Access Alaska

While her classmates sat in their classroom in Parsons learning the three Rs, 9-year-old Allie Jones was in Washington, D.C., last week learning lessons in history, politics and life.

It is in Washington where Allie saw direct action in progress -- the same type of direct action that has led to change over the years from the civil rights movement.

Martin Luther King Jr. once wrote in a letter from Birmingham jail, "Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path? You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored."

Allie was in Washington for the 25th anniversary of ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today), a group that uses direct action to fight for legislation to promote services in communities instead of warehousing people with disabilities in institutions and nursing homes.

"It's about having access to everything, so they have their rights like everyone else does," Allie said.

Way to go Allie! Read more here in the Parsons Sun.

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April 16, 2008

Dear Fellow Citizen of Anchorage:

Once again, an incident of racial prejudice has shocked our town. Local disk-jockeys have made a “joke” at the expense of Native Alaskan women, and have been suspended pending “sensitivity training.” Does this treatment solve the problem? Not unless you think the problem is merely the public airing of sentiments and beliefs that most of us carry in our hearts.

Healing Racism in Anchorage, a grass-roots organization of volunteers, thinks there is a better, deeper way to cure the underlying sickness of prejudice, racism, and bigotry that infects our community.

A five-week session of classes begins with the video “Anchorage Is Our Home,” showing us the impact of stereotyping, prejudice, and racism in our own town. Discussion centers on the experiences and feelings of members of the class evoked by watching the video. All discussion is confidential - we agree not to report it outside of the classroom without prior consent of the speaker.

In successive meetings we watch other videos, including the powerful “The Color of Fear.” Members always have ample time to discuss, and to express their thoughts and feelings. Experienced leaders maintain confidentiality, safety, and respect at all times. Readings will also be provided for home study.

Whether you have already been a participant, or have not yet attended one of these classes, we invite you to join a new group that will meet for five successive Thursday evenings, starting May 15th:

6:30 – 8:30 P.M.
May 15 – June 12
BP Energy Center
(a separate building in back of the big BP headquarters at the corner of Northern Lights Blvd. and New Seward Hwy.)

Cost: Free to Members
$20 for a One-Year Membership
(reduced price to students and seniors)

Sincerely,

Healing Racism in Anchorage
PO Box 92086
Anchorage, AK 99509-2086
907/561-3238; 907/677-8918 fax
www.anchoragehealingracism.org; contact ppartnow@alaska.com

More news reports:
KTUU
AP
the source.

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-- Martin Luther King, Jr., Memphis, Tennessee, April 3, 1968

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Frank received many nominations from co-workers and members of the Head injury Support group, which is a testament to how much we appreciate all he has given the field. We are all very proud of Frank for his compassion and hard work.

Read some of Franks work here.

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It's a social movement that may surprise you: Anchorage students are banding together to encourage people to quit using the word "retarded" in a negative light, by banning the "R" word all together.

Fifty years ago, the word retarded was the clinically accepted term for people with developmental disabilities. Over the years, it has become hurtful and derogatory. Now, some local students want it banned.

More from Channel 11 here.
The “R” Word Campaign here.

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Her flight, had which departed six hours late, landed at Newark at about 1:20 a.m. The wheelchair service she'd requested was nowhere in sight. Brehm returned to the plane to sit and wait, but a flight attendant told her she must get off so the crew could leave.

She then stood on the jet bridge, balancing on her cane, to wait. About 30 minutes later, another flight attendant exited the plane and asked if she needed help. The woman eventually returned with a wheelchair attendant.

"Here I am, at 2 a.m., 83 years old, all by myself," Brehm says. "There wasn't one person in this whole huge airport. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't come out."

Airlines are obligated to provide free, prompt wheelchair assistance between curbside and cabin seat to comply with the 21-year-old Air Carrier Access Act, an anti-discrimination law.

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More here.

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NOME, Alaska (AP) -- Lance Mackey couldn't shake four-time champion Jeff King and his faster team.

So Mackey pulled off a stunt at the Elim checkpoint -- 123 miles from the Nome finish line -- that proved to be the turning point en route to winning his second consecutive Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday.

Mush here for more.

Official Iditarod site.
More here.

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NOME, Alaska (AP) -- Lance Mackey couldn't shake four-time champion Jeff King and his faster team.

So Mackey pulled off a stunt at the Elim checkpoint -- 123 miles from the Nome finish line -- that proved to be the turning point en route to winning his second consecutive Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday.

Mush here for more.

Official Iditarod site.
More here.

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Judge Judy said "What is your disability?"

Girl "I have MS, multiple sclerosis"

the judge replies "YOU LOOK FINE TO ME"!

Hope she isn't the Judge on this guys case.

Judge Judy here. Have a hidden disability or just offended? Send her "Honor" a message here.

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Read more here.

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Nataline Sarkisyan, a 17-year-old from Glendale, Calif., died Thursday just a few hours after her insurer, CIGNA HealthCare, approved a procedure it had previously described as "too experimental."

Read more here.

More here at CNN.

Follow all the news here.

Visit CIGNA (A Business of Caring) here. Let them know what you think

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Independent Living

Indian          Lands – Notice that gap?

It is so incomprehensible to me that people with disabilities in the most dominant society that have secured the benefits of an Independent Living Center usually will not extend their service parameters to include American Indian people with disabilities when they reside on Indian Lands.

People with disabilities in the most dominant society understand, or I thought they did understand CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUES. We have one minority population discriminating against another minority population – perhaps “discriminating” is not the correct word – “disregarding” may be even more appropriate – disability disregard.

I found on the ADAPT page something very interesting about people with disabilities in the most dominant society – it was in DENVER – If you read the HISTORY of the Independent Living Movement, you will see in 1986 ADAPT invited ROSA PARKS to lead a Detroit march.

They MUST HAVE REALIZED the same connection that I see here today - Civil Rights.

Civil Rights for people with disabilities in the most dominant society – If you’re on Indian Lands the same courtesies are not extended. There is a gap and I’m working on that gap.

Will the Independent Living Centers Administration kindly extend their services to American Indian people with disabilities when they reside on Indian lands?

If you cannot do that – tell me why.
If you have found a way to do that – tell me how.

Connie Lee Berg e-mail your response: redlake679@hotmail.com

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More here.

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National Center on Elder Abuse

If you suspect elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation, call 1-800-677-1116.

If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 or the local police for immediate help.

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YOUR OPINION COUNTS!

The federal Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) requires that all councils in the United States use the same questions. In order for this survey to have national validity, the questions must be generic to all councils and specific in terms of what is asked.

To take the survey, please click here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=k5Krb8Fo5nW7ht99nY1WxA_3d_3d

We would appreciate a response by December 14th at 5:00 pm.

If you are unable to complete the on-line survey and would prefer a hard copy, need assistance completing it, or have questions about the survey or any of the Council's activities, please call the Council toll-free (in Alaska) at 1-888-269-8990, 269-8926 (in Anchorage), or e-mail Carrie Predeger at carrie.predeger@alaska.gov.

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Michele Norris talks with Habib, whose son has cerebral palsy.

Listen here. Visit the website here.

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People Mover sells reduced-fare monthly passes for seniors and people with disabilities for $15. These passes offer unlimited rides for a calendar month. For more information, call 343-6332 or 343-6543.

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In a move that could have far-reaching implications for businesses, Congress is considering the most sweeping changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) since the employment law went into effect in 1990.

A recently introduced bill would radically expand the number of persons and conditions covered by ADA by changing the definition of “disabled” to include temporary or correctable conditions such as poor eyesight. The bill—the ADA Restoration Act of 2007—would also do away with the current ADA requirement that an impairment must “substantially limit one or more major life activities” to be considered a disability. Virtually the entire U.S. working population could be covered by the law under the proposed changes.

“The Chamber will actively oppose these radical changes because they would not address the needs of those who are deserving of ADA’s protections but, instead, divert significant compliance and enforcement resources to ‘gotcha’ lawsuits that already overwhelm enforcement agencies and the courts,” says U.S. Chamber Executive Vice President of Government Affairs Bruce Josten.

In 2006, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that of the 15,575 charges filed under ADA, there was reasonable cause to believe discrimination occurred in only 5.6% of the cases.

Any changes to the definition would also affect other portions of ADA law, including Title III public access provisions. Title III calls on virtually every business serving the public—regardless of size or number of employees—to make their facilities accessible to people with disabilities.

In addition, the Department of Justice is already planning to implement revised accessibility guidelines. “Expanding the class of people who can assert a claim for accessibility will subject businesses and other facility operators to greater confusion and litigation,” Josten says.

Go to the Chamber website to comment on this article.

To contact the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

U.S. Chamber of Commerce
1615 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20062-2000
Main Number: 202-659-6000

To contact the Alaska Chapter visit their website.

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Physical activity is extremely important for individuals with MS, and yoga is now recognized as an excellent means of MS management, whether the individual manifests little or no outward signs of the disease, or whether they spend most of their time in a wheelchair. Shelly Carlson, the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation and Access Alaska along with the Fairbanks MS Support Group is sponsoring Yoga classes for people with MS. These classes are free for those with MS. No experience is necessary and the classes are designed to include those of ALL abilities.

Every Wednesday 5:30 - 6:30 at Access Alaska - Fairbanks 526 Gaffney Road Suite 100, Fairbanks, AK

Call Access Alaska 479-7940 or Shelly Carlson 457-8195 for more information.
Visit www.yogainchairs.com for more information.

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And her home state just happens to be one of the worst in the country in terms of providing funding for at-home care, which is why members of the outspoken disability-rights organization ADAPT converged on Chicago this week for five days of "protest against Illinois systems that starve people with disabilities . . . of their rights and their independence." Donna was with them, of course.

Read more about Martin here.

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ADAPT's Action Reports can be found here.

Adapt on YouTube.

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Chicago---ADAPT and the American Medical Association (AMA) both experienced "deja-vu" Monday as 55 members of ADAPT were arrested outside AMA headquarters when they demanded to meet with AMA Executive Vice President and CEO, Michael Maves. Fifteen years ago in 1992 in Chicago, ADAPT pressed the AMA to endorse home and community-based long-term care services and supports for older and disabled Americans instead of forcing them into nursing homes and other institutions.

"It's a sad commentary that we're back on the AMA's doorstep about the same issue," said Rahnee Patrick, Chicago ADAPT Organizer. "It's an even sadder commentary that after 15 years the AMA still has the same arrogant, paternalistic attitude about people with disabilities, and that they're so afraid of us they'd rather see us arrested than sit at the table and work together with us."

ADAPT had four demands for the AMA including:

* Endorse the Community Choice Act (S. 799, H.R. 1621) which is federal legislation that would give people eligible for nursing home and/or institutional placement a choice to choose community services instead;

* Work with ADAPT to develop an action plan that assures that people with disabilities and seniors get REAL CHOICE in long-term care services/supports so they are able to live in the legally required "most integrated setting," and provide the AMA membership with continuing medical education programs about community-based alternatives to institutionalization;

* Develop an AMA ethics policy requiring doctors to disclose to their patients any financial interest they have in a nursing facility when they are discussing long-term care with those patients, and to not refer any patient to a nursing home in which the doctor has a financial interest;

* Require that AMA Board of Trustees and leadership divest themselves of all financial interests in nursing facilities, etc.

"With the swipe of a pen, a doctor can take away your freedom by sending you to a nursing home when you're discharged from a hospital rather than exploring options in the community," said Diane Coleman, ADAPT Organizer from Chicago. "I can only wonder if a number of those referrals come because many doctors have ownership interest in nursing homes."

ADAPT wrote Dr. Maves in July, 2007, asking the AMA to join 500 other national, state and local organizations in endorsing the Community Choice Act, asking for a response by September 7. Monday's protest followed the lack of an appropriate response by Maves to the ADAPT letter, and the ten-year long lack of AMA endorsement for legislation similar to the current Community Choice Act.

"If the AMA thinks that today is the end of our fight, they are sadly mistaken," added Patrick. Doctors make a very good living on the backs of people with disabilities, and we will not let them continue to push us around and put us in institutions."

For Information contact:
Bruce Darling 585-370-6690B
Marsha Katz 406-544-9504
Gary Arnold 773-425-2536
FOR MORE INFORMATION on ADAPT visit our website at http://www.adapt.org/

Contact the AMA here.

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Five times in the last dozen years, bills on medically assisted suicide have risen in the California Assembly, and five times they have failed.

In every instance, a great deal of the credit for their demise goes to a constituency associated with advancing personal choice and civil rights — namely, the disability rights movement.

Read more here.

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NPR coverage from 2002 here.

"We are no longer asking for charity. We are demanding our rights!
Honoring a Disability Rights Pioneer: Ed Roberts' 504 Victory Speech

The 504 Homepage and Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Inc

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