Posts Tagged ‘special needs adults’

The planning committee for the EmployAbility rally met today at the Phoenix corporate headquarters of Jobing.com.  This free-to-the public event is set for October 28th, 2010 and will occur on the Arizona state Capital Mall from 9:00 a.m. until 12 p.m. It's purpose is to be a community-building effort dedicated to updating public perceptions and attitudes towards the capabilities of People with Disabilities. It represents an initial step in creating better partnerships among & between community organizations, business, government agencies, and job seekers- all of whom want the same thing- employment based on abilities. Speakers invited or confirmed for the event are: Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor (invited) Kathy Martinez, Assistant Secretary Disability Employment Policy (invited) Andy Imparato, CEO, American Association of People with Disabilities Larry Clausen, Executive Director, Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council Ken Jacuzzi, Pioneer and champion of civil rights for people with disabilities Thomas Means, Senior Auditor, Ernst Young Rick Romley, Maricopa County Attorney (invited) Col. Joey Strickland, Director Arizona Department of Veteran’s Services The spirit of community is alive and well in Arizona! Sponsorship and fundraising efforts have exceeded public perceptions that in this economy, there is a lack of resources from financially tapped community champions to step up and commit hard dollars to an event that has no history. However, the continuing hope and story of our country ...

Daniel T. Madzelan, acting assistant secretary for postsecondary education, in charge of administering most of the agency’s programs for colleges and students was the opening keynote speaker during the  March 2010 Education Industry Investment Forum conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Madzelan outlined President Obama's commitment to improving the quality and outcomes for students with a goal of seeing every young adult leaving high school to attend at least one extra year of postsecondary or higher education training. The administration seeks to recover America's  #1  educational ranking in world by 2020. Some factoids and data to share driving education reforms: 10% of  the nation's high schools contribute to 90% of  the  total students who drop out. 40% of incoming freshmen do not complete college in 6 years. 80% of all 2009 student loans are owned by US DOE, rather than private finance. Federal student loans now exceeds 500 billion annually. Direct loan programs though Fed will impact colleges & universities next year especially for small, liberal arts colleges that have not converted. Student loan default rates unacceptably high. Institutions must be able to document gainful employment obtained as a result of the training/placement efforts of the PS program of instruction. FAFSA form has been simplified for students through XML code. During the Q&A phase of his presentation, I asked ...

For me, finding meaning in life through my work has been dedicated to updating public perceptions and attitudes towards the capabilities of PwD. A focus of these efforts (made possible by many helping hands) is to celebrate the transformative power of achieving the American right to decent work and fair treatment by bringing public attention to the lifespan issues of adults with disabilities associated with work, health care, housing, and community connectedness. I have tremendous faith and belief that doing so moves us forward as a more just community transcending the fears, stigmas and exclusion of relatives, neighbors, and people who have a disability into creating an inclusive society with them as citizens of equal standing. We do it because it makes sense, not just because of a personal identification with being a person with a disability, but to do that which calls to us as a purpose that matters. Therefore, when professional peers from the business/employment community acknowledge these efforts through an award, the act both surprises, pleases, and sobers one. We are glad to share this award with our friends and colleagues through this blog, knowing that there is much more that can and will be done to improve the quality of ...

Purpose: A rally dedicated to updating public perceptions and attitudes towards the capabilities of People with Disabilities. Where: Arizona State Capitol Mall, 1700 West Washington, Phoenix, Arizona When: October 28, 2010, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Opportunities: A slate of local and nationally known speakers from grassroots, business, and government will: Celebrate the transformative power of achieving the American right to decent work and fair treatment. Build “Disability Confident” employers by making an effective business case for the advantages of working with this diverse workforce. Share the potential of harnessing the largest and most underserved American minority through voter registration, market-specific branding, and innovative product/service creation. Bring public attention to the lifespan issues of adults with disabilities associated with work, health care, housing, and community connectedness. Move us forward as a more just community that transcends the fears, stigmas and exclusion of relatives, neighbors, and people who have a disability into creating an inclusive society with them as citizens of equal standing. Connect your social media/organization sites to the EmployAbility links below and post news from your community to ours that support or promote efforts to improve employment for people with disabilities. On the day of the event, host & post your  live local YouTube, ...

Hope for a new day of equal opportunity In January, 2009, The U.S. House of Representatives showed overwhelming bipartisan support for the American’s with Disabilities Amendments Act by a vote 405-17 approving the measure. Political ideology did not trump Congress being on the right side of this vote.  Many in the business community supported this expansion of civil rights protections, which no doubt helped clear it for passage. As this bill is enacted in the workplace, it now expands the protection focus towards what constitutes discrimination rather than what constitutes disability. ADAA is a reminder that “disability in the workplace” is an intentionally broad standard, rather than a high threshold standard (retirement laws, healthcare benefits). In general, this new standard of disability is viewed favorably by most observers, as it drives legislative language intended to open up employment by removing overly restrictive judicial definitions of disability. The Act considers that is in the best interests of the common good to include such a broad definition as it allows otherwise qualified individuals to speed their entry into employment and reduce the level of governmental benefits. This is especially pertinent for the Boomer generation with its own onset of age-related disabilities and the impending entitlement drain ...

The obsessive use of traditional standardized assessment approaches as valid and reliable solutions for educating and training the 21st Century Knowledge Citizen have significant problems and limitations for non-traditional learners with disabilities. For example, existing instruments do not provide for demonstrations of a person's  behavioral understanding and emotional capacity for dealing with the changing social/functional demands of the workplace environment. They also lack provisions which can evaluate  the problem solving and creativity needed to develop "what if's" compensations, accommodations, modifications and learning strategies that address real-time workplace requirements. This inability of the present system to offer more meaningful results unnecessarily limits skill focus, emphasizes "deficits and deficiencies", and lack an applied real-world contextual basis. Not facing up to these shortcomings has consequences impacting the entire education reform movement's hopes. Typically, instructional & training needs are identified through the use of criterion-referenced ability assessments. Of the many shortcomings associated with these instruments for the purpose of counseling, employment placement, and postsecondary education of adults with disabilities, there are three in particular that are problematic from my point of view and that drive alternative assessment choice and development. First, standardized testing generates situations where the abilities measured are tested in formats not typical of contextual or "real-world" situations. Wiggins char­acterized the inadequacy of this testing approach as "removing what is central in intel­lectual ...

There are now many more adults with disabilities under the age of 35 (comprehensive special education was created through P.L. 94-142 in 1975) who are better prepared for inclusion into higher education, postsecondary, and employment settings. They also have higher expectations of themselves and their chances for success as a result of being the recipients of support they received for their various conditions. Within overall global education reform strategies, how is the U.S. addressing their prospects-both during the educational journey and in finding fulfilling careers afterwards? This post takes a quick look at what  can start being done to facilitate greater inclusion and successful outcomes for adults with hidden disabilities in higher education and postsecondary settings. Getting organized: Interagency & Intergovernmental coordination A recent report from the GAO found that while higher education participation among students identified as having a disability is up to 11% of total enrollment, there is a lack of coordination among the federal agencies, knowledge among college faculty of best practices, uncertainty of the legal obligations to offer reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities, and the consequences for everyone if accommodations are denied. Of particular concern, according to this report is how to appropriately assist, teach, and support students who are veterans with TBI/PTSD, ...

For more than 25 years, national attention has focused on improving the supposed sad state of education and workforce preparation in America. The initial stated intention was to ensure equal learning opportunities for students, professionalize teaching, raise standards, and produce a pre-eminent “world class” educational system. Concerted efforts that brought attention to an apparent overall national educational decline really began with the 1983 release of A Nation at Risk. International achievement data from the Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) as well as our own data showed the US as ranking #1 internationally in both academic achievement and college graduates into throughout 1980’s. Some observers reading the  “A Nation at Risk” report could be excused for believing that the decline and fall or our educational system began with the advent of school integration with racial minorities, the disabled, women, and limited English proficiency students. When reading these reports today, one is able to see that the seeds of private school vouchers, tuition tax credits, school choice/free market solutions vis-à-vis Charter Management Organizations and the obsession with student achievement equated with exit exams/high stakes testing were all firmly planted

Despite numerous blue-ribbon task forces and resulting legislation (GOALS 2000: Educate America Act of 1994, PL 103-227, etc.), research efforts (National Longitudinal Transition Study I & II), and public/private funding dedicated to investigating methods to improve the workplace literacy of the US workforce (National Adult Literacy Survey, 1993), recommendations for creating a tighter linkage between instructional methods, outcomes that accurately reflect instruction, and their application to workplace situations have been largely ignored. American business and the corporate communities response to the notion that the US was losing ground internationally because of poorly or inadequately prepared youth was first reported in 1990 by the Commission on Skills of the American Workforce report America’s Choice: high skills or low wages! The US Department of Labor and leading corporate, business, and civic leaders collaborated on the Secretaries Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS), published in 1992, a series of in-depth reports targeting what the workplace of the future would need of schools and their graduates as well as how to instruct/assess to these standards. In addition to traditional content mastery, SCANS called for the radical ...

The worldwide recession has made traditionally “reliable” forecasting models of improvement in job creation next to impossible to gauge accurately. This seems especially true for adults with hidden disabilities as they seek access to employment opportunities with little public or private recognition of their aspirations and barriers to achieving a livable wage. In looking for data from governmental or private sector publications on the future of workplace prospects for people with disabilities, there have been few resources or reports that break down employment/unemployment for people with high incidence disabilities such LD, ADHD, Asperger’s, or mood disorders. There is a nascent body of research, governmental reports, and studies that indicate emerging trend lines which will impact adults with hidden disabilities access and participation in labor markets across the US and around the world. A cross section of this information is shared within the blog. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is completing a review and inviting public comment concerning revised regulations for employers to determine who is disabled and what constitutes a substantial limitation to an employee that requires a reasonable accommodation. People with hidden disabilities such as ADHD, Asperger’s and mood disorders are in line for ...