BAC Rutland

The newly launched Campaign for Disability Employment has produced a public service announcement that showcases the workplace skills and talents of people with disabilities. View it yourself and help spread the word about this important campaign by going to What Can YOU Do Campaign.org

At the recent CSAVR conference, RSA (Rehabilitation Services Administration) made two VR program presentations: one on allowable and unallowable sources of matching funds, and a second on maintenance of effort requirements (and waiver requests).  Below please find a link to not only these presentations, but also a presentation on 3rd Party Cooperative Agreement that RSA made at a previous CSAVR conference.

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/rsa/new.html

On April 17, 2010, Disability.gov launched 100 Days to the ADA, a countdown to the 20th Anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. During this period, Disability.gov will explore one of our nation’s most important civil rights achievements, including ramifications of the ADA, historical points leading up to its creation and how supporting individuals with disabilities supports ALL Americans.
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Resource Guide
Originally published: 10/2007
Suggested audiences: People with disabilities & family members & Direct support professionals
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Our host, Ray Zardetto, talks with two executives from the Kessler Foundation, located in West Orange, New Jersey: Rodger DeRose, President and CEO and Elaine Katz, Vice President of Grant Programs and Special Initiatives. They will be discussing the Foundation’s “Transition to Work” grants program, which has invested close to $15 million to initiate demonstrations, pilots, replicate projects, or increase capacity within government, community colleges, and the non-profit sector – all with the goal of creating job opportunities for people with disabilities.
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens today announced his intent to retire at the end of the term after more than 34 years on the court, a tenure that has included participation in his share of education-related cases.

Justice Stevens, who turns 90 on April 20, was nominated by President Gerald R. Ford in 1975 to succeed Justice William O. Douglas.
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Corey Gibson’s right leg bounces when he sits. At 29 he sleeps fitfully, with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle mounted above his bed. “That’s my sense of security,” he says.

Laurie Emmer, a 47-year-old mother of four, shuns crowds and strangers. She always sits facing the restaurant door when she goes out to eat and, before sitting down, makes sure to identify the quickest route out.
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Rodney Peete was an NFL quarterback. His wife, Holly Robinson Peete, had been through the rough-and-tumble of Hollywood as an actress. Nothing prepared the couple for the words that would change their lives: “Your son has autism.”
That was 12 years ago, and Peete did not handle the news well. From those dark days comes the title of his new book, Not My Boy! which offers a personal view of a parent’s struggle. “That’s the way I felt when I got that diagnosis,” Peete tells NPR’s Michel Martin. “This is not happening to me. This is not my boy. I had all these expectations of what I wanted him to do.”
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Prominently placed London billboards featuring a scantily clad woman who wants to talk about autism are grabbing the attention of passersby and British leaders alike.  The billboards show autism activist Polly Tommey wearing a push-up bra and the message, “Hello Boys. Autism is worth over 6 million votes. It’s time to talk…”
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What’s wrong with this law? This law is a violation of very basic civil liberties, such as: imprisoning people who have been found not guilty by a court of law; depriving individuals of due process and assistance of counsel; singling out and punishing individuals for mental illness; punishing people for crimes for which they were acquitted (double jeopardy); creating new law to punish people retroactively (ex post facto); unnecessarily institutionalizing people in settings that are more restrictive than necessary.
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