advocacy

Filed under: Regular Contributors, David Roche, Irked Videos

This is something you already know if you’re on David Roche’s mailing list.

Hello friends: ”Shameless: The Art of Disability” is now available to view (free) at the National Film Board of Canada website! This iconic feature-length documentary about disability and creativity is a National Film Board of Canada production, directed by the noted documentarian, Bonnie Klein and released in 2008. It focuses on the stories and creative processes of four artistic people with disabilities, including myself, Persimmon Blackbridge, Catherine Frazee and Geoff McMurchy (and of course Bonnie herself). Enjoy!

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Quoting the NFB.ca film synopsis:

Art and activism are the starting point for a funny and intimate portrait of five surprising individuals with diverse disabilities. Packed with humour and raw energy, this film follows the gang of five from B.C. to Nova Scotia as they create and present their own images of their disabilities.

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Watch the feature-length documentary now:

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And please buy David’s phenomenal book:

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Filed under: Regular Contributors, Lewis Schofield, Themes, Auties & Aspies, Irked Videos

Quoting Elyse Bruce:

Recently, the news carried an item about Canadian Blood Services. In light of the H1N1 flu and vaccines, blood donors have been shying away from donating blood. Blood donations are important all year round however they are even more important at this time of year. In some areas, blood donations are half of the required weekly minimum for hospitals in their region.

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After hearing the news, 14-year-old Lewis “Codeboy” Schofield decided to do what he could to help get the word out that blood donations are greatly needed, after having undergone IVIg treatments in 2008 and 2009. So he scripted, filmed and produced this 55 second PSA currently uploaded to YouTube.

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Please forward the link to this video to friends, family, colleagues and the media in your area. It doesn’t matter if you live in Canada or live in another country … blood donations save lives!

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Thanks!

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Elyse Bruce
Lewis Schofield’s mom
Peterborough, Ontario

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To buy Lewis’ beautiful art cards (with 20% of the proceeds going to autism organizations) CLICK HERE.

And then…

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Filed under: Campaign Watch

“Social media has the potential to provide an array of new opportunities to people with disabilties. But when it comes to sites such as Twitter, more needs to be done…”

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Filed under: Themes, Blind Visionaries, Campaign Watch

Quoting Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian, U.S.-based disability and civil rights lawyers:

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“Dear members of the blind community:

As we approach the end of the year, we are asking for your help in making sure the settlement agreements negotiated by ACB and its affiliates are working well. Feedback from individuals about Talking ATMs, accessible credit reports, tactile Point of Sale devices, accessible pedestrian signals, and accessible websites is critical to the success of Structured negotiations. Please take a minute to read this email and send us feedback on any of the issues raised here. We can be reached through Lainey’s email at: LF@LFLegal.com or by calling toll-free to Linda’s office at 1-800-822-5000. Thanks in advance for your help, and wishing everyone a peaceful holiday season.

Feedback needed about the following:

(1) Accessible Credit Reports: Credit reports are available in Braille, Large Print, Audio CD, and on-line in an accessible format. Each person is entitled to three free credit reports per year, one from each national credit reporting company. If you haven’t received your free reports for this year, you can go on-line to www.annualcreditreport.com, or call toll free 877-322-8228 (you will be offered the chance to choose your format towards the end of the phone tree. More information available at: http://lflegal.com/2008/12/credit-announce/

(2) Tactile Keypads: Ten national retailers have signed agreements with ACB, CCB, AFB and BSCB to install and maintain tactile keypads so that customers with visual impairments can privately enter their PIN and other confidential information. The stores have trained staff on these issues, but if blind shoppers don’t use the devices, this training is often forgotten. If you are able in the next month or so to shop at any of the following retailers and can use a debit or other PIN-based card, we’d appreciate hearing from you: 7-Eleven, CVS, Target, Rite-Aid, RadioShack, Safeway, Trader Joe’s, Wal-Mart, Staples and Dollar General. (Please recognize that the full roll-out has not yet been completed at all these chains.)

When blind customers use a PIN-based card at these retailers it helps all of us to monitor the settlements reached as a result of Structured Negotiations and lets the companies know that these changes are important. A short summary of all the POS settlement agreements with links to the full agreement is available on Lainey’s website at http://lflegal.com/category/settlements/point-of-sale-settlements/. You can read all the press releases issued about these settlements at: http://lflegal.com/category/articles/settlement-agreement-press-releases/press-releases-point-of-sale/

(3) Accessible Websites: Blind community advocacy has been instrumental in making the internet more accessible to people with visual impairments. We are currently monitoring the following websites as a result of Structured Negotiations settlements, and would welcome feedback: Staples (www.staples.com); CVS (www.cvs.com); Bank of America (www.bankofamerica.com); Rite-Aid (www.riteaid.com) and RadioShack (www.radioshack.com). We are also interested in hearing about other websites, particularly health-care and health insurance related, with accessibility barriers.

(4) Talking ATMs: Ten years after the first Talking ATM was installed in the United States we continue to monitor Talking ATM progress. In particular, Bank of America, with the most Talking ATMs of any bank in the country has Talking ATMs at over 90% of its locations nationwide. Please let us know if you encounter any issues at any Bank of America Talking ATM, or with Talking ATMs at other institutions around the country.

(3) Accessible Pedestrian Signals in San Francisco As a result of the settlement with CCB, the LightHouse and the Independent Living Resource Center, San Francisco has installed Accessible Pedestrian Signals at close to 80 intersections throughout the City. Feedback on the devices is critical to ensuring effective implementation of the agreement.

Thanks for everyone’s continuing advocacy on these issues. Of course, if you have new issues about accessible information and technology you would like to bring to our attention, we’re always happy to hear about those too.

Lainey and Linda

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Lainey Feingold
Law Office of Lainey Feingold
http://LFLegal.com
510.548.5062
LF@LFLegal.com

Linda Dardarian
Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian
www.gdblegal.com
510.763.9800
LDardarian@gdblegal.com”

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Filed under: Themes, Blind Visionaries, Campaign Watch

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Stevie Wonder is a UN Messenger of Peace!

(And he's got an awesome sense of humour too)

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Filed under: Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board

Here now is a truly, truly beautiful essay—titled “My wheelchair makes me invisible.”

It was written by Toronto’s Jennifer Wilding (who temporarily needs a wheelchair to get around), and originally published in the Globe and Mail and on theglobeandmail.com:

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Filed under: Campaign Watch

A 47-year-old wheelchair-bound mother who had a stroke 18 months ago has been forced to do her banking on the street after staff at her local NatWest branch refused to lift her up two steps “for health and safety reasons.”

Is this the 21st century??

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Filed under: Themes, Auties & Aspies, Books & Book Reviews, QuIrked Kids, Irked Videos, Interviews

The book Cowboy & Wills opens the day after critically-acclaimed author Monica Holloway’s adorable three year-old son Wills is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She takes him to a pet store; and from her first impulse purchase of a full aquarium, Holloway quickly graduates to hermit crabs, hamsters, African dwarf frogs, and a rabbit. But like all children, what Wills wants most is a puppy. That Christmas, eight-week old Cowboy arrives and forever changes their lives.

Where Wills is cautious, fastidious, and tender hearted, Cowboy is rambunctious, affectionate, and impulsive. Soon, the boy who could barely say hello to his kindergarten classmates is going on playdates, learning to swim, and sleeping in his own bed. Through it all, Cowboy is there, dragging him toward other children and giving him the confidence to face his fears—with her by his side. But love is not enough to save the beautiful Cowboy from her fate, and the cruel world of puppy mills quickly catches up to them. When Cowboy is diagnosed with lupus, Wills and his family realize that they must be there for her, just as she was there for them.

Monica Holloway sat down with Simon Spotlight Entertainment (a division of Simon & Schuster) for a discussion of her life’s path as a mother and memoirist, and the unexpected trajectory this path has taken through her life. Here are the highlights:

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Filed under: Themes, Blind Visionaries, Campaign Watch

Virtual Helping Hands (VHH) is a coalition of four groups, united in their mission “to bring people who have disabilities into Second Life so everyone can enjoy what Second Life offers—entertainment, education, and employment. Everyone can explore and enjoy the same virtual worlds of the Immersive Internet”….with just a teensy weensy li’l bit of code tweaking.

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Filed under: Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board

Disabled advocate Gilbert Smith, a former police officer, works to spread awareness and equality for the disabled. The disAbility Resources Center recently presented him with a lifetime achievement Award. (Photo by Tyrone Walker)

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Even sitting in a wheelchair, his hands not fully functional, there’s a physical presence about Gilbert Smith, the former police officer who was shot on duty and left paralyzed from the waist down.

Maybe it’s left over from his rough-and-tumble days as a bouncer in his dad’s bar. Or maybe it’s just the force of his spirit.

“He’s left his stamp on a little bit of everything here,” Gwen Gillenwater, executive director of the disAbility Resource Center, said last week when presenting him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for making Charleston more accessible to the handicapped. “He’s one of the real giants in our community.”

Smith will be 63 in December. He was paralyzed Dec. 12, 1970, nearly 40 years ago.

“I’ve outlived the statistics,” he said.

Before he became a police officer, Smith worked as a bartender and bouncer at his dad’s nightclub. It was called the Coconut Grove on Pittsburgh Avenue in North Charleston. Smith also collected loans for his dad.

“I was big and strong back then,” he said.

His dad died in a tractor accident when Smith was 20. He went to work for the Charleston Naval Shipyard before joining the police department.

He took a test in the morning and was given his badge, gun and handcuffs that evening. He spent the first two weeks riding around with an older officer, who was also shot on duty but survived without any permanent damage, and then was sent out on his own.

Fewer than four months on the job, Smith got a call that a man was passed out in the middle of the road in rural Charleston County. Smith loaded him in the back of the patrol car to take him to the jail. He didn’t handcuff him because the man didn’t have a right hand.

Smith would learn later that the man lost his hand in a shootout. He previously had served time for robbing a bank.

The man woke up in the back of the car, grabbed Smith’s gun, shot him in the back and pushed him out of the car. The man later said he saw the devil.

Smith would never walk again.

As a result of the incident, the department installed cages in all the patrol vehicles and instituted a training program … Continue reading this article

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