Press release - Legislative Town Hall Meeting on 2/21/14

From the East Bay Developmental Disabilities Legislative Coalition

Developmental Disabilities Community Hosts Legislative Town Hall on Employment

February 21, 2014 from 9:30 am – 12 pm
State Building Auditorium, 1515 Clay Street, Oakland

For more information call (510) 286-0439

Disability Inclusion, The New Green?

By Judy Owen, Contributor - Forbes

October is National Disability Employment Awareness month, so all month I will try to bring some special postings about what is going on in the world of disability employment. I’m excited to kick off the month with a Q and A post with my good friend, J.R. Harding. My boss, Jim introduced me to J.R. a few years ago and we hit it off and have looked for ways to collaborate ever since. J.R.’s story is one of strength, determination and perseverance.

You see, J.R. was a star scholar and football player in high school. He had aspirations of playing football at an NCAA power house school. That is, until one altercation with a fellow team mate left him a quadriplegic. Despite the injuries he managed to graduate high school with his class. He has since gone on to complete his Educational Doctorate. He has served on state and national advisory committees pertaining to disabilities, mostly focused on employment and transportation. He can also now add published author to his long list of accomplishments as he wrote an autobiographical book which was released last year, called “Now What?” It’s an inspirational story that I must recommend you read.

Read more HERE.

Job Woes Remain For People With Disabilities

By Shaun Heasley from disabilityscoop

For the fourth month in a row, the unemployment rate among people with disabilities crept higher in August, the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday.

The jobless rate hit 13.9 percent for Americans with disabilities in August, up from 13.6 percent the month prior.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate among the general population improved slightly, falling to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent.

Nonetheless, the jobless figures represent only part of the picture. Statistics show that during the same period, the number of people — both with disabilities and without — who gave up on looking for work also grew.

The Labor Department began tracking employment among people with disabilities in October 2008. There is not yet enough data compiled to establish seasonal trends among this population, so statistics for this group are not seasonally adjusted.

Data on people with disabilities covers those over the age of 16 who do not live in institutions. The first employment report specific to this population was made available in February 2009. Now, reports are released monthly.

Article HERE.

Why Autism Moms Earn Less

A new study shows that mothers of children with autism earn 56 percent less on average than moms with typically developing kids, but the reason why might come as a surprise.
Rather than difficulties related to the autism diagnosis itself, researchers behind the new study say they believe the lack of support available for kids with autism — even as compared to those who have other types of disabilities — is likely the reason behind the stark income disparities uncovered.
For the study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, researchers analyzed data from a national government survey of families of nearly 70,000 kids including 261 with autism and 2,921 with other health limitations.
They found that while mothers of children with autism were likely to be older and more educated than other moms, these parents consistently earned less money. Even as compared to mothers of kids with other health limitations, moms dealing with autism took home 35 percent less, the study found.
Overall, the toll was significant, with families that included a child with autism taking in 28 percent less income on average than families with typically developing kids.
“It’s really just a hit in income,” says David Mandell of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who served as the study’s senior author. “I expected just from interacting with so many families with autism that we would have mothers leaving the workplace, but I did not expect the income difference.”
Read more of Michelle Diamente's Disability Scoop article HERE.

Employment of Individuals with Disabilities in the Federal Workforce

Participant-Identified Leading Practices That Could Increase the Employment of Individuals with Disabilities in the Federal Workforce more on this article click here:
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-81SP