ADALive!

Tom - Olin - 504at50 by Southeast ADA Center

For more information, transcripts, and resources visit: https://adalive.org/episodes/episode-112/

Some autistic adults have difficulties in finding employment opportunities that match their interests, gifts, and talents. Many autistic adults are unemployed or underemployed.

Autistic adults and youth also experience barriers to completing postsecondary education and training opportunities, accessing healthcare, and enjoying an equitable quality of life.

In this informative discussion, discover resources and supports available for autistics looking for employment and employers looking to hire these valuable employees.

Our guest for this episode is Bev Harp, an autistic and the Principal Investigator of the Innovative Supports for Autistic Workers (ISAW) Project at the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute, and Bev’s assistant, Squawkers McCaw.

As Veterans return to civilian life, some want to return to jobs they held before entering the military. Some will begin the search for new jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.9 million Veterans, or 27 percent, have a service-connected disability.

In recognition of Veterans Day on November 11th, and in honor of military Veterans, we dedicate this episode of ADA Live! to the employment of Veterans and the challenges some Veterans face in returning to civilian employment.

Please join us for this informative discussion on the employment of Veterans with our three guests:

Keith Hosey, Supervisory Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Louisville.

Anne-Marie Nelson, National Vocational Rehabilitation Planning Specialist VHA Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Service Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Department of Veteran Affairs, Washington, DC.

Joseph Carlomagno, National Community Employment Programs Specialist, VHA Vocational Rehabilitation, Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Department of Veteran Affairs, Washington, DC.

For more information, resources, and transcripts visit: https://adalive.org/episodes/episode-110/

Each October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). The 2022 NDEAM theme of “Disability: Part of the Equity Equation” recognizes the important role that people with disabilities play in a diverse inclusive workforce.

As Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), Taryn M. Williams, remarked, “A strong workforce is the sum of many parts, and disability has always been a key part of the equation. People with disabilities make up a wonderfully multifaceted group. By recognizing the full complexion of our community, we can ensure our efforts to achieve disability inclusion are, in fact, truly inclusive.”

To celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), our guest for this ADA Live! episode is Wally Tablit, Senior Director of Policy and Workplace Development at RespectAbility. Mr. Tablit will showcase insightful supportive, inclusive, and equitable employment policies and practices, and the vital contributions of workers with disabilities.

More information, bios, resources, and transcripts available at https://adalive.org/episodes/episode-109/

Under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to a job, the work environment, or the way things are usually done during the hiring process. Job accommodations are changes to the ways workplace tasks are typically done that help people with disabilities be successful and have the same opportunities as people without disabilities.

The ADA requires reasonable accommodations as they relate to three aspects of employment: 1) ensuring equal opportunity in the application process; 2) enabling a qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of a job; and 3) making it possible for an employee with a disability to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment.

On the next episode of ADA Live! we welcome guest Sheryl Ellis, to discuss Title I from both the employee and employer perspective. Sheryl specializes in ADA compliance and workplace accommodations, assisting employees and employers in achieving the best possible outcomes for both parties. Sheryl is the author of “Making It Work: Managing Your Health Condition Through ADA Workplace Accommodations.”

For more information, resources, transcripts and bios visit https://adalive.org/episodes/episode-108/

Barbershops are an important place in black communities. Barbershops are a refuge from discrimination where black men can talk freely about their life and personal experiences. The Confess Project encourages dialogue between African American males about emotional health by training barbers and stylists to become mental health advocates.

While Black adults generally experience the same rates of mental illness as other adults in the United States, the American Psychological Association (APA) finds that Black adults who live below the poverty line are more than twice as likely to report serious psychological distress compared to those who have greater financial security. The APA also finds that concerns such as illness, poverty, and racial discrimination put Black male youth at greater risk for suicide, depression, and other mental health disabilities.

In this episode of ADA Live!, our guests Dontay Williams and Darnell Rice share about the Confess Project, a peer support network of more than 1400 barbers in 47 cities and 14 states across the U.S. who are inspiring boys, men of color and their families to be better emotionally and creating a culture of better mental health in Black communities.

For more information, bios, resources, and transcripts visit https://adalive.org/episodes/episode-107/

In celebration of the 32nd Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Judy Heumann and Peter Blanck share the barrier-breaking history of the disability rights movement in the United States.

Judy Heumann is an author, disability rights leader, founder of the World Institute on Disability, former Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSSERS), former Special Advisor on Disability Rights for the U.S. State Department, and subject of the documentary Crip Camp. Judy will be our honored guest for this ADA Live! podcast, and the host will be Peter Blanck, Ph.D., J.D. and University Professor and Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University.

Don’t miss this exciting chance to hear from one of the most powerful voices in the disability rights movement!

For more information, resources, and transcript visit: https://adalive.org/episodes/episode-106/

As we begin the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading health and research organizations are reviewing data on what we have been through and how we have been impacted. An area of concern is how the pandemic has affected our mental health. According to a scientific brief released in March 2022 by the World Health Organization (WHO), in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by 25%. And a Mental Health America (MHA) 2021 report titled “COVID 19 and Mental Health: A Growing Crisis” reports the number of people looking for help with anxiety and depression has skyrocketed.

To help us understand these findings and to offer a clinical perspective on how COVID has impacted our mental health, we welcome Dr. Lin Hogan, a clinical therapist at Weems Community Mental Health Center, Forest Institute of Professional Psychiatry, in Meridian, Mississippi. Our host is Dr. Peter Blanck, University Professor and Chair of the Burton Blatt Institute, Syracuse University.

Acompañamos para un episodio especial de ¡ADA en Vivo! Donde puedes aprender sobre los derechos civiles proporcionados por la Ley para estadounidenses con discapacidades (ADA), la definición de discapacidad, los requisitos para emplear personas con discapacidad, y como los empleados y empleadores tienen derechos debajo de la Ley ADA, y el proceso de una acomodación razonable. También Yessica Guardiola y Emily Rueber hablan sobre como hispanohablantes pueden contactar la Red Nacional de la ADA y cuales servicios proveemos en español.

For more information, resources, and transcripts visit https://adalive.org/episodes/episode-105b/

In 2021, the Administration on Aging (A-o-A), part of the Administration for Community Living (A-C-L), published “2020: Profile of Older Americans”. The report found that people aged 65, and over, represented 16% of the population in 2019 but that is expected to be 21.6% by 2040. They also found that, in 2019, 19% of adults aged 65 and older reported they could not function at all or had a lot of difficulty with at least one of six domains of functioning: hearing, vision, cognition, ambulation, self-care, or independent living.

Aging brings up a lot of unknowns around independent living, caregiving, and health to name but a few. To discuss these issues and in celebration of Older Americans Month, this episode of ADALive! will feature Marnie Mountjoy, Division Director at the Kentucky Department for Aging and Independent Living.