NEWS BRIEFSAt AbilityMaine we are developing a special page for events, committee meetings, board meetings, etc. that are of interest to people with disabilities. The calendar link will still be on our site, but this special page will be specifically for disability related meetings and events. If you have items to add to this page, if you are a committee member who can provide dates for your meetings,or if you are planning an event, send items to Mainefun40@hotmail.com with CALENDAR in the subject line. We're always looking for news and information at Abilitymaine. If you have items you think we can use, send them to Mainefun40@hotmail.com with NEWS in the subject line. NewsBriefs MAINE SENIOR REPORT You will find the current and past issues of these reports at: Newly Forming Organization: Chamber of Commerce for Persons with Disabilities, Inc. The Chamber’s mission is to help persons with disabilities and their direct caregivers to form and grow businesses. Chamber of Commerce for Persons with Disabilities, Inc. -- Home Page Altered States of the Arts A nationwide network of artists who are consumer/survivors, i.e. current or former recipients of psychiatric services. They have a new website: http://www.alteredstatesofthearts.com/. Items from the National Council on Disability: (NCD) NCD’s fall quarterly meeting will take place at the Hyatt Regency Boston, One Avenue de LaFayette, Boston, Massachusetts, on Thursday, November 29, 2007, from 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.; Friday, November 30 from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.; and Saturday, December 1 from 8:15 a.m. until 11:15 a.m. Public comment sessions will be held Thursday, November 29 from 4:30 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. and on Friday, November 30 from 1:00 p.m. until 1:30 p.m. A toll-free call-in line will also be available to the public during those times. A reception for all meeting participants, audience members, and people with disabilities from the community will be held on Thursday afternoon from 5:00 p.m. until to 6:30 p.m. As part of the November 29 agenda, NCD will conduct a panel discussion on emergency preparedness from 1:15 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. and a panel on assistive technology and universal design from 3:00 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. For more information, please contact Mark Quigley at mquigley@ncd.gov. NCD’s winter quarterly meeting will be held January 28 ? January 30, 2008, at the New Orleans Marriott at the Convention Center, 859 Convention Center Boulevard, New Orleans, LA. These meetings are free of charge and open to the public. People with disabilities are encouraged to attend and participate in the daily public comment segments of the meeting. The agendas will be posted at http://www.ncd.gov prior to each meeting. Legislative Update On October 4, the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties held a hearing on the ADA Restoration Act of 2007 (H.R.3195), a bill that would restore the intent and protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. Among other things, the bill amends the ADA to: (1) redefine "disability" as a physical or mental impairment, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment; and (2) to define additional terms, including "mental impairment" and "physical impairment." The bill also requires that the Act's provisions be broadly construed. NCD’s executive director Michael C. Collins was among those providing testimony to the Committee. His testimony can be found at: H.R. 3195 is sponsored by Representative Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) with 232 cosponsors and was introduced July 26, 2007. It was referred to the House Education and Labor, Judiciary, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Energy and Commerce committees. The Senate companion bill, S. 1881, is sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) with two cosponsors; it was also introduced on July 26, 2007. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. NCD Releases Employment Recommendations At a news conference on October 1, the first day of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, NCD released a report that presents the best practices in the public and private sectors and the promising public policies and initiatives that increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The employment rate of working-age people with disabilities remains only half that of people without disabilities (38 percent compared with 78 percent in 2005). The report, Empowerment for Americans with Disabilities: Breaking Barriers to Careers and Full Employment, comprehensively reviews the issues integral to the employment of people with disabilities. It has two broad aims: 1) to summarize the existing knowledge regarding the employment of people with disabilities in a series of short issue briefs; and 2) to present new information on the perspectives of employers, people with disabilities, and disability specialists on the key barriers and facilitators of employment. News conference speakers included Linda Wetters, NCD Member, Columbus, OH; Ted Childs, Principal, Ted Childs, LLC, South Salem, NY; Bobby Coward, Chairman, Capitol Area ADAPT, DC; Richard Horne, Supervisory Research Analyst, Research and Evaluation Team, Office of Disability and Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor, DC; and Doug Kruse, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Rutgers University, Program for Disability Research, Piscataway, NJ. The entire report with findings and recommendations can be found at NCD Releases Livable Communities Proceedings On October 1, NCD posted the proceedings from its news conference of October 31, 2006, where NCD released its report, Creating Livable Communities (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications The event was co-hosted by NCD and AARP at AARP world headquarters in Washington, DC. The event included two expert panel discussions. Panelists commented on the report findings and shared their views about what adults with disabilities and seniors need in order to live in the community with independence, choice, and control, and what the public and private sectors as well as consumers can do to help communities become more livable. The event’s cosponsors underscored the point that the disability community and aging network have much in common. By 2030, one in five people in the United States will be over the age of 65. Currently, more than 4.7 million Americans aged 65 years or older have a sensory disability involving sight or hearing, and more than 6.7 million have difficulty going outside the home. As the elderly population grows, it is likely that the number of people aged 65 and older with disabilities also will grow, particularly among those 75 years of age and older. Therefore, it makes sense for the disability community and aging community to work together, align goals, and share resources to address the challenges ahead. NCD and AARP agree that the livable community concept is central to the goal of fostering independence, choice, and control for people with disabilities and seniors. The livable community concept has been a key focus of NCD’s recent work. Communities in the United States are facing increasingly difficult choices and decisions about how to grow, plan for change, and improve the quality of life for all citizens, including people with disabilities. NCD believes that, for the promise of full integration into the community to become a reality, people with disabilities need safe and affordable housing, access to transportation, access to the political process, and the right to enjoy whatever services, programs, and activities are offered to all members of the community by both public and private entities. The entire proceedings can be found at From the American Foundation for the Blind: APH seeks 12 Recreation Directors or Physical Education Teachers to field test a tennis kit. Each kit consists of two rackets, two sound-adapted tennis balls, two blindfolds, and an instruction manual. Field testing is scheduled to begin in January and prototypes will be shipped to Field Test Coordinators in December, before the winter break. Each site will have two months to learn and practice the game. This adapted tennis game is played in a gymnasium. Participating sites will need to tape string (as done for goal ball) on the floor to mark boundaries. If you are interested in participating, send your name, title, address, phone number, and the number of students you have who will be playing to Tristan Pierce at tpierce@aph.org. National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) Update NIMAC/National Instructional Materials Access Center Maine’s Disability Rights Center: Annual Meeting |