ADA Reform legislation moves forward

On July 7 H.R. 3765, the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2015, passed out of the House Judiciary Committee. H.R. 3765 is one of several pending ADA reform bills targeting “drive-by” or serial litigants. They share a common approach, requiring that plaintiffs give notice before filing suit so the problem can be fixed. They also share a common reaction from the disabilities and business communities. Disability advocates vehement oppose the bills while business groups support them.

We’ve blogged about H.R. 3765 :

ADA Education and Reform Act of 2015

This bill requires the Disability Rights Section of the Department of Justice to develop a program to educate state and local governments and property owners on strategies for promoting access to public accommodations for persons with a disability. The program may include training for professionals to provide a guidance of remediation for potential violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).

The bill prohibits persons from, and subjects violators to a criminal fine for, sending demand letters or other pre-suit notifications alleging a violation of ADA public accommodation requirements if the notification does not specify the circumstances under which an individual was actually denied access. The notification must specify: (1) the address of property, (2) the specific ADA sections alleged to have been violated, (3) whether a request for assistance in removing an architectural barrier was made, and (4) whether the barrier was permanent or temporary.

The bill also prohibits commencement of civil action based on the failure to remove an architectural barrier to access into an existing public accommodation unless: (1) the aggrieved person has provided to the owners or operators a written notice specific enough to identify the barrier, and (2) the owners or operators fail to provide the person with a written description outlining improvements that will be made to improve the barrier or they fail to remove the barrier or make substantial progress after providing such a description.

The Judicial Conference of the United States must develop a model program to promote alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to resolve such claims. The model program should include an expedited method for determining relevant facts related to such barriers and steps to resolve accessibility issues before litigation.. 

Our prediction that the bill would go nowhere is proving wrong, but our criticism of the bill’s likely effectiveness hasn’t changed. Serial litigation is driven by cheap standing and the economics of defending a lawsuit in federal court, neither of which will be changed by this bill. There is something in the bill that all sides should agree on – a requirement for more ADA education. Unfortunately, this requirement comes without any funding, so it is unlikely to be effectively implemented.  The best way to reduce litigation and help the disabled involves seriously funded education for business and coordination of ADA compliance requirements with the building inspection process at the local level. This would improve ADA compliance before a suit was filed or demand letter sent, and that would have the effect of moving resources from attorneys fees to accessibility. Private enforcement of the ADA through litigation is the most wasteful way to achieve the goals of the ADA, and as long as litigation is the main tool for enforcement the lion’s share of money will go to lawyers instead of improvements in accessibility.

By Richard Hunt

Disabled Behind Bars : The Mass Incarceration of People With Disabilities in America’s Jails and Prisons

America’s four-decade-long experiment with mass incarceration and overcriminalization is widely recognized as a failure. We lock up a greater share of our citizens than any other developed nation, destroying lives and separating families at an annual cost of more than $80 billion. In addition, we do little to prepare individuals behind bars for their eventual release, yet are surprised when some two-thirds return to our jails and prisons.

The crushing impact of the criminal justice system’s failure is felt acutely in communities across the United States. Significant and growing research shows how certain populations—including communities of color; residents of high-poverty neighborhoods; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, individuals—have been particularly hard hit. But rarely discussed is the impact of the criminal justice system on Americans with disabilities.

The past six decades have seen widespread closure of state mental hospitals and other institutional facilities that serve people with disabilities—a shift often referred to as deinstitutionalization. The number of Americans residing in such institutions dropped sharply from nearly 560,000 in 1955 to only about 70,000 in 1994. While widely regarded as a positive development, deinstitutionalization was not accompanied by the public investment necessary to ensure that community-based alternatives were made available. As a result, while people with disabilities—and particularly those with mental health conditions—were no longer living in large numbers in institutions, many began to be swept up into the criminal justice system, often due to minor infractions such as sleeping on the sidewalk. Indeed, federal and state jails and prisons are now home to three times as many people with mental health conditions as state mental hospitals.

People with disabilities are thus dramatically overrepresented in the nation’s prisons and jails today. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, people behind bars in state and federal prisons are nearly three times as likely to report having a disability as the nonincarcerated population, while those in jails are more than four times as likely. Cognitive disabilities—such as Down syndrome, autism, dementia, intellectual disabilities, and learning disorders—are among the most commonly reported: Prison inmates are four times as likely and jail inmates more than six times as likely to report a cognitive disability than the general population. People with mental health conditions comprise a large proportion of those behind bars, as well. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that fully 1 in 5 prison inmates have a serious mental illness.

Jails are locally-operated facilities that hold individuals awaiting trial or sentencing as well as those serving sentences of one year or less, generally for misdemeanor convictions.

Prisons are state- or federally-run facilities, generally for individuals with felony convictions or serving sentences of longer than one year.

Mass incarceration of people with disabilities is unjust, unethical, and cruel. But it is also penny-wise and pound-foolish, as community-based treatment and prevention services cost far less than housing an individual behind bars. According to a 2014 study of Los Angeles County, the average cost of jailing an individual with serious mental illness exceeds $48,500 per year. By comparison, the price tag for providing Assertive Community Treatment, or ACT, and supportive housing—one of the most intensive, comprehensive, and successful intervention models in use today—amounts to less than $20,500 annually, just two-fifths the cost of jail.

In addition to facing disproportionate rates of incarceration, people with disabilities are also especially likely to be the victims of police violence. Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Kristiana Coignard, and Robert Ethan Saylor were all individuals with disabilities whose tragic stories of being killed at the hands of police officers garnered significant recent national media attention. They are but four high-profile examples of a widespread, commonplace occurrence. While data on police-involved killings are extremely limited, one study by the Ruderman Family Foundation estimates that people with disabilities comprise a staggering one-third to one-half of all individuals killed by law enforcement. According to an investigation by The Washington Post, one-quarter of the individuals shot to death by police officers in 2015 were people with mental health conditions. Countless more have suffered brutality and violent treatment at the hands of police, often stemming from misunderstandings related to mental health conditions and other disabilities. Furthermore, the number of individuals who have acquired disabilities while in police custody is unknown.

While behind bars, people with disabilities are often deprived of necessary medical care, as well as needed supports, services, and accommodations. This is despite long-standing federal disability rights laws that mandate equal access to programs, services, and activities for all people with disabilities in custody. Poor conditions in jails and prisons and inadequate access to health care and mental health treatment can not only exacerbate existing conditions, but also lead to further physical and mental health problems that individuals did not have prior to incarceration. Many inmates with disabilities are held in solitary confinement—reportedly, in many cases, for their own protection, due to a lack of appropriate alternative accommodations. A growing array of research reveals that even short stays in solitary confinement can have severe and long-lasting consequences for people with disabilities, and particularly those with mental health conditions. Furthermore, many individuals who had not previously lived with mental health conditions experience significant psychological distress following solitary confinement. The tragic but all-too-common case of Kalief Browder brought this to light last year. Browder died by suicide after nearly two years in solitary confinement in Rikers Island on charges, later dismissed, that he had stolen a backpack.

Moreover, while many people with disabilities already face barriers to employment, stable housing, and other necessary elements of economic security, adding a criminal record into the mix can pose additional obstacles that make living with a disability an even greater challenge. Meanwhile, reentry programs for formerly incarcerated individuals often lack necessary accommodations and connections to community services, making them incapable of meeting the needs of participants with disabilities.

This year marks the 17th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C., which held that unjustified segregation of people with disabilities in institutional settings constituted unlawful discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. Ending the mass incarceration of people with disabilities will require meaningful investment in the nation’s social service and mental health treatment infrastructure to ensure availability and funding for community-based alternatives, so that jails and prisons are no longer forced to serve as social service providers of last resort. But bringing about this change will also require including disability as a key part of the bipartisan conversation on criminal justice reform taking place in Congress, as well as in states and cities across the United States.

This report highlights steps policymakers can take to combat inappropriate and unjust incarceration and criminalization of people with disabilities, as well as steps to ensure appropriate and humane treatment of people with disabilities throughout the justice system, from police practices to courts, conditions in jails and prisons, and reentry.

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/criminal-justice/report/2016/07/18/141447/disabled-behind-bars/

Disability Finance, Grants and Loans

Disability Loans Grants & Low Income Finance

Synopsis:

How to obtain financial assistance for low income earners disability grants and loans available for home ownership college and vehicle purchases

Definition: Defining the Meaning of Loans and Grants

Loan - In finance, a loan is a debt provided by one entity (organization or individual) to another entity at an interest rate, and evidenced by a note which specifies, among other things, the principal amount, interest rate, and date of repayment. A loan entails the reallocation of the subject asset(s) for a period of time, between the lender and the borrower.

Grant - Non-repayable funds or products disbursed by one party (grant makers), often a government department, corporation, foundation or trust, to a recipient, often (but not always) a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal or an application is required.

Main Document

Due to the limited information currently available online in regards to disability grants for disabled students and reputable loan sources, Disabled World is compiling an online resource of financial assistance programs available including grants for disabled students, low income families and singles, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

Financial aid programs reviewed cover lending institutions for low income people in major world countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, and the US.

Having good credit can help you in a surprising number of ways. A good credit history can result in getting that dream job, lower interest rates on car loans and mortgages, and better rates on your insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).

Students with disabilities are advantaged when it comes to grants and scholarships. Since the IDEA made it illegal to segregate students with a disability, there has been a major push to offer grants for disabled students to pursue their educational goals. Not only are there grants for individual students, but the technological support that enables disabled students to participate in matters as well.

Disabled Students Allowances provide extra financial help if you have a disability or a specific learning difficulty like dyslexia. They are paid on top of the standard student finance package and don't have to be repaid. Full-time, part-time and postgraduate students can apply for Disabled Students' Allowances.

Links to Useful Home and Housing Finance Information and Quick Calculators:

·         First Home Owners Guide to Mortgages

·         Home Budget Calculator for Planning Household Finances

·         Guide to Home Buying for People with Disabilities

·         Online Loan Calculator for Home, Personal or Business Use

·         Disability Housing and Home Loans for Disabled Americans

Links to U.S. Government Grants, Loans, and Unclaimed Money Information:

Listed below are various loan programs available including grants for disabled people, low income home ownership, mortgages, down payment loans, car and vehicle modification loans, personal loans, consolidation loans and college or education funding sources.

·         Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

·         Rural Development Loans

·         GovLoans.gov - Find the Right Loan for You

·         Grants.gov - Find and Apply for Government Grants

·         Benefits and Government Assistance Eligibility Tool

·         Home Loans - Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Loans

·         Unclaimed Money from the Government

·         Small Business Loans

MyMoney.gov is a product of the U.S. congressional chartered Federal Financial Literacy and Education Commission, designed to strengthen financial capability and increase access to financial services for all Americans. This website provides tools and resources on the principles of financial education; earn, save and invest, protect, spend and borrow.

Housing Grants for Disabled Veterans

Veterans Affairs (VA) provides grants to Service-members and Veterans with certain permanent and total service-connected disabilities to help purchase or construct an adapted home, or modify an existing home to accommodate a disability. Two grant programs exist: the Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant and the Special Housing Adaptation (SHA) grant. More information is available here.

If you are a government department, lending institution or agency who's main purpose is providing low income and disability loans please contact us so that we may list your resource as a funding reference.

Disability Finance

http://www.disabled-world.com/disability/finance/

NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY

kip to Page Content

WHO WE ARE

NCD is an independent federal agency charged with advising the President, Congress, and other federal agencies regarding policies, programs, practices, and procedures that affect people with disabilities. NCD is comprised of a team of Presidential and Congressional appointees, an Executive Director appointed by the Chair, and a full-time professional staff. ("Read more about the NCD team")

NCD MISSION

NCD's mission is to be a trusted advisor, in collaboration with people with disabilities to:

• The President
• The Congress
• Federal entities
• State, tribal communities, and local governments; and
• Other entities and organizations

NCD fulfills its advisory roles regarding disability policies, programs, procedures, and practices that enhance equal opportunity by:

• Convening stakeholders  to acquire timely and relevant input for recommendations and action steps
• Gathering and analyzing data and other information
• Engaging and influencing current debates and agendas
• Identifying and formulating solutions to emerging and long-standing challenges; and
• Providing tools to facilitate effective implementation

History of NCD

NCD has a proud history. First established as a small advisory Council within the Department of Education in 1978, NCD was transformed into an independent agency in 1984 and charged with reviewing all federal disability programs and policies. In 1986, NCD recommended enactment of an Americans with Disabilities Act, and then drafted the first version of the bill introduce in the House and Senate in 1988. Since enactment of the ADA in 1990, NCD has continued to play a leading role in analyzing the needs of people with disabilities, crafting policy solutions, and advising the President and Congress. 

A more comprehensive history of the agency is detailed in NCD's 1997 publication titled Equality of Opportunity: The Making of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Strategic Plan

NCD's five year strategic plan for FY 2012 - FY 2017 prioritizes implementation and engagement.

Authorizing Statute

NCD was statutorily created in 1978 through amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 780 et seq.). The authorizing statute specifies the agency's duties, administrative powers, appropriations, and parameters regarding NCD Council and staff. The statute was amended by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (P.L. 113-128) in 2014.

National Council on Disability

Black, Gifted and Disabled

Alexis Toliver is a 22 year old Neurobiology Research Assistant at Harvard Medical School. I recently graduated from The Johns Hopkins University with a major in Neuroscience and minor in Music and Bioethics. She has Aspergers Syndrome and intends to focus her later research on autism. She has been an activist in many ways all of her life, but her heavy work began in Baltimore, MD. She began doing non-profit work for black folks that were homeless and later became a student organizer. She participated in several direct actions against police brutality on both a local and national level. Last spring, Alexis became an organizer for a team named Baltimore Fight back. They organized students at Johns Hopkins Medical School, Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Johns Hopkins University to fight for justice for Freddie Gray. After leaving Baltimore, she became a co-lead organizer for Black Lives Matter (BLM) Cambridge. Through that, she stood in physical solidarity and/or organized actions around national campaigns such as ‪#‎YearWithoutTamir‬, Justice for Mike Brown, Chicago Solidarity, Solidarity with Mizzou, and many others. She has also worked on local campaigns such as community trainings in non-violent direct action and cop-watch. Alexis has also co-organized outside actions such as the students of Mass Art and the Justice for Anye campaign in Lowell, MA. She has decided to take a step back from BLM to focus strictly on organizing for Black folks with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities account for half of police shootings nationally. This is impeccably alarming and she intends to dedicate her power as a black woman with autism to combat this problem.

Leroy Moore: You found the high alarming rate of police shooting against people with disabilities and it changed your activism. Tell us how has it changed and what your goal is now after learning about this reality.

Alexis Toliver: When Ezell Ford was murdered, I realized that individuals like myself are highly victimized by police brutality. I knew that we experienced societal brutality, but didn’t quite understand how that came into play with police brutality. I remember sitting in my dorm, terrified by the fact that the color or my skin in combination with autism and mental illness could easily lead to my death. Yes, I am black. Yes, I am autistic. Yes, I have dealt with depression. No, the system is not justified in murdering me because of it.

I started to read more and realized that individuals with disabilities are more than 50% of the victims of police shootings. More than 30% of the victims of police shootings are black, despite the fact that we are only around 12% of the population. Keeping in mind that these are only the reported statistics, not the true statistics, black folks with disabilities are in grave danger. There are videos of us being shot in wheel chairs. Jeremy Mcdole. There are examples of us experiencing a break down and being shot. Quintonio LaGrier. There are examples of us being beaten to death.Tanisha Anderson. However, that narrative is often generalized to being yet another black victim to police brutality. The full narrative is what hit me. It is what made me commit myself to fighting for us. Why? Because the able bodied can easily spread the message that relates to them. If the messenger is black, they will likely explain the victim as black. If the messenger is a black disabled woman, I will definitely share the narrative of my fallen brother, sister, or sibling that was not only black, but lived with a disability. My goal is to give the full narrative. My goal is to stop the state violence against people like me. The black, disabled narrative is my narrative and I am ready to tell it.

Leroy Moore: You have been an activist all of your life. Give us some background of your activism.

Alexis Toliver: I think I should break down activism before folks think I’m high and mighty. Activism is simply an act that aims towards societal improvement. An unapologetic voice that speaks out against injustice. So I, like many people of color, have spoken out against injustice since I gained the ability to do so. That is much due to my family. My great grandma and I would watch the news together. This first exposed me the injustices of imperialism and capitalism. Rather than just internalize my learning, I would speak of them at school. In a family heavy with women and the era of Destiny’s Child, I then learned to spread the message of being an independent woman because that is what I aspired to be. (However, I understand that some of cannot be fully independent and that is perfectly fine.) Once I reached middle school, the work started in the form of community service. This continued in high school and the work became less of what my community had to offer but more bringing attention to what my community lacked. We did food drives. We did penny drives for leukemia. For projects, I would teach about Ida B. Wells and the elicit blood diamond trade as a reaction to the lack of its teachings in the classroom. When white students spoke negatively of immigration, I spoke up on behalf of my friends. Little did I know it, my friends and I were enacting the direct actions of public meetings and distribution of protest literature on campus. Upon moving to Baltimore for college, I noticed fellow black folks living on the streets and began working in homeless outreach to provide services for my sisters, brothers, and siblings in need. Then it became a fight against police brutality and white supremacy. Now, here we are; working towards liberation as activists with disabilities.

Leroy Moore: You have been involved around national campaigns such as #YearWithoutTamir, Justice for Mike Brown, Chicago Solidarity, Solidarity with Mizzou, and many others. What have you learned from being involved in these campaigns and have these campaigns talked about intersectionality like race and sex, GBLTQ, disability and so on?

Alexis Toliver: I’ve learned so much. Before the national campaigns, the only aspects of intersectionality that I had experience working for and with were liberation for folks that were previously incarcerated, those of us with disabilities, and the LG of LBGTQIA. This was simply from family and personal exposure. It wasn’t until I was exposed to BLM, Black Twitter, and national campaigns that I learned about the experiences of black immigrants, our trans sisters, siblings, and brothers, our non binary siblings, and so much more. As a cis-gender, heterosexual Christian woman with autism, I learned so much. I considered myself open minded before; but these friendships and experiences really made me expand my thoughts and begin to process things differently.

National campaigns also spread black love and unity. It makes you realize that you aren’t alone. Simple conversations with a student at Mizzou made me feel a bit at peace about my experience at Johns Hopkins. Talking to Tamir Rice’s family gave me hope for my 11-year little brother. Prior to meeting Tamir’s family and seeing their strength, I had a lot of fear about my little brother growing up as a black child in this country. They shared their strength. But, that is the point of national campaigns. These campaigns are built out of solidarity, communal strength, and love.

Leroy Moore: You also work with Cop Watch and became a co-lead organizer for Black Lives Matter, Cambridge. Tell us what you learned in these roles and what you think was missing, if anything.

Alexis Toliver: I collaborated with Cop Watch to do a community training on cop-watching. I love community trainings. They bring empowerment and knowledge to the area. The police and systems of power thrive on our ignorance. Community Trainings overcome that.

I became co lead organizer of Black Lives Matter, Cambridge through a transition in leadership that left one of my close friends in a position with lots of work to do in little time. We had a meeting and decided to take on what we do best. My co-organizer, Kimika Ross, is super enthusiastic and loves leading chants and speaking to people. I make the best of having Asperger’s and took over logistics and planning for the direct actions. However, we came into a chapter that wasn’t founded on a stable ground and ended up leaving. Kimika still does work in the community and I still strategize with other amazing groups.

Leroy Moore: Besides learning about the rate of police brutality among people with disabilities, what were the other reasons have you recently stepped back from BLM?

Alexis Toliver: Black Lives Matter is a great organization, but it wasn’t a good fit for me. I believe my voice will be better heard elsewhere. As black activists with disabilities, we have to lead our own liberation and be our own voices.

(In any way that we can, however. As activists with disabilities, we have unique abilities. So, by voice, I don't literally mean voice. Some of us may be nonverbal. I mean it in the figurative sense.)

Leroy Moore: What needs to happen in the disability and Black community on the issue of police brutality and how do you think NBDC’s Black Disability Studies will help?

Alexis Toliver: I think a first step is to put our narratives in the forefront. We’ve been silenced and it’s time to get loud (in whatever capacity that each body can.) Black disability studies is an amazing first step and I believe it will be highly efficient. However, as a black community, we have stigmatized disability. Most of my family still doesn’t know that I have Asperger’s Syndrome; because the terrible reaction from the few that I informed made me decide to keep it a secret. I’ve spoken to other black folks with disabilities and they share similar experiences. For those with physical disabilities, there is a tendency to treat them as other. This is unacceptable. Our conditions should not define us; especially within our Black communities. Our first step as a community should be to take away the stigma.

This work could come in the form of community workshops, informational pamphlets, and media campaigns. In order to progress as black activists with disabilities, we have to get our communities on board to uplift us.

Leroy Moore: What are your plans in the future on the issue of Black disabled people and police brutality?

Alexis Toliver: First thing is building an even larger network of black activists with disabilities. Perhaps this can occur through a subgroup of National Black Disability Coalition. We need to form a national network of folks that are committed to combating police brutalization of black disabled people. We need to get our message out and make people aware of what is happening to us.

After establishing this group, we would find ways in which each person can contribute their unique abilities. Even if its nonverbal or non-physical support, it is a great contribution. This group could train in the techniques of non violent direct action and also learn of and consider other forms of action such as armed- self defense. After, we could collectively decide which means of action is best for us. Then, we would do the work. We would act strategically as organizers to make the changes that we need to survive as black folks with disabilities.

Leroy Moore: Any last words?

Alexis Toliver: Thanks for taking time to listen to me yall!

Leroy Moore is a founding member of the National Black Disability Coalition (NBDC) and Alexis Toliver is a member of the Black Disability Studies Committee of

Alexis Toliver Talks about Her Activism and Black Lives Matter as a Black Woman who is Autistic

By Leroy Moore

Disabled Person, Employment and Internet Accessibility

"For the National Organization on Disability, in particular, lack of Web accessibility means that individuals with disabilities do not have a way to interact with your business online..."

The US Department of Labor has released updated survey data of US Employment statistics. The good news is, for both the Persons with a disability* and the Persons with no disability groups, the unemployment rate has decreased since March of 2015. The bad news is; the improvement was minimal.

According to the findings, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is currently 10.8, down from 11.7 just 12 months earlier. This movement is positive, however when comparing the current 4.9 unemployment rate of people without disabilities, it becomes clear that there is still a large divide. What this is actually uncovering is that the unemployment rate of people living with disabilities is more than double that of the rate attributed to those living without any disabilities.

So why is it that people living with disabilities are less likely to be considered for an open position?

There is not one clear answer to this question. Many reasons factor in, including misinformation and misunderstanding of a prospective employee's disability, a company's concern that they will not be able to accommodate for the disability, and in some cases, even prejudice. In fact, an article by Ananya Bhattacharya and Heather Long on Money.CNN.com from July 26, 2015 states that Jordan Gallacher, a blind computer expert who holds a bachelor’s degree in management and entrepreneurship from Louisiana Tech University was actually told blatantly by one prospective employer that they "don't hire blind people."

But perhaps the most significant reason is that people with disabilities often are not able o apply for positions in the first place because many websites are not built with accessibility in mind. People with disabilities rely on accessible design to navigate websites and applications. For example, a person who is blind may be using assistive technology such as a JAWS screen reader, which requires that the HTML code be written sequentially and logically in order for the user to perform any required functionality like applying for employment.

"For the National Organization on Disability, in particular, lack of Web accessibility means that individuals with disabilities do not have a way to interact with your business online," stated Carol Glazer, President, National Organization on Disability. "With e-commerce and apps overtaking brick and mortar outlets as the main interface between businesses and consumers, companies who adopt accessible technology can gain a competitive edge in courting the large and growing disability market that represents 1.3 billion people globally - equivalent in size to the population of China - and who wield power over $1 trillion in annual disposable income, of which $544 billion is spent in the US alone."

Accessible websites are not just becoming required, they make good business sense. Glazer continues, "While fully 1 in 5 Americans has a disability, making your websites accessible allows you to reach an even greater segment of consumers. Accessible technology helps all users reach your content: just think of the usefulness of video captions in a noisy airport."

There are organizations that offer employment assistance for people with disabilities. As list can be found on the Frequently Requested Resources age on the Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) site www.AskEarn.org, a resource for employers seeking to recruit, hire, retain and advance qualified employees with disabilities.

The Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BOIA) has been helping companies achieve and maintain website accessibility compliancy for over fifteen years. Their personalized approach begins with performing an automated and manual website audit, then providing comprehensive reporting that includes a programmer's guide citing specific non-compliance issues and best practice remediation recommendations. BoIA's services also comprise of ongoing client support, collaborating with their clients as the accessibility subject matter experts and performing consistent ad hoc testing, staff training and consultative services. For more information, email contact@boia.org

* The US Department of Labor defines a person with a disability as having at least one of the following conditions: is deaf or has serious difficulty hearing; is blind or has serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses; has serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition; has serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs; has difficulty dressing or bathing; or has difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor's office or shopping because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition.

Published 2016-06-04 -- Unemployment rate for people with disabilities is currently 10.8, down from 11.7 just 12 months earlier.

Author: The Bureau of Internet Accessibility - Contact: boia.org

Educate the "Ignorance of Society" concerning "Invisible Disability"

I never knew what it meant to be disabled until the day I became disabled. How insensitive some humans can be against the disabled community. One a friend of mine had  a handicap license. He parked and got out the car; a lady says to him, Well, you look perfectly normal to me!? He turned and looked at her into her eyes and said, very seriously, maybe that's not part of the problem, you can't see lurking under my shell. " What he said to her was priceless!

I am too experiencing invisible disability and I would like to say to all the bullies, "Just because You can't see my disability doesn't mean it doesn't exist!" Until you walk in my shoes and have felt the pain, keep your cruel comments and opinions to yourself. Ignorant people can be so cruel! Not only society but public and social entities.  I decided to post this in hopes to stop people from bullying, mocking and laughing at people with impairments beyond their control. Hard to explain to someone who is ignorant and have no clue. It's a daily struggle being in pain or feeling sick on the inside while you look fine on the outside. Let me educate you on examples of “Invisible Disability” (IBS, Crohn's, PTSD, Anxiety, Arthritis, Cancer, Heart Disease, "C.O.P. D", Bipolar, Depression, Diabetes, Lupus, Fibromyalgia, MS, AS, ME, Epilepsy, Hereditary angioedema, Migraines, Chiari Malformation, Hashimotos, AUTISM, Borderline personality disorder, M.D., D.D.D., CFS, Histiocytosis, O.D.D, A.D.H.D, RSD, RA (rheumatoid arthritis) PBC,RLS etc.) Never judge.

What is Invisible Disability? 

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) an individual with a disability is a person who: Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; has a record of such an impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment (Disability Discrimination). Furthermore, “A person is considered to have a disability if he or she has difficulty performing certain functions (seeing, hearing, talking, walking, climbing stairs and lifting and carrying), or has difficulty performing activities of daily living, or has difficulty with certain social roles (doing school work for children, working at a job and around the house for adults)” (Disabilities Affect One-Fifth of All Americans).

Often people think the term, disability, only refers to people using a wheelchair or walker. On the contrary, the 1994-1995 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) found that 26 million Americans (almost 1 in 10) were considered to have a severe disability, while only 1.8 million used a wheelchair and 5.2 million used a cane, crutches or walker (Americans with Disabilities 94-95). In other words, 74% of Americans who live with a severe disability do not use such devices. Therefore, a disability cannot be determined solely on whether or not a person uses assistive equipment.

The term invisible disabilities refer to symptoms such as debilitating pain, fatigue, dizziness, cognitive dysfunctions, brain injuries, learning differences and mental health disorders, as well as hearing and vision impairments.  These are not always obvious to the onlooker, but can sometimes or always limit daily activities, range from mild challenges to severe limitations and vary from person to person.

Also, someone who has a visible impairment or uses an assistive device such as a wheelchair, walker or cane can also have invisible disabilities. For example, whether or not a person utilizes an assistive device, if they are debilitated by such symptoms as described above, they live with invisible disabilities. Unfortunately, people often judge others by what they see and often conclude a person can or cannot do something by the way they look. This can be equally frustrating for those who may appear unable, but are perfectly capable, as well as those who appear able, but are not.

International Disability expert, Joni Eareckson Tada, explained it well when she told someone living with debilitating fatigue, “People have such high expectations of folks like you [with invisible disabilities], like, ‘come on, get your act together.’ but they have such low expectations of folks like me in wheelchairs, as though it’s expected that we can’t do much” (Joni).

The bottom line is that everyone with a disability is different, with varying challenges and needs, as well as abilities and attributes.  Thus, we all should learn to listen with our ears, instead of judging with our eyes.

 https://invisibledisabilities.org/

African American Depression Stereotypes - Dr. Jeff Gardere

BLACK AND DISABLED: WHEN WILL OUR LIVES MATTER?

It is simply not enough to proclaim that all black lives matter when clearly not all black bodies matter in our collective conception and articulation of black liberation. As it stands, our conception and articulation of black liberation, not just in the United States but across the globe, currently suffers from a profound failure to engage disability as a site of struggle, resistance and transformation. This despite the fact that Black disabled people everywhere are on the receiving end of the cruelest forms of neglect, violence, and destitution. A serious engagement with disability, and the lives of sick and disabled Black people, would mean a more expansive view of what constitutes activism and resistance, and in the process move us all toward an entirely new and more beautiful conception of Black liberation at large.

It would seem as though the only thing we have in response to large scale injustice and inequality is our bodies. It is no wonder that our conception of activism and liberation is grounded in the body. In this way, bodies animate political conviction. Movements for social and economic justice tend to mean the convergence of bodies sprawled out on the streets in righteous indignation and protest. Fists thumping in the air. People kicking and screaming as law enforcement officers violently disperse crowds. Protesters shoved into the back of police vehicles. Young activists in holding cells waiting to be bailed out. This is what comes to mind when one thinks of activism that is imbued with the promise of revolution. The body is the thread that weaves together these images. But not just any body. It is the non-disabled body that seems to give meaning to our collective definition of activism and resistance. This default to the non-disabled body is what I call ableism.

A number of questions arise from the ways in which ableism structures dominant conceptions of activism and resistance. What do revolutionaries look like? Why the insistence that revolutionaries need to “look” a certain way? Why is a vision of liberation predicated upon “seeing” in the first place? What does it mean when bodies are not able to “fight back” in the way that ableism defines what counts as fighting back? Why the assumption of non-disabled ways of being? If I organize from bed because I live with chronic pain and my body hurts too much will I still be regarded as an activist? What would organizing from bed mean for redefining what organizing means in general? What if going to prison for my political beliefs is just not an option for me because prisons don’t come staffed with personal attendants? Will I still be regarded as deeply committed to the struggle for social and economic justice? Not that I want prisons to be staffed with personal attendants, let alone exist at all. On this point, what would it mean to understand prison abolition politics through the prism of the deinstitutionalization of sick and disabled people? What if disability was the starting point for re-imagining the world? What if we stopped conflating disability with blackness and instead honored and affirmed the lives of actual Black people who exist at the intersection of disability and blackness?I don’t have the answers to all these questions and in some way I feel that asking these questions without offering answers is what is truly needed in this moment. All of us have a stake in thinking through how we all get free. 

Black disabled people are not just made to disappear from public view, they are also made to disappear from the imagination. This is the definition of violence. To make Black disabled life unfathomable in our conception of activism and resistance is to fundamentally undermine the possibility of Black liberation, for this practice is a haunting that will make Black liberation itself unfathomable too.

This post is part of the “Black Future Month” series produced by The Huffington Post and Black Lives Matter Network for Black History Month. Each day in February, this series will look at one of 29 different cultural and political issues affecting Black lives, from education to criminal-justice reform. To follow the conversation on Twitter, view #BlackFutureMonth.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eddie-ndopu/black-and-disabled_b_9221756.html

NAMI National Alliance Mental Illness : Mental Illness FACTS AND NUMBERS

As you read the statistics why are there not enough civil rights protections? Why the State of Maryland still not enforcing ADA accommodations?

Numbers of Americans Affected by Mental Illness 

One in four adults−approximately 61.5 million Americans−experiences mental illness in a given year. One in 17−about 13.6 million−live with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder.1  Approximately 20 percent of youth ages 13 to 18 experience severe mental disorders in a given year. For ages 8 to 15, the estimate is 13 percent.2  Approximately 1.1 percent of American adults— about 2.4 million people—live with schizophrenia. 3,4 Approximately 2.6 percent of American adults−6.1 million people−live with bipolar disorder. 4,5  Approximately 6.7 percent of American adults−about 14.8 million people−live with major depression.

4,6 Approximately 18.1 percent of American adults−about 42 million people−live with anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder and phobias.4,7  About 9.2 million adults have co-occurring mental health and addiction disorders. 8 Approximately 26 percent of homeless adults staying in shelters live with serious mental illness and an estimated 46 percent live with severe mental illness and/or substance use disorders. 9  Approximately 20 percent of state prisoners and 21 percent of local jail prisoners have “a recent history” of a mental health condition. 10  Seventy percent of youth in juvenile justice systems have at least one mental health condition and at least 20 percent live with a severe mental illness.

11 Getting Mental Health Treatment in America; Approximately 60 percent of adults 12, and almost one-half of youth ages 8 to 15 with a mental illness received no mental health services in the previous year. 13  African American and Hispanic Americans used mental health services at about one-half the rate of whites in the past year and Asian Americans at about one-third the rate.14.  One-half of all chronic mental illness begins by the age of 14; three-quarters by age 24. 15 Despite effective treatment, there are long delays−sometimes decades−between the first appearance of symptoms and when people get help. 16 The Impact of Mental Illness in America  Serious mental illness costs America $193.2 billion in lost earnings per year.17  Mood disorders such as depression are the third most common cause of hospitalization in the U.S. for both youth and adults ages 18 to 44.18  Individuals living with serious mental illness face an increased risk of having chronic medical conditions. 19 Adults living with serious mental illness die on average 25 years earlier than other Americans, largely due to treatable medical conditions. 20  Over 50 percent of students with a mental health condition age 14 and older who are served by special education drop out−the highest dropout rate of any disability group. 21  Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S. (more common than homicide) and the third leading cause of death for ages 15 to 24 years.22 More than 90 percent of those who die by suicide had one or more mental disorders. 23  Although military members comprise less than 1 percent of the U.S. population 24 , veterans represent 20 percent of suicides nationally. Each day, about 22 veterans die from suicide.


25 Mental Illness FACTS AND NUMBERS NAMI

 • The National Alliance on Mental Illness • 1 (800) 950-NAMI • www.nami.org 3803 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203 2 References 1 National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Statistics: Any Disorder Among Adults. Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/statistics/1ANYDIS_ADULT.shtml 2 National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Any Disorder Among Children. Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/statistics/1ANYDIS_CHILD.shtml 3 National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.) The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America. Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml 4 Prevalence numbers were calculated using NIMH percentages (cited) and 2010 Census data. Census data is available at: United States Census Bureau. (revised 2011). “USA [State & County QuickFacts].” Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html 5 National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America. Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml 6 Ibid. 7 National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Statistics: Any Anxiety Disorder Among Adults. Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/statistics/1anyanx_adult.shtml 8 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2012). Results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Findings NSDUH Series H-42, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 11-4667). Rockville, Md.: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2012. 9 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Community Planning and Development. (2011). The 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://www.hudhre.info/documents/2010HomelessAssessmentReport.pdf 10 Glaze, L.E. & James, D.J. (2006, updated December). Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates. Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs Washington, D.C. Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/mhppji.pdf 11 Skowyra, K.R. & Cocozza, J.J. (2007) Blueprint for Change: A Comprehensive Model for the Identification and Treatment of Youth with Mental Health Needs in Contact with the Juvenile Justice System. The National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice; Policy Research Associates, Inc. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Delmar, N.Y: The National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice; Policy Research Associates, Inc. 12Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2012). Results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Findings NSDUH Series H-42, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 11-4667). Rockville, Md.; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2012. 13 National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Use of Mental Health Services and Treatment Among Children. Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/statistics/1NHANES.shtml 14 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2010). 2010 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. Retrieved January 2013, from http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhdr10/index.html. 15 Kessler, R.C, et al. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 593-602. 16 National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health. (2005). Mental Illness Exacts Heavy Toll, Beginning in Youth. Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jun2005/nimh-06.htm 17 Insel, T.R. (2008). Assessing the Economic Costs of Serious Mental Illness. The American Journal of Psychiatry. 165(6), 663-665. 18 Wier, LM (Thompson Reuters), et al. HCUP facts and figures: statistics on hospital-based care in the United States, 2009. Web.. Rockville, Md. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports.jsp. 19 Colton, C.W. & Manderscheid, R.W. (2006). Congruencies in increased mortality rates, years of potential life lost, and causes of death among public mental health clients in eight states. Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice and Policy, 3(2), 1-14. 20 Parks, J.,et al. (2006). Morbidity and Mortality in People with Serious Mental Illness. Alexandria, VA: National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) Medical Directors Council. 21 U.S. Department of Education. (2006). Twenty-eighth annual report to Congress on the implementation.

Link:
http://www2.nami.org/factsheets/mentalillness_factsheet.pdf