Tag Archives: accomodations
Self advocacy: Recognizing your own power
I didn’t have an easy childhood and there are a lot of painful memories looking back on it. However, I think this one carries a particular sting because it was my first realization that I was different, and my life wasn’t going to be “normal.” It was also in this moment that I began to recognize my own power.
ADA 33
The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public.
DID YOU KNOW?: HURRICANE SEASON (emergency shelters)
In the case of an evacuation, you must be prepared to go to a safe zone or transport yourself to an emergency shelter. Emergency shelters accept all people of all abilities as long as they are open, but if you require additional assistance you may want to look into the Emergency and Evacuation Assistance Program (EEAP) or registering at a Special Needs Shelter.
Featured Issue: Elevators & Elevators in Parking Garages
An alternative option should be provided immediately when an accessible element is not available. A governmental entity must make its programs or services, and a public accommodation must make its goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations, available through alternative methods such as (1) providing curb service or home delivery; (2) retrieving merchandise from inaccessible shelves or racks; and (3) relocating activities to accessible locations.
The View From Here (23-06)
My frustration is not that elevators break. I understand that things happen. My frustration is that there seems to never, ever be an adequate solution or alternative offered to those of us who cannot take the stairs if an elevator is broken. So, what do we do? Just deal with it?
Miami Herald 5/19/23 Op-Ed–Take Steps
An adequate transportation system that provides equal access is an essential component to ensuring persons with disabilities can live independently.
The View From Here (23-05)
Since my spinal cord injury in 2014, I’ve really come to admire those of us who live every day with a disability and share the struggles we face, as well as the milestones. Someone very dear to me said recently, “When you win, you always celebrate the victory, but when you don’t win, you learn from the loss.” That’s what I’ve taken from sharing my challenges, and what I’ve learned from my fellow spinal cord injury survivors who share theirs. We can often learn more from our struggles than from our triumphs. And we can certainly help others along the way, just by doing so.
Did You Know? Emergency and Evacuation Assistance Program (EEAP)
The Emergency and Evacuation Assistance Program (EEAP) provides free transportation and evacuation assistance for those who have access or functional needs. Specifically, the EEAP provides specialized transportation, safe shelter, medical monitoring, and wellness checks for those who may have extra medical needs.
Chasing Autism Acceptance
I have a dream where I move my with my children and my husband to an island. The world is tiny and easy. I am always with my five favorite people with no societal judgement. Then, I realize that humans crave connection with other humans. I crave connection. My husband craves connection. My children crave connection. It would be unfair to limit my kids’ connection, because humans are hard-wired to enjoy the company of other humans. We just have to figure out novels ways to get that connection.
Did You Know? Hurricane Season (emergency kit)
An emergency kit is a toolbox that should be catered to each individual’s needs. It should contain items you will need in your daily life, and it is recommended that at minimum, you pack enough to last you three days to a week’s worth of necessities.
How life can change in the blink of an eye.
Today, I’m still finding ways to stay involved with my passion for sports. Since I can no longer physically play baseball the way I used to, I have been focusing on sharing my story and giving motivational speeches to teams and athletes.
Accessibility & Awareness in Architectural Design
Provisions for accessible elements should not just stem from mandates, but precisely be the result of careful thought and awareness. Only then will that stylish, hip restaurant recognize accessibility as a positive and incorporate its elements not simply as an afterthought … but as a jeweled accent in its overall brand design.
National Disability Employment Awareness Month 2021 – “America’s Recovery: Powered by Inclusion”
As a disability rights lawyer who represented persons with disabilities for the past 25 years, I am often asked by persons with both visible and invisible disabilities about best practices in attempting to find a job and to keep a job. So, for National Disability Employment Awareness Month, I will share my top 10 points.
Paralympian Shawn Cheshire Wins Gold When Fighting for her Rights to go to LA Fitness and Work Out Independently
It is always an honor to work for a person whos talent and dedication is world-class. this year, I had the opportunity to work for Shawn Cheshire to vindicate her rights to be able to work out independently at an LA Fitness by her home in Florida. Shawn is a Paralympic cyclist who raced… Read More »
Is your club truly private? Piper the Service Dog vs. Boca Ciega Yacht Club
Piper is a dog, but she also has an uncanny talent for killing bees. This talent has aided her partner, Samantha Ring, who lives with severe allergies to bees and sunflower seeds and has a history of anaphylactic reactions to both. Piper saved Ms. Ring’s life by killing a bee while Ms. Ring was out on her boat without her EpiPen, so she decided to keep Piper and train her to be a service dog. On July 12, 2021, Piper the Dog finally got her day. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his partner’s case and found that there are certain questions of fact that need to be resolved before deeming the Boca Ciega Yacht Club in Gulfport Florida, a “private club” for purposes of the private club exemption under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Mental Health Month – Breaking Down Barriers in the Legal Profession That Stigmatize Mental Illness
Mental health month is always a good time to remind the legal profession that we still have a profession that stigmatizes applicants and lawyers that have mental illness or past histories of substance use disorder and that has a practice of conditioning the ability to practice law on mandated treatment and conditions that may… Read More »
Florida Legislature Animal Bill Update and Positions
Since its inception in 2002, Disability Independence Group has been active in enhancing options for persons with disabilities to benefit from the assistance and companionship of animals. Our advocacy ranges from ensuring that service animals and emotional support animals are permitted in housing and employment to embedding therapy animals in social services agencies that… Read More »
Last in Line – COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution has Failed Seniors with Disabilities.
There is no excuse why we are not providing equal access to the vaccine program for seniors with disabilities. By having a first come/first served regimen to vaccinate, and denying accommodations to the most vulnerable, this places persons with disabilities last.
Valuing and Devaluing the Disabled Human Life in Florida
The response to this outbreak is far from the empathetic “American Way,” but instead, we have lapsed into the Hobbesian ethic, where we deny essential testing to the most vulnerable, deny scarce life-saving equipment, rationalize the denial by claiming that the old and disabled would have died in any event. Then to place insult onto the injury, Florida may immunize those who deny care from total immunity. Even in the event we are overreacting to this pandemic, it still should be a clear signal that disability discrimination may be the only tenet that will be alive and well in our society.
Changes to Florida Statutes that Effect Civil Rights and Fair Housing in Florida
By: Matthew Dietz During the 2020 legislative session, there has been significant changes in statutes that prohibit discrimination in the State of Florida. These changes affect the way that civil rights claims are processed by the administrative agency that investigates such claims, the rights of claimants for they day in court, and it also… Read More »
