In Finland, study shows disabled people struggle to find work

From YLE in Finland:

Despite the fact that many people with physical disabilities would like to work, they are clearly underrepresented in the labour maket, a fresh report indicates.

As a group, the physically disabled are an underused, significant economic resource, according to a report released by the Sitra Finnish Innovation Fund and VATES Foundation.

The implementation of work experience training programs for the disabled could help more people get long-term employment, Jukka Lindberg, Development Manager at VATES, said.

Examples from England and Sweden show that work experience and training in the workplace significantly improves employment prospects.

However, as a group people with disabilities often don't find their way into employment programs, and Lindberg said the reasons behind this roadblock will be looked at more closely.

The VATES and Sitra survey found that companies are indeed interested in hiring the disabled, but among other things, they need to get more information about various financial aid available to them and prospective employees.

There are some 200,000 disabled people in Finland. According to the survey, one-third of the group were found to a have good ability to work, and many seek regular part-time jobs.

Economically speaking, Lindberg said, this demographic is a major labour resource that should be exploited.

"We should get away from focusing on the handicap and instead look at the person's knowledge and motivation," Lindberg said.

The VATES Foundation promotes employment and vocational rehabilitation of people with disabilities or other disadvantaged groups. Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, is charged with promoting "stable and balanced development in Finland, the growth of its economy and its international competitiveness and co-operation," according to its web site.

UIC professor Carrie Sandahl turns camera on Hollywood images of people with disabilities

UIC press release:

“Rain Man.” “Forrest Gump.” “Wait Until Dark.” “Million Dollar Baby.” What do these movies have in common?

Each is about someone who’s disabled in some way. And none offers any insight into the realities of being disabled.

But maybe these are just bad examples. Are there any films that give a true representation of a person who has a disability?

“The answer is no,” says Carrie Sandahl, who is making a documentary on how Hollywood portrays the disabled.

Her film, “Code of the Freaks,” illustrates a number of “horribly oppressive stereotypes,” said Sandahl, associate professor of disability and human development.

“Blind women are beautiful, defenseless, stalked and need to be saved by men,” she said. See Madeleine Stowe and Aidan Quinn in “Blink.”

“Blind men are sexy and swordfighters or superheroes. They somehow get compensatory skills for their loss of sight.” See Ben Affleck in “Daredevil.”

A section of the documentary called “Cure or Kill” highlights Hollywood’s two favorite ways to solve the problem of disability.

In “Avatar,” a crippled Sam Worthington finds new life inside the body of a big blue alien. In “Million Dollar Baby,” Hilary Swank is paralyzed in the boxing ring and prevails upon her manager, played by Clint Eastwood, to put her out of her misery.

“A plot often serves as what I call ‘a fable for the abled,’” Sandahl said. “It’s a catalyst for a nondisabled person to become a better person through their interaction with a disabled person.”

Thus Tom Cruise is transformed from a selfish jerk into a worthwhile human being by his relationship with his autistic brother, Dustin Hoffman, in “Rain Man.”

“Disabled characters are used for symbolic purposes,” Sandahl said. When the wheelchair-using protagonist of “Born on the Fourth of July” — another Cruise role — becomes an antiwar activist, “it represents how the nation came to grips with the [Vietnam] war.”

But the disabled aren’t shown as flesh-and-blood members of society. As the “Code of the Freaks” blog puts it: “Characters with disabilities are not presented as three-dimensional people; rather, the disability itself is the character.”

Hollywood’s focus is seldom on the issues faced by the disabled: “the abysmal employment rate, the lack of health care, the fact that so many are incarcerated in nursing homes,” she said.

“Disability is everywhere in films, but there are very few disabled actors [the deaf actress Marlee Matlin being a notable exception],” Sandahl said.

No problem, because able-bodied actors are eager to take these “coveted” roles, she said.

“The stars are nominated for Oscars inordinately, and often win. We all knew ‘The King’s Speech’ was going to win.”

“Code of the Freaks” will include footage from “salons” where disabled and nondisabled audiences react to film clips. The next one, on images of disabled African American men, is from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday at the First United Methodist Church, 77 W. Washington St.

Sandahl runs the salons with Susan Nussbaum, a playwright and actor; they are writing the documentary together. Sandahl is in charge of research and advises on editing.

Working with them are Salome Chasnoff, executive director of Beyondmedia Education, Laurie Little of Luminist Films and Aly Patsavas, a Ph.D. student in disability studies.

Sandahl estimates it will take another two years to finish the project. They are still raising funds for the film.

Born with sacral agenesis, which causes mobility impairment and short stature, Sandahl walks with canes over short distances and otherwise uses a wheelchair.

She was raised in Hood River, Ore. She majored in theater at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., and earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, both in theater studies.

She taught at Florida State University in Tallahassee for 11 years. But she often came to Chicago for disability art and culture events. With Carol Gill, associate professor of disability and human development at UIC, she did a National Endowment for the Arts-funded study of barriers and facilitators of careers in the arts for people with disabilities.

“I got to know the faculty and students here,” she said. “Then there was an opening [in 2009], and it was a match.”
She established an “administrative home” at UIC for the Chicago Bodies of Work festival of disability arts and culture, last held in 2006 and planned again for 2013.

Sandahl is married to Randal Svea, a web programmer, and they have two children, Gregory, 9, and Audrey, 3. They live in Oak Park.

“I love going to the theater and spending time with my kids,” she said.

Sandahl also loves her work.

“Sometimes I don’t believe I’m getting paid for what I do,” she said, “because I’m having so much fun.”

California lawmakers, insurers battle over coverage for autism

From The Bay Citizen in Calif.:

When Elliott Epstein (pictured) was diagnosed with autism three years ago, his parents' biggest challenge wasn't finding treatment. It was finding a way to pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills.

“We call Elliott our ‘little house,’” Elliott's father, Kevin Epstein, said with a laugh, explaining that he and his wife paid out of pocket for their son’s treatment with money they’d saved for their first home. “It takes every penny you have, and every penny you don’t have.”

The Santa Clara County couple enrolled Elliott when he was 3 in Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA, an intensive, one-on-one behavior-based therapy that has been used to treat autism since the 1960s. But their Blue Shield health plan refused to pay. Blue Shield and other health insurers have long said ABA is not "medically necessary" and is thus exempt from coverage.

That could soon change. A bill introduced in the state Legislature this week would force California insurers to cover all behavioral therapies for autism, including ABA and other early-intervention measures.

“Parents of autistic children shouldn’t have to spend their days and sleepless nights battling with insurance companies,” the bill’s sponsor, state Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, said in a statement. “ABA has long been considered medically necessary and has proven remarkably effective.”

For years, health insurers and state agencies have battled over who should pay for behavior-based interventions for autistic children. Each tries to shift responsibility to the other. That has left a great number of families like the Epsteins without coverage.

Last month, two major insurance companies — Blue Shield of California and Anthem Blue Cross — agreed to reimburse initial costs for ABA, provided it is administered by a licensed analyst.

But California has no such licensing process.

“That’s like saying a nurse has to be licensed in giving you a flu shot, but there is no license for flu shot administering in California,” Epstein said. “The so-called agreement is a complete sham. The new bill is necessary to close the loopholes.”

Kristin Jacobson of the Alliance of California Autism Organizations, a proponent of the new bill, agreed that the settlement had “a fatal flaw,” despite being well-intentioned.

“It’s akin to denying chemotherapy for cancer or insulin for diabetics,” said Jacobson. “This is a well-recognized treatment and somehow health insurance companies have decided to deny it.”

By shifting financial responsibility to insurers, the bill, SB 770, would save the state between $100 to $200 million, according to Jacobson.

The California Association of Health Plans, the trade association representing the state’s insurance companies, opposes the bill, insisting that insurers already provide "comprehensive coverage for autism-related medical services."


“With skyrocketing medical bills already causing premiums to rise, shifting the responsibility for educational and other non-medical services to health plans would drive up the cost of coverage for all Californians,” the association said in a document emailed to The Bay Citizen. The bill would lead to “increases in the ranks of the uninsured, higher employers’ costs and, consequently, more job losses.”

In an emailed statement, the California Department of Insurance affirmed that it "fully supports" SB 770. The state's Department of Managed Health Care, which was involved in last month's settlement, has no position on the bill, a spokesperson said.

The Legislature has until Sept. 9 to take action on the bill. According to the advocacy group Autism Speaks, 27 other states have passed similar legislation.

Autism and similar disorders affect one in every 110 children nationwide, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control. The number of individuals receiving services for autism jumped twelvefold between 1987 to 2007, and the number of cases is projected to further increase.

Nearly 60,000 California children — including almost 10,000 in the Bay Area — receive special-education services for autism, according to data from the state’s Department of Education. Lifetime treatment costs for an autistic individual often exceed $3 million, with behavioral services accounting for more than $350,000.

ABA is the most common form of therapy for autism, backed by 40 years of research, according to Dr. Susan Hyman, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics' autism subcommittee. Although many studies dispute ABA's efficacy, "The outcome isn't cure," she said. "The outcome is improvement."

The federal government is still determining whether ABA should be covered as an "essential benefit" under the Affordable Care Act, or federal health care reform, when it is fully implemented in 2014.

“If ABA is included, we’ll cover it,” said Charles Bacchi, executive vice president of the California Association of Health Plans. Barring that, he believes the state shouldn't require coverage.

Families of autistic children, however, say they cannot afford to wait.

"Treat it early, it's a small problem," Epstein, the father, said. "Treat it later, it's a big problem."

Epstein believes his son Elliott's ABA treatments were "worth every penny."

“Three years later, he is verbal. Although he’s hardly studying Shakespeare, he has basic communication,” Epstein said. “Without therapy, you wouldn’t have that. You’d have a 6-year-old looking like a 3-year-old."

But battling with insurance companies has taken a toll. Epstein said that to date, Blue Shield has reimbursed only a "nominal" amount.

“Every hour and dollar that I’ve spent having to go obtain the coverage that I thought I’d been paying for for two decades is hours that could have been spent with my son, could have been spent with my family, dollars that could have been spent providing him with a better quality of life,” he said. “When you’re stripping your house payment to pay for your son’s medical coverage, that can’t be good.”

Teen British actress with CP: Able-bodied actors in disabled roles 'like blacking up'

From The Irish Independent:

Casting able-bodied actors in disabled roles is as repulsive as having white actors "black up" to play black roles, an Irish actor in the latest summer blockbuster has said.

Storme Toolis, 18, (pictured) whose father is investigative journalist Kevin Toolis from Achill in Co Mayo, was delighted to land a role in the feature film adaptation of the Channel 4 sitcom 'The Inbetweeners'.

Ms Toolis, who lives in London, has cerebral palsy and is a wheelchair user.

She landed her big break when she turned up at an open audition to cast extras in the film about four loveable but idiotic 18-year-old boys.

But Ms Toolis was called back a couple of weeks later and offered a more substantial role.

Within weeks she was on the set in Majorca, having wet towels thrown over her by cast member Blake Harrison, who plays Neil and is famed for his dance moves.

"I really enjoyed the experience. It just takes a bit more effort to employ someone with a disability. You need wheelchair accessible transport etc, but it is a better and more honest approach to the role and always comes off with more authenticity," she said.

The ambitious teenager, who calls Mayo her "second home" said the acting world was extremely challenging for a person with a disability.

"It is just so hard to land a part and it is not because there are no disabled characters. It's just non-disabled actors who seem to get them," she said. "The majority of the 'disabled' characters on TV, such as the boy in the wheelchair on 'Glee' are in fact able-bodied actors.

"Years ago white people used to 'black up' to play black characters but that would not wash these days. There would be a huge backlash, yet there seems to be different rules when it comes to disabled people," she added.

Deaf man battling to join Army after auditing ROTC

From The AP:

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — Keith Nolan (pictured) spent a decade applying repeatedly to the Army's Reserve Officers Training Corps' program before the deaf man's tenacity paid off and a commander finally let him audit the classes.

Nolan became a top performer in the ROTC program's Bravo Company at California State University at Northridge, and his instructors were so impressed they let him wear a uniform. He was distraught when he turned it back in and said goodbye to the other cadets in May. He could advance no further under the military's current policy that requires cadets pass a hearing test to be commissioned by the Army.

It was a stinging moment that burned in the soul of the bespectacled 29-year-old teacher, who is determined to break that barrier and achieve his lifetime dream of working in military intelligence.

"All I really want to do is join the Army," said Nolan, a confident, clean-cut man with a boyish face who signed to an interpreter in an interview at the university's ROTC office. He was flanked by posters with inspirational messages urging people to join. "I want to do my duty, serve my country and experience that camaraderie, and I can't, owed to the fact that I'm deaf."

Soldiers with disabilities have been returning to active duty in increasing numbers due largely to the fact that medical advances today are ensuring more people survive serious war injuries. All branches of the U.S. armed forces over the past decade have started offering the opportunity for seriously wounded or disabled service members to remain on active duty by finding them jobs they can perform.

Today about 300 seriously wounded service members — some of whom have been blinded by blasts, lost their limbs or have severe head injuries — work in a variety of Army positions, and their work has been vital, especially in aiding other recovering troops, said Erich Langer, a spokesman with the Army's Warrior Transition Command in Alexandria, Va.

Some have even returned to war zones.

"These cases help folks with disabilities across the board by opening more doors," he said.

Nolan said their presence shows there is a place in the military for disabled people. He sees the military's changing attitude as a window of opportunity that he hopes to pry open further so any deaf person — not just wounded combat troops — could be eligible to serve.

Nolan, who was born deaf to deaf parents, has wanted to join the Army ever since he learned of the experiences of his grandfather and great uncles who fought in WWII.

His father, Kevin Nolan, successfully won a city council seat against a 20-year incumbent in Northhampton, Mass., and taught his son to defy the odds.

"My wife and I were very emotional about this," Kevin Nolan said of Nolan's ROTC participation, in a phone interview assisted by an interpreter. "We're proud."

Capt. Sid Mendoza, a training supervisor of the program at Northridge, said he had no idea Nolan was deaf when he saw his application online.

Once he met Nolan, Mendoza said he wanted to see if there was a way to give him military experience because he was so interested in the armed forces.

"At the beginning we weren't sure how it was going to work," Mendoza said.

But with the help of a deaf interpreter, Nolan excelled, Mendoza said. He showed up at 5 a.m. exercises even though he was not required to and despite initially straining to see the interpreter in the darkness, he immediately was able to follow the commands, and earned a perfect score in his military sciences class.

Mendoza said he learned sign language for the word "motivation" because Nolan's interpreters used it so much when relaying to Nolan what people were saying about him.

"He definitely was one of our top performers," Mendoza said.

Nolan said he was crushed when the course ended and he had to step aside as the other cadets were commissioned by the Army.

"When I gave my rucksack away to the cadet in the van — that was when it really hit me that it was over for me," he wrote in his journal.

Mendoza said it was also hard on his fellow cadets, who are now second lieutenants.

"For all of us, it was really tough because we saw his enthusiasm to want more, but it's outside of our control," he said.

The office of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., said the congressman plans to meet Nolan in the fall to continue to work on his behalf. Nolan wants Waxman to sponsor a bill allowing deaf people into the armed forces.

Nolan has sent an inquiry to the Army and is waiting for a reply explaining why he could not be commissioned. Waxman's office said their inquiry to the Army got an "unfavorable" response but the congressman is still interested in seeing what he can do.

"I am looking forward to meeting Keith Nolan during his upcoming visit to Washington," Waxman said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. "He is an exceptional young man, and he has raised a compelling issue that I believe is worth examining."

In the meantime, Nolan has been spreading the word to drum up support for his cause, speaking at universities and other public events.

More than 2,000 people have responded in support of his Facebook page, "Commission Cadet Nolan Now," which features a picture of Nolan holding folded camys and a pair of Army boots as if he were joining.

Nolan traveled in 2010 to Israel where he met with 10 deaf military service members to document how they function in their jobs. The soldiers he met worked in everything from intelligence to dog training.

Deaf people are not drafted like other Israelis but can volunteer to serve and are deployed in noncombat positions, the Israeli military spokesman's office said. Many people with disabilities volunteer as military service plays a central role in Israeli culture and is considered a rite of passage.

"Many were shocked to hear America does not accept disabled people in its military," Nolan said.

Deaf people once served in the U.S. military too. During the American Civil War, more than a dozen deaf soldiers were in the armed forces.

History gives Nolan hope.

"I in no way want to degrade our military on the basis of disability or equality rights," he said. "But, with the support that I have received from both civilians and military personnel as well as what I have learned from my research, I am convinced that there is a noncombat position that I can do in the military without harming our armed forces' effectiveness and readiness."

Fred Fay, pioneering advocate for disability rights, dies; documentary about his life set for release in October

Wikipedia: "Fred Fay (September 12, 1944 - August 20, 2011) was an early leader in the disability rights movement in the United States. He won the 1997 Henry B. Betts Award for outstanding achievement in civil rights for Americans with disabilities."

From the producers of Lives Worth Living, which is set to air on PBS Oct 27. More information about Fay can be found on wikipedia.

“Lives Worth Living” is both an historical documentary about the Disability Rights Movement and a biography about one man’s struggle to survive.

This hour-long program targets a national audience of 54,000,000 people with disabilities, students at all levels, and eventually, with global outreach, more than 650,000,000 worldwide.

Fred Fay (pictured), a charismatic leader of the movement, narrates the story of a long, hard, and successful drive for civil rights – a drive that brought together a once fragmented population into a powerful coalition that created some of the most far reaching civil rights legislation in our nation’s history.

The program’s content is essential, compelling, and relevant for everyone given that anyone at any time can become a member of the disabled community.

People with disabilities are one of the largest of any minority within our nation, and this program will be the first television history on the subject. It is a window into a world inhabited by people with an unwavering determination to live their lives like anyone else, and a passage into the past where millions of people lived without access to schools, apartment buildings, public transportation, etc. – a status quo today’s generation cannot imagine.

The essential message of this program is about the power of humanity and self-determination, and what one can accomplish against seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Jhamak Kumari Ghimire, a well-known woman writer with a disability, wins Nepal's prestigious literary award, Madan Puraskr

From Review Nepal:

KATHMANDU, Nepal – Jhamak Kumari Ghimire, a well known handicapped woman writer, has bagged this year's Madan Puraskr.

A team of the award committee under the Madan Puraskar Guthi has selected Ghimire for her autobiography 'Jeevan Kaanda ki Phool'.

The award is known as the Nepal's most prestigious literary award. It is said that the awards would be conferred about two months latter.

Likewise, the committee has also decided to honor poet Durgalal Shrestha with the Jagadamba Shree award for his contribution to the Nepali literature.

In Russia, Prime Minister Putin pledges $1.8 billion in aid for disabled people

From Reuters:

MOSCOW -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (pictured) pledged help and cash for disabled Russians on August 19, seeking to broaden support for his new popular movement ahead of December's parliamentary election.

Russia signed the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, aimed at ensuring equal rights, in 2008 but its 13 million disabled people enjoy little benefits compared with their counterparts in developed countries.

"We have to admit that in our country very little has been done to create a favourable environment for people who faced difficulties in life," Putin told leaders of organisations for the disabled which joined his All-Russia People's Front.

Putin, president from 2000 to 2008, is Russia's most popular politician. He created the Front to prop up the eroding support for his United Russia party which critics say has turned into a party of bureaucrats and career seekers.

Its supporters say the movement will bring in new faces from grassroots movements, create competition within United Russia and help address real life issues.

Russian cities provide little access for people with disabilities to transport, public buildings, schools, medical facilities and workplaces as requested by the U.N. convention and the education system is de-facto segregated.

Putin said all administrative buildings throughout Russia would soon be equipped with wheelchair ramps and elevators.

Russia needs to change 50 laws before it can ratify the convention which has an annex allowing individuals and groups to complain to the United Nations if their governments are not implementing it.

Putin said Russia had budgeted $1.8 billion until 2015 to create an accessible environment for the disabled in the cities and promised to speed up construction of a $10 million rehabilitation centre in Chechnya.

Vladimir Krupennikov, who climbed Russia's highest mountain in a wheelchair, warned Putin endemic corruption was a threat to the plan, citing his own experience of state fund tenders.

"People with no interest in the disabled come, bid a lower price and win. They just want to get the money and then blackmail the organisations for the disabled. There are many thieves posing as the disabled," he said.

'The Lion King' on Broadway to host autism-friendly performance

From The LA Times:

"The Lion King" on Broadway will be the first major New York show to host a performance geared specifically for individuals with autism.

The performance, scheduled for Oct. 2, is part of a new pilot program from the Theatre Development Fund called the Autism Theatre Initiative, whose goal is to make theater accessible to children and adults on the autism spectrum -- including those with Asperger's syndrome -- and their families.

TDF, a nonprofit group, said it has purchased every seat for the Oct. 2 performance at the Minskoff Theatre for sale to families whose members include individuals with autism.

The special performance will feature a reduction of jarring sounds or strobe lights focused into the audience, according to TDF. In addition, there will be designated quiet areas in the lobby, staffed with autism experts, in case individuals need to leave their seats during the performance.

"The Lion King," based on the popular Disney animated movie, has been running on Broadway since 1997. It won six Tony Awards, including for best musical and director Julie Taymor.

Promo for comedian RIcky Gervais' new show, "Life's Too Short," is out

From The Huffington Post:

If RIcky Gervais' new show, "Life's Too Short," is anything like this new promo clip, it'll have at least one dedicated fan: Gervais himself.

The British comedy mastermind released a new promo video for the upcoming BBC/HBO series, which stars Warwick Davis as the head of a dwarf talent agency who keeps all the best acting jobs for himself.

Gervais has called it a mix between his two previous hit shows, "The Office" and "Extras." It's another mockumentary of sorts, and, as with "Extras," will call on a number of celebrity guest stars, such as Johnny Depp and Steve Carell.

The video below is another Gervais mashup: a combination of his love of ripping off the Muppets, and for his star, Davis. And clearly, it's a potent combo.

The show will air on BBC 2 this year, and on HBO in 2012.

Canadian hip hop artist with dyslexia, Shad, combines intellect, emo to speak for his generation

From Straight in Vancouver, Canada:

Every once in a while an artist comes along who articulates the experience of a generation. Right now, in Canada, that artist is Shad. The Kenyan-born, London, Ontario–raised star nails what it feels like to be a grown-up rap fan in this country.

The 29-year-old adores hip-hop, but doesn’t feel the need to mimic its machismo; he’s successful, yet not grandiose. He’s into pop culture, but still bookish (he just completed a master’s degree in liberal studies at SFU). He’s immersed in social networking, but convinced that it’s made us all too reactive. He counts comic Russell Peters among his fans, but is also pumped to have met Alan Frew from Glass Tiger. In short, he’s about as Canadian as they come.

“We have our own experiences here, and our own culture, and our own way of expressing ourselves,” the man born Shadrach Kabango tells the Straight over the phone. “As much as we’re influenced [by the States], we have definitely stumbled onto our own voice, or voices.”

And that’s the beauty of being a hip-hop artist north of the border these days. Numerous factors—including arts funding and the fact that Drake’s reign has freed artists from the stigma of both being Canadian and being emo — make this a magical time in rap.

Shad is at the forefront of this movement. He got his start in 2005, while in university, when his sister entered him in a Hamilton radio-station contest. (“I was a bit too lazy and dishevelled to do it,” he jokes.) After winning $17,500, he made an eclectic album, When This Is Over, and applied all he’d learned at business school to promoting it.

His next outing, The Old Prince, featured the “The Old Prince Still Lives at Home”, a tongue-in-cheek ode to aimless, broke men who are slow to move out of their parents’ homes. The song was hilarious, but it was also a thoughtful exploration of a new phenomenon.

“I think it is something that is unique to our generation,” Shad says. “We have this weird time in our life now that exists.”

The rapper went on to release TSOL last year, which won him a Juno and cemented his reputation as a reflective rapper unafraid to reference Glenn Beck, Richard Branson, and God all in one track.

He also sees nothing wrong with raising one of rap’s biggest taboos: misogyny.

“We have this weird relationship to the music we listen to, where we don’t expect very much of it,” he explains. “There’s this understanding that what we listen to doesn’t always mesh with our values.”

Taking a more enlightened approach, Shad has become synonymous with one of his lyrics: “I want a Claire Huxtable.” Now U.S. hip-hop legend Common is sporting a T-shirt with that slogan at shows. And that, friends, is just how far this generation of Canadian rappers has come.

"Dialog In The Dark" exhibit about experience of being blind opens in NY City

From WABC-TV in NY City:

NEW YORK -- Nearly 300 million people across the world are visually impaired, and 39 million of them are blind. Now there's a new exhibit that allows you to experience life as a blind person would, relying on other senses to such a greater degree.

"Dialog In The Dark" begins in the light where you're given canes, then you enter the Immersion Room where soon the lights go all the way down.

We can't see a thing And we rely on our tour guide Keith, and our other senses, to get us through. We're told there's nothing dangerous about this tour, but we're all still worried about tripping.

One stop along the way is at a grocery store. Imagine shopping for items you can't see. Here, it's all about touch.

This is all incredibly challenging, but our guide encourages us along until the lights come back up in the end, our vision restored. That's when we actually get to see our guide, who is visually impaired. He hopes this experience is educational.

"I like to talk to people about what's your take away and how differently after this you'll treat the person on the street," Keith said.

All the guides are visually impaired or blind, and in this exhibition, rely on them to be our eyes and they help us to see what we're also capable of.

"It's extremely satisfactory for the visitor at the end because they realize what they can accomplish in the dark," Keith said.

And maybe it will encourage people to be a little more empathetic. "Dialog In The Dark" opens this weekend. Tickets are about 23-28 dollars depending on when you go. And it's recommended for ages seven and up.

Barista with dwarfism settles lawsuit with Starbucks for $75,000

Released by U.S. Equal Employment Commission:

EL PASO, Texas — Starbucks Coffee Company has agreed to pay $75,000 and provide other significant relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

The EEOC had charged Starbucks Coffee Company with unlawfully denying a reasonable accommodation to a barista with dwarfism at one of its El Paso stores and firing her because of her disability.

According to the EEOC's suit, Elsa Sallard, whose stature is small due to dwarfism, was denied an opportunity to work for the world's largest coffeehouse chain. The job description for the barista position stated that no prior experience was required. During the orientation training, Sallard suggested that she could use a stool or small stepladder to more easily perform some of the tasks of preparing orders and serving customers. The manager at the El Paso Starbucks location disregarded Sallard's request, the EEOC said. On the same day that Sallard requested the accommodation, Starbucks terminated her employment, claiming that she would pose a "danger" to customers and employees.

Such conduct violates Title I of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in hiring, firing, job application procedures, advancement, compensation, job training and other terms and conditions of employment. The ADA requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to employees' and applicants' disabilities as long as it would not pose an undue hardship to the business. The EEOC filed suit (Case No. 3:11-cv-00195) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

"Starbucks swift action to work constructively with the EEOC in this case, not only by compensating the applicant who was turned away, but by committing to additional training for other stores in the El Paso area, sends the right signal from the corporate office," said Robert A. Canino, regional attorney for the EEOC's Dallas District Office. "The Starbucks customer environment is one that is often considered comfortable and progressive. By fostering that same environment for people behind the counter, Starbucks reinforces a positive public image."

Under the terms of the two-year consent decree settling the case, Starbucks will pay $75,000 in relief to compensate Sallard. In addition, Starbucks has agreed to provide training on the ADA for all managers and supervisory employees at all of Starbucks' El Paso locations. The ADA training will

specifically focus on the reasonable accommodation of individuals with disabilities. Sample scenarios used in the training will include a discussion of the reasonable accommodation of applicants and employees who are small in stature as a result of medical conditions or disabilities such as dwarfism. The training will also include a specific discussion or instruction relating to definitions of disability under the ADA, as amended by the ADA Amendments Act, and the interactive reasonable accom­modation process.

EEOC Trial Attorney Joel Clark added, "The ADA prohibits managers from ignoring reasonable accommodation requests made by qualified persons with disabilities. In-house education can be effective toward eliminating assumptions and promoting an interactive process for a more inclusive work force."

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at http://www.eeoc.gov/.

West Virginia deaf teen denied interpreter for school

From WSAZ-TV:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- In just two days, students in Kanawha County will head back to school, but one student still isn't sure which school she'll be attending or if she'll be going at all.

Ariel Depp, 16, is deaf, but that doesn't keep her from wanting the same things as every other high school student.

“I can't play basketball, I can't be on the band team, I can't be on the student council or anything like that because we don't have a car,” Ariel said. “We're too poor to afford one.”

The services Ariel needs are only provided at Capital High School, but her commute is a four-hour ordeal -- two hours on a bus to school and two hours back. That wouldn't be the case if she could attend a different school.

Geographically, the only thing standing between Ariel and South Charleston High School (pictured) is a baseball field, but the Kanawha County Board of Education says distance isn't the issue.

“It would be virtually impossible to provide every service for every need in every school. It just can't happen,” Superintendent Ronald Duerring said.

Duerring says there are more than 5,000 special education students in the county. Therefore, special programs have to be clustered into a select few schools.

The board refused Ariel's request for an interpreter at South Charleston High because there aren't enough of them to spread throughout the county. That leaves her and her parents in a tough situation.

“We will not let Ariel go back to Capital High School because of the issues with the bullying and the transportation problems,” her father Paul Depp said.

“I failed two classes in the last two years of my freshman and sophomore year because I couldn't go to after school tutoring,” Ariel said.

Duerring says in order for Ariel to attend South Charleston High, her parents would have to request that no special services be provided.

Her parents say if it doesn't get worked out by Friday when school starts, she will not be going to school.

If she doesn't show up to school for a long period of time, the Board of Education would be forced to send a social worker to her home to investigate.

Marvel launches DAREDEVIL audiobook with visually impaired fans in mind

From The Washington Post's comics blog:

Marvel has just announced that its superhero Daredevil — aka the blind attorney Matt Murdock — is coming to fans in audio form.

The Man Without Fear is now also The Man With an Audiobook.

Daredevil #1 Audio Edition was the brainchild of Marvel senior editor Steve Wacker, who says he and writer Mark Waid wanted to issue the new format so visually impaired fans could appreciate Daredevil’s new adventures in 2011.

Says Marvel: “Up to this point, those deprived of sight themselves have had to rely on friends reading them copies of Daredevil in order to experience Matt Murdock's adventures.”

On the excellent audio, Waid describes the panels and Marvel editor Tom Brennan voices Daredevil.

Daredevil made his debut in 1964, with his creation credited to Bill Everett and Stan Lee (Jack Kirby, whose estate continues to fight over copyrights and compensation, is said to have aided and abetted the character design). Wally Wood, Frank Miller and John Romita Sr. are several of the legends who helped guide Daredevil over the decades.

And to many non-comics fans, of course, the Hells Kitchen superhero is best known as Ben Affleck’s character in 2003’s “Daredevil” film.