Washington, D.C., September 7 – Before delivering the keynote address at RespectAbility’s Capitol Hill Summit, Ollie Cantos was racing through the halls of the Rayburn Building after being stuck in the notoriously long security lines, hoping to arrive at the Summit on time.

When he entered the room and began speaking, he immediately captivated the audience. Cantos, who is the Special Assistant to the Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education and Member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID), highlighted the changes that have taken place in the disability community and the challenges still ahead, noting tensions within the disability community such as new and old ways of thinking amid polarizing political times. Some people with disabilities still are being housed in institutions, while some are out fighting for them to be let out. He emphasized that active members of the disability community are obligated to come together and speak up for themselves. Cantos described the process as “an ongoing journey of transformation and change.” [continue reading…]

Doug Jarett

On August 18, 2019, Douglas Jarett, a 51-year-old mensch with Down Syndrome, died unexpectedly. Obviously, it is a tragedy when someone so young dies, especially when it is someone as beloved as Doug. However, I’m making Doug our “shabbat smile” because the impact of his life was enormous and he always made me and others smile. He really broke glass ceilings and made such a big difference in the world!

Doug had been living in the community with friends through supports from Judith Creed Horizons for Achieving Independence (JCHAI) and had worked for over 30 years at Ludington Library in Lower Merion Township. Thirty years ago, how many people with Down syndrome were in the workforce? Very few. He broke the mold. [continue reading…]

“RespectAbility is an organization that leads by example. The team is very supportive of teaching and helping companies and individuals understand best practices for diversity and inclusion. RespectAbility doesn’t want to blame people – it wants to teach people.”

– Andrea Jennings

Andrea Jennings, a passionate self-advocate living and working in California, has volunteered with RespectAbility in a variety of ways. One of her key roles has been to represent RespectAbility at Hollywood events. She makes certain that questions are being asked regarding disability inclusion in Hollywood. In addition, she has spoken on panels on behalf of RespectAbility. Andrea also mentors younger individuals with various disabilities who are interested in the entertainment industry. She works to ensure that people recognize their implicit biases and determine how they’re going to move past those biases. [continue reading…]

Washington, D.C., August 31 — RespectAbility’s 2019 Capitol Hill Summit featured a panel discussion and Q&A on how to end the school-to-prison pipeline for students with disabilities.

Moderated by Janie Jeffers, the former senior policy advisor for The President’s Crime Prevention Council, the panelists included disability and criminal justice experts Janet LaBreck, Robert Stephens and Diane Smith Howard.

Throughout the conversation, the speakers stressed the importance of identifying and providing services for students with disabilities early, before they are swept into the criminal justice system. [continue reading…]

“Over the last 20 to 30 years, things have changed significantly for people with disabilities, young people especially. They’re much more educated, they’re much more tech savvy, their expectations are very different from the previous generations.”
– Michael Reardon, Office of Disability Employment Policy’s Supervisory Policy Advisor

Washington, D.C., August 30 – During a day-long summit held on Capitol Hill, policymakers explored how current policies affect access to employment for people with disabilities.

The “Public Policy and Jobs for People with Disabilities” discussion featured: Mary Lazare, Principal Deputy Administrator, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Aging, Administration for Community Living (ACL); Rachel Stephens, Program Director of NGA (National Governors Association) Economic Opportunity; Michael Reardon, Office of Disability Employment Policy’s Supervisory Policy Advisor, Employment-Related Support Policy leading the SEED (State Exchange on Employment & Disability) initiative; and Tina Williams, Deputy Director, Office of Federal Contracting and Compliance programs (OFCCP). RespectAbility’s Policy and Practices Director Philip Kahn-Pauli served as moderator. [continue reading…]

Vivian Bass with RespectAbility Staff and Summer 2019 Fellows

Rockville, Maryland, August 26 – Vivian Bass, a member of RespectAbility’s Executive Committee, addressed the RespectAbility National Leadership Fellows on July 30. She discussed three key factors to guide board members and staff in achieving a professional yet open relationship.

The first is mutual respect. As an avid member of RespectAbility’s board along with many other boards, Bass has had plenty of experience with handling these relationships. She said that an organization won’t go anywhere without mutual respect between its board members and staff. Although board members and staff work closely together, there still needs to be a “clear line in the sand” so no one oversteps or gets blindsided by another, she said. [continue reading…]

For this week’s Shabbat Smile, RespectAbility’s president Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi offers tips on things parents of children with disabilities and their teachers need to do in order to have a great experience in Hebrew and religious school. This piece was previously published in the Times of Israel. [continue reading…]

Washington, D.C., August 22 – Entertainment leaders convened at RespectAbility’s 2019 Capitol Hill Summit last month to discuss how they are working to change the media’s portrayal of people with disabilities. The panel featured moderator Jonathan Murray, reality TV pioneer, and panelists Nasreen Alkhateeb, Candace Cable and Teresa Hammond, with a video greeting by the creators of this summer’s breakthrough hit The Peanut Butter Falcon.

Inclusive Education Through Digital Platforms

The panel opened with remarks from Hammond, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer of GoNoodle. GoNoodle is a platform utilized in four out of five American classrooms as a classroom management tool. It features a variety of characters, called champs, including the newest addition, Flash Bolton.

Flash is a “lick trick personality, who is up for adventures. He rides a wheelchair and likes all things fast—planes, trains, cars.” RespectAbility played an instrumental part in creating Flash Bolton, who will make his debut this fall to the 14 million children using GoNoodle.

Cable, a self-advocate and 12-time Paralympic medalist, helped develop Flash. She discussed the process of developing an authentic character who uses a wheelchair. Cable acknowledged GoNoodle’s effort in this. She said GoNoodle’s willingness to learn and ask questions was “a great example of authenticity, willingness to try things, and engaging a community so that everyone’s included in this process to get it right.” [continue reading…]

Washington, D.C., August 20 – At RespectAbility’s annual disability summit on Capitol Hill, Vincenzo Piscopo, community and stakeholder relations director for the Coca-Cola company, discussed how to transform society’s perceptions of people with disabilities. By changing the labels put on people with disabilities and giving them opportunities, people with disabilities can be just as, or even more, successful than people without disabilities.

Through his work with Coca-Cola, Piscopo has reshaped the meaning of disability by giving people with disabilities the opportunity to define themselves, instead of letting society define and stigmatize them. [continue reading…]