Posted on October 13, 2015
Now that the ballyhoo behind the silver anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act has died down, please allow me (with considerable regret – believe me) to voice this uncomfortable truth: The ADA, landmark legislation though it is, capable at any turn of protecting the rights of people with disabilities, continues to spawn negative consequences.
As Dr. Ronald Meinert and Francis K. O. Yuen noted in their book, “Controversies and Disputes in Disability and Rehabilitation,” the ADA trivializes real
This entry was posted in accessibility, Americans with Disabilities Act, civil rights, community living, employment, inclusion, people with disabilities, transportation, Uncategorized and tagged ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act, Bragdon v. Abbott, challenging disabilities, Dr. Ronald Meinert, Francis K. O. Yuen, invisible disabilities, marginal disabilities, non-competitive jobs, U.S. Supreme Court, vocational rehabilitation.
Posted on October 9, 2015
A colleague and I were left waiting for his DART paratransit bus, yet again, last week. It would arrive a full hour and 15 minutes after his scheduled pick-up, giving us abundant time in the hot sun to grouse about and consider the ever-late paratransit bus in Delaware. I’ve worked in the disability sector in Delaware for more than 15 years; the late pick-ups and drop-offs were a problem then and they continue today. We brainstormed how we could
Posted on October 1, 2015
Here’s the amazing thing about Artfest, the annual community event that the Center for Disabilities Studies and Art Therapy Express hosted in Newport on Saturday.
It’s not the wondrous art that was created in two hours by people with disabilities. It’s not that every imaginable adaptive art tool and every available University of Delaware student volunteer seemed to be there to assist in the creative process. And no, it wasn’t that the largest turnout in Artfest’s history happened the day
This entry was posted in accessibility, Center for Disability Studies, inclusion, people with disabilities, The Arts, Uncategorized and tagged accessibility, adaptive art tools, Art Therapy Express, Artfest, autism, Center for Disabilities Studies, CLSC, community, Down syndrome, inclusion, Junior Partners in Policymaking, the arts, University of Delaware, volunteerism.
Posted on August 13, 2015
It concerns me when I hear from people who’ve stopped reading because of their disability. It concerns me because I can relate – I’ve been there – and because many of these people, it turns out, can continue reading.
One day, a few years ago, I stopped reading books because it had become difficult, with my muscular dystrophy, to physically pick them up and turn the pages. I felt so frustrated. Reading books had been an important part of my
Posted on July 23, 2015
If only events like the one last Wednesday at the University of Delaware happened more often, and at far more institutions of higher learning. That day, young adults with intellectual disabilities and their families attended a student orientation for UD’s Career & Life Studies Certificate (CLSC) program, where the young adults learned how they would soon get the opportunity to extend their academic knowledge, sharpen their skills to live more autonomously, and refine their life and career goals.
Unfortunately, though,
This entry was posted in Education, inclusion, intellectual Disabilities, people with disabilities, Uncategorized and tagged Career and Life Studies Certificate (CLSC) program, disability, Higher Education Affordability Act, Higher Education Opportunity Act, inclusion, individuals with disabilities, intellectual disabilities, President Obama, Tom Harkin, University of Delaware.
