DOE on Technology Access for Students with Disabilities

Announced: Department of Education Issues Guidance on Rights of Students with Disabilities When Educational Institutions Use Technology

(Reposted from ED.gov: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/department-education-issues-guidance-rights-students-disabilities-when-education)

May 26, 2011

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Today, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance through Dear Colleague Letters to elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education along with a Frequently Asked Questions document on the legal obligation to provide students with disabilities an equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits of technology. This guidance is a critical step in the Department's ongoing efforts to ensure that students with disabilities receive equal access to the educational benefits and services provided by their schools, colleges and universities. All students, including those with disabilities, must have the tools needed to obtain a world-class education that prepares them for success in college and careers.

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From the Shadows to the Light: Disabled Bodies Sexin' it Up

YouTube is a bottomless ocean of treasures for people like me. The other day I came across a video documentary created by a group of women of color ages 16-24, aimed at empowering the sexual expression of people with disabilities through education and self-love.

Being a woman with cerebral palsy, I know firsthand that it can be difficult to learn about your body or learn to love it if you are physically disabled and living in an able-bodied world. There aren't nearly enough tools and guideposts readily available in the media to assist people with disabilities to navigate the social complexities of our own flesh. So when I came across this gem, I got excited, and knew that I wanted to share it with a larger audience. In this video, a positive and insightful light is shown on the sexuality of people with disabilities. As I watch it again, the video makes me smile all over again in hopes that we, as a society, are finally headed in the right direction - even though I know that we are a long way still from having enough momentum to get there.

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Special Advisor for International Disability Rights Announced: Judith Heumann On the Job!

A treasured member of our disability community, Judith Heumann, has been appointed as the Special Advisor for International Disability Rights. With this appointment Huemann, a strong disability advocate, will gain access to resources and other powerful connections. She will be well-positioned to help accomplish a great deal for people with disabilities across the world.

For decades, Heumann has inspired people with disabilities to think differently about what it means to be disabled and how we can and must join in the struggle to end disability oppression. In the film We Won’t Go Away, Heumann described how after earning her teaching degree in 1970 she was not hired as a teacher because she was using a wheelchair. In a time when too many disabled individuals had not yet woken up to their own oppression, Heumann rightfully named this unwarranted rejection for the blatant discrimination that it was, and demanded that she not be treated as a second-class citizen. In her words: “I could not accept that for myself.”

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Seeing Past Disabled Actors

Until recently I was (admittedly) still pleasantly duped into believing that “Artie” the disabled character on Glee might in fact be a disabled actor. (I have to say I never bothered to find out though.) But Kevin McHale is only “confined” to a wheelchair while acting on Glee. And not always then. I learned this while in the middle of watching the “Dream On” episode. When I saw McHale get out of his chair and dance around on his legs on camera, I was pretty horrified. In our television dreams, disability isn’t real! Blech. 

I was also pretty disappointed about Hollywood’s “inability” to find and cast a disable actor, but that's nothing new. The misconception that it is harder to find good disabled actors is stronger than with any other minority group. Well, duh, if your definition of good acting means less disabled.

This is the most aggravating and terrifying part of casting able-bodied actors to play disabled roles. When Kevin McHale says that he’s proud of his character, that “Artie” helps viewers “see past disability”, what exactly does he want them to see? Less icky, messy disability?

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Ramping Up the Internet

Just two decades ago the word “institution” was synonymous with the physical structures that still house many of our institutions. Today most of these same institutions also live online and a growing number are only available to us through the virtual world. This means that often our first encounter as well as the daily, ongoing business we conduct with institutions happens all while in front of a computer. For people with disabilities that has meant new barriers, but also new lessons for how to build an accessible Internet. That’s why it's such good news that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is finally considering regulations to help enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act in this brave new electronic world.

Still, the DOJ probably won't get it all right without the input of people with disabilities. Their own site is problematic in several key ways - for starters, the contrast of much of the text with the background is extremely low. Also, you have to navigate through a link at the bottom of the page that is in a really tiny font to get to another page concerning “Accessibility”. Once there, the new page offers no information, save for an email address to which questions can be addressed. Why isn’t there more information here?

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