NTAC e.News — February 15, 2007

Asian/Pacific Islander Words of Wisdom

E ho‘a‘o no i pau kuhihewa—Try it to end the panic.
Hawaiian proverb about how to stop worrying about a difficult job. As an American phrase puts it, “Just do it!”
Source: http://www.k12.hi.us/~waianaeh/waianhi/olelo.html

Announcements: Local

NEW! Pac Rim Is Imminent—See You There!

The 23rd Annual Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities will be held March 12 & 13, 2007, at the beautiful Sheraton Waikiki in Honolulu. We definitely want to meet our network members who are planning to attend. Please email James D. Brightman, NTAC-AAPI’s Vocational Rehabilitation Coordinator at jamesdb@hawaii.edu to let us know how to contact you. We are looking forward to seeing you at the conference. Please see http://www.pacrim.hawaii.edu/ for more information or to help you plan your trip.

NEW! NTAC Meets Booz Allen

Dr. Weol Soon Kim-Rupnow, Project Director, and James Brightman, Vocational Rehabilitation Coordinator for NTAC-AAPI, recently met with representatives of Booz Allen Hamilton, a multinational consulting corporation interested in connecting with college students with disabilities. The corporation offers an Emerging Leaders internship program for college students with disabilities who have at least a 3.0 grade point average. As described on their website, “Emerging Leaders is a highly competitive program that places college students with disabilities in fulfilling summer internships and provides them with leadership development opportunities.” For more information about the program, please go to www.emerging-leaders.com.

NEW! Fifth Online Course Completed—Sixth Edition Planned

The fifth online course, “Introduction to Disability/Rehabilitation with Asian/Pacific Islander Americans,” has concluded. The course is facilitated by NTAC-AAPI. The teachers were Paul Leung, Professor and Director of the Department of Rehabilitation, Social Work, and Addictions at the University of North Texas, and Nan Zhang Hampton, Associate Professor of the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation, and Postsecondary Education at San Diego State University.

To get on the mailing list for the sixth offering—tentatively starting April 1st, 2007—please send an email to James D. Brightman, NTAC-AAPI’s Vocational Rehabilitation Coordinator, at jamesdb@hawaii.edu. The sixth course, most likely our final offering, will probably involve a nominal tuition payment and will feature the same professors. The course earns ten Continuing Education Units (CEUs) that may be applied to your CRC. This opportunity is a wonderful way to increase your cultural competence and enhance your counseling abilities. For more information, or to preview the required readings before the final course begins, please go to the following Web site: http://www.ntac.hawaii.edu/AAPIcourse/. Thank you, and see you online.

Announcements: National and International

The 2007 Secretary of Labor’s New Freedom Initiative Award

The Secretary of Labor’s New Freedom Initiative Award annually recognizes non-profits, small businesses, corporations and individuals that have demonstrated exemplary and innovative efforts in furthering the employment and workplace environment for people with disabilities, a goal of President Bush’s New Freedom Initiative.

Minimum Wage Increased

Passed in The Senate yesterday, the Senate voted 94-3 to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25/hour over a two-year period. While the House version of the bill which passed last month did not contain any tax measures, the Senate version which passed Thursday included $8.3 billion in tax cuts to small businesses and contained provisions which would close corporate tax loopholes and limit executive compensation. The tax provisions also included an extension of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) through 2012.

While House-Senate negotiations can be expected to continue over these Senate-side additions, once passed into law, the wage increase would mark the first federal minimum wage increase in 10 years and 5.6 million workers are expected to benefit directly.

Positions Available

Looking for people with disabilities to join AmeriCorps programs in Hawaii through the APPLAUD project

APPLAUD (Action Plan to Include People Labeled and Underserved because of Disability in Volunteer Service.) The National Service Inclusion Project is a cooperative agreement (#01CAM0016) between the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston in collaboration with the Association of University Centers on Disabilities.

For more information on APPLAUD contact: Madeline Harcourt, M.A., APPLAUD Project Director, Alliance for Inclusion Advancement-Hawaii project, Center on Disability Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Telephone: 808-956-0947, Email: Harcourt@Hawaii.edu, Web site: www.aia.hawaii.edu. or more information on AmeriCorps visit www.hawaii.edu/americorpshawaii/.

Marine Inspector

Marine Inspector, GS-1801-12; Closes 16 Feb 2007. Learn more about this opening.

Recent Products

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

Resources

Request for Proposals—Take Action: Healthy People, Places and Practices in Communities Project

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Public Health and Science, Office of Disease Prevention are requesting proposals from community-based organizations and others to evaluate the impact of a unique set of healthy lifestyles activities in local settings that support the President’s HealthierUS initiative. The proposed activities should address one or more of the four parts of the President’s HealthierUS initiative: 1) be physically active, 2) eat a nutritious diet, 3) get preventive screenings, and 4) make healthy choices/avoid risky behaviors.

Background information on the project, proposal instructions and available at: http://www.osophs.dhhs.gov/ophs/healthypeople If you have questions or need more information please call 1-866-224-3815 or email your questions to answers@JSI.com.

WB and ETA Announced Grant Opportunity under the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) Act

The Women’s Bureau (WB) and the Employment and Training Administration's Office of Apprenticeship (OA) have announced the availability of $972,180 to establish a grant program for the purpose of assisting employers and labor unions in the placement and retention of women in apprenticeship and nontraditional occupations. The WB and OA anticipate awarding two-year grants totaling approximately $300,000 each to up to three community-based organizations (CBO)/registered apprenticeship program (RAP) consortia. The grants will be funded in increments of $150,000 for each year. Funding for the second year will be contingent upon satisfactory progress toward grant requirements for placement of women in registered apprenticeship programs as outlined in the application.

Additional eligibility information, application requirements, and Federal evaluation criteria for this competition (SGA/DFA-PY-06-01) may be found in the February 13 Federal Register at and on www.grants.gov and www.doleta.gov/saga. Applications are due by April 13, 2007.

Work & Benefits Calculators

Disability Benefits 101 (DB101) helps workers, job seekers, students and service providers understand the connections between work and benefits. In addition to the Benefits-to-Work Calculator and the Job-to-Job Calculator, a new calculator called School and Work is now available for youth with disabilities. http://www.disabilitybenefits101.org/planning/
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Hear Now Program

The Hear Now Program of the Starkey Hearing Foundation may offer an answer to your need. The program has provided over 47,247 hearing aids to 27,500 individuals since 1999. Hear Now is a national program providing assistance, to those permanently living in the US, to acquire hearing aids through an application process. All applicants must meet the program’s financial criteria, complete the application process and be approved for hearing aids. Verification of the applicant’s financial situation and proof of a need for hearing aids are a part of the application process.

If this program sounds like an answer to your need to serve your clients, or if you want further information, please call the Hear Now program at 1-800-328-8602 ext. 2358. We look forward to the opportunity to speak to you about the program and how we can serve you and your clients.

Institutes / Conferences

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

NCTI at TRLD 2007 Conference

Meet us in San Francisco! Join us at the Technology, Reading, and Learning Diversity (TRLD) annual conference in San Francisco. Catch our presentation The Early Reading and Writing Matrices with George Peterson-Karlan. Email us to request a consultation in San Francisco: ncti@air.org. http://www.trld.com/

An Intergenerational Forum

Kapiolani Community College is joining forces with AARP, the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Hawaii Pacific Islands Campus Compact to convene an intergenerational forum, “Across the Ages: Generations Shaping Hawaii”. Today, the Silent or Greatest Generation, the Baby Boomers, Gen X and the Gen Y’s are all living their separate lives based off different sets of values, lifestyles and with little mutual understanding.

To address the perspectives and common grounds, we are sponsoring: An Inter-Generational Forum for Older Adults and Students on Tuesday, February 6, from 2:30-5:30 pm, at the Diamond Head Theatre. The event will begin with a national and local perspective of our intergenerational challenges. It will also involve exercises in visioning and intergenerational exchanges. It will also provide a service learning opportunities for everyone and a chance to network.

This event is co-sponsored by Kapiolani Community College, AARP, The University of Hawaii at Manoa and the Hawaii Pacific Islands Campus Compact. Call 808-843-1966 or email jboland@aarp.org to register for this free event.

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.

JAN’s 2007 Accommodation and Compliance Web Training Series

Schedule of events for the Job Accommodation Network’s (JAN) 2007 Accommodation and Compliance Web Training Series. This series of webcasts will address several subjects including the ADA, hiring veterans with disabilities and assistive technologies. Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available for these training events. http://www.jan.wvu.edu/Teleconf/

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.

Consumer Electronics Show Web Event: What’s Happening with Accessibility?

Do you wish you had attended the International CES Conference in Las Vegas last week with all those gadgets and gizmos? NCTI Collaborators Steve Jacobs and Eric Morrison were there, investigating the designs and possibilities for educational uses and diverse users. Find out how you can join a Web Event with NCTI to explore the emerging trends.

23rd Annual Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities

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

CSUN Conference

Annual International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference will be held this March 19-24, 2007. The conference, now in its 22nd year, is the largest conference focusing on assistive technology in the world, and is hosted by the Center on Disabilities at California State Univ., Northridge. With 12 in-depth Pre-Conference Workshops, over 350 General Sessions and more than 175 exhibitors, the conference serves as a major training venue for professionals around the world dealing with technology and disabilities. This year we are pleased to announce that John D. Kemp will be the Keynote Speaker and a new track featuring Aging-Acquired and Aging-Related Disabilities has been added, along with sessions devoted to Young Researchers. For more information on the conference, please visit: http://www.csun.edu/cod/conf.

Multiple Perspectives on Access, Inclusion, and Disability: Rights, Responsibilities, and Social Change

April 3 & 4, 2007: The Ohio State University, Columbus Campus
Continuing the tradition of the past six years, the Seventh Annual Multiple Perspectives conference will bring together a diverse audience to explore disability as both an individual experience and social reality that cuts across typical divisions of education and employment, scholarship and service, business and government, and race, gender, and ethnicity.

Pre-Conference Institute: E-Text: Production, Distribution & Management for Accessibility, Monday, April 2, 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM & Tuesday, April 3, 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM.

Registration is now available at: http://mpconference.osu.edu/sessions

National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education (NAAPAE)

The National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education (NAAPAE) is holding its 29th Annual Conference in Hawaii on April 20-21, 2007. With a conference theme entitled, “Pacific Pathways: Engage, Educate, Enlighten”, presenters may focus on social, cultural, and educational issues; leadership development; and outreach.

Please consider submitting a proposal to this noteworthy conference. Proposals submitted electronically or via CD by January 10, 2007 will receive priority for selection. Submit proposals to nakaoka@hawaii.edu.

(PSY 0621m) Advocacy Skills and Documenting Disability: A Workshop for Parents and Professionals

April 21, 2006: San Francisco, CA
This workshop is designed to teach parents and professionals involved in the lives of children and adults with disabilities to advocate in multiple ways to break through the systems that impact the individual with an emphasis on students receiving special education services. As a result of participating in the training, participants will have an increased understanding of educational and civil rights laws and learn covert and overt advocacy skills. Participants will learn how to apply these skills to their professional and personal roles as advocates with the primary goal of increasing self-advocacy for children and adults with disabilities. Special attention will be paid to providing documentation that drives accommodations by meeting the needs of disability laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, Individuals with Disabilities and Education Improvement Act and the Rehabilitation Act, Section 504. Learn more about about the Advocacy Skills and Documenting Disability workshop.

Charting the Future In Developmental and Learning Disabilities

YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Network will hold its 28th Annual International Conference: “Charting the Future In Developmental and Learning Disabilities” on April 30 - May 4, 2007 at the Crowne Plaza Manhattan Hotel, 1605 Broadway, in New York City. For more information, contact Tina Sobel, Senior Manager of YAI/NIPD’s Professional Information Department, at tsobel@yai.org, 212-273-6457 or visit http://www.yai.org/.

Imagine...Everybody Works!

The Autism Society of America and APSE: The Network on Employment Conference & Training Event, May 10 and 11, 2007, Columbus, OH, Hyatt on Capital Square. APSE and the Autism Society of America invite sponsors and exhibitors to participate. For more information, contact: Teresa Grossi (tgrossi@indiana.edu) or Cathy Pratt (prattc@indiana.edu) or call 812.855.6508.

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/.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development/National Institutes of Health: Summer Institute in Applied Research in Child and Adolescent Development

June 24-29, 2007: Bolger Center, Potomac, Maryland
A goal of the Institute is to support investigators who are beginning careers as applied researchers by providing training that will build upon their existing content knowledge and research skills. To be eligible for this Institute, individuals must have completed a Ph.D., M.D. or equivalent terminal degree within their field. Individuals must also:

• Have at least 1 year of post-doctoral experience in academe, private industry, non-profit, or government
• Have not more than 5 years of subsequent research experience at the time of the Institute

Application packet and Institute information are available at: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/org/crmc/cdb/summerinst/index.cfm. Direct all inquiries to: summerinst@mail.nih.gov. Application Due Date: February 15, 2007. Notification of Acceptance: April 1, 2007

18th Annual National APSE Conference

The 18th Annual National APSE Conference will take place from July 16-18, 2007 in Kansas City, Missouri. This year’s conference challenges you to join in shaping the future of supported employment! Register Online for the APSE Conference

National Federation of the Blind Youth Slam 2007 A STEM Leadership Academy

July 30 - August 4, 2007: Baltimore, MD
Who:Two hundred blind high school students will be selected to participate in this program. Students who would like to be considered must complete the attached application and return it to the Jernigan Institute by April 1, 2007. Students will be selected based on their ability to participate actively in the activities.

What: This four-day academy will engage and inspire the next generation of blind youth to consider careers falsely believed to be impossible for the blind. While staying at Johns Hopkins University, students will be mentored by blind role models during fun and challenging activities meant to build confidence and increase science literacy.

Cost: There is no cost to apply for the program. Students who apply and are accepted to the Youth Slam will be expected to pay a $200 registration fee by May 31, 2007.

To send questions or comments via email, please write to youthslam@nfb.org, or visit http://www.blindscience.org/ncbys/Youth_Slam.asp

Research / Publications

Report Highlights Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Opportunity in US Metropolitan Areas

The report is the first in a series of reports derived from diversitydata.org, a new Web site developed by the Harvard School of Public Health and with support from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. The Web site uses data from multiple sources to bring together a range of indicators on many dimensions of well-being. The report concludes with a discussion of the policy implications, a brief overview of the levers that might be employed to improve prospects for children, and a detailed description of several promising models for action. The report is available at http://diversitydata.sph.harvard.edu/children_left_behind_final_report.pdf.

A chartbook with additional graphs is also available at: http://diversitydata.sph.harvard.edu/children_left_behind_chartbook.pdf.