From our good friend Scott Lissner at Ohio State University:
I would like to encourage you to support the National Forum on Disability Issues. The nonpartisan forum is the only event of its kind where the Presidential Candidates are invited to share their public policies which affect the 54 million people with disabilities in the United States.
The National Forum will be held on September 28, 2012 in Columbus Ohio and will also be webcast live across the country. (Note, since this event is held in Ohio the two Ohio candidates for U.S. Senate have also been invited to participate.) To date, there are more than 50 co-sponsors of the event, mostly national disability organizations. Attached are invitations sent to the Presidential Candidates, a current list of sponsors and a FAQ. Beyond promoting the event and possible sponsorship you can encourage others to write, e-mail or call the Campaign offices of President Obama, Governor Romney telling them:
- You hope they will demonstrate their commitment by personally participating the forum instead of sending their staff
- You hope they will address both broad disability issues (Education, Employment, Transportation, health care, Social Security…) as well as (list issues important to you such as financial aid supporting students with disabilities, accessible textbooks, captioning, universal design…) that are particularly important to me.
To contact the campaigns:
• Obama: http://www.barackobama.com/contact-us/call-write
• Romney: http://www.mittromney.com/forms/other
You can contact Susan Hetrick for more details on sponsorship or the event.
Susan Hetrick
Director of Public Policy/The Ability Center
Coordinator/Ohio Disability Vote Coalition
614-575-8055
866-575-8055 (toll free)
Planet of the Blind 