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Beauty, Culture, and Accessible
The principle of universal design addresses the attention of the diverse needs of all people. This will lead to well-designed buildings that seamlessly integrate thoughtful solutions and appropriate materials for those not specifically for but including the special needs community. By designing for a diverse population, universal designers integrate usability by everyone into their work on a routine basis. This approach leads to greater inclusion for many groups often neglected in the design process, (e.g., children, the elderly, people of small stature, frail people, etc. (Universal Design New York, Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities)
I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City with a couple of dear friends. It was such a special day. As an interior design contractor, I found it to be an inspiring and enchanting venue of tremendous beauty. It is a place for all to enjoy. The facility is accessible and features exhibits that touch the heart, expand the mind, and enrich the soul. I highly recommend it. Let us view this as an example of what is available for all to enjoy. What programs, for visitors with learning and developmental disabilities, can you think of to bring to your community (big or small) that is fully accessible?
Metropolitan Museum of Art Discoveries-Power and Protection: A Look at Armor
The Metropolitan Museum of Art invites you to Discoveries, a Sunday program for adults and children with developmental and/or learning disabilities, together with friends and family members. Each Discoveries workshop focuses on a theme and includes a gallery tour followed by a related art activity in the studio. (Free, but reservations are required)
Camille Gallo
Beautiful, Comfortable, Accessible
Living comfortably, what is accessible for all…
Universal design (def) Universal design represents an evolution toward the understanding that we must not view individuals with disabilities as separate and different, but as an inherent part of our extraordinary diversity. Universal design is an approach to the development of “products and environments that can be used effectively by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design” (North Carolina State University, 1997). It is an inclusive process aimed at enabling all of us to experience the full benefits of the products and environments around us regardless of our ages, sizes or abilities.(Universal Design New York, Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities)
I have been in the design industry for over 25 years. I’ve seen the frivolousness of high-end style, I’ve worked in warehouse debris, and everything in between in premier properties in NYC . I’ve lived through hard times and confusing times. I love my work as an interior design contractor. I always knew somehow, someway, I could help make this world a more beautiful place to live, for all of us to live. You see I do believe we are one – all of us – capable of all things, in different ways.
What can I contribute, in my way, with my capabilities? I do want to make a difference. Yet at times I struggle to get sure footed… I have consulted with disability experts, and they have made their recommendations.
Join me in my journey as we identify what is available and identify what we need through “Universal Design.”
I caught the warmth of the sun today. It was for just a moment, and then it turned gray. I looked up and the clouds were a lovely white. Have you noticed warmth of the sun? This is something we can all share; on your own, with each other. Feel the warmth, see the vastness of the universe; know it does exist. Let us begin here…
BENCHES AT MADISON SQUARE PARK, NYC
http://nyc2dailyphoto.blogspot.com/2008/11/benches-at-madison-square-park.html
Camille Gallo, IGT Design & Distribution
Center for Disability Rights: In the News
When the Americans with Disabilities Act became a law in 1990, the landscape of the civil rights movement broadly unfolded. Disability rights organizations steadily gathered momentum across the country. Local advocacy groups, comprised of both able-bodied and disabled volunteers, united to prescribe the essence of ADA legislation throughout their own communities. These groups supported improved conditions for independent living, enhanced access to medical and social services, and equal protection from violations of civil liberty. The Center for Disability Rights, a non-profit organization based in Rochester, NY, has been aggressively campaigning on behalf of the disabled community even before the ink was dry on the pages of the ADA. On August 16, I took the opportunity to attend an ADA compliance training session for small businesses held at the CDR facilities.
For 60 minutes, law fellow Stephanie Woodward and chief operating officer Chris Hilderbrant persuasively articulated the common ADA pitfalls that unwary businesses often fail to recognize. In accordance with the CDR’s customary diplomacy, Ms. Woodward and Mr. Hillderbrant thanked the members of the audience for their attention, and lightheartedly guaranteed impunity from pending legal action. They emphasized critical ADA guidelines for HR personnel, fundamental disability etiquette (punctuated with amusing and instructive real-life anecdotes), and extensive resources for further information on provisional compliance.
I learned a great deal about how businesses must distinguish the “essential functions” of a particular job, forestalling any potential accusations of discrimination. Additionally, the presenters elaborated on providing “reasonable accomodations” and the corresponding tax credits and deductions available as incentives to small business proprietors, including the Disabled Access Credit, Barrier Removal Tax Deduction, and Work Opportunity Credit. Ms. Woodward and Mr. Hilderbrant patiently answered every question alongside a sign-language interpreter. I am grateful to the staff of the CDR for facilitating an important discussion about ADA compliance, and I thank them for extending the invitation to participate.
For more information on the Center for Disability Rights, please visit their website at http://www.cdrnys.org.
Dogs and Disability: Special Needs Lifeline Question of the Week
On Thursday, July 19, my parents and I made one of the toughest and most indelible decisions of our lives: we put our 13 year old golden retriever, Buddy, to sleep. From the instant Buddy entered our home, he entered our hearts, and we embraced him as a genuine member of the family. Buddy, like any cherished dog, delivered unconditional love and affection. I miss him terribly; it has been a painful experience.
As I cope with Buddy’s death, I am reminded of so many of the altruistic qualities dogs possess. Coincidentally, I ran across a synopsis from The Week describing how pets benefit babies. Research indicates that children who lived with a dog (compared to those who did not) were 31% more likely to meet healthy fitness standards, 44% less likely to contract ear infections, and 29% less likely to consume antibiotics. Incredibly, attachment to a pet can invigorate children’s immune systems.
In spite of the illuminating analyses, I never needed hard science to prove how extraordinary dogs can be. This becomes crystal clear when you first meet a service dog. The companionship of a service dog can profoundly improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities. Service dogs promote both physical and emotional comfort, and they offer practical assistance to maintain an independent lifestyle. Service dogs can be distinctively trained to support individuals with disabilities across the spectrum: guide dogs, hearing dogs, mobility dogs, seizure alert/response dogs, psychiatric service dogs, and autism dogs. Certain organizations even connect disabled veterans with service dogs, facilitating the particular needs of men and women with combat injuries.
Buddy has moved on, but he left behind countless memories of our time together, memories I will treasure. And I am comforted by all the joy dogs engender in us, enriching our lives as only these gracious creatures can.
Question of the Week: Do you have any experience with a service dog, or any service animal? Can you think of different ways that dogs and other domestic animals can help the disabled community?
We encourage you to reply to the question of the week. Please be respectful of the opinions of our fellow community members. There is no right or wrong answer. Reflecting on challenging questions will help keep us informed.
Disability and the Death Penalty: Special Needs Lifeline Question of the Week
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Scaled punishments, illustrated by the excerpt from the Code of Hammurabi, represent one of the earliest systems of law enforcement we know of. Over 3,700 years ago, in ancient Babylon, these prescriptions of justice were chiseled onto immense stone tablets with the expectation that every citizen could read and understand them. Imagine if our constitution was typed onto the surface of the moon, impossible to disregard.
I mention the Code of Hammurabi for two reasons. First, it is possibly the oldest representation of written language on the planet, implying literacy and civic responsibility went hand in hand. Second, it evokes the basic moral conviction of fairness as a convenient justification for the death penalty.
But the death penalty is anything but basic, or fair. And our laws are not brandished in the sky for all to see. A Supreme Court decision in 2002 (Atkins v. Virginia) confirmed that the execution of a mentally retarded individual was unconstitutional because it violated the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Yet a man with an intellectual disability sits on death row in Georgia. How is this possible?
Warren Hill, 52, was serving a life sentence in 1990 when he killed fellow inmate Joseph Handspike. In 2002, only months after the Supreme Court ruled on the Atkins case, a judge determined that Hill had failed to prove his mental disability beyond a reasonable doubt. According to Georgia state law, the standard establishing culpability by a preponderance of the evidence is insufficient for exemption from execution. In a disturbing twist, Georgia was the first state to prohibit capital punishment for individuals with learning disabilities in 1988, albeit with a substantial burden of proof regarding intellectual capacity. Allegedly, Hill has an IQ of 70, and several of his former teachers testified that he exhibited significant learning difficulties in school. Unless the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles is moved by Hill’s appeal for clemency, his lethal injection will remain scheduled for 7 PM on Wednesday July 18.
The clock is ticking for Mr. Hill. His life, and our national measure of constitutional democracy, delicately hangs in the balance.
How absurdly ironic it is; a man sentenced to die because he could not prove he was disabled enough.
Question of the Week: Without a doubt, the death penalty is one of the most complicated ethical situations we can be confronted with. Does our justice system adequately defend the civil liberties of people with disabilities? Can you think of other instances that reveal a legal double standard applied to people with disabilities?
We encourage you to reply to the question of the week. Please be respectful of the opinions of our fellow community members. There is no right or wrong answer. Reflecting on challenging questions will help keep us informed.
References
Atkins v. Virginia. 536 U.S. 304. (2002).
Pilkington, E. (2012, July 13). Georgia Set to Execute Mentally Disabled Inmate Despite Court Ruling. The Guardian.
The New York Times Editorial Board. (2012, July 6). An Urgent Plea for Mercy. The New York Times.
Think Before You Tweet: In the News
We are all citizens of the digital age. Our collective appetite for up-to-the-second information can be satisfied through numerous social media outlets. One of the most popular destinations for social networkers is Twitter- a forum where users speak their minds from an electronic podium in 140 characters or less (respectively known as a tweet). On Twitter, people have an extraordinary opportunity to collect and disseminate news on virtually anything, and everything is broadcast publicly. Consequently, whether Twitter members are conscious of it or not, their opinions are visible to over 500 million people around the world.
In other words, you could make over 500 million enemies with one push of the Tweet button.
Last week, rapper and entertainer 50 Cent incited several members of the disability rights community when he tweeted some disparaging remarks about autism and special education. At the forefront of the cyber-confrontation with 50 Cent was Holly Robinson Peete, an actress and the mother of an autistic son. Peete expressed her abject disappointment with 50 Cent’s flagrant insensitivity, and she subsequently demanded an apology. On Sunday, 50 Cent responded accordingly by expressing his remorse to approximately 6.8 million Twitter followers.
Despite a gap of over 200 years separating Benjamin Franklin from a personal Twitter account of his own, his typical brevity was in sync with the 140 character limit. This quote in particular should resonate with 50 Cent, and social networkers everywhere- “If you think little of a person, you ought to say as little as you think.”
Special Needs Lifeline is on Twitter @SpecialNeedsLL, and Evan is on Twitter @evansrosenberg