Category Archives: signal boost

Signal Boost: International Network of Women with Disabilities

The International Network of Women with Disabilities (INWWD) is a group of of international, regional, national or local organizations, groups or networks of women with disabilities, as well as individual women with disabilities and our allies. The mission of the INWWD is to enable women with disabilities to share our knowledge and experience, enhance our capacity to speak up for our rights, empower ourselves to bring about positive change and inclusion in our communities and to promote our involvement in relevant politics at all levels, towards creating a more just and fair world that acknowledges disability and gender, justice, and human rights. We are a group for women only. We invite ALL women with disabilities to join us and we will achieve these goals TOGETHER.

INWWD Yahoo! Group

I’m a member of this group. They spent a lot of time this year developing some excellent documents for the UN regarding women with disabilities as victims of violence.

Signal Boost: SUPERFEST International Disability Film Festival Calls for Entries

Via Email

Your Opportunity to Contribute to Disability Culture

SUPERFEST, the world’s longest-running juried international disability film festival, is seeking your entry for submission to our 2011 film competition. SUPERFEST is the primary international showcase for innovative films that portray disability culture and experience in all its diverse, complex, and empowering facets.

This year we have selected a theme for Superfest: CHILDREN & YOUTH.
Work must be about, feature or be appropriate for children or youth (up to age 24).
Continue reading Signal Boost: SUPERFEST International Disability Film Festival Calls for Entries

Are you (or someone you know) aged 13 – 30 and living in the US?

We mentioned this when the first Call came out for proposals, but I wanted to mention it again because I think it’s a good opportunity for the “new generation” of people with disabilities to get their thoughts and voices out there. (Also, I want to read it when it is done, so people submitting to it = better chance of it getting published!)

Call for Proposals: Disability in America: Voices of a New Generation

Ari Ne’eman and Stacey Milbern, Co-Editors
Deadline: January 15, 2011

This year, the disability community is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), civil rights law that protects the rights of disabled people.

Growing up in a post-ADA America has meant that many of us have had access to more opportunities than previous generations. We know if we had been born in 1967 instead of 1987 our lives would look completely different. We know the history of our people is tainted by eugenics, ableism, lack of access and the sting of low expectations. We recognize the work that has been done by disability movements over the last century to make the current lives we live possible. We are proud to be members of this vibrant, breathing, community.

Although the struggle continues, we recognize that the realities of disabled people look vastly different in many ways. With this in mind, we are requesting proposals for chapters in a book-length anthology to document this legacy and record the stories of disabled young people talking about what it is to grow up with a disability in this day and age.

Part One of our anthology will attempt to explore how a new generation experiences these age old challenges, affording a chance to assess how far we have really come. Part Two of our anthology asks disabled young people to identify what our struggle looks like now.

We’re seeking a diversity of perspectives and topics. A few questions we pose as food for thought:

What does it look like to navigate the medical system?
What is it like trying to find and keep a job as a young person with a disability today?
How are mental health challenges and psychiatric impairments approached by family members?
Do students still have to choose between support and inclusion?
What is the impact of pity and charity?
How do we survive the traumas we experience by people who say they are helping us, whether this is in schools, in doctor?s offices, our places
of worship, or within our support systems?
How do people with less visible disabilities choose whether or not to
disclose?
How has the nature of “passing” changed or not changed?
How do we fight eugenics, with its many faces?
How do we work with personal assistant services and our support systems?
How is disability portrayed differently in American society?
How are media, and pop culture representations of disability viewed by the new generation of young people with disabilities?
What do our relationships and sex lives look like?
How do we find community?

We are seeking creative non-fiction essays from young people with disabilities ages 13-30 (some flexibility will be available for compelling submissions from individuals slightly outside our preferred age range). People with all types of disabilities are welcome to submit. Speaking from personal experience is strongly encouraged. The intent of this project is to use personal voices to capture the experience of the new generation of young people with disabilities.

Submissions should range from 2,000 to 5,000 words. Please include your address, phone number, e-mail address and a short bio on the manuscript.

Proposals are due by e-mail to voicesoftheadageneration@gmail.com to January 15, 2011 but we encourage and will consider for approval early submissions. Please e-mail co-editors Stacey Milbern and Ari Ne’eman at voicesoftheadageneration@gmail.com with questions.

QuickPress: Disability Blog Carnival 71 is up!

As it is late and dinner is calling, I’m going to cheat and just C&P what Penny says over at Disability Studies. Penny: For All Your Disability Blog Carnival (And Disability History) Needs!

The November edition is up at Modus Dopens, and it’s a good solid collection of links, around the theme of intersections. Go, fix yourself a drink (suggests the host!), and have a read.

The December edition is due to post at Rolling Around in My Head, where Dave H has invited posts around the theme “long nights and what we need to get through them,” appropriate for the month with the literal longest nights (in the Northern Hemisphere), and a month with holidays that can feel like very long nights for many. Submissions are invited by December 15th for inclusion in the carnival.

Penny is also looking for hosts for the new year, so please do check her out.

I’ve only had a bit of an opportunity to look over the links, and again, this Disability Blog Carnival looks outstanding. I can’t tell readers enough: There is a rich and vibrant disability blogosphere, and I love it.

Signal Boost: Text of teleconferences on the Global Disability Rights Library

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Thank you to everyone who participated in USICD’s teleconferences on the Global Disability Rights Library (GDRL). We are excited about the enthusiasm for this effort that you brought to the call. Both calls featured lively discussion and generated new ideas and connections that will be invaluable moving forward with the library. For those of you who were unable to join us—we missed you, and we still welcome your involvement in the GDRL project.

Some participants requested text from the conference calls, so we have posted it on the GDDRL page of the USICD website. The online version of the document can be found here: Text of Call

USICD will be hosting more conference calls in the near future, and we will stay in touch in the coming months about ways to remain involved in the development of the GDRL. The strength of the GDRL comes from contributions and content made by you, the experts and practitioners in the field, and we always value your questions and input.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Many Thanks,

Andrea

Andrea Shettle, MSW, MA
Program Manager, Global Disability Rights Library
United States International Council on Disabilities (USICD)
1012 14th Street, NW, Suite 105
Washington, DC 20005
ashettle@usicd.org
http://www.usicd.org
Fax: (202) 347-0351

I participated (well, I listened) in this call and it was very interesting. The work the GDRL wants to do is very exciting.

Signal Boost: Web Survey on Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Students in Special Education

Via Finding My Way: Journey of an Uppity Intellecutal Activist Crip
Web Survey on Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Students in Special Education

My name is Mary Lou Bensy, and I am a Doctoral Student and researcher at Hofstra University, located in New York. As part of my Doctoral Dissertation, this ground-breaking research and survey is being conducted to help us learn more about the sexual harassment and abuse of special education students in schools. We need this vital information to help protect this victimized population. The survey is designed primarily to gather information on individuals with disabilities who have ever been sexually abused in school.

Parents, guardians, advocates and caregivers of students with disabilities are asked to respond on behalf of ONE victimized student per survey. If an individual chooses to respond on behalf of more than one student, he/she can feel free to take the survey more than once. Adult survivors are asked to complete the survey for themselves.

Note: Gender binary, US-centric so likely best for US residents to answer, TRIGGER WARNING for the questions, survey ends with link to sexual abuse resources, highlights that you can skip questions you don’t want to answer. The disabilities you can select flagged up to me as problematic groupings (“emotional disturbance”?) but this may be that I come from a different educational background.

As always, I cannot answer questions about this survey.

Upcoming Events for the Week of November 15 to November 22

Events from the United States, Canada, and New Zealand.

US: San Francisco, California, November 15:

The Disability Issues Caucus of the National Communication Association will have a memorial for Paul Longmore at 7 p.m. Monday, November 15. It will be in the Franciscan A room of the Hilton San Francisco, at 333 O’Farrell Street. All are invited to attend.

Paul’s submission to the conference, his paper titled “what we have been prepared to see”: Charity Professionals and the Framing of Disease and Disability, was selected by anonymous review to receive the 2010 Top Paper award in the Disability Issues Caucus. His paper will be presented at the memorial and participants will have the opportunity to share their memories of Paul and his work.

For more information, please email Jim Cherney at jlcherney@wayne.edu

Canada: Langley, British Columbia, November 20:

Civil Rights Now! in Langley Nov 20

What is wrong in BC for people with disabilities and what can be done to make it right? Zosia Ettenberg and the Langley Pos-Abilities Society Present Civil Rights Now!

Saturday November 20
1:30 to 3:30 pm
Langley Senior Centre
20605—51B Ave, Langley

Civil Rights Now! Is a not for profit, non-partisan, all volunteer society that thinks the way the government of BC delivers services to people with disabilities strips them of their freedom and dignity. What do people with disabilities and their families need?

  • Law that gives the equality provisions of the Canadian Charter practical force and effect in their daily lives.
  • Law that gives every person with a disability truly-portable, sufficient-funded, consumer-driven Individualized funding.
  • The ability to enforce the law by government funding of test cases involving civil rights of people with disabilities.
  • Civil Rights Now! is organizing a campaign to persuade the provincial Liberals and NDP to make a commitment that if they win the next election they will put these three ideas into action.

    RSVP pos-abilities@telus.net 604.961.0117

    Everyone is welcome!

Canada: Toronto, Ontario, November 26

Students with disabilities who are interested in pursuing a career in rehabilitation research are invited to attend Toronto Rehab’s 6th Annual Research Day, a unique and fun way to learn more about research at Toronto Rehab.
Toronto Rehab’s 6th Annual Research Day

When: Friday, November 26, 2010, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Where: Sheraton Centre – Dominion Ballroom, 123 Queen Street West, Toronto

This year’s event will feature morning Minute Madness sessions where researchers are challenged to present their work in just one minute, a keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Philippa Clarke on “Optimizing Independence in Later Life: The Role of the Urban Built Environment”, as well as a poster session and interactive displays. Another highlight will be the awarding of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute Scholarship in Rehabilitation-related Research for Graduate Students with Disabilities, funded by TD Bank Financial Group.

This exciting event is a great way for students with disabilities to find out more about rehab research which encompasses a broad range of fields, and to meet scientists, students and award recipients.

Who can attend: All are welcome. Please join us!
Lunch will be provided. Registration is free. Space is limited so RSVP now.
Register online at this website. Registration will remain open until November 19, 2010. The Sheraton Centre is wheelchair accessible. (Attendees are asked to let us know about your accessibility requirements in advance – we will do our best to accommodate you. Please see the registration form.)

Check the Research Day webpage for more information. Questions? Contact Toronto Rehab’s Conference Services at conferences@torontorehab.on.ca or 416-597-3422 Ext. 3866.

New Zealand (all), November 3 to December 17
Via the Rolling Rains Report:

Have Your Say On International Disabilities Report

The Minister for Disability Issues, Hon Tariana Turia, is inviting public comment on a draft government report on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Government is required to report to the United Nations on how the Convention is being implemented in New Zealand.

“This is the first time New Zealand has reported to the United Nations about the Convention. I am very keen for disabled people and their families to have the opportunity to have input into this report” said Minister Turia.

From 3 November 2010 through to 17 December 2010 the Government is seeking public input into this report through face-to-face meetings, online discussion and written submission.

Sadly, I can’t answer questions about any of these events.

USICD Hosting Skype Conference Call on Global Disability Rights Library for International Audience

(via email)

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

On Tuesday November 16 and Thursday November 18, 2010, USICD will host a pair of Skype teleconference calls for the International Disability Community introducing an opportunity to get involved in disseminating disability rights information globally. The calls will both cover the same content but are timed differently to accommodate time zone differences. Unlike past teleconferences on this topic, these are offered via Skype because we value our international colleagues and want to enable them to communicate with us more easily and cheaply.

You know that the disability rights movement is made stronger when disability rights leaders, policy makers, and allies have access to the knowledge they need to learn how to transform their society. But too many advocates in developing countries are excluded from the information age. In some countries, less than 5 percent of the population has Internet access.

The Global Disability Rights Library (GDRL) project is working to close the information gap for people with disabilities and their supporters who cannot access the Internet. After the GDRL is built and disseminated, it will put transformative knowledge into the hands of change makers in a position to improve the lives of people with disabilities in developing countries. But no single organization can do full justice to the wealth and diversity of disability knowledge available in the field. We need to call upon the expertise of a broad cross section of organizations like yours to help deliver as much quality library content as possible to as many recipients as we can reach.

During this call we will:

  • Briefly describe the partnership between USICD and the University of Iowa’s WiderNet project that is making the GDRL project possible
  • Explain the innovative technology that will enable us to deliver knowledge to disability rights advocates in developing countries without using the Internet
  • Invite your involvement in sharing knowledge and resources that will strengthen the ability of advocates worldwide to promote the human rights of people with disabilities in their countries
    • Learn more about the GDRL at the following web links:

      Global Disability Rights Library

      More on the Global Disability Rights Library

      Please join us on either Tuesday, November 16 at 9:00 am EST (2:00pm GMT) OR Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 11:00am EST (4:00pm GMT), for a teleconference call to learn more about the Global Disability Rights Library and how you can join us in building it.

      The call will be free for Skype users. To participate, please email Ellis Ballard, USICD’s Research and Programs Associate, at eballard@usicd.org with your Skype username. We will contact you via Skype to share contact details and ensure your participation in the call.

      If you do not have Skype but have an internet connection, you can download the program at Skype and start a free account.

      Streaming CART transcription will be available for anyone who would like it. Sign onto the CART page at the time of the call and you will be able to follow real-time text transcription.

      If you have any questions, feel free to email Ellis Ballard at eballard AT usicd DOT org.

      David Morrissey and I look forward to talking with you about the GDRL on either November 16th or 18th!

      Sincerely,

      Andrea

      Andrea Shettle, MSW, MA
      Program Manager, Global Disability Rights Library
      United States International Council on Disabilities (USICD)
      1012 14th Street, NW, Suite 105
      Washington, DC 20005
      ashettle@usicd.org
      http://www.usicd.org

Signal Boost: Personal Successes: Unlimited Potential eBook from the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians

(via email)

How would you define success in your own life? This is a very individual question, and there are many different answers, both large and small.

The Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians collected success stories from blind, deaf-blind and partially sighted Canadians. These success stories were on any topic, whether on employment, community involvement or conquering your own personal goals. Most importantly, these success stories differ from others that tend to reinforce the “superhero” notion of disability, by highlighting the often simple and realistic techniques we employ to complete everyday tasks and achieve our goals.

We hope that this collection of stories will, on the one hand, educate the public by painting a more realistic image of blindness, and on the other, encourage those who have recently experienced vision loss to work towards their goals.

Visit Personal Successes, Unlimited Potential to download your copy of the book today!

AEBC continues to collect success stories from blind, deaf-blind, and partially sighted Canadians. Do you have a story to share? What do you constitute as “success” in your own life? Please email your story to info AT blindcanadians DOT ca.