ADA Ruling Puts Emergency Planners On Notice

A recent court ruling that New York City’s emergency plans violate the Americans with Disabilities Act could have widespread implications for cities across the country.

Last week, a federal judge ruled that New York is not adequately prepared to help its residents with disabilities in the event of a disaster, citing insufficient evacuation plans and shelters that are inaccessible, reports NPR.

The ruling came in the first case of its kind to go to trial and followed last year’s Superstorm Sandy when many of the city’s residents with disabilities were left stranded.

Now, experts say other cities are on notice. Bryan Koon, a member of the board of the National Emergency Management Association, told NPR that New York has been well respected for its emergency planning so a ruling against the city will likely spark officials in other localities to rethink their approach.

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

A Deaf Actor Finds a Rich Role Off-Broadway

The role of Billy in the new off-Broadway play “Tribes” presents a rich vein for an actor: a deaf adult child confronts hearing parents who have shunned sign language and most of deaf culture, insisting instead that their son rely on lip-reading and at times fragmented speech.

Russell Harvard plays the part in the bitterly comic British family drama by playwright Nina Raine starting previews this week at the Barrow Street Theatre in New York.

Harvard, a 30-year-old Texas native who is deaf, grew up with sign language and uses it in the play. Harvard also speaks in the role—though he has learned a British accent for the part.

The actor, who played Daniel Day-Lewis’s grown son in the 2007 film “There Will Be Blood,” mostly has portrayed deaf characters on screen. In the 2010 independent movie “The Hammer,” he played the lead role of a deaf wrestler. “Tribes,” which received a 2011 Olivier Award nomination for best play in London, is his third professional stage role.

Read more of Ellen Gamerman's The Wall Street Journal article HERE.

Special Education Programs, Private Placements, Under Assault

Across the country, states working on their budgets for the coming fiscal year are finding it difficult to make ends meet. And the once-sacred pool of money for special education programs is no longer invulnerable. Specific programs and spending overall are at risk.

Read more of Nirvi Shah On Special Education article HERE.