Americans with Disabilities Act: 21 Years Later

An interesting video at the link--see Executive Director of the World Institute of Disability, Kathy Martinez (who was also nominated by President Obama as assistant secretary for the Office of Disability Employment Policy) discuss the Americans with Disabilitites Act.

Today, twenty one years ago, the “Americans With Disabilities Act” was signed, protecting the 36 million people with disabilities in the U.S.

This afternoon, a coalition of disability groups is rallying together to protest sub-minimum wage jobs for those with disabilities, which they say U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk supports. Disabled Americans Want Work Now (DAWWN) and the National Federation of the Blind will protest from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Federal Building in Chicago.

Emotion High Over NJ Plan to Close Disability Home

VINELAND, N.J. — Karen Lee Colletti has severe autism, speaks only a few words and needs a diaper. When she was 27 and her parents felt they couldn't care for her at home any longer, they moved her to the Vineland Developmental Center, which cares for women with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

That was 29 years ago. Now, her 80-year-old father, Vito Colletti, fears the state's plans to close the center by 2013 will happen, pushing his daughter out of a place that he thought she could live for the rest of her life. It's discomforting for a man who's come to rely on the care she gets at the state institution. After a hard time difficult adjustment from a move last month from one part of Vineland's campus to another, he fears a longer move to one of the state's remaining institutions would "drive her bananas."

He's joined the fight of the 1,300 developmental center employees who could lose their jobs — and officials around the southern New Jersey community of Vineland — in trying to persuade the state to leave the center open.

People with Disabilities Protest at Capitol

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A dozen people with disabilities were camping out again Tuesday at the state Capitol in Harrisburg.

They called it a nonviolent protest over cuts to disability funding and services. The group was initially cited by Capitol police for not having a permit. The permit was rescinded once the group acquired it, organizers said.

The protesters are asking state lawmakers to restore nearly $30 million in funding. The funding allows people with disabilities to live independently rather than at nursing facilities.