Disability Matters

Sandy Finucane, vice president of Legal & Government Affairs for the National Epilepsy Foundation, will discuss her organization's efforts to bring awareness to epilepsy and to improve the lives of people with epilepsy, as November is National Epilepsy Month.

Joyce welcomes Michael Winter, Director of the Federal Transit Administration's Office of Civil Rights. Discussed on the show will be his office's full range of Federal civil rights responsibilities as they apply to the Federal transit assistance programs, including those under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.

Joyce welcomes Coleen Vuono, Executive Director and Tammy McNaughton, Chairperson of the Pittsburgh Disability Employment Project for Freedom. Discussed on the show, will be the mission of this non-profit organization, which provides technology skills and training to individuals with disabilities and assists them in gaining competitive employment opportunities.

Joyce welcomes Dr. Christopher Rosa, Director of Student Affairs for Disability and Veterans Services for the City University of New York as her guest. Discussed on the show will be the university's student affairs programs related to disability and veterans services.

Joyce welcomes Jim Dickson, Vice President for Governmental Affairs, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), and Ramón Garcia, Organizer of Just Vote Arizona! Disability Vote Coalition. Discussed on the show will be the AAPD Disability Vote Project, a broad coalition of 36 national disability-related organizations working to close the political participation gap for people with disabilities.

Back by popular demand, we will be rebroadcasting the October 31, 2006 addition of "Disability Matters with Joyce Bender" on Tuesday, October 2, 2007, with Joyce's honored guest Doro Koch, daughter of the 41st President of the United States, and author of My Father, My President: A Personal Account of the Life of George H.W. Bush.

Joyce welcomes Robert Chamberlin, President and CEO of NISH. NISH is a not-for-profit organization, whose headquarters are in Vienna, VA. Their primary mission is developing job opportunities for people with severe disabilities under the AbilityOne Program. Mr. Chamberlin will be discussing its mission in depth.

Joyce welcomes Howard Cohen, Vice President of the Program Management Office (PMO) and Quality Office (QMO),.for WellPoint, Inc. in Thousand Oaks, CA and Mariana Nork, Senior Vice President for Communications & Development for the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) on Tuesday, September 18, 2007, from 2 PM to 3 PM Eastern Time. Discussed on the show will be Mr. Cohen's recent participation in a 6-day 150 mile race across Chile to support the mission of the AAPD.

Joyce welcomes John R. Macko, Interim Director in the National Technical Institute for the Deaf Center on Employment (NCE) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), who will discuss the curriculum of this school with a national reputation for graduating qualified deaf students with disabilities in the areas of business and technology.

Joyce welcomes Joseph F. Lagana, Ed.D., Founder, of the Homeless Children's Education Fund (HCEF), who will discuss the mission of this Pittsburgh, PA – based non-profit organization, which was established in 1999 to supplement federal funding for the educational needs of local homeless children.