Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living

Connecting people to the power of independence

disability

Time for the 2013 Mayors’ Award Nominations

Do you know someone in our community who has done a fantastic job making life equal for people who have disabilities?

Junction 505 and The Bryan/College Station Mayor’s Committee on People with Disabilities is seeking nominations for this year’s annual Mayors’ Award. From the announcement: “This award is to acknowledge and recognize outstanding contributions by individuals in our community to eliminate attitudinal, physical, and social barriers for people with disabilities.”

Anyone in the community can nominate, and self-nominations are encouraged. Nominations are due by September 3, 2013. To access the nomination form and submission instructions, please click BCSMC Award Application 2013_2pg

The award will be presented at Junction 505’s annual Harvest Moon Fundraiser on Thursday, October 17, 2013.

Americans with Disabilities Act Anniversary

Press Release

July 2, 2013

For Immediate Release

July 26 marks the 23rd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. The ADA extends to individuals who have disabilities the right to equal access and opportunity in the areas of employment, transportation, public services, and telecommunications. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa initially sponsored the ADA in Congress, and President George H. W. Bush signed it into law on July 26, 1990. Implementation began in 1992, and in 2009 Congress passed some important updates and clarifications to the original law.

Job applicants with disabilities can now expect the same consideration as applicants without disabilities as long as they are “otherwise qualified,” meaning they meet education and experience requirements and can perform all of the essential functions of a job with or without “reasonable accommodations.” Those are modifications made to a job or job site that remove access barriers, such as building a wheelchair ramp at a job site.

When it comes to getting to work, or just around town, people who have disabilities can, under ADA, expect equal access to public transportation. Buses and trains have been redesigned to allow for mobility device access, and drivers and automated systems now announce stops and offer other similar features to make navigation accessible.

If the destination is a public place, individuals with disabilities can now expect to be able to access independently buildings and the products and services they contain. Extra wide doorways, ramps, Braille markings on doors and elevators, and restrooms with assistive structure are all tangible benefits of the ADA.

For those who have communication access needs such as hearing or speech impairments, the ADA significantly expands the scope of telecommunications technology to include the ready availability of teletypewriters (TTYs), telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs) and other relay networks to facilitate communication.

The overall purpose of the ADA is to level the proverbial playing field so that people who have disabilities can gain access to basic aspects of life that people without disabilities gain easily: employment, transportation, commerce, and communication. For more information about the ADA, please visit www.ada.gov or contact the Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living, www.bvcil.org.

504s and IEPs: The “Alphabet Soup” of Advocacy for Students with Disabilities

Your Special Education Rights is an online advocacy resource for parents of children who have disabilities and need customized support at school. The site is hosted by special education advocate Julie Swanson and attorney Jennifer Laviano, who explain complex legal and educational issues in plain English from a parent-to-parent point of view. The site features forums, videos, and a blog.

In one recent informative video, Jen and Julie, as they refer to themselves on-site, explain the differences between an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and a 504 Plan. Depending on needs, a student may have one, the other, or both.

According to Julie and Jen, 504 plans are for children who need only supporting accommodations at school, such as sitting up front or having use of an elevator, but do not need any modifications to the way instruction is delivered. Children who need adaptive instruction methods get IEPs.

Click here to watch this video, and be sure to explore the site for more information.

 

 

June is Child Vision Awareness Month

Each June,  the Pharmacy Council on Child Vision Care reminds youngsters and their parents about the importance of caring for their eyes. The mission of Child Vision Awareness Month has three parts:

  1. To better educate and counsel the public on children’s vision problems and detection of eye diseases in children and infants,
  2. To increase the number of school-aged children who have an eye exam by an eye doctor, and
  3. To increase the number of children with learning disabilities who have a developmental vision exam to rule out vision problems.

boy getting vision exam

The Hadley School for the Blind is acknowledging this month by highlighting four of its family education classes, including:

  1. Low Vision and School-Age Children
  2. Braille Teaching Methods for Children
  3. How to Be Your Child’s Advocate
  4. Parenting Children with Multiple Disabilities

BVCIL is acknowledging this month with media posts and an interactive display about how children, youth, and their parents can succeed in education and life with a vision impairment.

For additional information about this initiative, please contact Pharmacists Planning Service, Inc. (PPSI), c/o Pharmacy Council on Child Vision Care, 101 Lucas Valley Road, Suite 382, San Rafael, CA 94903.

Disasters and Disability: Be Prepared

Emergencies like natural disasters are bad for everyone who is affected, but for people who have disabilities, they can be even harder to navigate, survive, and recover. But, people who have disabilities can take special steps to help themselves be prepared.

Prepare for Emergencies Now: Information for People with Disabilities is a special new publication by The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It discussed important preparedness topics including building an emergency kit, making arrangements with others ahead of time, and developing a plan for communicating with first responders and disaster relief workers.

To access this guide, just click the titled link above or visit FEMA’s web site directly at http://www.ready.gov/individuals-access-functional-needs. People who need the guide in an alternative format can call FEMA at 1-800-480-2520 or email them at fema-publications-warehouse@fema.gov.

New Advocacy Video Addresses Restraint and Seclusion of Students with Disabilities in Public Schools

Check out this new advocacy video by Dan Habib. “Restraint and Seclusion” is about the effects of those practices on students who have disabilities and attend public schools. Visit Stop Hurting Kids to view the video and read more about this controversial issue.