NTAC e.News — October 1, 2006

Vietnamese Words of Wisdom

Di hoa vi qui—A bad compromise is better than a good lawsuit
(Source: http://sweb.uky.edu/~mnguy2/VNproverbs.htm)

Announcements: Local

NEW! Show and Tell—Share Your Success!

September 30th brings us to the end of our fiscal year 2005-2006, and it’s time to tally the results of our hard work. Therefore, we are asking all members and partners of our network, and all recipients of e.News, to send us the data on the numbers of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) with disabilities your organization has served or employed from October 1, 2005, through September 30, 2006. In addition to the statistics, we would like to hear your success stories. We hope to share these stories with other members of the community through our NTAC-AAPI briefs, e.News, and at our PacRim Conference in Honolulu in March 2007. Please send all information to David Baker at david.baker@hawaii.edu. We look forward to hearing from you!

NEW! Identify the Star!

NTAC-AAPI is planning a video to feature stories about employment success of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders with disabilities. If you know and would like to recommend an AAPI with a disability who has “beaten the odds” and is considered a role model for many job seekers in diverse fields, please let us know. We would like to help them become a star in our video! Please email James D. Brightman at jamesdb@hawaii.edu or call him at (808) 956-3648.

NEW! Disability Mentoring Day

Disability Mentoring Day, a local, national, and international event, is scheduled this year for October 18th. By participating in mentoring day, individuals with disabilities can demonstrate their employability, and employers can see these able and capable persons in action. On O‘ahu, Red Lobster has been generous in helping, and the U. S. Coast Guard has already pledged their support and offered mentoring opportunities. Many teachers at the UH Mānoa Lab School have opened their classrooms to persons who want to be mentored. Goodwill Industries of Hawai‘i has also expressed interest in helping. On the big island, Puna Kamali‘i Flowers volunteered to be a mentor. If you or anyone you know would like to participate, either as a mentor or person who seeks mentoring, please email James D. Brightman at jamesdb@hawaii.edu or call him at (808) 956-3648.

Announcements: National and International

Drug-Free Work Week

October 16-22, 2006 is the first-ever Drug-Free Work Week, and employers and workers across the country are encouraged to participate. The purpose of Drug-Free Work Week is to educate employers, employees and the general public about the importance of being drug-free as a component of improving workplace safety and health and to encourage workers with alcohol and drug problems to seek help. Learn more about Drug-Free Work Week.

Labor Department Awards $500,000 Grant to Syracuse University to Lead Research into Effect of Employer Practices on Workers with Disabilities

September 20, 2006 news release from the U.S. Department of Labor regarding a grant of $500,000 to Syracuse University’s Burton Blatt Institute: Centers of Innovation on Disability, to lead a national research consortium to study employer practices in employing, retaining and promoting people with disabilities. Read the news release.

Recent Products

For a complete list of NTAC products, please visit the Products section of our Web site.

Resources

Arizona Business Enterprise Program

This program offers legally blind persons in Arizona the opportunity to become independent entrepreneurs capable of achieving their fullest potential through self-employment. Learn more about the Arizona Business Enterprise Program.

Arizona Programs & Services for Individuals who are Blind or Visually Impaired

Information and resources for people in Arizona who are blind or have visual impairments. Learn more about this resource.

Arizona Rehabilitation Services Administration

Information about employment and training opportunities for people with disabilities in Arizona. Learn more about the Arizona Rehabilitation Services Administration.

Community Catalysts

Community Catalysts is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that has offices throughout California and serves over 1,000 individuals with developmental and other disabilities. They provide training and support services including employment, housing and daily living skills.

Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development

The Department of Workforce Development works to connect people and businesses to job opportunities and job training across the state of Massachusetts.

New Mexico Governor’s Commission on Disability

The New Mexico Governor’s Commission on Disability works with state, private and non-profit agencies and organizations in an effort to develop policies and practices that are beneficial to people with disabilities in New Mexico.

Always a Soldier Program

Provides service-connected disabled veterans opportunities to seek employment, career advancement, job mobility, family economic well-being and greater financial security. The program is an Army Material Command based initiative, and their Web site provides information regarding the program, employment opportunities, and important links. Learn more about the Always a Soldier Program.

Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP)

The Transition Assistance Program (TAP) was established to meet the needs of separating service members during their period of transition into civilian life by offering job-search assistance and related services.

VetFran

The Veterans Transition Franchise Initiative, commonly known as “VetFran,” allows veterans to acquire a franchise at a discounted rate that is established by the franchisor.

Institutes / Conferences

For a complete list of conferences, please visit the Conferences section of our Web site.

Free Web conference on LD and Accessibility

October 3, 2006
EASI is proudly hosting this Web conference. While it’s focus is K-12, the content has obvious relevance for all educational levels. National experts will share knowledge and experience. Anyone who registers, even if they can’t attend, will later receive a link to the recording of the event.
To Register: http://easi.cc/ld/. Send questions for the experts to: LDUSA1@gmail.com

Web Conference 4-part Series: Learning Disabilities and Adaptive Technology

Part 1: Learning Disabilities—Adolescents and Adults
Presenter: Noel Gregg, Ph.D. Director & Distinguished Research Professor University of Georgia Regents Center for Learning Disorders. This first presentation in a series of four focusing on learning disabilities will present an overview of learning disabilities and the adolescent /adult population.

Part 2: K-12 through Transition: One Size Does Not Fit All
Presenter: Pene Chambers, Director, Information Systems Department of Special Education Kennedy Krieger Institute. Technology affords flexibility and can accommodate unique and diverse individual needs and interests without compromising goals and objectives. Use what you have better.

Part 3: LD and AT in Post-secondary Education
Presenter: Carolyn Phillips, Manager, Georgia Department of Labor/VR Tools for Life Program. Vocational Rehabilitation Program, and Customized Employment gives power back to individuals, families, employers and community stakeholders.

Part 4: The Matrix: Incorporating Universal Design for Learning in a Post-secondary setting for Student with Learning Disabilities
Presenter: Christopher M.Lee, Ph.D. Director, AMAC, University System of Georgia. This presentation will explore how disability services are evolving within the post-secondary environment.

The dates for the series will be October 5, 12, 19 and 26. Registration is $150: Register at: http://easi.cc/forms/ldconf.htm.

Disability Issues Caucus of National Communication Association

November 6, 2006: San Antonio, TX
Call for Papers and Panel Proposals. Disability Issues Caucus, National Communication. Association Annual Meeting: San Antonio, TX Nov 16-19, 2006 Deadline: February 15, 2006 The Disability Issues Caucus invites research papers and program proposals exploring any aspect of issues related to disability and communication, and it especially. Contact: klebesco@mmm.edu URL: www.natcom.org.

2006 TASH Conference—Living the Vision Together: Today, Tomorrow, & Beyond

Organization: TASH: Equity, Opportunity, and Inclusion for People with Disabilities
Where: Baltimore, MD
Date: November 8-11, 2006
http://www.tash.org/2006tash/index.htm

Increasing the Success of Employees with Mental Health Disabilities in the Workplace

The Ohio State University Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator’s Office and the Division of Occupational Therapy are co-hosting a one-day seminar to address the issue of how to help employees with disabilities increase their success in the workplace. A primary focus will be accommodations for social, behavioral, and mental health issues.

When: Friday, November 17, 2006 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Deadline for registration is October 25, 2006

Where: The Ohio State University, The Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus, OH 43210

The $75 Registration includes continental breakfast, lunch, and conference resources. Contact: Andrea Cooper, phone: (614) 292-1076; TDD/TTY: (614) 688-8605; cooper.437@osu.edu

Ticket to Work Advisory Panel Beneficiary Summit Announcement

The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel (the Panel) will be having a Beneficiary Summit in Atlanta, Georgia on February 6-7, 2007, for individuals who receive (or recently received) a Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and/or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit and/or their health insurance from Medicare or Medicaid (beneficiaries). Beneficiaries will be invited to the Summit to give us their thoughts and ideas on the way that Social Security disability and other programs operate now and how they can be made better for people who want to go to work. Also, beneficiaries attending the Summit will propose an ongoing process for beneficiary involvement in the work of the Social Security Administration (SSA).

The Summit will be a meeting of about 50 beneficiaries to discuss the disability programs as they are now and what could be changed to make them work better for people with disabilities. Recommendations will focus on work and what SSA and its partners can do to encourage work for more beneficiaries. It costs nothing to attend the Summit. The beneficiaries who are selected to attend will have their travel, meal, lodging, transportation, and incidental costs paid by the Panel. In addition, if a beneficiary requires a personal assistant or support person in order to participate, those costs will be paid by the Panel as well.

Applications can be sent via e-mail to Jenn Rigger with the Panel to TWWIIAPanel@ssa.gov or faxed to: 202-358-6440. They can also be mailed to the: Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel, 400 Virginia Avenue, SW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20024, Attn: BENEFICIARY SUMMIT.

If there are questions about the application, call Jenn Rigger at 202-358-6425. REMINDER: The deadline for applications is October 6, 2006.

Consortia of Administrators for Native American Rehabilitation, Inc. (CANAR, Inc.): “Making Life Better, One Individual at a Time”

February 18 - 21, 2007: Washington, DC
Annual CANAR Conference, Hyatt-Regency on Capital Hill, 400 New Jersey Avenue, 202-737-1234 or 800-233-1234
The Annual 2007 National Conference on Native American Rehabilitation is scheduled for February 18 - 21, 2007 in Washington, D. C. and will be co-sponsored by the Consortia of Administrators for Native American Rehabilitation, Inc. (CANAR, Inc.), Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), and other rehabilitation agencies. Download the registration form in Microsoft Word format.

23rd Annual Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities

The Call for Papers for the 23rd Annual Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities is now open. You can access the submission page by pointing your browser to http://www3.cds.hawaii.edu/callforpapers/. The format for the 23rd Annual Pac Rim Conference relies heavily on their Call for Papers. Topical areas are chosen each year based on suggestions from previous conferences, the latest industry trends and community need. Proposals are accepted from all over the world and address best practices and innovation within the specifically chosen topical areas.

Registration is also open for the conference so be sure to take advantage of the special Early Registration Rate offered. Be Sure to Mark Your Calendar! March 12-14, 2007, Sheraton Waikiki Hotel & Resort Honolulu, Hawaii. Visit http://www.pacrim.hawaii.edu/ for more details.

RESNA 2007

Instructional Courses: June 15-16, 2007; Conference Workshop: June 17-19, 2007
RESNA’s Annual Conference will be held in Phoenix, June 15-19, 2007. RESNA 2007 will feature assistive technology’s leading researchers, renowned clinicians and policy experts creating a conference program with unmatched levels of knowledge and expertise. RESNA presenters and attendees will experience a surprisingly intimate conference environment. RESNA 2007 will offer an exciting Exhibit Hall featuring product demonstrations and training sessions, two days of Pre-Conference Instructional Courses, and 3 full-days of Workshops, Interactive Poster Sessions, Themed Paper Sessions and distinguished speakers.
For the latest information and details visit their Web site: http://www.resna.org/.

Research / Publications

HRSA Launches a Web site for Best Practices in Transcultural Competence

HRSA just unveiled a new Web site on transnational competence. This user-friendly site highlights approximately 40 HRSA-supported projects on the critical subject of serving ethnoculturally and socially diverse groups. http://www.hrsa.gov/culturalcompetence/.