Yankees take game 2 of World Series

The Yankees fought back and won game 2 of the World Series last night. On to Citizens Bank Park for the next three games.

Short on time, but do want to show a photo of a Yankees fan who has decorated his scooter in honor of his team. He has a huge Yankees cap above his head, a baseball bat armrest and a Yankees logo on the side, all done on a blue scooter.

May the best team win tomorrow. (That, of course, is the Phillies!) :)

Phillies win Game 1 of the World Series

...and Cliff Lee casually catches a ball behind his back as he pitches a 6-1 game. The Christian Science Monitor's headline is:

Cliff Lee beats Yankees with one hand behind his back

He's being called a "cool customer" in the Philadelphia Inquirer this morning.

Two homers by Utley have Philly sports writers talking about Ut-lee this morning. Utley, says writer Bob Ford, set the tone for the series - again.

About the only complaints in Philly this morning are from the Inquirer journalists, who spent the game in far from glamorous conditions.

Frank Fitzpatrick writes:

Four hours before Game 1, the main press box resembled the Tokyo subway. Bodies and computers made things impassable. The adjoining work rooms were overflowing too, the precious spots apparently having been claimed at dawn by savvy veteran journalists.

And it got worse from there.

You can see a video of post game interviews here.

On to Game 2.

Dr. Oaks, the coach

The Body and Soul soccer team at St. John's Hospice has the backing of some special people: Sr. Mary Scullion, Jon Bon Jovi and Dr.Wilbur Oaks. They all play a part in helping the homeless men find employment and giving them a chance. Sr. Mary Scullion sends along team members, Jon Bon Jovi helps keep it running and Dr. Oaks coaches soccer and life skills.

The doctor still teaches 25 hours a week at Hahnemann University Hospital after being there for 51 years. He played soccer until his knee went bad at age 65. He spent this year coaching basics. He has three goals for the Body and Soul soccer team, he says:

"I want to make them a better person," he said. "I want to make them a better athlete. And I want to get them a job."


And he believes that the lessons learned on the soccer field will translate into success off the field for the homeless team members.
"Learn something from the loss, then win the next one," he instructs. "It's all up and down. That's what sports is about. That's what life is about."


St. John's Hospice Mission is:
Saint John’s Hospice
seeks to be a community
grounded in
faith and service
where homeless persons
find dignity,
respect,
nourishment,
and opportunities
for new beginnings.

You can find a link to St. John's Hospice here. For a list of ongoing items that are needed or other ways to help, click here.

Court ruling on insurance company denial of treatment for autism

In a preliminary ruling, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant found that Kaiser Permanente's refusal to pay for a child's autism treatment because the provider was not licensed by the state runs counter to California's Mental Health Parity Act. That act requires insurers to cover care for mental and behavioral problems at the same levels they do for physical illnesses.

"A refusal to pay for . . . services based on the fact that the provider is not licensed is inconsistent with the intent of parity," Chalfant wrote in his Oct. 20 ruling.

The rest of the article can be found here.

Metro area Phillies and Yankee fans talking trash - oh you know it

Of course they are.

People keep asking me where the line is in NJ that separates out the Phillies from the Yankees fans. I don't see it, although this guy in Delaware is feeling the heat. And people in N.E. Pennsylvania have divided loyalties.

What I do hear is a lot of trash talking.

It reminds me of when my friend and I drove down to Baltimore to play wheelchair tennis against a pack of wheelchair basketball players and proceeded to take them to school. The trash talk was flying, left and right. There were excuses:

"Just learned how to serve" "Haven't played tennis much - basketball's my game" etc. etc.

and then there were pitiful - I'm telling you pitiful - attempts by these hulking paraplegic guys to flatter me into giving them "a break" which meant points. Line calls against them resulted in faces only a five year old would make.

And the trash talk! It flew over the net more than the tennis balls. There were insults, jabs, and jokes of every kind. There was no way to concentrate on a point. It was better to just laugh my way through it , knowing for sure that when I served a ball they couldn't hit, attention to an airplane overhead would be called. Apparently none of these guys ever played a match in Flushing NY, where planes seem to dive bomb you in the middle of a match.

In the end, the trash talk was just a distraction, as it always is. And it will be the same this year with the World Series.

So I don't want to trash talk, but.... I must point out that the Yankees don't even have a mascot , although they used to have one. Guess what it's name was?

Dandy. Yep.

The Phillies have the Phanatic. Been around a long time and important sources say he's the best mascot in baseball. Check this out:

"From the top of his neon-green head to the tip of his bubble-toed size 20 shoes, the Phillie Phanatic is every inch the best mascot in the business. He's as much Philadelphia as cheesesteaks, the Liberty Bell, and Rocky Balboa. Yo, Adrian, I love dat green guy!"
- USA Today

"Baseball's best mascot."
- Tim McCarver, TV analyst


Ha. Dandy. Even the Yankee fans beat their mascot up.

And it costs more to see the Yankees. Double, some say. The Yankees have the highest payroll, the Phillies seventh. And still- no mascot? Tsk, tsk.

The Yankees fans are smug. They say their team has won the series 26 times...but the Phillies won last year.

The Yankee fans are so desperate that they are mocking their opponents as Frillies. It just gives the Phillies and their fans more motivation. Remember, when it comes to fan loyalty:

...while Yankees fans filled only 88 percent of the seats in a brand-new stadium, Phillies attendance was 102 percent of its seating capacity at Citizens Bank Park

That's because the Phillies are the champs.


(Feel free to vote in this poll which dubs the series the "Turnpike Tussle".)

A wheelchair as appliance

Evelyn Neuhaus discusses attitudes toward wheelchairs (and their users) that she encounters in this video.

Disability Blog Carnival #59: Disability and Work

Thanks to Liz for putting together a great carnival on the important topic of disability and work. As she points out, it's National Disability Employment Awareness Month and you can count on finding a varied group of compelling blog posts over there.

From artists with disabilities to nonprofit employeees to adaptive technology to stigma to self-care to accessibility to resumes to love of a job - these bloggers have covered the gamut. Please go on over, check it out and spread the word (link)!

Sit. Stay. Read.

R.E.A.D. - or Reading Education Assistance dogs- are helping children with literacy skills by listening to the kids read in libraries and schools.

The philosophy is simple. Children who are just learning to read often feel judged or intimidated by classmates and adults. But reading to a dog isn't so scary. It won't judge, it won't get impatient, it won't laugh or correct if the child makes a mistake. In a nutshell, dogs are simply excellent listeners. And for shy kids or slow readers, that can make all the difference. via cnn

Volunteers say that the program helps students build confidence, resulting not only in improvements in reading level by multiple grade levels in one school year, but areas like class participation and homework.

Dear Wheelchairmaker

I ran across this creative video this morning.



Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Make A Difference Information Network (MADIN) of Kansas

A new resource site for issues relating to people with disabilities living in Kansas has been launched online. The Make A Difference Information Network (MADIN) of Kansas is a collaborative effort among different agencies, including he Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the Kansas State Board of Education, the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, and Oral Health Kansas. It was previously available only by phone.

via its site:

Some of the resources include, but are not limited to:

• Screening, diagnosis, evaluation
• Early intervention for infants and preschool children
• Parent support groups
• Resource materials for families and service providers
• Information regarding education, public health and social service agencies
• Clinical Information for people with disabilities

Disability Awareness FAIL

see more Epic Fails

A call to participate in the United We Ride dialogue

via the NCD-news list serv


CCAM announces the United We Ride National Dialogue



November 2-13, 2009

www.UWRDialogue.org

Please join a Federal Government Online Outreach Effort to Develop New Ideas in Transportation Access for People with Disabilities, Older Adults and Persons of Limited Income

Do you have suggestions and ideas that you would like to share with national leaders that can assist communities to increase access to affordable and reliable transportation services for people with disabilities, older adults, and people with limited incomes?

If so, please register to participate in an upcoming national online dialogue with representatives of the federal government, state and community leaders! For more information, and to register, just click the link to visit the Dialogue website: www.UWRdialogue.org

The Federal Interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) invites you to participate in the United We Ride National Dialogue. This groundbreaking, web-based interactive dialogue is designed to allow a broader range of opinions and ideas to inform future policies, the CCAM Strategic Plan and to strengthen the CCAM's relationship with is vast array of partners and stakeholders, including state, local, and tribal governments, transportation agencies, human service agencies, healthcare providers, employment specialists, educators, and consumers.

In order to capture this critical input, the CCAM is seeking your participation in a 2 week long, web-based dialogue that will begin on November 2nd and end on November 13th. This dialogue will allow participants to submit, comment, and rate ideas interactively on how to increase access to affordable and reliable transportation services for people with disabilities, older adults, and people with limited incomes. Your invaluable participation will directly inform the work of the CCAM on future policy decisions and the Strategic Plan.


Mark S. Quigley

Director of External Affairs

National Council on Disability

1331 F Street, NW, Suite 850

Washington, DC 20004

202-272-2008

202-272-2022 fax

www.ncd.gov

You also may want to join more than 2,000 subscribers who receive the latest news from NCD via its listserv. Please sign up at http://listserv.access.gpo.gov/ and click on On-line mailing list archives, then select NCD-NEWS-L and complete the short subscription form.

The Saint Damien Boy Scouts

A group of boy scouts from Hawaii traveled to attend canonization activities for Fr. Damien of Molokai. Their blog shows videos and posts of their journey, which ended on October 14.

Here's a great video including reflections and thoughts from their trip:

Free universal text to speech software available soon

Under the weather a bit here, but wanted to post this link from The Blind Flaneur about free text to speech software from Kurzweil, to offer universal text to speech ( UTS )capabilities for ebooks. Sounds like it should be available by November.

via Publishers Weekly:

Although Kurzweil is a pioneer in creating technologies to assist the blind with reading, his new and as yet unnamed software product is aimed at both the general e-book reading market as well as the blind. In a phone interview with Kurzweil from his company’s headquarters in Massachusetts, he said not only can consumers use the software to read e-books, but the technology will allow the device its installed on to read the text aloud, in synch with a display of the text that highlights each word as it is spoken. On top of all that, he intends to offer the software for free via both downloads and CDs and told PW he expects to make money through the sale of books using the K-NFB e-reader. The software also offers high quality graphics and fonts and will even read plays aloud using different voices for different roles.

The Campaign for Disability Employment: whatcanyoudocampaign.org

Watch the PSA and visit the site to see what you can do
- as an employer
-as an educator
-as a family member
-as a person with a disability and
-what we can ALL do

What really makes me sick

I was minding my own business when it happened. Really. I was, in fact, napping, not because I'm an invalid, but because I worked over the weekend and a 7 day schedule tires me out, just like everyone else.

The phone rang and that was when it happened. The caller, who I don't know well, equated people with disabilities with invalids.

That was the moment I regretted stopping my series on myths and assumptions about disabilities, something I toyed with the beginning of the year, then set aside after readers emailed me complaining that they knew all this "stuff". But, really, there are a lot of folks out there who don't know. I know because I'm confronted as a person with a disability with all kinds of erroneous myths and assumptions. They're floating around out there, large as life.

And just like the balloon boy incident, these assumptions and myths are hoaxes. They force our eyes skyward, distract us from the action on the ground, in real life. And people buy into them, even the media.

Disabled people are not invalids. Disability does not equal sickness. However, as Meredith wisely points out, if the proper care is not given to people with disabilities, they can and do become sick. The same is true with equipment and other resources.

Maybe that's why confusion abounds. We have a long way to go before many people with disabilities get the care and equipment they need. Until then, many struggle. Many can't get jobs, housing, or community care and support.

This is what sickens me, not my disability.

The other balloon boy

I found a story on BBC last evening about a five year old boy in the UK who is also a balloon boy. It says:

Charlie Castle was one of about 50 schoolchildren who released balloons during an end-of-term farewell at his school near High Wycombe in July.

The green balloon that Charlie released was found by the Queen of England while she was walking her dogs, approximately 14 miles away. The Queen wrote the boy a personal note, sending back his balloon.

There's a delightful audio interview of Charlie on the right side of the article page. Here's a link as well. In an interview, Charlie said "It was so exciting to get the letter. I was surprised my balloon had flown so far. I'm just glad that the Queen's dogs didn't eat it!"

[Photo from hellomagazine.com] shows Charlie in a blue collared shirt, holding up both his note from Buckingham Palace and his deflated green balloon.

Olivia's brother speaks

After you listen to this video, you'll understand why I'm reluctant to say much. It's a powerful speech by a brother, whose sister Olivia has a disability, to his school. He talks about his love for her. He also talks about how people's assumptions, words and acts hurt her. He speaks for many, including those who can't speak for themselves and he also speaks for their loved ones.

How The Prayer of St Francis can help us through difficult times

I was just on Twitter and saw @TheUrbanAbbey saying morning prayer, which included part of the Prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

I remember being at a retreat years ago. A couple attended, with the wife staying all weekend and her husband stopping by for Mass on Sunday, since he had to watch their small children. The wife had a recent disability and they were struggling with some of the adjustments. There were frequent arguments and outbursts, after which they would both have many regrets. Things were said that couldn't be taken back and, worse yet, the children were hearing all of this.

At the time I was dating someone who had a disability who also became ill. We said this prayer together whenever we had to face difficult decisions or issues. So when I spoke to the couple, I suggested this prayer to them, because I found it so helpful in keeping a perspective in relationships.

The first part of the prayer is a good reminder that there are opportunities every day, no matter how small, to sow peace, love, pardon, faith, hope, light and joy. All of us without exception can do it with our loved ones, our friends, family and each person we encounter and receive the peace and blessing that giving provides.

It is at the toughest moments when the second part of this prayer is most useful to me. It's far too easy in the midst of a difficult time to forget to ask God for help in what I seek. It is also easy to forget that we can still practice the first part of the prayer even in tough times. In fact, it is at those times when it seems to me that God gives me the most opportunities to do so!

This prayer is a wonderful reminder to seek God's will and make my decisions accordingly. God's grace is all around us all through our day. We are never alone with our problems or difficulties and when someone we love hurts, we can help them best by keeping our own spiritual life intact. Taking the time to find a spiritual perspective is crucial in those situations.

This prayer can be a wonderful way to remind ourselves that what we see as overwhelming may indeed be an opportunity to deepen our relationship with God and others.

Broken elevator in school keeps student out of classes

14 year old Robert Mota wants to go to class. In fact, he is in the school building. But because he uses a power chair and the school elevator has been broken for three weeks straight, he's unable to get to his three classes on the second floor. As a result, teachers have marked him with unexcused absences and he's received uncharacteristically low grades.

The A and B student talks in a video about his experience, expressing frustration with the delay in repairs to the elevator. School officials are waiting for the lowest bid to repair the elevator.

But before anyone thinks that the money issue is the sole one here, let me point out that there is no mention in the article of any attempt to move Robert's class to the first floor, to use technology (such as a laptop with a webcam) or any other solution to resolve this situation to provide access to his classes. Instead, Robert remains alone in a room downstairs while his classes are held a floor above him.

He says he misses his ninth grade classmates.

Meanwhile school officials have said that "efforts are under way to try and get elevator repairs started by Friday".

How about using some resourcefulness in the meantime?

Are we having fun yet?

My power chair, the Beast, took out a refrigerator shelf yesterday.

This comes as no surprise to me, because I've spent the last month or so trying to keep the Beast under control in areas that are too small to use a power chair in since my ultralightweight manual chair broke. I knew I was in for some adventures as I watched the garbage men haul it away. It was the only chair I could get into certain areas, such as my bathroom and parts of my kitchen. Vital areas for a person living alone with a disability - at least if you plan on eating, bathing, etc. And I didn't have the money to spring for another one. These chairs are expensive items and, as I found out, difficult to find used- at least under a certain price.

I have, and am very grateful for, assistance I receive from my aide when she is here. But the reality is that after she goes home, only my cat Buddy remains. There's not a whole lot he can do to help me out in this situation.

Buddy's idea of helping has been to race back and forth in front of and behind me as I try to get the power chair to fit into places. When the power chair took out the refrigerator shelf (which, luckily, isn't broken), Buddy raced in front of me to catch the flying yogurt. When the yogurt landed on the floor on its side, he played with it, rolling it around a bit. This was definitely not a help, although amusing.

The past few days I decided to take Buddy's Zen-like approach. I am trying to enjoy the adventures with the Beast. When I hear the inevitable crunch signaling that I've run into something or other, I high five Buddy as he begins to play with the debris. The mailman was quite surprised when I zoomed up to the door trailing a few items of clothing and towels on the back of the Beast that it snagged from a hallway encounter of the close kind.

"You've got something back there," he said.

I looked back and, sure enough, Buddy was playing with the string hanging from one of the jackets. I smiled and decided to have fun with it.

"That's how I dry off my laundry," I said.

"Your cat seems to enjoy it," he replied.

And so he does.

Luckily there's an ultra lightweight wheelchair in my immediate future, thanks to Meredith. This has been just a swell experience, but I do miss being able to eat except out of a pizza box. I'm tired and stressed, not to mention I could use a shower.

It will probably take a few days before Buddy stops following me around. The adventures of the Beast have been so much fun for him that I'm guessing he'll sigh heavily in disappointment before returning to his usual naps once the new chair gets here. It just won't be the rolling amusement park the Beast is.

Marty Sheedy and Project Scissor Gait

Here's a positive video about a guy living with arthrogryposis. His name is Marty Sheedy and he's a college student. He says this video is about "what it's like to be me".





You can read more about Marty and Project Scissor Gait here.

ADAPT: Community choice - it's a civil right

ADAPT protestors have been in Atlanta since October 10 to end unjust institutionalization of people with disabilities and push for community choice as a civil right.

See Community Choice It's a Civil Right over at ADAPT for background information, which says:

This year is the 10th Anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Olmstead v LC and EW decision. This groundbreaking case began in Georgia; a decade later that state is still under a voluntary compliance agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services to bring their state services in line with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504, respectively 19 and 36 year old civil rights laws.

Lois Curtis, LC, lives in Georgia -- in the community now. Yet GA disability rights activists annually stage their Long Walk Home to highlight the large number of state institutions still operating at full capacity.

Georgia was in the vanguard of the civil rights movement in the 60s. This movement helped inspire, among other movements, the disability rights movement of today. The King Center honoring Dr. King and civil rights movement is in Atlanta, yet right across the street – a nursing home.

The oppression of people warehoused in institutions or threatened with institutionalization remains a reality. Georgia is just one of a growing number of states drastically cutting community services, while nursing homes and other institutions remain the federally mandated preference for “our kind.”

No matter what happens in DC with Health Care Reform, the Community Choice Act or similar legislation, states will be left to implement this legislation and policy. And we will be left to ensure our civil rights will finally be realized.

Join ADAPT activists from all over the nation in our fight for the right to chose community and to FREE OUR PEOPLE.

On the ADAPT blog, Cecil Walker writes about his institutionalization after his accident and how advocates helped me get out to live in the community once again after he found himself stuck in a nursing home.

Nick Dupree recently was able to get back into the community after a year in institutions trying to get services in place.

He writes:

Segregating people with disabilities in institutions solely because they need daily help, especially given the 21st century technology that can assist them and the widespread success of people with disabilities living in the community, is fundamentally unjust, immoral, overly costly, and, according to the Olmstead ruling, illegal under Title II of the ADA.

...

We can no longer ignore illegal segregation and the community support services states must use to prevent it. We can no longer ignore Olmstead. We mustn’t put long-term care on the backburner and not include it in this year’s health care reform; telling us to wait another decade or more is deeply unjust

Nick is organizing a blogswarm to spread the word about the need for community choice, services and support . To join in the ADAPT blogswarm, click here.

Getting her privileged little way

I was out yesterday with my sister, mother and nephew in Walmart. They walked away for a moment and while I was alone looking at something on a shelf , a woman pushing a large cart came toward me sideways. Instead of asking me to move, she banged the cart into the side of my wheelchair.

I've seen this type of rude and boorish behavior before. I was in her way and she is - well - able bodied. Never mind that there were half a dozen other people - also able bodied- who could have moved out of her way. She saw the wheelchair and I was the one in her way.

I asked her to wait a moment since I was looking at something. She didn't look at me or answer me, but banged my chair again.

A primitive approach, I thought. But since I am forced by our so called health care system to pay for my own repairs, I turned and began to move on. I just can't swing expensive repairs to my wheelchair.

The able bodied bystanders watched, holding items in their hands, continuing to shop (lucky them!) saying nothing until I was out of *her* way. None of them were asked or expected to move by her. I saw and heard no sign that anyone really cared that I was literally pushed around the store by another customer.

Without a word, she was able to get her privileged little way. It was easy for her. I had to choose between principle and the very real fact that I need my wheelchair intact. And those standing by made their choice too not to say or do anything.

So I have my wheelchair intact. My sister ran over and asked if I was okay. I went back and looked at the item I needed. And some would say this was just a minor inconvenience for me, I suppose, and that it isn't such a big deal. Or that it's not a big deal that when I'm out with able bodied people, I don't get pushed around as much.

Buying into that philosophy, of course, means things don't change and privilege continues.

Father Damien and four others canonized as saints today

It is reported that five new saints were canonized by the Pope today, including Fr. Damien, who worked with lepers, Zygmunt Szecezesny Felinski, a 19th century Polish bishop who defended the church during the shutdown of churches in his homeland, Francisco Coll y Guitart, who founded a Dominican order, Rafael Arniaz Baron, who dedicated himself to prayer during his short life, and Jeanne Jugan, a French nun who helped found the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order that serves the indigent elderly.

The pontiff said the newly canonized had taken up the call of Jesus to give themselves totally without "calculation or personal gain."

"Their perfection, in the logic of a faith that is humanly incomprehensible at times, consists in no longer placing themselves at the center, but choosing to go against the flow and live according to the Gospel," Benedict said in his homily. via foxnews.com

PBS to Air Film on Disability Advocates

via NJCIM list serv:

Those interested in disability issues won't want to miss the premiere broadcast of BODY & SOUL: DIANA & KATHY October 9, 8 p.m. BODY & SOUL: DIANA & KATHY by Academy Award nominee Alice Elliott chronicles the lives and efforts of two extraordinary women as they make significant strides for people with disabilities. Diana Braun, who has Down syndrome, and the late Kathy Conour, who has cerebral palsy, met three decades ago and vowed to fight to live independent lives. The film chronicles a journey from their home in Springfield, IL to Washington, D.C to advocate for all people with disabilities. A complete listing of broadcast dates is available here: http://welcomechange.org/screenings/broadcast

Health care nightmare: Iraq contractor Reggie Lane's story told by L.A. Times

Unable to speak and now a widower, Reggie Lane is being called an unappreciated patriot by the LA Times. While working as a contractor in Iraq, Reggie's right arm was blown off and he received shrapnel wounds. He spoke to his wife Linda afterwards, but a doctor called two days later from Germany for permission to operate. Blood flow to Reggie's brain was blocked from a clot. He became unresponsive. After nine months of hospital care, during which Linda stayed in a hotel in downtown Houston, Reggie began to respond to questions and tried to stand up with assistance.

He was sent to a nursing home, but after Linda confronted workers about his care, Reggie went back to a hospital. Linda's own health deteriorated as she fought insurance company AIG for a care facility near home for Reggie, hiring a lawyer. Contractors injured in Iraq have no access to veteran's facilities or resources, but are treated under workmen's compensation laws.

Reggie now only grunted, his ability to speak having declined, which his doctor said is not typical, but added "If someone goes to a nursing facility, if they happen not to get stimuli, it means the brain could not heal as well as it would otherwise." Meanwhile, Reggie remained in foster care homes, spending most of his time sitting and doing nothing.

In July 2009, Linda Lane died. Five years after his injury, Reggie now blinks to signal yes or no.
(Audio slideshow here.)

National Disability Employment Awareness Month: What Can We Do?

Yesterday President Obama announced new initiatives for National Disability Employment Awareness Month. These include job fairs, Town Hall meetings, creation of a task force, and the use of training and potential employer education on hiring practices related to employees with disabilities.

We as members of the disability community can participate as well. Networking with members of our community who are looking for jobs, mentoring those who are starting out in our field and helping to foster a work environment that is more welcoming to those with disabilities are a few things we can do.

We can also support these initiatives and promote others which address the sorry state of employment of people with disabilities.

Sears case largest disability related employment discrimination settlement says EEOC

Last week Sears settled a case alleging that it fired employees with disabilities rather than providing reasonable accommodations. It is "the largest settlement for a disability-related case" for EEOC, according to this article. The settlement was for $6.2 million.

“The facts of this case showed that, nearly 20 years after the enactment of the ADA, the rights of individuals with disabilities are still in jeopardy,” said Stuart J. Ishimaru, the commission’s acting chairman. “At the same time, this record settlement sends the strongest possible message that the EEOC will use its enforcement authority boldly to protect those rights and advance equal employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.”

More than 100 firings were involved and alleged to be based on discrimination.

Top Ten Ways for Managers to Screw Up Under the ADA

10 . After the corporation spends money building accessible bathrooms that fully comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, allow janitors to leave heavy and large trash cans in front of the handicap stall door.

9. When told that an employee laughed at a customer with a disability who asked for assistance , laugh at the customer.

8. When asked by the corporation to train employees about how to assist customers under the ADA, rent a wheelchair so they can pop wheelies for an afternoon.

7. While interviewing a potential employee with any disability, speak as loudly as possible.

6. If a customer in a wheelchair says all the aisles in your store are too narrow to pass, casually kick a carton out of the way and say "There you go".

5. When told the bathroom stall isn't wheelchair accessible, tell the customer to just "hold it".

4. When a customer with a disability coming from 300 miles away complains because he reserved a handicap room at your hotel and your clerk gave it to someone else , say in a loud authoritative voice "Well, you're not the only one in the world who is disabled!"

3. When a customer with a disability says that he was refused assistance in your store, call over the employee and ask "Did this person say it was okay with him not to help him?" and nod vigorously to prompt the employee. When the employee says "Yes", tell the customer that he handled it wrong.

2. When someone complains that your store still has no ramp, tell them you're covered under the grandfather clause.

1. When told you're in violation of the ADA, ask "What's that?"

Sr. Mary Sponsa Beltran and the Teach Peace Foundation

This video is described on YouTube as follows:

The Teach Peace Foundation helps the disabled in Liberia, Africa live with dignity. Our Special Ambassador program teaches children that disability does not mean inability. In addition to care for the disabled, we provide leadership development experiences for students to get involved while learning about the plight of people with no safety net. For more information, visit www.teachpeace.com or call 570-406-4533.



I apologize that I haven't provided a transcript of this video for visually impaired readers (although it is captioned for deaf readers); however, if you'd like to read more about Teach Peace, please go to this link.

To hear speeches from Sr. Mary Sponsa Beltran about her work, please go here.

Ode to a Wheelchair

Anyone who has had a favorite wheelchair will understand this video- a tribute to a Quickie wheelchair...oh Quickie Quickie- very funny!

JoshTwelves over at YouTube writes:

This is a parody of the song Hit Me Baby One More Time by Britney Spears. I used different pictures of wheelchairs in this video. Me and my cousin wrote the lyrics. I hope you like this video.