conference on employment for all people with disabilities



The Alliance for Full Participation's November 17-19, 2011 Summit:  Real Jobs--It's Everyone's Business, will be an historic convening of the leadership of the intellectual and developmental disability community.  

The Alliance Summit will bring together proactive leaders from around the country, who will gather to share ideas, generate action plans and collectively commit to making the goal of doubling integrated employment for people with IDD a reality by the year 2015.  Here's who is taking part:

• 15 national organizations.
• 48 state teams.
• Self advocates from around the country.
• Over 130 expert speakers.
• Employment leaders from Bank of America, Lowes, Walgreens, Home Depot, JW Winco, Acadia Windows and Doors, and Country Inn, St. Marys. 
• CNN Special Correspondent Frank Sesno, who will lead a high energy, highly engaging Town Hall on the issues and stumbling blocks that keep us from our goal. 
• State and federal policy leaders including Senator Tom Harkin (invited), Utah State Senator Menlove, representatives from the Department of Labor, ODEP, HHS, and the Administration on Developmental Disabilities. 
• Family members, providers, researchers, direct support professionals,  employers, policy makers, and program leaders. In short, everyone who shares a commitment and a passion for making the Alliance's vision of full integration for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities a reality. 

In these economic times, employment matters more than ever.  The Alliance Summit is about action.  How will we, as a community, come together to ensure that integrated employment is a reality for all people with disabilities?  Idea sharing, networking opportunities and a closing session that will result in actionable plans on a national, state and individual level all ensure that this meeting will have lasting impact.

Join with the Alliance for Full Participation, and be part of the movement to double integrated employment for people with IDD.  

Real Jobs--It's Everyone's Business!

Emergency Preparedness for People with special needs

from Disability.gov:
Emergency Preparedness for People with special needs:

Individuals and their families are urged to “resolve to be ready” this hurricane season. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Region 6 office has launched a new hurricane preparedness website to help you accomplish that goal. FEMA also has important information for people with disabilities about putting together an emergency kit and developing a plan so you are ready for any type of disaster or emergency.

Some strategies to consider:

Create a support network to help you plan for an emergency. Consider family, neighbors, friends, people who provide services to you, faith-based and community groups. Tell these people where you keep your emergency supplies. Give at least one member of your support network a key to your house or apartment

Keep contact information for local independent living centers and other disability services organizations in a safe and easy-to-access place. If you provide any organizations or service providers with information about your functional needs and what you may require in an emergency, keep that data up to date

Work with local transportation and disability services (e.g., Paratransit, Independent Living Centers) to plan ahead for accessible transportation if you may need that for evacuation or other reasons during a disaster

Copies of medical prescriptions, doctors orders, and the style and serial numbers of the support devices you use

Medical alert tags or bracelets or written descriptions of your disability and support needs, in case you are unable to describe the situation in an emergency

Even if you do not use a computer yourself, consider putting important information onto a portable thumb drive for easy transport in an evacuation

If you receive federal disability benefits, register your bank account information in advance with the U.S. Department of the Treasury online at http://www.godirect.org/ so you can continue to access your money during an emergency

see more strategies here

For information and tools related to emergency preparedness for people with disabilities see the FEMA Office of Disability Integration and Coordination webpage.