Wishing all the dads a very happy Fathers Day!
As a special tribute to fathers and their children living with Down syndrome, the Jerome Lejeune Foundation launched a video this week in honor of Father’s Day called “My Dear Dad." Please watch and share this heartwarming video that provides a glimpse into moments shared by a father and his very special son. #MyDearDad
www.whitehouse.gov
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a landmark civil rights law that promises equal access and equal opportunity — regardless of ability.
gizmodo.com
The world is tough place to navigate in a wheelchair. But finding ramps and elevators can be easier thanks to this handy map app that anyone can edit.
www.rudermanfoundation.org
ADA compliance is not a one-time fix; it must be a continuous commitment to ensure that everyone who comes into a venue can enjoy all programs provided.
What if…?
get.google.com
Let’s work together to help change this. The ‘Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities’ aims to expand opportunity and independence for people with disabilities. Click here to take part.
garykarpspeaks.com
Fri08 NPR Gets It Badly Wrong Posted by Gary Karp on May 8, 2015 in Disability & Culture | 0 comments On Thursday, May 7, All Things Considered aired a report titled: “Some Very Premature Babies Can Survive With Aggressive Treatment, Report Finds.” Pretty fired up about it, I posted a comment on the…
Actress Marlee Matlin, who is deaf and the wife of a police officer, teamed up with ACLU and advocacy group HEARD, on an American Sign Language video to ensure deaf people know their rights when interacting with law enforcement. For more information, go to
www.pbs.org
The MDA Telethon announced its end on May 1. The Labor Day event, hosted annually by comedian Jerry Lewis from 1966 to 2011, was reviled by many disability rights activists and many people with disabilities and their allies.
Happy Take Your Child to Work Day! I'm excited to teach my daughter there's no limit to what she can achieve.
Have you seen #policy4all? Check out today's episode, and the archives while you're there!
In this edition Tuesday interviews Samantha Crane the Director of Public Policy at ASAN.
Dara, Tom, @[100000148095404:2048:Bruce] and @[1044967074:2048:Merrill] at ADAPT Fun Run today
this is very sadMike Auberger, ADAPT National Organizer until 2002, died this morning. Mikewas one of the main organizers for ADAPT starting with his work with WadeBlank and other Atlantis members in the early 1980s to get lifts on buses inDenver and carrying on through the passage of the ADA and into the work toFree Our People from nursing homes and other institutions. Mike was readyto take on the powers that be that stood in the way of the equality forpeople with all kinds of disabilities. A master strategist, Mike was alwayslooking to increase the impact of each of ADAPT's actions. Though he hadnot been active with ADAPT for some time, his contributions to disabilityrights in general and ADAPT in particular were tremendous.
Innovation at its best.
As a freshman at MIT, Tish Scolnik dreamed of becoming a doctor until she decided to take a unique class called "Wheelchair Design for Developing Countries." That class led her to a new major in mechanical engineering and ignited her drive to design a new kind of wheelchair — one that could give millions of people who live in areas with rough, uneven terrain the ability to move about freely. Today, as the head of her own social enterprise, Scolnik has spent the past several years perfecting her original design for a versatile all-terrain wheelchair and recently sent 1,000 Freedom Chairs to wheelchair riders in developing countries.
"The need for a product like ours is enormous," Scolnik told NPR. "The [World Health Organization] estimated about 65 million people in developing countries need a wheelchair to get around, and a majority of them live in rural areas that are very challenging to get around." In many countries, especially in rural areas, roads aren't paved, sidewalks are non-existent, and the terrain can be very rocky and uneven; as a result, traditional wheelchairs designed originally for hospital use are of little help.
When she first started to reinvent the wheelchair, Scolnik realized that small improvements to the standard wheelchair wouldn't be enough to meet local needs; an entirely new wheelchair design was needed. To make it possible for wheelchair riders to navigate difficult terrain, Scolnik added levers to her chair. Pushing on levers rather than wheels is more biomechanically efficient and, by shifting the position of their hands on the levers, riders can "shift gears." Grabbing low on the levers is a "high gear" that lets riders travel 80% faster than a regular wheelchair, while holding high on the levers is a "low gear" that provides the torque needed to power over obstacles.
As she tested and refined her design by consulting with wheelchair riders in seven developing countries on three continents — such as the field testing trip to Haiti pictured here — Scolnik also realized the importance of designing a wheelchair that could be easily repaired with locally available parts. Since bicycle shops are common throughout the developing world, she made every movable part on the Freedom Chair, from the tires to the bearings, out of bicycle parts.
This past month, Scolnik's Boston-based company, Global Research Innovation and Technology or GRIT, has also made the Freedom Chair available for purchase by wheelchair riders in the US looking for a way to access diverse terrain ranging from sand to snow. Sales of chairs will also help to support GRIT's efforts to distribute the chairs to people in need around the world. And, it is this potential to transform people's lives that has motivated Scolnik since that first college class — as she told NPR, "As an engineer, it's just so meaningful to see something that you designed impact somebody's life and we get to do that every day which is pretty awesome."
To learn more about Tish Scolnik's Freedom Chair, visit @[289491454453797:274:GRIT]'s website at http://gogrit.org/index.html — you can also watch an interview with her on NPR at http://bit.ly/1Gm921q
For a wonderful book about more female innovators and inventors throughout history, check out “Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women” for readers 8 to 13 at http://www.amightygirl.com/girls-think-of-everything
For two excellent picture books about Mighty Girls who love to invent, both for ages 4 to 8, check out "Rosie Revere, Engineer" (http://www.amightygirl.com/rosie-revere-engineer) and “The Most Magnificent Thing" (http://www.amightygirl.com/the-most-magnificent-thing).
If you're looking for ways to encourage your children to become the next engineering and technology innovators, visit A Mighty Girl's STEM toy section at http://www.amightygirl.com/toys/toys-games/science-math
For stories starring Mighty Girls with a range of disabilities or with family members with disabilities, visit our section on "People with Disabilities" at http://www.amightygirl.com/books/fiction/multicultural-fiction?cat=52
Among the stories featured is "Zoom!", a humorous picture book about a young girl with a love of speed and her very special wheelchair for ages 4 to 8 (http://www.amightygirl.com/zoom) and "Susan Laughs," a picture book starring a girl who happens to use a wheelchair for ages 4 to 7 (http://www.amightygirl.com/susan-laughs).
Cool!!
This year's Washington Post Peeps Diorama Contest had "25 Peeps cupcakes celebrating the 25th birthday of the Ameripeeps with Disabilities Act (ADA) and reflecting on the diversity, talents and contributions of Peeps with disabilities."
Submitted by Julie Clark http://wapo.st/1xz1GnW
tedxinnovations.ted.com
Educator Torrie Dunlap believes that we look at kids with disabilities the wrong way. By calling their needs "special" and pushing them into "special" schools, groups and activities, we segr…
www.idaction.org
The Department of Justice is pleased to announce that, as of today, individuals wishing to file ADA complaints with the Department will be able to fill out the form and submit it completely electronically. Filers will also immediately receive a "reference number" that can be used whenever contacting…
www.advocacymonitor.com
On March 9, the President announced our TechHire initiative in a speech to the National League of Cities. To kick off TechHire, 20 regions, with over 150,000 open technology jobs in 2014 and more t…
Wait, the student had to raise private money to install accessible doors so he could go to school??? What's wrong with this picture?
18-year-old Archer Hadley, who has cerebral palsy, raised over $80,000 to install automatic push button doors in his school.Hadley's classmates made a documentary about his efforts for PBS NewsHour's , which has been honored at a White House film fest. Learn more on NewsHour tonight.
A group of BPDD Partners in Policymaking at Disability Advocacy Day #WIDAD2015
…And it explicitly INcludes people with disabilities!
FACT: There are more than 500,000 job openings in IT. President Obama's new #TechHire initiative will help rapidly train more Americans for good-paying technology jobs → http://wh.gov/TechHire
www.r-word.org
My son was premature…..I just think that he couldn't wait to meet the world, so he ignored all the "rules" and came early.View Story ▼My son was premature…..I just think that he couldn't wait to meet the world, so he ignored all the "rules" and came early. I can remember the day as if it were ye…
We LOVE this kid!!
What a great kid! I love it! — with Sharon Clark and 3 others.
Happy #WRDD2015! Advocate for #RARE! Share your #WRDD photos with us on social using #WRDD2015 #RAREadvocate! Learn about World RARE Disease Day, here: http://bit.ly/WRDD2015
www.ncd.gov
Washington, DC – The National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency, in a cooperative agreement with the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS), will release “Home and Community-Based Services: Creating Systems for Success at Hom…
