July - Disability Digest

Disability Digest

The monthly DISABILITY RIGHTS e-publication
of Disability Network Southwest Michigan

July 2016

Join Us for Annual ADA Celebration

Disability Network Southwest Michigan will host a community-wide celebration of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), now in its 26th year. Please join us on July 22 at our Kalamazoo office from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for a free barbecue lunch, presentations and awards ceremony.

For more information, visit the ADA Celebration event page of our website.

Watch this video to learn about the impact the signing of the ADA had on people with disabilities and our nation as a whole.

Storytellers: Institutionalized as a Teen

In this video from Rooted in Rights, Jensen Caraballo shares his story of being institutionalized in a nursing home as a teen. Jensen spent over five years living in an institution, and he wasn't the only one... according to research, more than 200,000 non-elderly people with disabilities in the U.S. reside in nursing homes. Join the fight for freedom of people with disabilities, and support the Independent Living Movement.

Nursing Facility Transition (NFT) is one of the core services we provide at Disability Network Southwest Michigan. The goal of the NFT program is to provide individuals, regardless of their disability or age, the opportunity to choose community-based living as a viable alternative to nursing facility residency. For more information about our NFT program, visit our website.

Casual Ableist Language

Ableism, specifically casual/benevolent ableism, is widely accepted in our society, particularly when it comes to language. Ableism is commonly used to insult others or to describe something negative. Often times people don't even realize where the words they are using come from. Watch this video to learn more about the harmfulness of casual ableist language in our culture

Providing Access to
Historic Sites

If you are interested in historic preservation, please join us for a free workshop on August 25 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at the Ladies' Library Association in Kalamazoo.

Contrary to popular myth, historic properties must comply with the ADA; in this workshop you will learn how to make historic sites accessible without compromising the integrity of their rich history. Rex Pace from the U.S. Access Board will be presenting this workshop.

This workshop is free but we ask that you register in advance.

Please see the event page of our website for more information and to register

Book Club

The Disability Network Lunchtime Book Club meets quarterly in both our Kalamazoo and St. Joseph offices.

Wednesday, September 7 is our next Book Club meeting when we will be discussing Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio. Icy Sparks is the sad, funny and transcendent tale of a young girl with Tourette's Syndrome growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky during the 1950's.

For more information about Disability Network Southwest Michigan's Book Club, visit the Book Club page of our website.