Your quick, once-a-day look at disability rights,
self-determination
and the movement toward full community inclusion around
the world.
Thursday, August 14, 2003
Year IV, Edition 130
This front page features 7 news and information items,
each preceded by a number (#) symbol.
Click on the"Below the Fold"
link at the bottom of this page for the rest of today's news.
[Note to readers: A number of Web sites may not be immediately available because of the power outages on the East Coast of the United States and Canada. If a link does not work for you at this time, you might want to check back when power has been restored to the area. -- Dave Reynolds, Editor]
QUOTES OF THE DAY:
"This is a beautiful city, but it's almost to
the point where I'll say no, I'll pass on coming here, because there are so
many barriers."
--Kim Drews, one of about 50 disability rights activists
who protested the lack of access at Milwaukee's RiverWalk on Thursday (First
story)
"There are certain stigmas still attached to disabled persons. We
need to dispel those myths and make sure our persons with disabilities are more
welcome in our communities."
--Peg Drake, member of the Dearborn Heights
Commission on Disability Concerns (Third story)
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# ADVOCACY / ACCESSIBILITY
"Lack of RiverWalk Access
Protested"
August 14, 2003
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN--The following
three paragraphs are excerpts from a story in Thursday's Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel:
Milwaukee's RiverWalk may be a great way to experience the downtown on foot, but it's hell on wheels if your mobility is limited, people with disabilities said Thursday.
In wheelchairs, walkers and leg braces, about 50 activists gathered over the noon hour on a waterfront plaza at the end of Mason St. to protest barriers that they said impeded them from taking full advantage of the RiverWalk. Among them: forbidding stairways, abrupt changes in grade, not enough wheelchair ramps, or ramps too steep to navigate comfortably.
If their concerns are not addressed, a lawsuit could be in the works, rally organizers said. And they have gained an important ally: U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic, who said the RiverWalk's design appears to violate the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.
Entire article:
"Lack of RiverWalk Access Protested" (Journal
Sentinel)
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/aug03/162330.asp
---
# COMMUNITY LIVING / LAWS
Illegal Zoning Ordinance May Prove
Costly To Township
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
August
14, 2003
SOUTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA--This past March, the
township's board of supervisors decided to reject an application for a home for
three men that have mental retardation.
Among other things, the supervisors wanted the property owner to put up a fence around the property -- something the owner's attorney argued was not required of any other single-family dwelling in the township.
Jay Kyrstofik, who owned the property and wanted to sell it to ARC Human Services, told the supervisors that their decision was not only illegal, but it also would prove to be expensive.
A month later, Kyrstofik, ARC, and the Disabilities Law Project filed a lawsuit against the township in federal court.
U.S. District Court Judge Donetta Ambrose informed the township recently that she planned to rule that the zoning ordinance violated federal anti-discrimination laws.
The board voted Tuesday night to approve the application.
According to Thursday's Observer-Reporter, attorney Thomas Lonich told the board that the winners in the fight now want the township to pay the more than $52,000 it cost to take the issue to court. Lonich said attorneys on both sides would negotiate an amount.
---
# ADVOCACY / COMMUNITY LIVING
Commissions On Disabilities Can
Be Valuable Resources
August 14, 2003
DEARBORN, MICHIGAN--In
recent years, many Detroit area communities have developed local commissions on
disability concerns in an attempt to reach out to its citizens with
disabilities.
These commissions are considered valuable because city officials are not always aware of the issues that are important to the estimated 20 percent of the population that has disabilities.
Thursday's Detroit News featured a story about some of these commissions and what they do.
Related article:
"Communities strive to reach out to disabled"
(Detroit News)
http://www.detnews.com/2003/wayne/0308/14/d03-244574.htm
---
# ABUSE
Mom Allegedly Confessed To Murdering
Son; Public Blames Boy's Behavior, Government
By Dave Reynolds,
Inclusion Daily Express
August 14, 2003
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA--Last
Thursday, 10-year-old Jason Dawes died, allegedly at the hands of his
mother.
Police reported that Daniela Dawes told them she suffocated her son and held him until he stopped struggling. Once his breathing stopped she did not attempt CPR, police said. She allegedly did try to commit suicide.
Daniela reportedly said she killed her son, who had autism, because he was "difficult to deal with".
Daniela is being held in a jail hospital on murder charges.
The Dawes family said Tuesday that they are "behind Daniela 100 per cent".
Local media and the community are expressing sympathies -- not for Jason -- but for his alleged murderer.
Letters and emails, many from parents of children with disabilities, flooded area news offices. Most expressed outrage at authorities for jailing Daniela and keeping her from contacting her 13-year-old daughter. Many blamed the government for Jason's death because, they said, it did not provide the services the family needed to deal with the boy.
Earlier this week, Carmel Tebbutt, New South Wales' Minister for Disability Services, offered condolences to the Dawes family.
"I appreciate the enormous sorrow his family is experiencing," Tebbutt said.
"Jason did receive therapy services on an ongoing basis through on of the Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care's local School Aged Therapy Teams," Tebbutt added.
The case is reminiscent of a number of cases in North America and elsewhere in which children with disabilities have been murdered by a parent. In many such cases, the parent, not the victim, receives sympathies from the public and the general media. Often the child or the government is blamed directly or indirectly for the crime.
Related articles:
"Mother released from jail to bury autistic son"
(The Daily Telegraph)
http://www.InclusionDaily.com/news/03/red/0814b.htm
"Let
Daniela out" (The Daily Telegraph)
http://www.InclusionDaily.com/news/03/red/0814a.htm
---
# TODAY'S FEATURED LAWS WEBSITE
Great Plains Americans with
Disabilities Act and Accessible Information Technology Center
The Great Plains ADA/IT Center serves as a "one-stop" comprehensive resource on ADA issues and accessible information technology.
Our goal is to facilitate voluntary and effective compliance with the ADA by working closely with businesses, disability organizations, state and local governments professional networks, and individuals.
The Center is one of ten regional Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers established by the National Institute on Disability Research and Rehabilitation. The Great Plains ADA/IT Center serves Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska; however, anyone is welcome to utilize the information on this site.
---
# EXPRESS EXTRA!!!
Quote worth noting:
"If you look at history, even recent
history, you see that there is indeed progress. . . . Over time, the cycle is
clearly, generally upwards. And it doesn't happen by laws of nature. And it
doesn't happen by social laws. . . . It happens as a result of hard work by
dedicated people who are willing to look at problems honestly, to look at them
without illusions, and to go to work chipping away at them, with no guarantee
of success - in fact, with a need for a rather high tolerance for failure along
the way, and plenty of disappointments."
--Noam Chomsky, U.S. linguist
and political writer
---
# DISCUSSION BOARD
Check in with other Inclusion Daily Express
readers:
http://members5.boardhost.com/InclusionDaily
---
# BELOW THE FOLD
Click here for the rest of today's
disability-related news:
http://www.InclusionDaily.com/news/03/btf/081403_39.htm
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Dave
Reynolds, Editor