Volunteers with the Utah Conservation Corps' inclusive crew demonstrate accessible gardening. The ADA was crafted to reduce barriers, change perceptions and more fully include people with disabilities in their communities.

July not only marks the celebration of our country’s independence, but also a more personal independence day for individuals with disabilities.

On July 26th, 2010, our nation will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Communities across the nation will join together to commemorate this anniversary with programs, picnics and fun activities.

Here in Cache Valley, the Options for Independence Independent Living Center is hosting a celebration on July 28th. Watch for the celebrations going on in your community.

The July/August Options for Independence newsletter shares a bit of the background of the ADA:

“July 26th, 2010 marks the 20 year anniversary of when Pres. George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For many individuals with disabilities, this day commemorates their own personal independence day.  Since the original signing of the ADA, more than 54 million Americans with physical or mental impairments that substantially limit daily activities have received protection of their civil rights.   From going to school, working, using transportation, participating in many areas of typical life, Americans with disabilities have been afforded more access and awareness of their abilities, rather than focusing on their disabilities.

“Another important date for Americans with disabilities is September 25, 2008, when the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) was signed into law.  These amendments focus on discrimination  factors instead of an individual’s disability.”

You can learn more about the ADA on the ADA government website.

The ADA was crafted to reduce barriers, change perceptions and more fully include people with disabilities in their communities.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is having its 20th birthday on July 26,   2010!

In recognition of the passage of this landmark civil rights legislation,  the National ADA Symposium invites state and local governments, schools, colleges, businesses, organizations, service providers,  and  advocates to join their “Proclamation of Recommitment” to the spirit of the ADA campaign.

In the words from the proclamation,”The ADA has expanded opportunities for Americans with disabilities by reducing barriers and changing perceptions, increasing full participation in community life. However, the full promise of the ADA will only be reached if public entities remain committed in their efforts to fully implement the ADA.”

This is an opportunity for this nation to celebrate the freedom brought about by the passing of the ADA and to publicly reaffirm their support of an inclusive society.

You can become one of the “2010 by 2010″ by signing the Proclamation online, by email, or by fax.

Happy Birthday, ADA!

This post first appeared in the Champions for Inclusive Communities newsletter on April 30, 2010.

Richard Roberts

Dear Readers,

After thirty years of continuous program funding through the U.S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s Division for Children with Special Health Care Needs, I will be retiring from Utah State University on July 31, 2010. I have been so fortunate to work with many people who have had connections with our centers and grant efforts over this time period. So many changes have occurred. As a national group of concerned parents, families, and program officers at the state and federal level partnering with National Centers and grantees, we can see a real difference in the lives of the children, youth, families and parents with whom we work alongside.

The progress and outcomes are stunning. State programs which used to be hidden in a large bureaucracy no longer work with “crippled children” and are in the midst of huge systems change processes to create broadly based initiatives and partnerships. In doing so, we ensure that what the system has to offer is the very partnership that parents, youth, health financing, education systems, and private sector hospitals and clinics are seeking. We are all moving community-based systems of care forward to serve children with special needs and their families. Obviously we are not there yet; but together, we have made what might have been seen as impossible in 1983 into the expected norm for all children now in 2010.

When I signed onto this journey, 2010 seemed like a very long time line. We have learned much as a concerned and committed group comprised of parents, kids, teenagers, service and support providers, researchers, program managers, state legislators, school teachers and administrators, faith-based support programs, hospital administrators, and the list goes on and on.  WOW, is about all I can say as I sit back and reflect on this movement. Some of the early birds in this effort are still at it, pounding the pavements along the way to keep the momentum moving forward.  Some have retired after having worn themselves out by never even thinking, “no, we can’t do this.”

When I think of the mentors who set me straight over the last thirty years, I am so thankful for their patient, honest, and open exchanges of how to get there, and about what they thought I should be doing along the journey. In the first conference that I was privileged to sponsor in Hawaii in 1984, participants included family members, researchers, program providers, and state and federal program officers.

Retiring does not mean I won’t still be active; but I will be active in different ways, pushing community-based systems of care as they are the foundation of making things work. Thank you all for your support of all of our collective efforts. Keep the stories of successful community-based service systems flowing so that we, as a collective family, can continue to champion the cause and recognize the progress being made by pushing those boulders out of the way. Keep a lookout for the book on these communities. I don’t think we can do a movie!

Sincerely,

Richard Roberts
Director, Champions for Inclusive Communities
Director, Early Intervention Research Institute, Center for Persons with Disabilities
Utah State University

Parent-child play is good for development. Read all about it in the CPD's April NewsFlash.

Check out April’s NewsFlash, featuring the CPD’s multifaceted approach to autism and a fundraising campaign for the CPD’s new developmental playground, which will help provide support to the families of children with disabilities. We thank all conors and volunteers who have already contributed to this project and invite others to join in the effort.

Happy reading, and happy spring.

Photo courtesy of Kids on the Move in Utah County, Utah.

The Star Communities program is recognizing inclusive communities that are doing a good job serving the families of children and youth with special health care needs. So far, 13 cities and counties have been identified, including Utah County and Yakima, Washington. Both are featured in the CPD’s NewsFlash newsletter for November.

Star Communities are good models of community-based service systems. They facilitate the integration of services and supports by encouraging a variety of programs to work together to meet the many, varied needs of children, youth, and families in the community.

ChampionsInC is sponsoring this recognition program because its mission as a national center of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau is to support communities in organizing services for families of children and youth with special health care needs. As a project at the Center for Persons with Disabilities’ Early Intervention Research Institute at Utah State University, ChampionsInC realizes that there are communities throughout the nation – probably even where you work or live – who are doing an excellent job with family-driven services. But they need you to help find them.

Some guidelines to look for in the community:
•    Families are partners in decision making;
•     Medical homes work in coordination with other services;
•    Children receive early and continuous developmental screening services;
•    Adequate financing ensures that families receive needed services;
•    Services and supports are easily accessed, coordinated, and culturally     competent;
•    Transitions throughout life happen smoothly.

If you know of a community that that is meeting some, or even all, of these guidelines and you would like them to receive the recognition they deserve, contact Cora Price at ChampionsInC: 800-887-1699.