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Ensuring children with disabilities receive the education and training they need to succeed is vitally important. Nationally, only 65 percent of students with disabilities graduate high school each year compared to 86 percent of student without disabilities. That means there is 21-point gap in outcomes. Furthermore, only seven percent of students with disabilities graduate college. As such, educators have a critical role to play in empowering more students with disabilities to succeed.

Teachers are important partners in the efforts to overcome bias, barriers and stigmas by promoting and implementing best practices in the classroom. Below you will find resources to teach students about disability and assist students with disabilities to succeed. You also will find recommended reading for both children and adults. [continue reading…]

Enabling People with Disabilities to Achieve Jobs and a Better Future

Fully 1-in-5 people have a learning, mental health, physical, sensory or other disability that is a barrier to everyday living. People can be born with a disability, or acquire one due to an accident, aging, gun violence or in military service to our nation. It is time for people with disabilities to be seen for their tremendous human potential — and what they CAN do. [continue reading…]

Webinars

• Accessibility and Disability Etiquette
• Employment
• Advocacy
• Hollywood
• Safety and Criminal Justice
• Faith Inclusion

Disability Training and Consulting Bureau

• Request Trainers
• Meet The Trainers
• Training Topics

African Americans

• Profiles of Black People with Disabilities
• News You Can Use

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

• Profiles of AAPI People with Disabilities
• News You Can Use

Communications, Marketing, and Advertising

• The Basics of Online Accessibility
• Ensuring Virtual Events Are Accessible for All Toolkit
• Poll-Driven Messaging to Achieve Positive Change for People with Disabilities
• RespectAbility Polling
• Audio Description Services
• Closed Captioning Services
• Sign Language Interpreters
• Disability Media Sources

COVID-19

• Resources
• News

Education

• Disability History Campaign
• Teacher Resources
• Historical Resources
• Universal Design Resources
• Resources for College Students with Disabilities
• Background Reading
• Recommended Reading for Adults
• Recommended Reading for Children
• Virtual Education & Students With Disabilities Resource Guide

Employers

• Business Focused Disability Organizations
• General Resources for Employers
• #RespectTheAbility Campaign
• Press Clips on the Benefits of Hiring People with Disabilities

Ending the School-to-Prison Pipeline

• Disability & Criminal Justice Reform: Keys to Success
• Government Resources
• Advocacy and Research Resources
• Philanthropic Organizations
• Model Programs

Entertainment Professionals

• Hollywood Disability Inclusion Toolkit
• Entertainment and Media Consulting Team
• Audio Description Services
• Closed Captioning Services
• Sign Language Interpreters
• Disability Advocacy Resources
• Hiring Performers with Disabilities
• Hiring People with Disabilities Behind The Scenes
• Disability Media Sources
• Training Programs for Minorities
• Employment Resources

Equity and Inclusion

• Reference Tools
• Training/Guides
• Articles/Interviews/Talks

Faith Inclusion

• Newsletter Archive
• Inclusive Congregations Guide
• Pathways to Belonging
• Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance & Inclusion Month
• Bible Study with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church + RespectAbility
• What Do You Pray For?
• Multifaith Perspectives

Hispanic and Latinx

• Profiles of Hispanic and Latinx People with Disabilities
• News You Can Use
• Recursos En Español

Inclusive Philanthropy

• Inclusive Philanthropy Toolkit
• Accessibility & Equity Webinar Series
• Disability in Philanthropy & Nonprofits Study
• Key Reading

Job Seekers/Entrepreneurship

• People with Disabilities At Work
• Finding a Job as a Person With a Disability in Los Angeles Toolkit
• “Born for Business” Disability Entrepreneurship Toolkit
• Job Search Websites & Job Training Resources
• Internships / Fellowships for College Students / Graduates with Disabilities
• Programs for Students and Youth with Disabilities
• Federal Disability Employment Resources
• State Level Employment Resources
• Employment Resources for Veterans with Disabilities

LGBTQ+

• Profiles of LGBTQ+ People with Disabilities
• Articles
• Books
• Resources from National LGBTQ+ Organizations

Policy Makers

• RespectAbility Testimony
• Reports on Best Practices
• Disability and Employment Data Sources
• State Data and State Plan Comments
• Examples of State Leadership

Sex Education

• General Sexuality Resources
• Hygiene and Self Care
• Masturbation
• Puberty & Body Changes
• Reproductive and Sexual Health
• Boundaries in Relationships & Dating
• Social Skills & Handling Feelings
• Exploitation Prevention and Sexual Assault / Abuse

Spinal Cord Injuries

• Profiles of People with Spinal Cord Injuries
• News You Can Use

Statistics

Veterans

• Nonprofits and Organizations
• 5 Military Branch Associations for Veterans
• Disabled Veterans Statistics

Women

• Disabled Women
• News You Can Use
• Women’s Disability Leadership, Inclusion & Advocacy Resources

Supreme Court of the United States

Washington, Jan. 13 – Earlier this week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a critical case for children with disabilities, Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District, one of the most important education cases in decades.

In 1975, Congress passed a federal law requiring school districts to provide a “free appropriate public education” for children with disabilities, which includes individualized education plan (IEP) for students to be included in public schools. The law also provided federal funds for these services. The act was renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990. Unfortunately, IDEA has never been fully funded, leading to some school districts struggling to keep up.

This case, representing a boy with autism named Endrew F. (Drew), argues just how much educational benefit the IEPs must provide. While some lower courts have ruled the need for a “meaningful” educational benefit, others require only a bit more than de minimis – the bare minimum.

Since Drew’s parents felt he was not improving in public school, they sent him to a private school where he progressed at a much quicker pace. Under IDEA, parents can receive tuition reimbursement from the school district if their child does not receive enough “educational benefit” from public schooling. Drew’s parents were denied, leading to this case.

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Donn Weinberg re-elected as chair, ADA co-author Steve Bartlett as Vice Chair, Cal Harris Treasurer and Shelley Cohen Secretary
New members include communications stars Andrew Egan and Calvin Harris, philanthropist Aaron Orlofsky, criminal justice expert Janie L. Jeffers and CEO coach Dr. Dee Soder

RespectAbility Board Members, Staff and Fellows with Clarence Page, who lead our team in a great discussion on journalism regarding people with disabilities and the issues we care about during our December board meeting; From L to R: Calvin Harris, Tonya Koslo, Thomas “Doc” Sweitzer, Andrew Egan, Shelley Cohen, Dana Marlowe, Donna Meltzer, Philip Pauli, Clarence Page, Byron Murphy, David Richman, Linda Burger, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, Matthew Wagner, Donn Weinberg, Dionne Joseph, Samantha Fleischer, Jonathan Murray, Ben Spangenberg, Hillary Steen

Rockville, Md., Dec. 13 – RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities for people with disabilities, is proud to announce the election of new officers, as well as new additions to the boards of directors and advisors. Rich in diversity and expertise, the board includes a cross section of national leaders from U.S. Congress, Hollywood, philanthropy, communications and private sector. Moreover, the board of advisors added respected leaders in nonprofit management with deep roots in disability issues.

“We are thrilled to bring such a talented group of leaders with fresh perspective to our boards,” stated Donn Weinberg, Co-Founder and Chair of RespectAbility. “People with disabilities have long been denied entry into the workforce, ultimately depriving 70 percent of working-age Americans a chance to impact our evolving economy. The diverse and bipartisan board we assembled is dedicated to this fight.”

In addition to welcoming five new members to RespectAbility’s boards, Weinberg was re-elected chair for another term. Former Rep. Steve Bartlett was elected Vice President. New board member Calvin Harris was elected Treasurer, and Secretary Shelley Cohen was re-elected to serve another term.

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Disability & Criminal Justice Reform – Key to Success and Challenges Ahead

Read the webinar transcript
Download the accessible PowerPoint  (COMING SOON)
Watch the webinar on YouTube with captions
Read the full report

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Washington, Sept, 12 – There are no words that can express our joy and appreciation with the Ford Foundation and its groundbreaking president, Darren Walker, for making history today. The Ford Foundation, with this major announcement, is the first major foundation to confront its ableism.

Read the full announcement: Ignorance is the enemy within: On the power of our privilege, and the privilege of our power.

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RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization working to empower people with disabilities to achieve the American dream, is preparing a nonpartisan voter guide of all viable candidates in several Senate and gubernatorial elections on a variety of disability issues. This is being done in conjunction with our online publication, www.TheRespectAbilityReport.org, which is the definitive place for voters who care about the intersection of disability and electoral politics. Fully twenty percent of the U.S. population (56 million people) has a disability. With the addition of family members of people with disabilities, that percentage increases exponentially to include one in every three households in America affected by disability.

We have email lists of people in each state who have disabilities and/or a family member with a disability. We will share unedited responses with these lists as well as with members of the press who cover these issues in each state.

Our voter guide will be electronic and thus it is vital for candidates to put their positions on their website and give us the specific links to the places they want us to share with the disability community. They may choose to answer each question individually for people with disabilities (PwDs), or to mention PwDs within a larger plan (i.e., your jobs, national security and crime plans) for the entire public.

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New Report on Disability and Criminal Justice Reform Shows 750,000 People with Disabilities Behind Bars

Offers Specific Recommendations to Include Disability Lens in Justice Reform Process

Download the Disability and Criminal Justice Reform report in an accessible Word document.
Download the PowerPoint presentation in an accessible PPT.
Watch the video of our panel discussion on Capitol Hill.
Read the transcript of our panel discussion.

Washington, June 20 – As the White House and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle consider criminal justice reform, a new white paper, “Disability and Criminal Justice Reform: Keys to Success” was released today by the nonprofit disability organization, RespectAbility. The report uses public data previously available but never before assembled and analyzed. It makes a series of recommendations to reduce the school-to-prison pipeline for people with disabilities, to enable incarcerated individuals with disabilities to receive the literacy and life skills they will need when they exit the justice system as well as have access to their human rights, and to help returning citizens become productive members of their communities. [continue reading…]