Demystifying Disability
Disability Awareness & Appreciation Training
for Florida’s AmeriCorps Programs
Strengthening Communities Through Volunteerism & Community Service
www.serviceandinclusion.org
Toll-free hotline: 888-491-0326 (voice/TTY)
National Partnerships
Gentle Reminders…
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Please ask questions, share ideas, and comments:
• Don’t be shy, please speak up
• “Raise hand” icon
• Chat window on the right
The session will be recorded.
Please Introduce Yourself
• Please share with us:
– Your name
– What program are you
with?
– What is one word that
best describes you?
Session Overview
• Language: Altering our Perceptions of Disability
• A Review of Disability Rights Laws
• Reasonable Accommodations: Providing Equal
Opportunity
• Access and Universal Design
• Disability etiquette
• Questions and Discussion
Training Objective
From this training participants will
acquire skills and knowledge to
confront stereotypical perceptions of
disability.
Living with a disability- 40 Years ago
Christmas In Purgatory: A
Photographic Essay On
Mental Retardation
Burton Blatt and Fred
Kaplan Human Policy Press,
June 1, 1974
History of the Disability Movement
Prior to 1800:
• Individuals with disabilities were isolated, without services
• They were looked upon as objects of scorn, deviants,
defective, non-existent, abnormal
1800
1850
1900
1950
9
History of the Disability Movement
Late 1800s:
• Individuals with disabilities attended residential schools or
institutionalized training programs with the goal of making
the individual with a disability “normal”
• The philosophy of care was the Medical Model
1800
1850
1900
1950
10
History of the Disability Movement
Early 1900s:
• Individuals with disabilities were housed in institutions or
asylums in subhuman conditions
• The institutions ensured that interaction between citizens
in surrounding communities and “residents” with
disabilities did not occur
1800
1850
1900
1950
11
History of the Disability Movement
1940:
• Research and use of medication becomes more
prominent
• Disability was still viewed as a defect, and should be
“cured”
1800
1850
1900
1950
12
History of the Disability Movement
1990s
Present Day
1970s
13
Language Influences Our
Perceptions
• How we talk about individuals
influences our attitude towards them.
• People with disabilities have been
described negatively, leading to
negative attitudes towards them.
Negative Language
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Retard-Medical Model
Crippled
Handicapped
Crazy
Palsied
Suffers
Dumb
Spastic
Confined
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Wheelchair Bound
Idiot
Abnormal
Mental
Burden
Special
Victim
Child Like
Affected
People First Language
• Seeks to put the emphasis on
the person.
• Seeks to describe the person
and not a condition.
Most often, it’s
best to call
someone by name,
not by a label.
People First Language
How would you incorporate person-first
language into this statement:
Kevin was born retarded.
People First Language
DEROGATORY
PEOPLE FIRST LANGUAGE
HANDICAPPED…………………..PERSON WITH A DISABILITY
A BLIND PERSON…………….…A PERSON WHO IS BLIND
A DEAF PERSON………………..A PERSON WHO IS DEAF
MUTE……………………………...A PERSON WITHOUT SPEECH
RETARD, FEEBLEMINDED…….A PERSON WITH A DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY
BIRTH DEFECT…………………..A PERSON WITH A CONGENITAL DISABILITY
CONFINED TO A…………………A PERSON WHO USES A WHEELCHAIR
CRAZY, INSANE………………....A PERSON WITH A BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DISABILITY
What words come to mind when you
think of the word inclusion?
“Disability” as Defined by
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act &
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• A physical or mental impairment that substantially
limits one or more major life activities
• A history or record of such an impairment
• Being regarded as having such an impairment, even
when no limitations exist
• Someone who has an association with someone with a
disability
“Major Life Activity” is Anything an Average
Person Can Do with Little or No Difficulty
Major life activities include, but are not limited to:
-caring for
oneself
- manual tasks
- walking
- seeing
- hearing
- speaking
- breathing
- learning
- working
- sitting
- standing
- lifting
- reaching
- sleeping
- thinking
- concentrating
- interacting with
others
“Substantially limits”
…unable to perform, or significantly limited in the
ability to perform, an activity as compared
with an average person. Factors to be
considered are:
1. Its nature and severity
2. How long it will last or is expected to last, and
3. Its permanent or long-term impact, or
expected impact
General Disability Etiquette
Guidelines
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Treat Adults as Adults
It’s OK to offer help
Always ask first before giving assistance
Listen to what the individual wants
Some people don’t want or need help.
Be ready to accept “no” to your offer.
Make a mistake? Apologize, learn from your mistake
and move on
RELAX!
True or False?
Disability Etiquette
•
•
•
•
•
•
Visual Disabilities
Hearing Disabilities
Speech Disabilities
Wheelchair Etiquette
Cognitive Disabilities
Behavioral Health Disabilities
Laws Passed to Protect the
Civil Rights of Persons with
Disabilities
• Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• The Americans with Disabilities Act
• Title I (Employment)
• Title II (State and Local Government)
• Title III (Public Accommodations)
Insuring Equality: What
Would you Do?
Directions
• You have been chosen to create laws to
prevent discrimination against persons
with disabilities. (This is your law and all
Americans have to follow it).
Access and
Accommodation
Access and Universal
Design
Access vs. Accommodation
What is access?
What is accommodation?
What is the difference?
Distinguishing Accessible
Accessible refers to the
degree to which an
environment, product, or tool
is available to as many
people as possible.
• For recipients or
beneficiaries of federal
funds, this can represent
the minimum legal
requirement so a person
with a disability can use
the environment.
Example: Entrance to
a building
Accessible
Accessible:
An accessible entrance
meets the minimum
requirements of the law.
However, there is• One entrance for
people who can use
this door.
• Another, accessible
entrance for people
who cannot use this
door.
What is Access?
There are five different types of Access
programs should think about…
•
•
•
•
•
Architectural
Programmatic
Technology
Communication
Alternate formats
Access: Architecture/Space
(also known as barrier free)
This building is readily available and usable
by a wide range of people with disabilities.
•
Ramps for entering the building and elevators for multiple story
buildings
•
Signage indicating location of accessible entrance, parking, and
bathrooms
•
Fire alarm with strobe lights
•
Corridors, conference rooms, and common areas open enough for
wheelchair access
Access: Programs
Provide meaningful, equivalent access to all
services, programs, and activities even if the
space is not architecturally accessible.
•
•
•
•
•
Interview in an accessible building
Train in an accessible location
Provide alternative formats of program materials
Plan pro-active/organized approach to program
Evaluate ongoing effectiveness of program
Technology
Have we created an accessible website?
• An accessible website allows people with disabilities
to experience, navigate, and interact with the website
• Information on how to make your website accessible:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/eval/
Access: Communication
Provide accessible communication for persons
with hearing speech, vision, cognitive, and
learning disabilities.
 Sign language interpreter or CART provider for
people who are deaf or hard of hearing
 Quiet meeting space for member with hearing loss or
attentional issues
 Different or simplified forms for persons with
cognitive or learning disabilities
 Voice Activated Software
Access Considerations
• How accessible is
your site or program?
Give examples of each type
of access in your program
Distinguishing Universally
Designed
Universally Designed
products and environments
are to be made usable by all
people, to the greatest
extent possible, without the
need for adaptation or
specialized design.
-Center for Universal Design
at NC State
Example: Entrance to
a building
Universally
Designed
Accessible
Universally Designed:
• Equal access to
an environment,
product, or tool.
Distinguishing Fully
Inclusive
The goal is to create a Fully
Inclusive environment. A
fully inclusive environment
refers to the seamless use of
the environment by all people,
regardless of diversity or
disability. It also refers to the
type of culture that is
welcoming to all participants.
Example: AmeriCorps event
Fully
Inclusive
Universally
Designed
Accessible
Fully Inclusive:
AmeriCorps
registration packet
includes:
• An inclusive
statement
• Printed materials in
at least 14pt font
• A CD to make
materials available
in electronic format
Accommodations
“Accommodations” are technology, services, and
changes in policy, procedures, and the built
environment that enable individuals with disabilities to
perform essential functions or to equally participate in
events and programs.
According to the Job Accommodation Network
approximately 80% of accommodations cost less
than $600 and more than 50% of reported
accommodations cost nothing.
(http://askjan.org/media/lowcosthighimpact.html)
43
Different Environments and
the Need for Reasonable
Accommodations
Fully
Inclusive
Universally
Designed
Accessible
Reasonable Accommodations
May Also Include:
•
•
•
•
•
Providing or modifying equipment or devices;
Restructuring the service position;
Part-time or modified service schedules;
Reassignment to a vacant position;
Adjusting or modifying examinations, training materials, or
policies;
• Providing readers and interpreters, and
• Making the service site readily accessible to and usable by
people with disabilities.
Tips for Providing and Maintaining
Successful Accommodations
• Develop Written Policies and Procedures
• Train All Managers and Supervisors to Recognize
and Respond to an Accommodation Request
• Have a process for Determining Effective
Accommodations
• Monitor and Update Accommodations
• Train New Employees
Adapted from “Five Practical Tips for Providing and Maintaining Effective
Job Accommodations” from the Job Accommodation Network
(www.askjan.org)
46
Examples of
Accommodations
“Because I need some
accommodation or help in some
areas, doesn’t mean that I don’t
have a lot of tools that I can use
in general society. I can read and
write and think and do physical
labor probably as well as the next
person given the appropriate
tools.”
-Steve Hoad
Former AmeriCorps member with Maine
Conservation Corps
Examples of
Accommodations
“I am considered a low vision
person so reading is very difficult for
me… I am the grandma that has to
be read to. So, they read to me.”
-Ruth Koffler
Union-Snyder Foster Grandparent
Program
“I only need an interpreter for
Examples of
Accommodations meetings. I don't need that for work. I
just write a note with some members
and I taught some members some
basic sign language like: "work, break
time, what, where, why, toilet, see
you later, bye, and hi". I can read lips
a little bit, not long sentences just
two or three words.”
-Kevin Pachio
Hoopa AmeriCorps on Native Lands
Questions?
Evaluations
• Please take a moment to give us
your feedback.
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Contact Information:
National Service Inclusion Project
888.491.0326 [V/TTY]
NSIP@UMB.EDU
Paul Martell: paul@volunteerflorida.org
Chad Gobert: chad.gobert@umb.edu
Roxy Rocker: roxy.rocker@umb.edu
www.SERVICEandINCLUSION.org