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July 04, 2008

Creating Futures Program

Wednesday June 18, 2008

Dear Abby:

Please help me alert your readers about an important program launched by companies in the information technology (IT) industry to educate, train, certify and provide job placement assistance for returning veterans.  Military who successfully complete the Creating Futures program will have the knowledge and skill level they need to start a rewarding career in IT.

Creating Futures is free for all participants.  The cost is covered by organizational sponsors such as HP, Xerox and Rikoh.

The Creating Futures program is tailored to help individuals with various levels of skill.  Individuals who have honed their computer skills in the military will be taught how to transfer those skills to civilian life, and those who are new to IT will be taught the basic skills they need to pursue a career in information technology.

Returning veterans, people with disabilities, youth at risk and dislocated workers interested in participating in the program should visit www.creatingfutures.us for information on how to participate.  -- John Minotaur, Computer Technology Industry Association

Continue reading "Creating Futures Program" »

July 03, 2008

For the College Bound and their parents

From the Disability411 Podcast, hosted by Beth Case...

Do you know someone with a disability who is planning to attend college in the fall? Then don't miss this show, with lots of good tips for preparing for college, getting services in college, and how life is different for students with disabilities in college than high school. Even if college is a few years away, it's not too early to start looking ahead!

Listen to Show 53: Preparing for College


July 02, 2008

Press Release re: the ADA Amendments Act

House of Representatives Approves Bill to Protect Americans with Disabilities from Discrimination

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC -- {The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation today to stop discrimination against individuals with disabilities by restoring the original intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Continue reading "Press Release re: the ADA Amendments Act" »

June 30, 2008

A Different Perspective with Scott Rains

Scottwo2_3

Scheduled for today on A Different Perspective is Howard Renensland's interview with Scott Rains (as seen in the photo).  Scott, of the Rolling Rains Report, is a very busy man these days and if you're at all interested in travel, you'll want to listen in. 

(As I post this right this minute, the link to Scott's interview is not yet up.  But "stay tuned" and check the A Different Perspective link above.  Any minute now...)

LINKS:

Sea Wolf, Waypoint Yacht Charter Services, SATH, TripWolf.com, BrazilMax, Scott's Alaska Photos

A Different Perspective with Marcie Roth

...Embracing life as a "Para' or a "Quad"

Howard chats with Marcie Roth, CEO of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, their upcoming celebration in September in New Orleans with Wynton Marsalis, and the need for all to be involved politically!

Listen HERE!

From the National Spinal Cord Injury Association:

Ms. Marcie Roth’s background in disability services, rights, grassroots organizing, coalition building and public policy work began in the early 1970’s. She has been active as a local, state and national leader, and has been involved in senior management activities for several national and international non-profit disability organizations over the past twenty years, managing multiple projects and leading public policy initiatives simultaneously.

Currently leading national public/private efforts to address the additional needs of people with disabilities before, during and after disasters, she also serves on the National Citizen Corps Subcommittee on Individuals with Disabilities in Emergency Preparedness, and co-chairs the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Emergency Management and International Task Forces.

June 29, 2008

Traveling with Disabilities information

Wild Iris Medical Education offers a useful course entitled, Traveling with Disabilities authored by Anne M. Becker, MS, RN, CNS and Miriam R. Breslauer, BS, MS.

The course is free through June 30, 2008.
The following is a description of the learning objectives:

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

    * Discuss the special needs of disabled travelers using various modes of transportation.
    * Describe the role and duties of a healthcare professional who assists a disabled traveler.
    * Identify three groups of disabilities that may affect a person's ability to travel alone.
    * List examples of advance preparation for the trip of a disabled traveler.
    * Summarize the elements of a medical documentation travel file.
    * Identify the disability-related challenges to traveling on a commercial vehicle.
    * Identify potential hazards at vacation destinations that may affect a disabled person's ability to function in a crisis.

For the course see:
http://www.nursingceu.com/courses/219/index_nceu.html

Scott Rains
The Rolling Rains Report
http://www.RollingRains.com

June 27, 2008

[with]tv needed in China. STAT.

Dr. Mark Mostert, host of the blog Disability Matters, recently wrote:

Well, well, well.

A day or two ago, London’s Times reported that official, but curious, Chinese attitudes towards people with disabilities have surfaced in the run-up to this summer’s Olympics, and, perhaps more unfortunately, for the World Paralympics also scheduled for Beijing in September.

It turns out that the official Olympic guide for both events, “Skills for helping the disabled,” distributed to 100,000 Chinese volunteers, contains a curious mix of plain old prejudice and plain old ignorance.

Read on:  Disability Dust-Up in Beijing

June 26, 2008

Oh Happy Day!

Today we're celebrating the 40th edition of the Disability Blog Carnival, posted by

We (Team [with]tv) couldn't help but notice that Ashley's Mom said

Two of my favorite stories of celebration came from Howard at Blogs [with]TV, and Jodi at Rheimer Reason.

Yep, that's "our" Howard (CEO & Founder of [with]tv) she's talking about!  Such recognition is always a treat.  Oh, and speaking of treats, read through this carnival and you'll find another one -  "a special surprise"!  While you're there, be sure to take a moment and help celebrate another successful Disability Blog Carnival by leaving Ashley's Mom a comment.  These carnivals take a lot of effort you know!

P.S.  We welcome Ashley's Mom to our blogroll by the way...

Photo description: a black and white photo of a cheerful looking woman wearing an apron and holding up a plate with a cake on it.  In red letters across her skirt it says "Disability Blog Carnival #40". 

(This may be a little off-topic, but I wonder what kind of "1930's wife" she would have made!)

June 25, 2008

No Odd Job Too Small

Have you been pining for another deformed criminal mastermind?  Are you tired of all the clean cut post-modern corporate bad guys who can’t be distinguished from your local insurance agent?  Are "thrillers" and detective novels letting you down when what you need is some old fashioned freak show figuration?

Well rest assured.  The latest James Bond novel, "Devil May Care (James Bond) " written by Sebastian Faulks (under the imprimatur of Ian Fleming Productions) carries on the misadventures in the "Fleming-way" world of disability villainy.Devil_may_care

The writing is terrible and you’ll have to stagger over more patriarchal cold war clichés than one supposed could be arranged between the covers of a single book, but that’s okay because the chief evil-doer is a dude named Gorner who used to be a Nazi but then became a Commie and all because "back in the day" when he was a student at a British prep school the other boys made fun of his deformed left hand.

Bond learns of him from "M" and here’s how it goes:

"The man crops up everywhere.  One of his hobbies is aviation.  He has two private planes.  He spends a good deal of time in Paris, but I don't think you'll have much difficulty in recognizing him."

"Why's that?" said Bond.

"His left hand," said M, sitting down again, and staring Bond squarely in the eye.  "It's a monkey's paw."

"What?"

"An extremely rare congenital deformity.  There's a condition known as main de singe, or monkey's hand, which is when the thumb makes a straight line with the fingers and is termed 'un-opposable'.  Being in the same plane as the other digits, it can't grip.  It's like picking up a pencil between two fingers." M demonstrated what he meant.  "It can be done, but not very well.  The development of the opposable thumb was an important mutation for Homo sapiens from his ancestors.  But what Gorner has is something more.  The whole hand is completely that of an ape.  With hair up to the wrist and beyond."

Something was stirring in Bond's memory.  "So it would be larger than the right hand," he said.

"Presumably.  It's very rare, though not unique, I believe."

Yep.  In "Devil May Care" (the title is completely irrelevant) you get a socio-pathologized Nazi-cum-Commie Social-Darwinized "missing link" who wears an oversized white glove in a vain attempt to hide his monkey paw.

The book aims for balance because Bond’s best friend, the redoubtable Felix Leiter of the CIA has lost a leg and an arm and now gets around on his true grit.  So you get dueling cripples in this book which of course makes the whole thing acceptable.

I can only add that this book should be divided into halves.  Each half should then be thrown away.  You can accomplish this whether your thumbs either do or do not work.

Trust me.

S.K.

Cross-posted on Planet of the Blind

June 23, 2008

"I believe in helplessness"

Scottwo2_3

By Scott Rains
srains@oco.net
http://www.RollingRains.com

The following text is borrowed from a post on the Rolling Rains Report. Follow this link to read the post in it's entirety.

"This I Believe" by Colin Bates ( a Man Who has Discovered the Core Value of Disability Culture -- "Interdependency" )

I believe in helplessness.. We are all helpless to each other...

Most of the people that I know are embarrassed by what they can't do on their own

- Colin Bates

Listen to someone who has overcome his lack of disability to share in the wisdom of our culture -- the culture of the disability community:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91244099

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