Blog [with]tv

Milestones

Quoting Penny L. Richards once again:

The next edition of the Disability Blog Carnival is our big one-year anniversary spectacular, hosted right here at DS,TU.  The theme is "Milestones," any kinda milestones.  If you have tales about hosting, reading, or participating in the Carnival in any way, those are most welcome too...Deadline for submissions is Monday October 8; the festivities will post on Thursday October 11, just look for the marching bands, the balloons, the fireworks, the bonfire....

We'd like to invite friends and readers of Blog [with]tv to submit stories of your own "milestones".  Send them to [email protected] and we'll post them here and submit them for the next disability blog carnival.   

New Vision Photography Program, Inc.

"Focusing on Abilities" by Karen Stallings

New Vision Photography Program, Inc. is the vision of Al Price, President and CEO.  He had experience as a professional photographer and as a youth worker, specializing in working with individuals with developmental disabilities. Through this unique blend of experience Mr. Price has designed, developed and implemented a successful and innovative basic photography program.    

New Vision Photography Program was incorporated on January 30, 2003, in the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia.  It is under the District of Maryland Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration Medicaid Waiver Program.  It’s mission is to expand supported employment options and increase inclusion of persons with developmental disabilities by introducing them to a creative world of conventional and digital photography through prevocational training.    

New Vision Photography Program, Inc. program objectives are to increase clients’ knowledge of photography, to enhance clients’ hand on photography skills, to improve clients’ prospects for supported employment and long term follow along services in the photography industry and to facilitate clients’ community inclusion, self sufficient and high self esteem.  It will provide clients a 10 months photography prevocational training curriculum.  It will provide fundamental knowledge and technique in how to use a digital camera, compose a photograph, the correct use of lighting and the technique of using the computer software to edit, print and to download photographs.  This training will also entitle clients with skills to accept employment as photographers for conferences, family events, photographing ID badges, etc. 

Students will received two months of training on a one – hour photo mini lab processor and printer donated by Fuji Film.  There is also the entrepreneurship program through New Vision which helps persons with developmental disabilities with the necessary training to find employment in one-hour mini labs.  Participants will improve self esteem and increase sufficiency while becoming certified mini lab operators.  Additionally, the main emphasis of the program is to introduce local employers to new employees that are trained to operate one-hour mini labs.  CVS, K-Mart and Walmart are the few of many businesses who need qualified employees in their mini labs.

If you would like additional information about New Vision, you can contact Al Price at 6200 Addison Road, Seat Pleasant, Maryland 20743 or by email at [email protected], [email protected] or visit their website at http://newvisionphotoprogram.com/   

Disability Blog Carnival #23

Have you "met" Jennifer Justice yet?  She is an artist, writer and independent publisher, the creator of two popular ezines, Pedestrian Hostile and This Is Living, and has served as a contributor and editor to numerous publications (including Blog [with]tv).  She also happens to be the hostess of this month's Disability Blog Carnival.  Penny L. Richards over at Disability Studies, Temple U. had this to say when introducing this month's carnival:

"Superheroes, folksongs, naked lawyers, beach wheelchairs, and a Therevada oasis--it must be another edition of the Disability Blog Carnival, with your host Jennifer Justice at Pedestrian Hostile.  A fine mix of hilarity, personal accounts, serious news and commentary, there are links for all tastes.  Go check it out!"

Need we say more?

Cross-posted at Planet of the Blind

Kay Cracks Us Up...

Kay, over at The Gimp Parade, has a wonderful category on her blog she calls "Things That Crack Me Up".   Thanks for sharing , Kay!

The Six Knows of Preparing to Travel. Tips 3: Know Your Safety Net

By Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

Know Your Safety Net

Life is tough. (That's probably why you want to go on vacation in the first place!) Traveling with a disability can be a test of skill. Expect the unexpected, "what if" around worst cases, and then strategize about how to deal with what you discover.

Did you leave a copy of your itinerary with friends and family back home? Have you established a schedule for periodically contacting people back home? Do they know what to do if they don't hear from you? If you have friends or contacts at your destination, have you double checked to see that all contact information is up to date and correct? Do you know how your travel companion responds in an emergency? Have you discussed various emergency scenarios with him or her?

Does your personal insurance cover you while out of the country? Do you have travel insurance to make up the difference between what the airline will pay if they damage of your equipment and the actual replacement cost? Do you have necessary vaccinations, medicine, prescriptions, and letters of medical necessity? Are your money and important documents kept in a secure place?

Do you have multiple copies of information such as contact names and addresses or what to do if your credit card is stolen? Are those copies distributed between various carry-on and checked-in items?

First published at Suite101.com

Photo is of a smiling Scott Rains.  He's wearing a casual white button down shirt.  Black background.  He sports a tidy salt&pepper beard and mustache.

Why [with]tv?

Howard Renensland, CEO & Founder, [with]tv

I began [with]tv in order to provide welcoming, inclusive, accessible, creative employment opportunities for my daughter with disabilities, myself, our friends in the community of people with disabilities and our peers throughout this country and the world. I began this venture in short so all of us could make money, knowing how bleak and limited the employment picture is for our community.

I could have picked a number of different industries to start a business in, since the employment opportunity picture concerning people with disabilities is not pretty anywhere, with the possible exception of the world of disability advocacy. My wife and I had talked of opening a small bookstore, given our love of reading and the feeling that such an environment and its clientele would create a welcoming environment and a home for our daughter and others. I soon realized though that while a “home” was needed, it was one in another industry.

As I examined Victoria’s and my struggle to find employment for her and the total picture of all employment opportunities for the entire spectrum of disabilities, attended numerous workshops and lectures on the subject and spoke with any number of members of the community I realized that each industry mirrored it’s fellow industries in end result. We were not employed, we were not deemed employable without a great deal of bother to our employers, we were not welcome in any appreciable number, the idea of employing us in any meaningful capacity and quantity filled our employers with “fear and wonder”.

This Accessible Channel is GOOD News!

The news of Canada’s National Broadcast Reading Service granting a broadcast license to The Accessible Channel is good news for all Canadians, whether they are people with disabilities or not. It is also good news for us at [with]tv. While it can be looked upon as a competitor, at least internationally, it should help us demonstrate to our potential investors that there is a “method to our madness”. One has to admire and respect the immediate source of funding, since they are a must carry channel.

Now if in addition to all else we need to do, we can convince our own representatives of key departments of our federal government (FCC, Justice, Labor, HEW, Defense, Homeland Security, Social Security, Veteran Affairs) how critical the need for accessible news, information, and all other forms of content is to our community and how it is totally disenfranchised when it comes to mainstream media perhaps we will be able to get in our corner these elements of the government while also convincing some of our own cable system distributors the wisdom from a business perspective of partnering with our efforts at [with]tv.

Howard Renensland
CEO & Founder
[with]tv
[email protected]

Thank you, Day Al-Mohamed, for bringing this to our attention.

[with]tv September 2007 Update

Dear [with]tv supporter,

Here is the September Update. So much has happened since our last update. While none of us will be happy until the day we actually launch our channel, myself included, I must tell you in all honesty that we are closer than ever to that day. While it may seem a long time in coming, and I agree, it certainly is, we must recognize the tremendous struggle we have when one considers all the factors aligned against us.

The one constant in all of this however, has been, and remains, that everyone with whom we discuss and explain [with]tv to responds positively. They all accept our premise and agree with our mission no matter whether they are in the disability community, investment, business, or media world.

We continue to add supporters. I urge everyone to continue to visit our Blog, read our articles, post your own, and to visit our support letter and register your support. The more of your friends and relatives, etc. you can get to do so, the better off we will be.

Disability Matters, 3rd Edition

Written by: Connie Kuusisto

Just as "It Takes a Village" to raise children, it also takes a village to raise awareness about issues of disability.

"By uniting people with disabilities and those desiring to enjoy our social intercourse, share our cultural perspective, understand our political agenda, and address our broad general and specific consumer needs, we will achieve success."

This statement, borrowed from the powerful Mission Statement of [with]tv is also useful when referring to the community of bloggers discussing issues of disability. [with]tv is on a mission to unite people with disabilities....and everyone else. This blog has been created to support that mission and this blog, like every other blog, needs a village.

Having said that, we would like to introduce the following blogs to our blogroll titled "Disability Matters". Please visit, comment, link and enjoy one another as we celebrate life, with or with out a disability, and each other. Let us welcome these blogs, and their "bloggers", to our [with]tv Village.

Travelers with Disabilities as Teachers of Universal Design

By Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

We travel to see the world and to fulfill a desire to learn.

Have you ever considered how you, as a person with a disability who travels, fulfill a need in those you meet at your destination of along the way?

In my opinion, one of the most valuable things that the mindful traveler with a disability offers is a glimpse of the world as we experience it.

As travelers with disabilities sometimes the difficult situations that we too often find ourselves in are eye-opening to those at the hotels, resorts, restaurants, airlines, or tourist destinations that created the problem. That is when a simple insightful suggestion from you, as a representative of the disability community, can have lasting effect on the path of a tourism industry worker’s career path, a company’s policy, or the design of a product or space.
Behind the world’s various laws, guidelines, and policies related to rights and services for people with disabilities are worldviews and philosophies that recognize both the difference and the value of our community.

Foremost among those philosophies is one that arose entirely from with Disability Culture.

Universal Design is an orientation to design that puts people first – people as they are with ranges in functionalities, shapes, and ages. The ability to analyze a problem that you face while traveling and identify it within a problem-solving context like Universal Design can be extremely helpful to those who are trying to help you. By introducing them to such a powerful concept you leave them with a tool that they can apply independently. Like the old saying, you didn’t give them one fish – you taught them how to fish.

The Seven Principles of Universal Design are:

1. Equitable Use: The design does not disadvantage or stigmatize any group of users.
2. Flexibility in Use: The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.
3. Simple, Intuitive Use: Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user's experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level.
4. Perceptible Information: The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user's sensory abilities.
5. Tolerance for Error: The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.
6. Low Physical Effort: The design can be used efficiently and comfortably, and with a minimum of fatigue.
7. Size and Space for Approach & Use: Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use, regardless of the user's body size, posture, or mobility.

Future posts will look at ways to apply these principles.