gov>.

As the public comment period draws to a close on a federal proposal detailing what qualifies as community-based housing for people with disabilities, the issue is sparking controversy.

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2011/06/14/community-living-divisive...

What do you think?

The Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD) has developed its next five-year State Plan and it is now available for public comment. Please review the draft of the BPDD's 2012-2016 State Plan and complete our online survey to help us to continue to improve the quality of life for people with developmental disabilities in Wisconsin.

• Review the draft of the BPDD's 2012-2016 State Plan.
• To provide comments on the State Plan, please complete the online survey.
• More information about how to provide your input.

For the first time, the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education (RPSE) has joined forces with the annual Wisconsin Film Festival to sponsor Film*Able: Disabilities on Film, a series of eight disability-related films to be shown during the popular, four-day festival.

The Wisconsin Film Festival has been held every April since 1999 at venues on and around the UW-Madison campus. RPSE Assistant Professor Audrey Trainor approached Meg Hamel, the festivals director, with the idea of sponsoring a series of films that are more realistic in their portrayal of people living with disabilities. Most films resort to stereotypes, showing individuals with disabilities as victims, unlikely heroes, or in need of rescuing.

Predictable plots and themes tell us more about how people without disabilities form opinions that allay fears about acquiring and living with adversity, Trainor says. While the films in the Film*Able series have little in common with one another, they all challenge these stereotypical portrayals.

The series includes award-winning documentaries and autobiographies about people with developmental and physical disabilities and tackles real issues such as inadequate worker compensation coverage and the relationship between different and disabled.

A complete schedule and short description of the series eight diverse films is below. Advance tickets are available through Wednesday, April 11, and can be ordered online or at the Festival Box Office. For details, visit http://www.wifilmfest.org/.

To learn more about the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education, go to the RPSE website: http://www.education.wisc.edu/rpse/.

Film*Able: Disabilities on Screen schedule

Thursday, April 12

7:15 p.m., Frederic March Play Circle Theater (Memorial Union, second floor)

Escape Velocity The story of an artist with Attention Deficit Disorder. Voted Best Experimental Film at the 2006 USA Film Festival.

BraindamadjdTake II An autobiography of a man who suffered a traumatic brain injury at the age of 30, and his determination to get his life back.

9:30 p.m., Wisconsin Union Theater

Heart of an Empire A documentary about the Fighting 501^st Legion, a Star Wars fan group that visits childrens hospitals and participates in charity fundraisers.

Friday, April 13

7:30 p.m., Monona Terrace Convention Center

When Pigs Fly The story of a woman who is obsessively devoted to raising abandoned pigs despite being in a wheelchair.

The Cost of Living An award-winning adaptation of a stage play featuring a street performer with no legs.

10:00 p.m., Bartell Theater

Black Sun A collaboration between an artist who unexpectedly lost his sight and a filmmaker who creates the images to tell his story. Also playing on Saturday, April 14, at 1:45 p.m.

Saturday, April 14

11:15 a.m., Frederic March Play Circle Theatre

The Collector of Bedford Street An Oscar-nominated documentary short about a New York City neighborhood that rallies together to care for a man with developmental disabilities.

Kiss My Wheels The story of the Zia Hot Shots, a nationally ranked junior wheelchair basketball team.

1:45 p.m., Bartell Theater

Black Sun

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On March 16, 2011, the FCC's Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC) released a national on-line survey to determine the most effective and efficient technologies and methods by which persons with disabilities may access Next Generation 9-1-1 emergency services systems. Among other things, the survey asks about accessing emergency services via video, text, and voice. The results of the survey will inform the EAAC as it develops recommendations for the FCC to draft rules to ensure that people with disabilities can access NG 9-1-1 services. The survey is available in English, Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL) video).

This survey will be available until April 24, 2011. We encourage people with disabilities to complete this survey, and share information about the survey with other people with disabilities and organizations that represent persons with disabilities.

Link to the survey in English and ASL:

http://fcc.eaac.sgizmo.com/s3

Link to the survey in Spanish:

http://fcc.eaac-es.sgizmo.com/s3

The following information was provided by theDBTAC-Great Lakes ADA Center (www.adagreatlakes.org) for your information.