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Baseball is Life ...

... the rest is just details.

For most people, this draws a smile; they've seen the bumper sticker, bought the T-shirt.  But for New York's Arlington High School graduate Thomas Kirkpatrick, the sentiment is very real.

His self-published book, "The Old Boys of Summer: 100 Years of Baseball (1845-1945)" explores the history and evolution of the great American pastime, and like any good sportswriter, his words resonate far from the playing field. 

Kirkpatrick's love of the game comes through his own remarkable story, one he details in the book's final pages.  Like baseball, Kirkpatrick has been close to the brink; he's faced trial after trial, but through it all, he’s kept his head up and kept swinging.

Twelve years ago, when Thomas was ten, he was hit by a pickup truck.  The accident left him with injuries including severe brain trauma, a broken femur, a fractured pelvis, and a crushed ribcage. Doctors gave him less than a one percent chance of survival. Remarkably, Kirkpatrick pulled through.

"They had conceded my death, but I wasn't dead and I had no plans on dying; I was down, but not out," he wrote.  Kirkpatrick remained on life support for more than a month before he woke from his coma. It was then that the real battle began, the road less traveled to recovery, as Kirkpatrick wrote.

Initially paralyzed, the accident left Kirkpatrick with limited motor skills. He couldn't eat solid foods and he couldn't talk.  It took a formidable spirit and an incredible family effort to pull through his recovery.

"I told him he was allowed to feel sorry for himself for five minutes," his father said. "and it was human and natural to feel that way. But after that, he just had to move on." Shortly after the accident Thomas, unaware of the severity of his injuries, asked to be signed up for the local youth football team.

After months of therapy, Thomas regained some movement in his hands and

New Mobility Magazine Person of the Year 2009: Scott Rains, of the Rolling Rains Report

Scott Rains has been designated as Person of the Year 2009, by New Mobility Magazine! Congratulations, Scott!

Scott's key accomplishments nationally and around the world to assist, encourage and improve travel for the PWD community will be featured in the January 2010 issue of New Mobility Magazine.  This award recognizes persons who have made significant contributions to the advancement of inclusion in one or more specific arenas, showing integrity and good will. Scott has diligently shared relevant aspects of his international travel experiences with the PWD community on his blog; the Rolling Rains Report.  Scott is also a valued member of the [with]tv leadership team, and made numerous contributions to this blog. 

Read and subscribe to his blog at Rolling Rains Report.         
See his latest posting, "Disability Pride and World Travel" on the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) at Accessible Tourism - Forum.

Dancing Wheels

Have you heard about the first modern dance company school to integrate professional stand-up and sit-down (wheelchair) dancers?

The talented and professional group of performers at Dancing Wheels have an active touring schedule in locations around the US.

Mary Verdi-Fletcher, President and Founding Artistic Director, a pioneer in the field of integrated dance, started the company in 1980, and for more than a quarter of a century, Dancing Wheels has performed, taught and inspired children and adults of all abilities around the world. In the U.S, the company presents more than 100 performances reaching audiences of 125,000 each year.

For the upcoming season, Dancing Wheels has just announced that legendary choreographer Donald McKayle has been commissioned to create a new work for the Company!  Professor McKayle has chosen a piece from Duke Ellington's Far East Suites, and will be in residence at Dancing Wheels for three weeks in November, to begin work with the dance ensemble for a May 2010 performance. 

View the website at www.dancingwheels.org for more information, photos, and the schedule of performances.

For information about touring, or if you wish to book a performance:  touring@dancingwheels.org. To contact President/Founding Artistic Director Mary Verdi-Fletcher:  mary@dancingwheels.org, For issues regarding grants, communications, and development, contact Dana Kuhn at dana@dancingwheels.org. For general inquiries or comments, e-mail info@dancingwheels.org or to reach the School of Dancing Wheels, e-mail: school@dancingwheels.org.

Gary Norman: Lesson in Leadership

Gary Norman, Baltimore attorney, mediator and founder of Norman Access and Conflict Resolution Consultants Group,
is the recipient of Ohio's Wright State University Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award for 2009.

He has met WSU's stringent criteria for achieving career success  while making a positive impact at the local, state, and national levels.  His standards of integrity and professionalism have earned him the respect of colleagues, associates and the university community.

Gary, who is vision-impaired and partnered with guide dog, Langer - a nine-year-old Golden Retriever - will also be honored as an inductee at the 2009 "Ten Outstanding Young Americans" by the Jaycees at an awards ceremony in Orlando FL on Sept. 26th.

Gary serves as Chair of the Animal Law Section of the Maryland State Bar Association, and is leading the planning for the first 2010 MSBA animal law symposium. He is the Immediate Past President of the Maryland Area Guide Dog Users, Inc., an advocacy and education based non-profit that he established.

Gary is a noted speaker, and has plans to campaign for elected office in the future.  His first book chapter, The Disabled, Service Animals, and the Law, appeared in Litigating Animal Law Disputes: A Complete Guide for Lawyers (2009).  

Students Build a Car that the Visually Impaired Can Drive

  The same technology that lets cars drives themselves allows the visually impaired to drive too. Virginia Tech undergraduates packed an all – terrain buggy with technology lifted from the university’s DARPA Urban Challenge entry to create a car the visually impaired can drive. The semi-autonomous vehicle uses  a laser range finder, voice software and other sensory technology. It worked flawlessly when visually impaired drivers took the wheel on a closed course. Advocates for the visually impaired joined the lead researcher in calling the vehicle a breakthrough in independent living for the visually impaired.
 “We are not only excited about the vehicle itself, but also, the potential spinoff technologies from this project that could end up helping the visually impaired,” says Dennis Hong, the Director of the University’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory.
   In 2004, the National Federation of the Blind issued a challenge, when it called on universities to develop a vehicle for the visually impaired. Virginia Tech accepted the challenge in 2006,- the only university to do so, recieving a $3,000 grant to begin the project.
   The Visually Impaired Challenge team at Virginia Tech’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory built the buggy. The steering wheel is hooked up to a distance monitor that gathers information from laser range finders. It uses voice software to tell the driver how far to turn the wheel.
   A vibrating vest provides cues to follow when accelerating and decelerating. The vest vibrates in different places – the back, belly and the shoulders-to convey different commands. When the entire vest vibrates, it means, “slam on the brakes!” 
 “The 2009-2010 team will be applying technology to an electric vehicle to eliminate the vibration caused by the motor altogether." The system, called Airpix, shoots compressed air through tiny holes on a screen in real time, to provide a layout of the area surrounding the vehicle. Drivers can "read" map with a hand, much like Braille. Hong said he needs more feedback from the visually impaired to refine the system.
All this technology is clearly in its earliest stages. We’re a long way from the day when the visually impaired join us slogging through the morning commute. But the Federation of the Blind hailed the vehicle and the promise it offers.
"It’s a great first step," Wes Majerus, an access-technology expert for the federation, said in a press release."As far as the differences between human instructions and those given by the voice in the blind Driver Challenge car, the car’s instructions are very precise. You use the technology to act on the environment – the driving course- in a very orderly manner."

The Real Truth about Reasonable Accommodations

by Nadine Vogel, President, Springboard Consulting LLC

Many would-be employers cite the cost of accommodations as a barrier to employing people with disabilities. If only they knew that nearly half of all accommodations cost nothing. That’s right. Nothing. In a 2006 survey conducted by the Job Accommodation Network ( JAN), a service of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, 46 percent of the employers surveyed reported that the accommodations needed by employees and job applicants with disabilities cost absolutely nothing. The typical onetime expenditure for accommodations that did have a cost was $500, but only $300 more than what was typically needed for an employee without a disability in the same position.

In order to disabuse potential employers of the myths surrounding reasonable accommodations, I believe it’s important that the disability community know the facts as well. To that end,  I’d like to give you  fuel for your fire:

Accommodation Benefits

When the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) surveyed employers about making accommodations, they found the following:

Accommodations are effective.

Seventy-five percent of the respondents reported that the accommodations they implemented were either "very effective" or "extremely effective."

Employers experience multiple direct and indirect benefits.

   The most frequently mentioned direct benefits were:

o  Retaining a valued employee (86 percent);

o  Increasing the employee’s productivity (71 percent);

o  Eliminating the costs associated with training a new employee (56 percent).

                 The most widely reported indirect benefits were:

o  Improving colleague interaction (67 percent);

o  Increasing overall company morale (58 percent); and

o  Increasing overall company productivity (56 percent).

Accommodations produce financial benefits.

According to the employers who participated in JAN’s study, on average, for every dollar they put into making an accommodation, they "got back" a little over $10 in benefits.

Armed with this knowledge, you can be an advocate for yourself and other job-seekers with disabilities.

My new book, Dive In, Springboard into the Profitability, Productivity, and Potential of the Special Needs Workforce* provides the information that employers need in order to make the business case for employing and properly supporting people with disabilities, parents of children with special needs, and older workers with age-related impairments. Dive In provides facts, and success stories. I’d love to hear yours.  

Contact Nadine at (973) 813-7260 or nadine@springboardconsult.com .

New Resource Provides Information for International Visitors to the U.S. who are Blind or have Low Vision

Excerpted from Mobility International USA

When Ms. Uyanga Erdenebold, a blind student from Mongolia, arrived at Louisiana State University on a Fulbright Program scholarship, she had to get used to a new city, a new country, and the rigors of graduate school – not to mention the humidity. As she pursued her Master’s degree in Library Science, she learned to travel independently with a white cane, honed her computer skills, and read extensively for her studies. Ms. Erdenebold reported being forever changed by her experience in the United States, which she describes as "an interesting, dynamic and encouraging one."

For international professionals and students who are blind or have low vision, visiting the United States just became easier. The National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE) has published a new informational tipsheet to assist international blind and low vision visitors in preparing to come to the United States. This tipsheet contains a variety of resources about access and independent living.　

Read: "Blind Visitors to the United States: What you need to know" at:http://www.miusa.org/ncde/tipsheets/blindvisitorstousa.
　
This free resource includes:

• Guidance for locating resources—orientation and mobility services, dog guide training, public transportation access, live reader services, etc.

• Tips on independent living—cooking, laundry, managing money, etc.

• Information about learning Braille and accessing audio- or E-books
  
• Considerations for locating and using assistive technology
  
  Primary emphasis of this new informational guide is on enhancing the U.S. experience of blind visitors who are coming for academic or professional training, but the resources may also be useful to U.S. residents and international people traveling to the United States for other reasons.

Mobility International USA is a cross-disability organization serving those with cognitive, hearing, learning, mental health-related, physical, systemic, vision and other disabilities.  Their mission is "Empowering people with disabilities around the world to achieve their human rights through interational exchange and international development."

People with Disabilities Getting Fit in Class

Submitted by Karen Stallings
    Lee Jones’ Down syndrome doesn’t keep him from exercising -  or from getting others to join.  “I know some people with Down syndrome can be a bit overweight,” said the 31-year old fitness instructor at the Sylvester Powell Junior Community Center in Kansas City, MO, who leads a weekly class of people with disabilities. “I’m trying to get them to shed the pounds by taking the class.”
   About half of his students have Down syndrome, a chromosomal glitch that causes  birth defects, including learning difficulties and increased likelihood of heart problems and a sluggish thyroid. Others have conditions including Cerebral Palsy and Asperger syndrome, a form of autism.
       Jones’ class is especially important because traditional health clubs often ignore people with disabilities,” said James H. Rimmer, Director of the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability at the University of Chicago, Illinois. 
     The “Fitness with Lee” classes are part of the Mission Project, which evolved two years ago when participants’ parents wrote grants and arranged for their children to live near one another in Mission, with access to groceries, jobs and necessities. 
   As a member of the Atlanta-based National Down Syndrome Congress, Jones has spoken to groups across the country, and works 25 hours weekly at several jobs.  He approaches his fitness class with the same organization and determination that helped him earn a college degree - an achievement that surprised even his parents.  
During a water break, Amelia Zang-Carta, 25, gushed about Jones' class. “I like him,” said Zang-Carta, who has Asperger syndrome and is taking classes at a local community college. “I like how this class wakes me up.”
Karen Stallings, Community Liaison NC, is the Executive Director of the Association of Self-Advocates of North Carolina, and is a writer and an actress currently working on her autobiography.

A Trip with Epic Enabled

 Submitted by Scott Rains of The Rolling Rains Report

  On the prowl...Akila sizes up Scott.

I live in a small world - but it just got larger!  By estimates there are maybe as few as 50 million of "us" in the world . Who're "us?" People with disabilities. People who use wheelchairs. So being part of such a small group, it is only natural that a few of us would know each other. We work together to make the world bigger for each other. Big is beautiful!

My 'accessible safari' in South Africa with Alfie and Epic Enabled made my world larger. It was a wheelchair-using English fellow living in Belgium who put me in touch with Epic, and an Indian with family in Brazil who told me more stories about accessible safaris.  I was intrigued by the interest shown in my potential trip by travel professional colleagues - all of whom specialize in serving travelers with disabilities: a Canadian, an Australian, several Thais, a German, a Pakistani, and one temporary Nicaraguan.  Two other professional colleagues' uniquely English and Chinese insights into South Africa convinced me to go.

It didn't hurt that I had a personal invitation from a tour operator in KwaZulu-Natal whose husband is a quadriplegic like I am.  My story of apparent "over-researching" for the trip is not at all uncommon among travelers with disabilities. Studies show that we depend more on word-of-mouth recommendations when making the decision to travel than any other sector of the market.  And the research paid off.  I can heartily endorse Alfie, Sabine - the entire crew at Epic Enabled - because I traveled through the Kruger National Park with Epic (and on the way encountered a most uncomfortable traveler's health condition that Alfie unhesitatingly helped me resolve.)

Thank you Epic - and Alfie - for amazing wildlife, hearty food served on the pristine veldt, and a unique business that is driving the whole safari industry and South African national tourism to greater standards of excellence.  Come to think of it, maybe my world just got smaller.

Now I'm also part of the small confraternity of travelers with disabilities who have taken a long walk down a country road with a wild lion!

(For more photos of this adventure, see The Rolling Rains Report Travelogues!)

Epic Expeditions has been running since 1992, helping many “Enabled” people who wish to experience the same sense of adventure and thrill which "overlanding" has to offer - the concept of Epic Enabled was born in 2001, with a focus on “Enabling” the “Disabled” traveller to experience the 'trip of a lifetime' in a highly planned and carefully structured way. For more information, visit www.epic-enabled.com, or e-mail info@epic-enabled.com.

The Sprout Film Festival - May 1 – 3, 2009 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art!

We are excited to once again showcase an exceptional collection of films at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This year, we will be presenting 26 films in 12 unique programs.  Click the following links to see samples of our offerings:

Bar Mitzvah Boy

Children of the Stars

The Eighth Day

A Trip Across America

We encourage you to come with friends and family to enjoy memorable films, light refreshments and the festivities. For more information, please visit the film festival site at http://www.sproutfilmfestival.org 

Sprout Touring Film Festival!
Bring a custom-designed version of the Sprout Film Festival to your area! You pick the date and location and we will work with you to tailor any number of programs, bringing a custom version of the festival to your area.

Select from our library of over 120 amazing films!
Ideal for conferences, universities and agencies interested in presenting quality, educational, entertaining films related to developmental disabilities. A Sprout representative will be present to coordinate each screening.

Upcoming screenings will take place in the following cities:
Feb. 6 - 7: Great Barrington, MA Community Access to the Arts
March 13: Charlottesville, VA Piedmont Regional Education Program (PREP) / Parent Resource Center
April 5: Williamstown, MA Berkshire County Arc
May 14: Eugene, OR Full Access Brokerage
May 15: Bend, OR Full Access Brokerage
October 7: Penticton British Columbia Penticton and District Society Community Living

For additional information on this exciting program and a complete listing of available films please visit:  www.sprouttouringfilmfestival.org.

Film Lovers
If you would like to view memorable, entertaining and touching films relating to the field of developmental disabilities, we have many videos and previews posted on YouTube that you can enjoy now.  Visit www.youtube.com/user/gosprout to see previews and complete videos from Sprout’s Make-A-Movie Program. Please show your support by subscribing to our Youtube pages. As a subscriber you will be notified every time we upload a new video.

If there are any films that you feel would be of interest to friends and family, please spread the word.. Log on to www.youtube.com/user/STFFestival and enjoy some 60 short films and previews that we have presented over the previous 6 years of Sprout Film Festivals.