Category: Uncategorized

See my friend Diane Weiner talk about Syracuse University’s new disability cultural center on Syracuse TV:

http://www.9wsyr.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=3199522&navCatId=378-diane%20wiener#vid

Subject: ACT Accommodations & GAO Calls on the DOJ to Protect Students' Rights
Reply-To: Rachael A Zubal-Ruggieri <razubal@SYR.EDU>

FYI

Standardized tests are often required to gain admission into postsecondary schools or to obtain professional certifications. Federal disability laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require entities that administer these tests to provide
accommodations, such as extended time or changes in test format, to students with disabilities. GAO examined (1) the types of accommodations individuals apply for and receive and how schools assist them, (2) factors testing companies consider when making decisions
about requests for accommodations, (3) challenges individuals and testing companies experience in receiving and granting accommodations, and (4) how federal agencies enforce compliance with relevant disability laws and regulations. Among the findings reported
by the GAO: "Most applicants GAO spoke with said they sought accommodations that they were accustomed to using, and some found it frustrating that the testing company would not provide the same accommodations!
 for the test." After studying this issue, the GAO recommends that the Department of Justice take steps to develop a strategic approach to enforcement such as by analyzing its data and updating its technical assistance manual. Justice agreed with GAO's
recommendation.

For more information go to

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-40

(From: USA Today)
January 17, 2012

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA– [Excerpt provided by Inclusion Daily Express] When Chrissy and Joe Rivera walked into a conference room at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) a few days ago, they thought they were going to see a slide show to help them start preparing their 3-year-old daughter Amelia for a kidney transplant.

Instead, a doctor and social worker told the Riveras that Amelia, who has a rare genetic disorder called Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, would not qualify for a transplant because she is "mentally retarded" and has "brain damage," Chrissy Rivera claimed in a blog post Thursday and in phone interviews.

The encounter shocked the New Jersey couple, but so did what happened next: The heavily connected online world of special needs parents kicked into high gear — and put one of the nation's top children's hospitals in a very hot seat. As of late Monday:

•More than 16,000 signatures have been added to an online petition at change.org demanding the hospital allow the transplant.

•Hundreds of complaints — along with some supportive comments for hospital staff — have been left at the CHOP Facebook page.

•More than two dozen bloggers, many of them parents of other children with disabilities, have put up posts supporting the Riveras and criticizing the hospital.

•Tweets using the hashtag #teamamelia continue to spread the story.

"That's the special needs community," says Sunday Stilwell, a Maryland blogger and mother of two boys with autism. She doesn't know the Riveras but started the change.org petition after reading the initial post and thinking "that could be my child," she says.

Entire article:
'Team Amelia' backs transplant for special needs child
http://tinyurl.com/6wr4u3u
South Jersey woman says daughter was denied transplant because of mental disability (NewsWorks)
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/32692
MLK, Civil Rights & Denying a Kidney Transplant (Jewish Journal)
http://tinyurl.com/77z9rtj
Brick Walls
http://www.wolfhirschhorn.org/2012/01/amelia/brick-walls/
Petition: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Allow the kidney transplant Amelia Rivera needs to survive (Change.org)
http://tinyurl.com/7hl7wdj

Last week I did something unintentional and vaguely horrid: I hit a button on a social media site (LinkedIn) and the damned thing has been emailing everyone I know and announcing that I want to “connect” with them. I swear I didn’t intend this– I’m not even sure how I did it, but Lo! I did it, and now I’m getting hundreds of emails from people, some of whom are cheerful, some bemused, some outright cranky. I don’t know how one does a “mea culpa” in cyberspace but this post is an attempt. I feel like one of those Amway guys– you know, the dude who used to be a friend but who now is hell bent on selling you industrial sized containers of silver polish. I’ve got a whole speech about the sadness of tarnished forks. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Newton Gingrich wants the credulous sons and daughters of the neo- confederacy to think Prez O is “putting people on food stamps” –a rhetoric of enforced commitment, which, taken to its logical extension means the POTUS is force feeding helpless Americans. The subtext is the poor really didn’t want to eat and now, acted upon as they are, they’re avoiding starvation to be polite. You see how it goes. Newt is outing their secret disinclination to survive.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=effDfpKYcVo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

"How rare to see a sparkling and spirited representation of what it’s actually like to walk through life with bipolar disorder. So let a thousand conversations bloom." –Jamie Stiehm in today's NY Times

It is rare to see any kind of disability portrayed on TV with honesty and integrity. Perhaps the tide is starting to turn with shows like "Homeland" and Marlee Matlin's "My Deaf Family" –we can only hope.