Soon To Be Wed, Couple With Disabilities Sue To Live Together

As they prepare for their wedding, a New York couple with special needs is headed to court to fight for the opportunity to live together once they become husband and wife.

Paul Forziano and Hava Samuels are getting married this weekend. But the couple — who live in separate group homes three miles apart in Manorville, N.Y. — don’t know if they will be able to live together even after exchanging wedding vows.

A lawyer for Forziano and Samuels says that administrators at the group homes where the two currently live have said they will not allow the couple to move in together after their nuptials.

Read more of Shaun Heasley's Disability Scoop article HERE.

Sue Austin: Deep sea diving … in a wheelchair

See the TED post HERE.

The British Paraorchestra

Congress Urged To Create Tax-Free Disability Savings Accounts

Disability advocates are launching a major push to pressure Congress to pass legislation before year’s end that would offer a new way to save money without jeopardizing government benefits.

A broad coalition of three-dozen national organizations is backing the effort to support legislation known as the Achieving Better Life Experience Act, or ABLE Act. The bill would allow people with disabilities the ability to create special savings accounts where they could accrue as much as $100,000 without losing access to benefits like Social Security or Medicaid.

Advocates with the National Down Syndrome Society, Autism Speaks and The Arc are convening a press conference this Thursday on Capitol Hill to mark the one-year point since the bill was initially introduced and to revive their efforts to get the proposal enacted.

With 240 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives and 38 in the Senate, Sara Weir, vice president of advocacy at the National Down Syndrome Society, says momentum behind the bill is strong and advocates intend to capitalize on it. Weir’s group is targeting key members of Congress by flying in a group of 20 self-advocates and parents of those with disabilities from their districts across the country to lobby lawmakers in Washington this week.

Read more of Michelle Diament's Disability Scoop article HERE.

Film and media workshop for adults with developmental disabilities coming to Bay Area

Joey Travolta’s Inclusion Films and Futures Explored, Inc., a non-profit corporation that provides life skills and work-related training to adults with developmental disabilities, today announced a partnership to launch a Practical Film and Media Workshop in the Bay Area. Expanding on the Inclusion Films Workshop in Southern California, the 20-week vocational program is designed to provide adults with developmental disabilities a working knowledge of film production and media, with the ultimate goal of finding employment and other opportunities in filmmaking or related industries.

Read more of Laura Shumaker's SF Gate article HERE.

Central and East Contra Costa County Transition Resource Fair

Central and East Contra Costa County Transition Resource Fair
Friday October 26, 2012
Willow Creek Center, Concord
9:00 to 12 noon (setup begins 8:00 am)
Vendor application HERE.

Registration form HERE.

Secretary Duncan, White House Officials Join Disability Stakeholders in Commemorating Anniversary of Key Civil Rights Law

Leaders from the disability community joined U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and other senior officials from the White House and the Education Department Monday for a panel discussion celebrating the 39th anniversary of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Joining Secretary Duncan were Kareem Dale, associate director at the White House Office of Public Engagement and special assistant to the President for disability policy; Russlynn Ali, assistant secretary for civil rights; and Michael Yudin, acting assistant secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

Also speaking at the event: John L. Wodatch, former chief of the Disability Rights Section at the Department of Justice and author of regulations implementing Section 504; Michael Winter, Department of Transportation; Charles Boyer, senior advisor for military families at the Department of Education; and Brian Hawthorne with the Student Veterans of America.

In addition, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released Disability Rights: Enforcement Highlights published to commemorate the 39th anniversary of Section 504, and reviewing OCR’s work over the last three years to enforce this important civil rights statue.

Read more of the Ed.gov article HERE.

Collaboration To Promote Self Determination (CPSD) report

The Collaboration to Promote Self Determination (CPSD) is a coalition of national
organizations that advocates for innovative public policy reform focused on promoting
the effective transition of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities into
adulthood by preparing them to pursue and obtain optimal outcomes in the areas of
employment, economic advancement, and independent living. Based on extensive
research and data, we strongly believe that all students with disabilities, including those
with intellectual and developmental disabilities, should have access to the grade-level
general education curriculum, attain the academic standards set forth by states and
participate in fully inclusive general education classrooms and other school settings.
CPSD also believes strongly that public policies should promote students with disabilities
as part of the general education population and not as a segregated subpopulation.  


See the CPSD ALL KIDS COUNT, September 2012 report HERE.

2012 Media Access Awards Celebrate Disability Awareness and Inclusion in Media and Entertainment

Late Night Funny Man Jimmy Kimmel to Host Awards Reception
with Jane Lynch, Helen Hunt, and many more on hand

Media Acc

Los Angeles, CA (September 11, 2012) – The 2012 Media Access Awards will be held on October 10, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. with a breakfast and an awards ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. This annual event honors individuals in the entertainment and broadcast industries for their efforts in promoting awareness of the disability experience, accessibility for people with disabilities, and the accurate depiction of characters with disabilities. Emceed by Emmy-winner Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live), coming off the heels of hosting this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards, honorees of the 2012 Media Access Awards will include television writer-producer tour-de-force Shonda Rhimes, creator of Grey’s Anatomy, and Lauren Potter, star of FOX’s hit comedy, Glee.  Among the presenters will be Emmy winner Jane Lynch (Glee), Oscar winner Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets, Mad About You), Oscar nominee John Hawkes (The Sessions,Winter’s Bone), RJ Mitte (Breaking Bad), the cast of Sundance Channel‘s Push Girls, and more.

Read more of the SAG-AFTRA ONE UNION article HERE.

WEB TV needs to have needs to have captions starting next month, FCC rules

TV networks and web video sites will have to start providing closed captions for any TV content available online by the end of September, the FCC ruled a few days ago (PDF of the ruling). The ruling reaffirmed the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, which was signed into law by President Obama in October of 2010, as well as an FCC ruling from earlier this year.    However, the industry got a bit of a break, with the FCC ruling that they won’t have to provide customizable captions until early 2014.

Captions for web video have been a bit of a hot button issue for some time: Disability advocates have been arguing that web video providers aren’t doing enough to make their clips accessible to disabled viewers, and have actually sued both CNN and Netflix over missing captions.

Read more of Janko Roettger's GIGAOM article HERE.

Olympiad festival to 'open doors for disabled artists'

A 10-day festival showcasing the work of nearly 200 disabled artists will open on 30 August as part of the Cultural Olympiad.

Organisers of the Unlimited Festival at London's Southbank Centre have talked about a chance to "transform opportunities for deaf and disabled artists" and create a "milestone change".

Read  Emma Saunders' BBC New's article HERE.

San Jose Giants 4 th Annual Disability Awareness Night Friday July 20, 2012

Disability Awareness Night will be an opportunity for ALL persons with disabilities, their families, care providers, and the community at large to enjoy a FREE baseball game while becoming informed on resources available for persons with disabilities.

Local service providers will be distributing FREE tickets to the game!


More information HERE.

Hoyer Floor Statement on GOP Provision to Undermine Access for People with Disabilities

Community Agency Highlights - Regional Center of the East Bay

Interview with Cynthia Sage, Case Manager at the Regional Center of the East Bay

What does your organization do for children of special needs?

We serve adults and children with developmental disabilities. We purchase various services to assist clients and families on a needs basis.

How can a person access your services (i.e. fees, application process, eligibility, ages, etc.)?

Contact the receptionist at 510.618.6100. (S)he will refer you to an intake coordinator.

How does your program support social interaction among all children, typically developing and with special needs?

Depending on the need of the client we directly fund various services or recommend agencies enabling our clients to function in the least restrictive environment.

Can you tell us what events/activities are happening this year? Dates?

Depending on the need of the client we directly fund various services or recommend agencies enabling our clients to function in the least restrictive environment.

Any suggestions for other community supports for parents to check out?

I always refer people to the Care Parent Network. Also check out the therapeutic recreation offerings from you town’s parks and recreation department.

What have you found most rewarding working with (name of org)?

Working with the 89 families on my case load. They are Everyday Heroes to me.

What is your favorite activity?

Yearly interviews with my families.

Contact Information:
Cynthia Sage
RCEB
(925) 691-2300 receptionist

Regional Center of the East Bay, website HERE.

Guardian Spirit designed to teach vocational, social, life skills to people with autism

When Marcus Morris was a child, adults considered him incorrigible. Physicians incorrectly diagnosed him with multiple personality disorder, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

He grew up a ward of the state, unadoptable, and as an adult he blew through 68 jobs in 10 years, unable to earn a steady paycheck. He was void of self-worth.

Morris, now 32, eventually was diagnosed with autism, a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties and restricted, repetitive and stereotypical patterns of behavior.

He wanted to socialize with others but failed miserably and knew it.

While coming to terms with his diagnosis and treatment, Morris immersed himself in the safety of a virtual world. As he confided his habit to his therapist, his counselor suggested an online three-dimensional virtual world where Morris could socialize and connect with others.

He soon was interacting with others through an avatar, a virtual incarnation of himself. He was able to explore the world, meet people, socialize, participate in activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with others.

He thrived in this parallel universe. He could make mistakes and not be fired or chastised. He gained confidence and a renewed sense of self-worth, traits he feared were lost. He rediscovered them in a virtual website.

He is now so self-assured that on April 21, Morris, and a savvy board of directors, will launch Guardian Spirit, a 3D virtual world that Morris founded. The virtual setting is designed to teach vocational, social and life skills to people with autism through simulated training.

Read more of Cindy Uken's The Billings Gazette article HERE.

Oldest Man With Down Syndrome Lives To 83

A Minnesota man recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest with Down syndrome has died at age 83.

Bert Holbrook was identified as the world’s oldest man with Down syndrome in November 2008. The Waseca, Minn. resident died on Wednesday of natural causes, a caregiver told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Those who knew Holbrook attributed his long life to good genes. They told the Star Tribune that Holbrook, who outlived his parents and his sister, was a “charismatic” man with a constant smile on his face.

Read more of Michelle Diament's Disability Scoop article HERE.

The Man Who Learned to Talk From Howard, Reeg and Dave

Did you hear the one about the guy who learned how to make friends and influence people with the help of Howard Stern and David Letterman?

David Finch, a former marketing exec who has been dealing with the socially crippling aspects of Asperger’s syndrome, says he overcame his awkwardness by studying the top talk-show hosts.

Each star did one thing exceptionally well, Finch discovered. And by copying what they did, he began — for the first time in his life — to piece together a public personality for himself.

He’s just written a book — “The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man’s Quest to Be a Better Husband” — about his experience.

Read more of Matt Abraham's New York Post article HERE.

Police force's sloppy investigations leave abuse of disabled unsolved

California has assembled a unique police force to protect about 1,800 of its most vulnerable patients - men and women with cerebral palsy, severe autism and other mental disabilities who live in state institutions and require round-the-clock monitoring and protection from abuse.

But an investigation by California Watch has found that detectives and patrol officers at the state's five board-and-care institutions routinely fail to conduct basic police work even when patients die under mysterious circumstances.

Most abuse cases simply are logged but never prosecuted, including the suspicious death of a severely autistic man whose neck was broken. Three medical experts said the 50-year-old patient, Van Ingraham, likely had been killed. But the center's detective, a former nurse who'd never investigated a suspicious death, failed to identify what - or who - had caused the fatal injury.

The police force, called the Office of Protective Services, often learns about potential criminal abuse hours or days after the fact - if they find out at all. Of the hundreds of abuse cases reported at the centers since 2006, California Watch could find just two cases where the department made an arrest.

Read more of Ryan Gabrielson's California Watch article HERE.

Disabled man who won civil rights lawsuit moves into new group home

When the moving truck finally arrived, David Cicarelli popped out of his parent's house with a 10-pack of juice boxes, excited that his long wait was over at last.

The movers were behind schedule, but the real delay to leave a Lincolnshire facility began years ago for Cicarelli, 38, who has developmental disabilities and had long been denied his request to live closer to his family in a community-based group home.

On Thursday, though, Cicarelli prepared to end his temporary stay at his parents' home and spend his first night at his new home in Wheeling — the result of a federal lawsuit settled with a landmark consent decree in June. Cicarelli was one of five plaintiffs in the civil rights case, filed against the state of Illinois in 2005 in an effort to bring the state into compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

Read more of Lisa Black's Chicago Tribune article HERE.

Wheelchair tennis star Randy Snow to be inducted to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012

Snow will be honored posthumously for his remarkable wheelchair tennis career during which he achieved the world No. 1 ranking in singles and doubles and won 22 major titles, as well as for his immense contributions to growing the sport worldwide.

- Snow is the second of the Class of 2012 Inductees to be announced. The remainder of the Class of 2012 will be announced within the month ahead. The Induction Ceremony will be July 14, 2012 in Newport, R.I.

Read more on the U.S. Paralympics website HERE.