Disney makes changes to their disability access service pass.
How can employees with disabilities help companies bridge the skills gap.
Voters with disabilities fight to use electronic absentee voting.
Starbucks honors Disability Pride Month with new merchandise.
This and much more on this episode of the disability news report.
Let's get into the news.
This is the disability news report with host Arthur Aston.
Welcome back to the disability news report. I'm your host Arthur Aston.
We want to start off this broadcast by
acknowledging that July is Disability Pride Month.
Disability Pride Month began back in 1990 when
the Americans With Disabilities Act was signed.
Originally, this was one single day in the month of July to celebrate.
Now in 2024 it has turned into an entire month.
This year's theme is We want a life like yours.
Disability Pride Month is a time to celebrate disabled persons who
are embracing their disabilities as integral parts of who they are.
Those who are reclaiming visibility in public,
interacting fully with their disabilities out in the open
and rejecting shame and internalized ableism.
According to the arc Disability Pride Month is
an opportunity to honor the history achievements,
experiences and struggles of the disability community.
Disability Pride Month has a flag with each of the six colors representing
a particular group within the disability community.
Red is for physical disabilities.
Gold is for neurodiversity.
White is for invisible disabilities and disabilities
that have not yet been diagnosed.
Blue is for emotional and psychiatric disabilities.
Green is for sensory disabilities.
The black background is for mourning and rage
for victim of ablest violence and abuse.
The diagonal direction of the bands represents
light and creativity cutting through the darkness
during the month of July Disability pride month and every month,
we want to remind you to celebrate those who you know,
who have disabilities and their contributions to society.
Our next story comes from the most magical place on earth Disney World,
Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California.
Both have what is called a disability access service pass also known as ad A
S pass.
This pass allows for any disabled park guest who cannot wait in a long
line for the rides and attractions to come back at a designated time to ride
instead of waiting in line for what might be a two hour wait. Guests who receive ad
pass would be given a return time
and then they are allowed to return at that given time
to enter the attraction
through the genie plus line and immediately get on the ride.
Disney has implemented new DA
S pass rules that were scheduled to take place
beginning on May 20th at Disney World and June 18th at Disneyland.
The new rules change
the parameters as to who qualifies for AD A S pass.
This restricts the types of disabilities that qualify for AD A S pass.
After these recent changes have taken place,
guests have reported that they or family members
in their party have been denied
DAPA access even though they have diagnosed disabilities like Crohn's disease,
type one diabetes,
PTSD
and others.
Disney has said that the changes have been made because many
guests who do not have disabilities were abusing the DAS Pass.
18,000 people have since signed a petition
created by a group called the DA
S Defenders asking Disney to readjust their new policies.
Changes to the DA A pass policy will impact
so many more people who now
qualify as having a disability.
A number that is estimated to be 2 million
who now have disabilities because they have long COVID symptoms.
After being diagnosed with COVID-19,
there was a time when Disney and other theme parks and amusement
parks would allow their disabled guests with mobility devices like crutches,
a walker or a wheelchair to enter the rides and attractions through the exit.
They and their guests up to a certain amount would
immediately be allowed to ride the attraction
as we have since learned more about disabilities. The policies at these parks
have evolved over time to be more inclusive of other types of disabilities
as mentioned in the first story in this broadcast, July is Disability Pride Month.
This may be a good time for Disney
to listen to disabled voices and include
those within the disability community into the
conversation about the best way to meet the needs of those who the DAPA
will be serving.
We will continue to provide any updates that we
find on this story and any upcoming broadcasts.
Our next story comes from forbes.com.
According to a recent 2023 statistic 65%
of working age adults without disabilities are employed
compared to 22.5% of working age adults with disabilities who are employed.
This article in forbes.com encourages employers of both new
businesses or businesses that were established many years ago
to not overlook disabled candidates for potential jobs.
Those who receive social security disability insurance, also known as SSD I
benefits are eligible to work a certain number of hours as long as it does not exceed
the Social Security Administration's income limit threshold
through their ticket to work program.
This opens up a wide range of people who are able to work and are able to meet
some of these needs that these businesses are looking
for to fill the gaps in uh their employment.
The article acknowledges that due to their diagnosis,
those living with disabilities have a unique set of soft skills like resilience,
problem solving and adaptability, all of which can be beneficial in the workplace.
This story should serve as a reminder that people in
the disability community are people who live in our neighborhood communities
and that everyone has something to contribute to society.
Our next story is about accessibility and voting.
This November we will cast our vote to elect the president of the United States.
30 million Americans with disabilities are eligible to vote in elections.
One in five voters with disabilities reported
that they needed assistance or they had some type of difficulty voting in 2022
giving your ballot over to someone and trusting them to respect your wishes to
vote for the candidate you choose can be a difficult decision to make for someone
with a disability, especially if that someone is blind
mail in ballots are not created in a format
so that they can be read with accessible technology devices
such as text to speech readers or screen readers,
disability rights. Wisconsin, the league of women voters of Wisconsin
and four individual voters sued the Wisconsin Elections Commission
over the state's absentee voting system.
Wisconsin prohibits voters from using electronic absentee ballots
unless they are in the military or overseas.
Those who brought forth the lawsuit say that not being able to use at home,
electronic accessibility devices to read and mark their ballots
violates title two of the Americans with Disabilities Act
which requires full and equal opportunity to all voters.
And it also violates section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 which protects qualified individuals
from discrimination based on disability.
Those who brought the lawsuit asked the court to order the
Wisconsin Elections Commission to implement the use of an electronic option
before the state primary in August
and the general election in November
in California,
the California Council of the Blind National Federation of the Blind of California
and three voters filed a similar lawsuit
against California Secretary of State Shirley Weber
stating that the lack of being able to submit ballots electronically violates
the AD A and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Accessibility and voting has been a topic for quite some time now.
We will keep an eye on both of these lawsuits
and provide any updates to the outcome of these lawsuits
in the coming weeks and months ahead.
Our last story comes from Starbucks.
The company is sending out a message to the disability
community and that is a message of community and care
illustrator.
Anana Ryo Middleton
is a painter who lives with multiple sclerosis and post concussion syndrome.
She created a collection of plastic and stainless steel cold cups,
tumblers and water bottles as part of Starbucks artist in collaboration program.
This collection is now available in stores and includes images
of different people who represent a range of disability diagnosis.
Anana states that she included a sunflower
to represent those with invisible disabilities.
The words community and care are printed on the products
and to
Anana,
they represent the experience she has as a woman
of color who is part of the disability community.
She also felt that the message of care and community are common human
experiences that a lot of people would be able to relate to.
This has been the disability news report. Thank you for watching.