“Free to Learn, free to play, free to work, free to live a normal life”

On a snowy February morning, over sixty high school students with disabilities gathered in the media center of Mt. Zion High School in Jonesboro to hear about their disability rights. For over two hours, they listened attentively and enthusiastically as Nancy Duncan, Director of the Georgia ADA Exchange told them about her experiences as a high school student losing her vision. She explained to them about the three major laws ADA, IDEA, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act that guarantee all of them a Free Appropriate Public Education. Students asked questions about IEP's and many were surprised to learn about Transition Planning. Students had questions about educational technology and assistive technology and who provides it. Ms. Duncan described the three obligations contained in the Americans with Disabilities Act: Non-discrimination, Effective Communication, and Physical Access. There was a lively discussion about employee rights and services to assist students find good training and good jobs. One of the most powerful and poignant questions was "What can I do if my parents won't advocate for me?" Most of the students said that their parents do not attend IEP meetings and do not feel that they can disagree with the school's assessments or placement. The sixty students carried a wide variety of labels and came from every possible placement category from self-contained classes to regular ed with a 504 plan. All of them knew that somehow, they were missing out on many things and they wanted the tools to help them become part of the larger community.

The deep concern and excitement of the students convinced Ms. Duncan that this wonderful seminar should be just the first in a series for high school students with disabilities. She went home and wrote a grant which two months later was funded by the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities. The Exchange along with two of its affiliates, LIFE of Savannah and the Institute on Human Development and Disability at the University of Georgia in Athens committed to carrying out "Know your Rights" workshops in high schools over the next school year.

In May, Ms. Duncan met with ten high school students in Lynn e Connelly's class at Mt. Zion to talk about which topics should be included in the workshops. During the summer Ms. Duncan has met with a caricature artist to design illustrations for the resource book. Discussions with the project coordinators in Athens and Savannah have resulted in the development of four basic modules for the workshops and resource book.

Free to Learn: What you need to know about IDEA, ADA at school, IEP's technology at school and for homework, inclusion, transition plans, getting the support services you need, etc.

Free to Play: Title II and III of the ADA especially as they regards retail establishments, amusement parks, parks and recreation programs, etc.

Free to Work: Title I of the ADA, rehabilitation services, and some general information about SSI and SSDI

Free to live a normal life: transition planning that is really useful, supports for independent living, options for living situations, finding adult mentors with disabilities, becoming a good self-advocate

During June and July we presented three of the workshop modules to seventeen high school students enrolled in the Stars Summer Program at the Cener for the Visually Impaired in Atlanta. None of the students had ever taken the standardized tests regularly administered to high schoolers such as the PSAT or the Iowa Test. None of these students remembered having a transition planning meeting and none realized that they could have any input at their IEP. Only one student knew anything about the ADA and none had heard of IDEA. These students came from eight different school districts from throughout the Metro area. We had fun together and all of us learned a lot. The Exchange learned which concepts we need to emphasize and which details have to be left out in order to focus on the key concepts.

We are working to complete the resource book and finalize the curriculum for the modules. We will begin working in the schools in the fall and hope to reach over five hundred students with disabilities by April of 2003. We truly believe that if you "Know your Rights," you will be Free: free to learn, free to play, free to work, and free to live a normal life.

A woman who is deaf can call her local battered women's shelter on the TTY and receive guidance from a staff member who has received training in the use of the TTY and in deaf culture.

Three agencies who never knew about each other work together to provide comprehensive services to a young woman who is a wheelchair user and has two small children, all of whom have been forced to flee their home because of domestic violence.

The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council in the Governor's Office has applied for a large federal grant that will provide curriculum and training for all law enforcement personnel in Georgia on disability and domestic violence.

Bright easy-to-read posters are spreading across the state that give the 800 crisis number to call for help with domestic violence.

These are four of the many dramatic events that have happened in our state within the last nine months. Dozens of organizations in Georgia are now looking at the issues of reaching and serving women with disabilities who have experienced domestic violence. The Commission on Family Violence and the Coalition on Domestic Violence are including this topic in all of their conferences and regular training events. The Exchange has worked with disability and domestic violence in four different cities helping local organizations to build a strong network so that women with disabilities know about domestic violence and can be served in the support system that has served so many non-disabled women in Georgia already.

The Exchange has applied for continued funding from the Ms Foundation so that we can help strengthen these four community groups and also develop action groups in two other Georgia communities. We also hope to establish a toll-free line to provide technical assistance in ADA requirements, disability awareness, and appropriate local referrals to staff in domestic violence organizations. The Exchange is also planning to provide disability awareness training to current crisis volunteers for the local centers. This continuation funding will also assist us to recruit volunteers with disabilities and assist in their inclusion into the regular training provided to all center volunteers. These volunteers with disabilities are a crucial part of helping women with disabilities feel fully excepted and supported as they seek to live a life free of violence.

For two gloriously beautiful days in May representatives from five of the Exchange affiliates worked together to better understand the broad concepts of the Americans with Disabilities Act and to put these concepts and some finer points into practice in real-life scenarios. Fourteen people met at the LIFE Independent Living Center in Savannah for lectures, discussions, and hands-on activities. The focus of the workshop was on Strategies for Answering questions from the public about the ADA. Nancy Duncan, Director of the Exchange and Christine Woodell, ADA technical assistance specialist from Biloxi, Mississippi co-led the workshop. We covered topics from "Am I covered by the ADA?" to "Which Disability Rights Law is involved here?" and then some time on employment requirements, local government obligations, and some key concepts for public accommodations. All of the participants took a pre-test and post-test to help them see how much they had learned. At the end of the two long days, everyone agreed that they had a much better understanding of the overall framework and essence of the ADA. They all also agreed that the workshop had given them more confidence in their ability to find the answers to the hard questions.

The Georgia ADA Exchange has eleven affiliates, eight of which serve their local communities and three that are statewide organizations. The affiliates receive free training and ADA mentoring along with information on new resources and guidance on planning ADA related events. Additionally, they are invited to participate in special projects for which they are paid for their work. If your organization is interested in becoming an affiliate, call the Exchange for more details.

Here is one of the worksheets we prepared for the participants. The answers are on page 7.

Is this person covered by the ADA?

1. a ten year old with a broken leg

2. a carpenter with one hand

3. a man with insulin controlled diabetes

4. woman who is pregnant and is required to stay in bed

5. a frail eighty-year-old man

6. a very high functioning man who is legally blind and is able to do almost everything but drive

7. a policeman who has developed bi-polar disorder

8. a young woman who uses crack each day

CLICK HERE FOR ANSWERS TO THIS WORKSHEET

If you would like more information about how you can be involved in this important work, or would like to receive posters to display at your organization, please call or E-mail the Exchange at 770-451-2340 or nduncan@bellsouth.net.

Proyecto Vision

A Bilingual Website for Latinos with Disabilities. This new web site connects Latinos with disabilities living in the U.S. to employment and career advancement information and resources.Visit www.proyectovision.net .

Winn-Dixie, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida

The Department entered into a settlement agreement with Winn-Dixie, Inc., resolving a complaint that one of its stores in Orlando had denied access to a service animal. Winn-Dixie agreed to issue an ADA service animal policy and distribute it through a new edition of its compliance manual to staff at over 1150 stores. It will also train its management officials at the Orlando store to ensure that staff carry out the policy.

A Progress Report on Fulfilling America's Promise to Americans with Disabilities

The Bush administration has released a progress report on accomplishments since the New Freedom Initiative was launched in February 2001. The report also outlines next steps that the administration will take toward meeting the New Freedom goals. For more information, visit:

www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/newfreedom/nfiprogress.pdf (PDF)

www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/newfreedom/toc.html (HTML)

Answers To Worksheet

1. No, a broken leg is temporary, and temporary disabilities are not covered under the ADA

2. Yes, no matter how competent and efficient this carpenter may be, having only one hand is a definite and long term disability and so he is covered

3. Yes, insulin dependent diabetes definitely limits one or more major life functions and although he may seem to be without symptoms as long as he takes his medication, at any point, his health, stress level, fatigue, etc. could cause the heretofore correct level of insulin to become insufficient and he could have serious side effects from the diabetes.

4. No, even though the pregnancy has caused serious health problems for this woman, the pregnancy is temporary and so not covered by the ADA. Of course a condition like seizures related to high blood pressure brought on by the pregnancy, would persist after pregnancy and might be if severe enough, a reason for ADA coverage for this woman.

5. Yes, although frail is not a medical diagnosis, it implies a diminishing of major life activities such as difficulty in lifting, carrying, walking, seeing, hearing, etc.

6. Yes, although this man seems to be able to do most activities of daily life despite his visual impairment, at any moment conditions could change and he would experience limited function. For example, walking from bright daylight into a dark place of business might render him almost totally blind.

7. Yes, a medical diagnosis of bi-polar disorder is sufficient to indicate that a person has a mental impairment that limits certain major life functions. Even though medication may keep the symptoms minimized, the possibility of changing conditions as in the man with diabetes in number 3, would allow the policeman still to be covered by the ADA.

8. No, well, it depends; users of illegal drugs are not protected under the ADA. You cannot discriminate against a person just because they once used Crack. This young woman might have other conditions such as anemia, mental illness, a learning disability, etc., any of which would give her protection under the ADA if she were discriminated against because of them rather than her drug use. Well, if I have confused you totally, check out the Definition of Disability Guidance . available from the Southeast DBTAC at 800-949-4232 or call us at 770-451-2340 and we will try to figure it out with you.

Application for Membership - Individual Membership Fee: $10 - Corporate Membership Fee: $100. The minimum contribution enables you to receive reduced fees for workshops, newsletters, and Americans with Disabilities Act updates. For more information regarding the benefits of membership, please call us at 770-451-2340. Scholarships available.