OCTOBER Disabilities Thread

[LimitedRecourse]

The Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) announced Wednesday the award of $1.87 million for fiscal year 2010 to The Arc of the U.S. to establish Autism Now: the National Autism Resource and Information Center. According to The Arc press release, new Center the will work in collaboration with the Autism Self-Advocacy Network and Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered, to provide access to high-quality resources and information on community-based services and interventions for people with ASD and their families, through a national dissemination network, regional events, training and technical assistance and an innovative web presence.

[LimitedRecourse]

The Britt Henderson Training Series for Educators
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
Room 241 Kennedy Center/MRL Bldg

This annual series of workshops provides training for school teams that include both general and special educators. Workshops focus on innovative evidence-based practices to improve the quality of education for students with diverse learning needs. Founded in 1996, the Britt Henderson Training Series is made possible at no cost to participating educators through an endowment from the Robert and Carol Henderson family in memory of their son Britt.

For session content and registration: www.kc.vanderbilt.edu/kennedy/henderson
Mary Crnobori [phone]

2010 – 2011 Schedule
Wednesday, November 17, 2010: Behavior Screening Tools
Wednesday, December 1, 2010: Using School-wide Data to Identify Non-responders

Lynnette Henderson, PhD
IDDRC Research Registry and Recruitment Coordinator
UCEDD Associate Director of Community Services
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center
Research Assistant Professor in Pediatrics
Division of Developmental Medicine
PMB 40
Edgehill AVe. and Magnolia Circle
Nashville, TN 37203-5721
MRL 235
[phone]
www.kc.vanderbilt.edu/StudyFinder
www.kc.vanderbilt.edu/RFP
tinyurl.com/vkcfacebook

[LimitedRecourse]

ETTAC HeartSong fundraiser

For an evening of great food, music, prizes, and entertainment, call [phone] now to reserve a ticket for the Fabulous 40s HeartSong Gala at The Square Room in Knoxville on Market Square on Thursday, October 21, starting at 6:30 p.m. This will benefit the East Tennessee Technology Access Center’s HeartSong Center for Accessible Music and Art.

Tickets are $40 per person, and reserved tables are $500 each. Reservations are required since seating is limited. Veterans who attend are invited to wear their uniforms.

ETTAC matches people with disabilities in 24 counties with the technology devices and services they need to fully participate in school, work and community living.

[LimitedRecourse]

Watch the Debate!

What: Tune into the Knoxville, TN Gubernatorial Debate this Thursday night! We have submitted a question for the candidates regarding the creation of a cabinet level Department of Aging. We hope to see where they stand on this important senior issue!

When: Thursday, October 7 @ 8:00 EST on WBIR, Channel 10. The Knoxville debate will also be streamed live on WBIR.com but it will also be on radio at 98.7, and on TV on WCYB in Tri-Cities,
WRCB in Chattanooga, WMC in Memphis, WBBJ in Jackson, and NewsChannel 5+ (WTVF's secondary channel) in Nashville.

Why: The Alzheimer's Association, Eastern Tennessee Chapter along with other advocate groups are in support of creating a cabinet level agency to address the needs of Tennessee's senior population.
This structure is the most efficient and effective way to manage programs and services for seniors. Currently Tennessee is unprepared for the future demands that will be placed on our senior
service delivery network.

Reasons a Department of Aging are vital include the following:

a.. Tennessee is currently ranked in the top third of states in percentage of aging population.
b.. Tennessee has more than 1.5 million people over age 55.
c.. Studies predict that well over 25% of all Tennesseans will require Long Term Care services.
d.. Long Term Care programs in Tennessee are well behind most states.
e.. In Tennessee there is a lack of a single point of entry service for seniors, and there are at least 23 states agencies that provide more than 100 services for seniors with little coordination
between agencies.
f.. The system fragmentation is a major source of consumer dissatisfaction when it comes to state services. The Alzheimer's Disease Task Force conducted five forums throughout the state including Memphis, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Cookeville, Knoxville and Blountville. A common thread of concern expressed by constituents at every forum was a lack of coordination of services and
working with multiple state agencies.
g.. The current administration has supported creating a cabinet level agency for aging issues as well as key state legislators including Rep. Joe Armstrong, Sen. Tim Burchett, Sen. Rusty Crowe, Sen. Randy McNally and Sen. Lowe Finney among others.
h.. Using the position, dollars and physical infrastructure already in place for the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability, the state could elevate the agency to department status and make the Executive Director position a Cabinet level appoint with little additional expenditures needed. This approach would immediately elevate the planning, policy development and budgeting functions to
Cabinet level and give the kind of visibility to senior issues that the systems currently lacks and needs.
Representatives from the Alzheimer's Association served on the Alzheimer's Disease Task Force created by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2007 appointed by the Governor to create a plan to
address the needs of the Alzheimer's community. In drafting the plan, we looked at the state's infrastructure regarding the delivery system for senior services. We found no comprehensive system wide plan for implementation of services.

The U.S. Administration on Aging requires states to establish a "state unit on aging' to administer federal funds. The Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability (TCAD) is designated as
Tennessee's state unit on aging. Tennessee is one of only two states in the country that still have a structure where the commission is a voluntary body that meets four times a year. TCAD needs strong
leadership with extensive experience in providing and developing services for seniors.


Diane Wright
Executive Director
CADES
865-675-2835 (w)

[LimitedRecourse]

OCTOBER 16, 2010 – Friendship Club - Knoxville will be held on Saturday, October 16th. We will climb “Aboard” for the 3 Rivers Rambler at 1:00pm. Train leaves from Volunteer Landing in Knoxville, TN. Flyer is attached with more details, RSVP by October 13th is required.

OCTOBER 18, 2010 -- ASA-ETC is hosting a STEP Workshop on: Effective Transition Planning – 14 and Beyond on Tuesday, October 18th from 5 – 8pm. It will be held in Cherokee Health Systems Conference Room at: 6350 West Andrew Johnson Highway, Talbott, TN 37877 (Hamblen County). Workshop is free, flyer is attached with details, but RSVP is needed to ensure sufficient training materials and seating. RSVP to: [e-mail] or [phone].

NOVEMBER 6, 2010 – ASA-ETC is partnering with Knox County Schools for our 3rd annual Fall Conference. This all day workshop will be held at the Sara Simpson Training Center in Knoxville, TN. Our facilitator is Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP (http://www.lindahodgdon.com/).. Topic is: “Discovering the Possibilities with Visual Strategies: Meeting the Communication, Behavior & Social Skill Challenges in Autism Spectrum Disorder & Related Learning Challenges”. Most students with Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and related communication challenges are visual learners! This observation has tremendous implications. Capitalizing on their strengths, the use of visual strategies alters many social, communication, and educational challenges. This program will demonstrate how the use of visual strategies helps students organize their lives, significantly reduces behavior problems, and improves student successful participation. Program will define the need, discuss training, and demonstrate many practical ideas for both special & regular education settings. Box lunch and CEU’s are provided. ASA-ETC bookstore will also be available. Attached flyer has details. Conference is 2/3 full already, so register soon!!! To register: go to www.asaetc.org and use PayPal, or fill out the attached form and mail with payment.

Thanks so much!!!

Brook Dickerson
Executive Director, ASA-ETC
2890 Alcoa Highway
Knoxville, TN 37920
[phone] Phone/Fax
[e-mail]
www.asaetc.org

[LimitedRecourse]

This is your reminder of the next CHADD meeting (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder) next Tuesday evening, October 12, 2010.

Dr. Rod Ingraham of Rocky Face, GA, a pediatrician who specializes in brain systems and helps many folks with all types of brain issues, will be our speaker. Dr. Ingraham is on our Professional Advisory Board and has helped many folks who have come to CHADD over the years. He always draws a big crowd and shares with us the latest research he has conducted on brain systems.

You will learn so much about the brain at this meeting. You won't want to miss it!

The meeting is at Hickory Valley Christian School, as usual. We have a new start time, however. Registration starts at 6:15 p.m. and Dr. Ingraham will start speaking at 6:30 p.m.

The meeting is free and open to the public. Please plan to join us.

Please visit our website, www.chattchadd.org, for more information about our meetings (including a map) or if you are on Facebook, join us as a friend at Chattanooga CHADD.

Sincerely,

Pamper Garner Crangle
Volunteer Coordinator

[LimitedRecourse]

Educational Resource Services will be in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 15, 2010 presenting “Teaching Students with Developmental Disorders” with Dr. Shawn Stewart. Dr. Stewart normally gears his presentation towards the field of education but he is very informative to any audience. He is nationally renowned in his expertise with the Autism Spectrum Disorders and his seminar will be informative and fun.

We would like to personally invite you, your colleagues, or others who may be interested, to attend Dr. Stewart’s seminar. Therefore, I am attaching a PDF file with the detailed information and registration form. You may also access our website at www.EducationalResourceServices.com. You can sign up on-line, via fax, mail or phone. If you have associates who would also like to attend, remember if you send three, the fourth is free. New this year, we are also offering group rates. Call the office for details. If you have further questions, please contact us at 1-800-579-1085. We look forward to hearing from you


Diane Pnacek
Educational Resource Services
[e-mail]
989-832-4111

[LimitedRecourse]

* NEW*
October 12th - Tuesday: Pieces of Hope Planning Committee Meeting
- Capital Financial Offices, - 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
- Call Justin at 615-385-2077, ext. 3 for more information.

*NEW*
October 16th - Saturday: I Run for the Party - Halloween 5K
- Downtown - Gulch, - 2:00 - 8:00 p.m.
- Volunteers are needed for this event that benefits ASMT!
- Call Justin at 615-385-2077, ext. 3.

October 28th - Thursday: Workshop - Sexuality & ASD
- Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Room 241, - 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

*NEW*
November 6th - Saturday: ASMT Family Fun Event - Sensory Friendly Movie
- Save the date! - More information coming soon!

November 11th - Thursday: Workshop - Self-Esteem in Children and Adolescents with an ASD
- Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Room 241, - 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

*NEW*
November 18th - Thursday: Orientation
- Vanderbilt Kennedy Center
- 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

[LimitedRecourse]

WorkABILITY Academy
disABILITY Resource Center
900 E. Hill Avenue • Suite 120 • Knoxville, TN 37915
Phone [phone] • Fax [phone]
TTY 865-637-6796
What: After school program that emphasizes work development skills to assist youth and help increase opportunities for employment after graduation.
Academy includes:
• Work Development Skills • Paid Internships • Fun Activities & Projects • Snacks • Homework & Tutoring Assistance
Where: disABILITY Resource Center
Why: To encourage work development skills, work experience and increased job placement upon graduations.
Schedule: Monday - Thursday after school to 6:00 pm
Contact: Nicole Craig, Program Director
Who: Youth with disabilities from ages 14-21
Starts Monday,
October 4th, 2010
- Cost $25 per week -
(Scholarships available based on income and availability)

[LimitedRecourse]

October is Disability Employment Month

On October 1, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation naming October 2010 National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). The 2010 NDEAM theme is Talent Has No Boundaries: Workforce Diversity Includes Workers with Disabilities. Visit the Office of Disability Policy (ODEP) for posters and information commemorating the month’s theme.

[LimitedRecourse]

The Middle Tennessee Regional Committee invites YOU to the
9th Annual
Giving Care to Caregivers
National Family Caregiver’s Month Recognition Event
November 10, 2010
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Agenda:
• 10:00 to 12:30-Pampering Stations
• 12:15 to1:15-Lunch
• 1:15 to 2:00 - Front Porch Productions presents
“Bring hope, humor & understanding to the world.”
Door prize winners announced throughout the day!
Belmont Baptist Church
1000 16th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37212
Cost: Free!
Please RSVP by November 2, 2010
(Seating is limited.)
[phone] or [e-mail]
Childcare is not provided.

[LimitedRecourse]

“Reach For Your Dreams”
TNABA Benefit Concert & Auction
Tickets Just $10
October 14th 2010
6pm – 9pm
At the TN School for the Blind Auditorium
Come join us Thursday October 14th for an exciting night full of great music. All proceeds will go to helping blind children and adults to reach their athletic and fitness dreams. Bring some extra cash as we will have an exciting auction going on during the program and if you hear a performer you want to hear more of you might just be able to buy their CD as most of the performers will be selling them. Great music, exciting auction, wonderful fellowship and a great cause equals fun for everyone.
Check out www.tnaba.org for more details.

[LimitedRecourse]

Yeah! DSAMT was chosen by the members of the Nashville Zoo at one of the top 10 non-profit organizations in Nashville!

To celebrate, the Zoo has given us 50 FREE TICKETS to this Friday's (October 15th) opening of Gouls at Grassmere, a family event with carnival games, hay-rides, monster mash and trick-or-treating! The event is designed for families with kids ages 3-12.

Free passes and wristbands for rides are available on a first-come-first-served basis. You will need a ticket for each person over age 2, and a wristband for anyone who wants

Call DSAMT at 615.386.9002 or email [e-mail] for tickets!

[LimitedRecourse]

On Thursday, October 14, HBO will premiere the documentary film, Monica & David, A Love Story. In this film, director Alexandra Codina chronicles the first year and beyond of the marriage of Monica and David, two adults with Down syndrome. We believe you'll be inspired by their story, and even more, we think you'll be motivated to step up your advocacy efforts in the areas of employment, independent living, and transportation.

We hope you'll take the opportunity to view this wonderful film this Thursday, and also to let friends and family know about it.

[LimitedRecourse]

Dads Appreciating Down Syndrome, D.A.D.S., is an organization of fathers of children who happen to have Down syndrome. The group mission is to assist and support, through fellowship and action, the fathers and families of individuals with Down syndrome.

The group meets at Logan's Roadhouse (2400 Elliston Place in Nashville) and is open to fathers of individuals of any age who have Down syndrome. Membership is FREE. For more information, or to RSVP for this meeting, contact John Dodd at [e-mail]

[LimitedRecourse]

The countdown is on to the Buddy Walk! Get ready to party with DSAMT as we celebrate our friends in Middle Tennessee who have Down syndrome and raise funds to support programs and advocacy in 2010/2011.

More than 85 Teams have already registered for this year's event at Firstgiving.com/dsamt, making this our biggest Buddy Walk yet!

Sign up now, and help us raise $110 thousand to support programs and advocacy for people with Down syndrome and their families.

Team check in begins at 9am, the walk begins at 10am. Games, music and activities will last until 2pm.

[LimitedRecourse]

e-ReadingPro Workshops: Tuesday, November 16, 9am-12pm (for educators) & Tuesday, November 16, 6pm-9pm (for parents)

This workshop will feature e-Reading Pro, a program developed for visual learners, especially those with Down syndrome, that focuses on reaching reading, building vocabulary, and increasing articulation. The e-Reading program helps parents and educators identify reasons why children may be struggling with reading, and teaches techniques that can be used to teach reading in 10 minutes a day.

Speaker Denise McDonald has presented at the National Down Syndrome Congress, World Down Syndrome Congress, and hundreds of individual workshops. Her e-Reading Pro model was created in 2004 using existing research on how children with Down syndrome learn to read. For more information, visit ereadingpro.com.

Parents and Educators are invited to take part in these workshops for a small fee - $5 for parents, $25 for professionals. Particpants in DSAMT's Down Syndrome Specialist program for educators may attend free of charge.

For more information, contact Beth Simmerman at [e-mail] or 615.386.9002

[LimitedRecourse]

Next Chapter Book Club

DSAMT is excited to announce that it is looking for members for the first Next Chapter Book Club (NCBC) to begin meeting in the Nashville area. NCBC is a program that was established in 2002 by the Ohio State University Nisonger Center to provide adolescents and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities a chance to be part of a group activity that includes both fun and learning.

Next Chapter Book Club will meet for one hour, one night per week in Nashville at an area bookstore or cafe.

At each meeting, members read aloud from a book of the group’s choosing in any way that club members are able, and talk about how it relates to their lives. Anyone who is interested can join regardless of reading level or ability. Members should be age 17 or older and be open to hanging out, having fun, and interacting with books and friends for an hour every week.

Please contact Beth Simmerman at DSAMT with your participant's name, age, and the day of the week you would like to meet. For more information, please contact Beth Simmerman at [e-mail] or 615.386.9002 as soon as possible!

[LimitedRecourse]

Knowledge is Power - Free Educational Series on Keys To Successful Education For Children With Disabilities

A free Informational Series for families who have children with disabilities presented by Wendy Tucker and Susan Gray School

SATURDAYS 8:30-12 at VANDERBILT PEABODY COLLEGE, MRL BUILDING ROOM 112

Please RSVP to 322-8200 *Childcare Provided with RSVP

November 6: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly of IEPs: Getting the Most Out of YourMeeting
November 20: All Grown Up! The IDEA Part B and Special Education Beyond Preschool
December 11: Empowering Families and Planning for the Future: What Parents Need to Know

[LimitedRecourse]

www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=201010120340

Vanderbilt's Next Step program helps students with disabilities VU offers path to independence
By Jennifer Brooks • THE TENNESSEAN • October 12, 2010

Like every other student at Vanderbilt, those in the Next Step program had to earn their place in the
classroom. Eleven students with intellectual disabilities are enrolled in a college immersion program, the first of its kind in Tennessee. They'll spend the next year auditing classes side-by-side with their peers. Make no mistake, this is an education, not a day camp.

Next Step students, ages 19 to 29, pay a hefty $10,000 tuition and go through an application process as competitive as anything else at Vanderbilt. They have to prove that they want to be there — not their parents, or their counselors — and they audition and compete hard to get in.

They come to learn independent living and career skills in addition to what they learn in regular
classes. Students will graduate in two years with a certificate and, organizers hope, a career plan and
lifelong love of learning.

"I love learning stuff," said Thomas Edward Nesbitt, 24, who watched his siblings and classmates from
high school head off to college, leaving him behind. Now it's his turn. "I like cooking on my own and (leading) an independent life," Nesbitt said. He wriggled his fingers, demonstrating the tricky positioning that he is learning in the typing class he takes on the side at the Tennessee Technology Center in Nashville. "I want to travel independently. I want to visit London and South Africa."

An independent life is the goal. Beyond the one university class they audit each semester, the students' schedules are crammed, morning to evening, with coursework designed to help them learn skills that range from cooking and cleaning to finding a job after school that they'll really enjoy.

"This is just like Beauty and the Beast," said 21-year-old Jeanne Gavigan, carefully placing rows of
pepperoni slices on flatbread rounds that she and a student volunteer were preparing to bake into
calzones for lunch.

Bending her elbows, she bobbed up and down like the dancing furniture from the Disney movie. "Be our guest, be our guest!" Gavigan loves the theater. The Next Step program gave her an internship at the Vanderbilt box office. Every student works at an internship tailored to his or her interest, at sites ranging from the campus newspaper to a local preschool.

The Next Step program is an experiment, funded by a three-year grant and run out of Vanderbilt's
Kennedy Center, which studies the most effective ways to help people with developmental disabilities
and their families. Other states run similar programs to bring students with intellectual disabilities into post-secondary education, and, if the Next Step program is a success, it could serve as a model for other Tennessee campuses.

"We want them to become lifelong learners. We want them to have a sense that, 'I belong to this
community,' " said Next Step program director Tammy Day.

[LimitedRecourse]

www.startribune.com/templates/fdcp?1287338556768

[LimitedRecourse]

The Program Committee of the 3rd Annual TABS (Tennessee Adult Brothers and Sisters) Conference is seeking proposals for presentations. The Conference will take place on April 8-9, 2011 at the Holiday Inn Select in Nashville, Tennessee.

TABS is a network for adult siblings of individuals with disabilities. It was started through the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.

The submission deadline for proposals is November 1, 2010.

Courtney Taylor, M.Div.
Associate Director of Communications and Dissemination
Coordinator of Disabilities, Religion, & Spirituality Program
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center
230 Appleton Place, Peabody Box 40
Nashville, TN 37203
[phone]

[LimitedRecourse]

ASMT Family Fun Event: "MEGAMIND" - Saturday, November 6th

You are invited to a private, sensory-friendly viewing of the new DreamWorks animated feature, MEGAMIND! This event is sponsored by Allen W. Gracey, Jr., Northwestern Mutual and ADMISSION IS FREE to the first 250 guests to register! You MUST register to attend. CALL TODAY to reserve your spot! Call ASMT at 615-385-2077, ext. 1.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 28th - Thursday: Workshop - Sexuality & ASD
- Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Room 241, - 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

November 6th - Saturday: ASMT Family Fun Event - Sensory Friendly Movie - MEGAMIND
- Carmike Thoroughbred 20 Theater, Cool Springs
- 9:30 a.m. - Doors Open; 10:00 a.m. - Movie Begins

November 11th - Thursday: Workshop - Self-Esteem in Children and Adolescents with an ASD
- Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Room 241 - 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

November 18th - Thursday: Orientation - Vanderbilt Kennedy Center - 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

[LimitedRecourse]

WHAT: The Tennessee Youth Leadership Forum is a 4-day leadership training for high school students with disabilities from across the state, sponsored by the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities. Selected Student Delegates will participate in small group discussions, attend presentations by national and local speakers, tour the Capitol and meet with a Legislator. The goal is for students to learn to speak up for themselves, to begin giving serious thought to their lives after high school, and to develop skills related to becoming leaders in their communities.

WHEN: early July, 2011

WHERE: on a college campus in Middle Tennessee

COST: training, meals and sleeping rooms are covered by the program. Travel will be reimbursed approximately two weeks after the program.

HOW DOES ONE APPLY?

Students must complete the attached application in its entirety, which also includes essay responses and letters of recommendation. In addition, all applicants will be interviewed by phone or in person as part of the acceptance process. Application deadline is February 1, 2011.

WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE?

For any other information, or for a hard-copy of the application, please contact:

Ned Andrew Solomon
Director, YLF
615.532.6556
[e-mail]

[LimitedRecourse]

The Program Committee of the 3rd Annual TABS (Tennessee Adult Brothers and Sisters) Conference is seeking proposals for presentations. The Conference will take place on April 8-9, 2011 at the Holiday Inn Select in Nashville, Tennessee.

TABS is a network for adult siblings of individuals with disabilities. It was started through the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.

The submission deadline for proposals is November 1, 2010. You may find a link to the CFP here: kc.vanderbilt.edu/site/services/disabilityservices/tabs.aspx

Ashley F. Coulter
Sibling Project Coordinator
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center
230 Appleton Place
PMB 40
Nashville, TN 37203
Phone: [phone]
[e-mail]
kc.vanderbilt.edu

[LimitedRecourse]

**Save the Date**

Brain Injury Association of Tennessee and Tennessee Traumatic Brain Injury Program
2011 ANNUAL CONFERENCE: “The Road to Hope”

Friday, March 11th

Millennium Maxwell House Hotel
2025 Rosa L. Parks Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37208
__________________________

Keynote Speaker
Trisha Meili
“The Central Park Jogger”


More information to come………

[LimitedRecourse]

AAHD Scholarship Deadline Extended to December 15, 2010
Please visit the AAHD website to learn more about the AAHD Scholarship Program at www.aahd.us

In 2009, AAHD created the AAHD Scholarship Program, to support students with disabilities who are pursuing higher education. Preference is given to students who are enrolled in undergraduate/graduate studies in the field of public health, health promotion, medical fields, and disability studies, to include disability policy and disability research. Royalties from the Disability and Health Journal will fund the AAHD Scholarship Fund.

Scholarships will be limited to under $1,000. The AAHD Board of Directors Scholarship Committee will evaluate each of the applicants and make a decision in December of each calendar year.

For further information email [e-mail] and place Scholarship in the subject line.

[LimitedRecourse]

Update email preferences | Forward to a friend
NEWS
Call for Papers Now Open for Autism Society’s 2011 Conference

We are excited to announce that the call for papers for the 2011 Autism Society National Conference is now open! The 42nd National Conference will be held in Orlando, Florida, at the Gaylord Palms Hotel and Convention Center July 6-9, 2011. Read more…

1Power4Autism: Riding Across the Country for Autism

Greg and Bianca began their trip in Boston and spent the summer biking cross-country to raise money for autism. By the end of the summer, they had met their goal of raising $5,000 for the Autism Society. Check out our exclusive Q&A with Greg and don’t forget to visit Greg and Bianca’s blog and their 1Power4Autism page! Read more…

Don’t Miss the Next Sensory Friendly Film!

Join AMC Entertainment and the Autism Society on November 6 for a special showing of Megamind. We will be showing the movie at 10 a.m. local time in participating theatres nationwide. And don’t forget our sensory-friendly showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 on November 20. For more information or to find a theatre near you, visit www.autism-society.org/sensoryfilms.

[LimitedRecourse]

Deaf woman follows dream to become certified physician assistant: Marissa Clopper hopes to find a job in primary care/internal medicine By JANET HEIM
October 7, 2010
[e-mail]
WILLIAMSPORT — Marissa Clopper has learned many lessons in her 27 years. Her advice to others is to follow your dreams, not letting anything hold you back and to be the best you can be. Taking that advice to heart, Clopper finds herself in a good place, despite the odds.

Clopper is deaf, but through determination and hard work, recently graduated from Philadelphia University’s Physician Assistant program. Even better, she learned in mid-September that she passed the board exam, which means she is a certified physician assistant.

The next hurdle is to find a job, hopefully in the Frederick, Md., area, she said in an interview via e-mail. Her preferred specialty is primary care/internal medicine, which she indicated is a hard specialty in which to find a job.

Clopper is the only child of Darryl and Nina Clopper of Williamsport. She and her twin brother were born 11 weeks prematurely, on Mother’s Day 1983. Jeremy died seven months later due to underdeveloped lungs. Marissa was given several treatments of antibiotics to fight infections and one of the medications resulted in total deafness.

She graduated from Maryland School for the Deaf in Frederick in 2001, then attended Rochester Institute of Technology, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology, before heading to Philadelphia University. The Cloppers lived in Hagerstown until Marissa was four, then moved to Frederick to be closer to her school. They moved to Williamsport in 2005 to shorten the commute to Marshall Street School, where both of Marissa’s parents teach.

Clopper used hearing aids until she was 20, then had a cochlear implant in her left ear, which has allowed her to learn to speak. She knows developing her speech and hearing skills will be a lifelong process. She e-mailed that she had American Sign Language interpreters during her college years, for both her undergraduate and graduate programs.

“My main mode of communication is AL, but I am able to use my speech, although not perfect, with hearing people. My parents and I use total communication (ASL and speech at the same time) at home,” Clopper wrote in an e-mail. In communicating with hearing patients and medical personnel who don’t know ASL, Clopper would need a sign language interpreter. She wrote that she uses an electronic stethoscope that plugs into a PDA with software that allows her to pick up heart and lung sounds visually.

Clopper has been interested in the medical field since she was in elementary school. Biotechnological research didn’t provide the medical health exposure Clopper was looking for, so she attended a conference in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses in search of information. She met medical professionals with varying degrees of hearing loss from profoundly deaf to hearing loss later in life. Clopper considered the conference “a turning point,” helping her realize she could work in the medical health field even though she was deaf.

Clopper admits she had never heard of a physician assistant before the conference, but after meeting several there, she did some research and discovered her skills and interests were well-suited to the job. For her clinical rotations in Philadelphia, Clopper was able to demonstrate how capable she was, despite her deafness.

“I had a few health care professionals doubt my ability to perform my job due to being deaf and the communication mode that I use. After these experiences, they realized that my competence was not affected by being deaf,” Clopper wrote. She added that she had several deaf patients who were grateful for a health professional who could communicate with them and was surprised by how accepting her hearing patients were of her. “My ultimate goal is to help care for all patients whether they are hearing or deaf,” Clopper wrote.

[LimitedRecourse]

Design Within Reach - A blind architect relearns his craft. By Douglas McGray

One morning last fall, Chris Downey, an architect, ran his long white cane across a pair of floor-tile samples spread out at his feet in the San Francisco office of an architecture firm, SmithGroup. Gathered around him, a handful of architects watched. They wanted to know which tile he preferred for a new rehabilitation center for the blind at the Veterans Administration hospital in Palo Alto. Downey looked up at Eric Meub, a vice president at the firm—not at him, exactly, just over his shoulder. “The one on the right is distinctive in either direction,” Downey said. “The other one has a preferred direction.” For a blind patient still learning to use a cane, that first tile would give more-predictable feedback.

There was an awkward silence. The other architects looked at one another. Downey chuckled. “So you’re saying the one on the right is the one that doesn’t look so good,” he said, grinning.

Two and a half years ago, Downey had just started running the architecture practice at a stylish green-design firm. A few weeks after he took the job, he noticed something wrong with his vision. A tumor was wrapped around his optic nerve; he needed surgery right away. When he woke up, everything was blurry, but he could see. “Five days later,” he said, “it all went black.”

Downey returned to the office. But he couldn’t use design software. He couldn’t read plans. A few months passed, and the firm was caught up in the housing crash. Downey scheduled a talk with the owner, an old friend, to figure out how he could be more useful. He was at a workstation, up on a loft, when she came to see him, and he could tell by her footfalls that it wasn’t going to be the kind of conversation he had been planning to have.

San Francisco was full of laid-off architects. Downey could be pretty sure he was the only blind one. It turned out to be an interesting credential. SmithGroup and another firm, the Design Partnership, hired him as a consultant.

The architects stacked the tile samples out of the way and moved to a conference room. Plans covered a long table. Downey’s were printed in Braille dots, on big white sheets of stiff paper. Shortly before he was laid off, Downey had found a blind computer scientist who had devised a way to print online maps through a tactile printer; it worked for architectural drawings too. Meub would take Downey’s hand and guide it to details on the plans, as they talked. “He can’t just look at a drawing at a glance,” Meub told me later. “At first I thought, Okay, this is going to be a limitation. But then I realized that the way he reads his drawings is not dissimilar to the way we experience space. He’ll be walking through a plan with his index finger, discovering things, and damn, he’s walking through the building!”

Today they had to discuss a problem Downey had spotted with a nurses’ station at the end of a hallway. Downey explained how the space would appear to a blind patient: “Their cane will pass by the corner, they’ll realize, Corner, turn right, and they’ll walk right into the nurses, on the wrong side of the counter.” The simplest solution would be a gate, but Downey knew the space was meant to look open and airy, and a gate would look like a clumsy afterthought. Instead, they talked about a change in the texture of the floor. Something subtle that would still say: not a hallway.

“Okay,” Meub said, “bathrooms.” The plans specified sinks and toilets, but nothing more. “Ideally, I’d want the paper-towel dispenser and trash can recessed and near the sink,” Downey said. Otherwise, he explained, “you go in, wash your hands, now where’s the paper towel? You start feeling around the walls for the paper towel, and by the time you find it, you need to wash your hands again.” In a typical bathroom, the paper towels can end up anywhere, and when trash cans sit on the floor, cleaners will empty them and then put them back in a new spot. “Bathrooms are mysterious,” he said—especially institutional ones, like at airports and train stations. “And they’re all so different.”

They talked through other issues. Load-bearing columns that seemed likely to snag a cane. A dramatic staircase that would deposit patients in the center of a big, disorienting room. And the courtyard. Plans showed a rectangular space, split down the middle. One half would be a sitting area, the other half a raised garden. But the garden they’d designed would be lost on the blind, Downey said. With everyone at one end, unaware of the garden view, the courtyard could feel claustrophobic. Instead, Downey suggested parceling out the garden, and then turning the seating area into paths and alcoves. That way, patients could apprehend the size of the courtyard, and explore the garden through touch and smell. He also suggested a fountain. It would cool the courtyard, he said, and the splashing sound would help patients perceive the space around them and orient themselves within it.

“As architects, we’re visual animals,” Downey told me. “The interesting riddle for me, then, is: if you take sight out of the equation, what makes for good architecture?”

(Douglas McGray is a fellow at the New America Foundation and the editor of Pop-Up Magazine.)