This is the disability news report with host Arthur Aston.
This is the disability news report.
This show will highlight news stories that
focus on topics related to disabilities.
I'm your host, Arthur
Aston.
I have lived with a disability my whole
life and raising awareness about the disability community.
Highlighting issues that impact us to change the way the world
views us in the disability community has become my life's passion
on today's episode of the disability news report,
we will explore how disability is finally being considered in de I conversations,
how disabled students at a major university staged a walkout,
a new adaptive sports program that is opening and much more.
So let's get into the news.
Our first news story comes from the psychiatric times,
a medical trade publication written
for an audience involved in psychiatry.
It is distributed to about 50,000 psychiatrists monthly
at a recent American Psychiatric Association annual meeting held in New York City
Doctors Donald Egan and Jessica Williams reminded the audience
that disability must be included in conversations about diversity,
equity and inclusion,
including disability in the diversity, equity and inclusion.
Conversation is important
because 27% of adults living in the United
States report having some type of disability diagnosis.
12% identify as having a cognitive disability.
12% identify as having a mobility disability.
6% identify as having a hearing disability
and 4% identify as having a vision disability.
So why is this important?
Someone diagnosed with a disability is more likely to
experience mental health distress than someone without a disability.
The doctors also noted that treating
psychiatric patients diagnosed with disabilities is
not often discussed for long periods of time in medical school.
They believe that the more often disability is talked about
as it relates to human diversity,
the more clinicians will better understand
their clients with disabilities and that this
will also increase the number of disabled students who enter medical school.
This is a topic we will definitely keep an eye out on
just to see exactly how disability is incorporated into more diversity,
equity and inclusion conversations.
The next story comes to us from Wisconsin at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh
where a small group of students belonging to a group called UW
Oshkosh Disability Advocates staged a walkout based on
their belief that the university is discriminating against them
and that their rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act and
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are being violated
when classes resumed
in person after being held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Disabled students noted that there were more rules in place for them.
There was a need for having a doctor's note,
delayed and denied requests for accommodations
and a lack of academic support and infrastructure.
These were some of the students complaints and why they staged a walkout
accessibility issues including broken elevators, obstruction on walkways
and a low number of accessible parking spaces are
among the additional concerns the disabled students have.
The students are seeking an investigation from the
US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights
and the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
They did make a request for an investigation
previously to the United States Department of Education
but this was denied in
response to this walkout. The university noted that an $18 million budget deficit
occurred in 2023
and this resulted in cutting the staff of the disability services department
from a number that was eight employees and it was cut down to four.
We will be sure to update you on any developments on
this story and upcoming episodes of the disability news report.
The next story comes to us from Colorado
at the National Sports Center for the disabled N
CS
D.
They opened up a new adaptive center.
This was possible because they received a
$50,000 grant to purchase adaptive cycles.
The center has over 100 acres of open space and accessible trails.
This is so important for people with disabilities to have access to outdoor spaces,
to enjoy recreation.
So having this $50,000 grant to purchase adaptive
cycles so that people with disabilities can enjoy.
These trails
is so important and it's so great to
have this story highlighted in the news and
I'm looking forward to
following up and seeing what
other activities that the National Sports Center for
the disabled comes up with there in Colorado.
The next story comes to us from content creator Alison Lang,
who was forced to prove to a stranger
that she was disabled after parking in an accessible parking space.
Upon arriving at her parking spot, a stranger came up to her window
and exclaimed,
you can't use your grandma's parking pass to park in handicapped.
Now,
this is before Alison got out of her car or even had a chance to explain anything.
And when she opened her door,
the stranger could see that Alison was an amputee.
She
has her own parking pass
and is allowed to park in an accessible parking spot
upon seeing that she was an amputee. The stranger's response was then
I didn't know
and they followed it up with
you, look too young to be disabled.
We wanted to share this story for many reasons.
Very similar things have happened to me living with a disability and
having to use my crutches in my wheelchair
and I don't drive an accessible van because I am able to stand for
a short period of time to put my wheelchair together. So it is in my trunk
of my small SUV.
There are a few reasons why we wanted to share this story.
There are such things as invisible disabilities.
Those are the disabilities you cannot see
that are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act
that will allow
someone to legally park in an accessible parking space.
Not all disabled people use wheelchairs,
not all disabled people use mobility devices.
There
is always something that I'd like to remember
to remind people and that is disability can occur at any time. And at any age,
I was born with my disability.
There are other people who have acquired their disability through
an illness through an accident
when they were Children, when they were older adults.
There is no
time frame for when you can become disabled. It can happen at any time.
And lastly,
we felt it was important to share this story because
the word disability has
often come with a negative connotation
and
just negative stereotypes attached to it.
We wanted to share this story because disability should not be
considered a bad word or seen as something that is negative.
There is nothing wrong with anyone who is disabled.
They just have to do things a little bit differently.
We are so sorry that this has happened to Alison and
to so many others of us who live with disabilities.
It is just something that
the
world should be made more aware of
that people with disabilities
are just out there trying to live their everyday life just like everyone else is.
And we go out, we explore our communities, we live in our communities.
We go to the store, the movies, the mall, we go to concerts and sporting events
and everyone should just be more kind
to everyone else. I think that is
the most important thing that we can get out of this story and just
to be more open minded and
uh expand our knowledge of what disability could look like and what it
doesn't look like. We just don't know
what someone may be dealing with.
So this story is being shared just as a
general message to everyone to just be more kind
and
open to other people and what their disability might be.
Our last story comes to us from Rutgers University in New Jersey.
The university recently hosted a summit to discuss how
to remove barriers for the residents of New Jersey who are black and disabled.
This event was co organized and co-hosted by a
friend of mine Ledare Horn who is a poet,
a podcast host and a disability advocate.
This event was an invite only and
was attended by 75 people including representatives from
a variety of advocacy groups and government
agencies including the Ark of New Jersey,
the Black Consortium,
the State Division of Developmental Disabilities,
the Advocacy Action Center
NJ steps
Disability Rights, New Jersey,
Salvation and Social Justice.
The Center for Independent Living
and Autism, New Jersey,
the Keynote speaker was Professor Tamara
Good from Georgetown University.
The summit
was focusing on ways to identify and
create strategies to remove barriers that prevent
New Jersey residents who are Black and
disabled from having full access to opportunities.
The summit was funded by the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities
and addressed iniquities faced by the black disabled residents of New Jersey
in the following areas,
education, employment, social services, law enforcement, and legal services,
family and self advocacy and health care.
The article mentioned that disabled African
Americans experience higher levels of poverty
and greater reliance on public benefits like Medicare.
Yet,
they also have a harder time accessing health care.
They often face discrimination in medical settings
and they have an adequate health insurance
but yet have a higher rate of chronic health conditions that are poorly banished.
Black Children with disabilities are less likely to be
put into the general education classrooms than white Children.
They are also more likely to drop out of high school and
face more suspensions and school related arrests than kids of other races.
This is all according to Rutgers,
Joseph C Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies.
We thank you for joining us for this episode of the disability news report.
I am your host,
Arthur Aston and I look forward to sharing more stories
of topics related to disability that are in the news.
Take care.