NTAC e.News — March 1, 2009

Asian/Pacific Islander Words of Wisdom

“By breadth of reading and the ties of courtesy a gentleman will also keep from error's path.”

- A quote about education from Confucious

Source: http://www.everyday-taichi.com/confucious-quote.html

Announcements: NTAC

NEW! UPCOMING CONFERENCE/EVENTS IN HONOLULU, HAWAI`I

You still have time to register for the Pacific Rim International Forum 2009--"Securing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: A Focus on Poverty"--to be held on May 2nd and May 3rd at the Hawai`i Convention Center, 1801 Kalakaua Ave. The forum precedes the 24th Annual Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities, which will be held on May 4th and 5th also at the Hawai`i Convention Center. Following the Pacific Rim Conference is the Post PacRim Capacity Building Institute--"Addressing Diversity and Disability in the Postsecondary Classroom: Universal Design and Beyond"--to be held May 6th at the Ala Moana Hotel. For more information, please see: http://www.pacrim.hawaii.edu/

Announcements: National and International

ODEP places among the top 20%

Harvard University's Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation has recognized the Office of Disability Employment Policy's (ODEP) Customized Employment initiative as noteworthy, placing it among the top 20 percent of more than 600 applicants. Learn more about customized employment and ODEP's other initiatives that promote the employment of people with disabilities.

Recent Products

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

Resources

2009 Technology in the Works Competition

NCTI seeks proposals for collaborative research of innovative and emerging assistive technologies that provide greater access for students with disabilities. Up to five awards of $15,000 will be made in 2009. The collaboration team must secure matching funds from at least one of the parties involved in the study. NCTI is committed to fostering new talent in the field of learning and assistive technology. We strongly encourage graduate student-vendor teams to apply. Click here to visit their website and learn more.

Help Identify Postsecondary Education Options for Students with Intellectual Disabilities

Please review and fill out the online questionnaire- http://www.thinkcollege.net/identifyprograms. This information will be used to identify the characteristics and outcomes of these postsecondary education programs to further understand their impact on individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Institutes / Conferences

Web Course- Career Development for People with Disabilities

TRN, Inc. will offer the popular Web Course: Career Development for Youth and Adults with Disabilities on March 17 - 30, 2009. This is a 2-week, 20-hour web training on developing career goals through innovative vocational assessment, career development skills, and vocational profiling for youth and adults with disabilities. The course will be taught by Rob Hoffman, a well-known consultant who has taught extensively on the employment of people with disabilities. Registration is limited, and previous courses have all filled to capacity. To learn more about the training and to register, click here.

IMPLEMENTING SELF-DETERMINATION ACROSS DISABILITIES AND AGING

People in the recovery movement and older adults together with those with physical and developmental disabilities, yearn to craft a meaningful life. Self-Determination is a way to face together the current perfect fiscal storm and to have people not just survive - but flourish in an environment fraught with potential cutbacks and support scarcity. The implementation of Self-Determination throughout the world has provided us with a wealth of knowledge that can meet this challenge. Click here to find out why knowing this information is critically important to YOU and to register.

Research / Publications

HUD Produces Video Messages for Deaf and Hard of Hearing

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that it has produced videos for YouTube (link) and Facebook (link) designed to educate Deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers about their fair housing rights, housing counseling services, and loan programs offered by the Federal Housing Administration (click here to visit the FHA website). Reaching out to consumers on YouTube and Facebook gives HUD another avenue for delivering content to users. Since it is more consumer-driven, videos posted on these sites get a different level of exposure than just being posted on HUD's website.

NEW FACT SHEET RELEASED

Teaching children about the contributions of particular populations to our nation's history, such as women and people of various ethnic backgrounds, has been recognized as important through the declaration of dedicated months as well as other educational programs. Disability history, however, has been largely ignored in school curricula. Read about "Disability History: An Important Part of America's Heritage" in either PDF or Word format.

Able & Willing

A captioned video of stories about people with disabilities and businesses working together to create successful mentorships, internships and long term employment opportunities. Click here to view the short clip taken from the DVD.

Teaching Children with ADHD

Two publications from the U.S. Department of Education, <"http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/adhd/adhd-identifying-2008.pdf">Identifying and Treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Resource for School and Home and Teaching Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Instructional Strategies and Practices, address the important issues related to the instruction of children with ADHD.

Valuable New Resource Available for Employers

Employers can now view the latest statistics on worker substance use rates categorized by industry and occupation. Industry and occupational data can help employers learn more about how substance abuse may impact their workforce and what types of policies and programs may be most appropriate for their organization. Industry & Occupational Substance Use Data A new fact sheet addresses common pitfalls that can undermine the effectiveness of a drug-free workplace program and strategies organizations can use to avoid them. Top 12 Reasons a Good Drug-Free Workplace Goes Bad.

Transition Resource Directory

Descriptions of federally funded projects and centers that focus on youth transition. The entire directory can be downloaded in PDF format via the link.