Quick Scan:
City of Bloomington's Council for Community Accessibility (CCA) annual awards ceremony will be held Monday, Oct. 20, 2008, at 6:30 p.m. at KRC Banquets and Catering, 216 S. College Avenue, Bloomington. The event is free and open to the public and celebrates the CCA's 19th anniversary.
The ceremony recognizes individuals, businesses, and organizations that make the community more accessible for people with disabilities. The following awards will be presented:
· Kristin Willison Volunteer Service Award
· Business Service Award
· Professional and Community Service Award
· Housing Service Award
· Self Advocacy Award
· Mayor's Award sponsored by Ivy Tech Community College
The evening begins at 6:30 p.m. with hors d'ouevres and desserts prepared by Chef Nick Farkas, followed by the keynote address at 7:00 p.m. and presentation of awards at 7:30 p.m.
James Dickson, Vice President of Governmental Affairs of the American Association of People with Disabilities, will be the keynote speaker. Dickson leads AAPD's nonpartisan Disability Vote Project, a broad coalition of 36 national disability-related organizations whose mission is to close the political participation gap for people with disabilities. The project focuses on voter registration and education, Get-Out-The-Vote drives, election reform, and polling place access. The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is the largest cross-disability membership organization in the United States, advocating for disability rights and creating connections among people with disabilities.
To reserve a spot at the awards ceremony, please contact Craig Brenner by October 15 at (812) 349-3471 or via e-mail to brennerc@bloomington.in.gov.
There is still time to register for the November 4-6 and December 2-4 Employment Specialist Training workshop, to be held at the Indiana Institute and sponsored by the Indiana Supported Employment Training Team (ISETT).
EST is designed to provide basic skills to service providers who have worked as employment specialists for less than one year. Attendees learn best practices in job and career development, employment support planning, ecological analysis, follow-along, and emerging industry trends.
EST is a six-day training split into two sessions held one month apart. An exit test is required for participants seeking certification. Individuals who attend all days of both sessions and successfully complete the exit test receive a competency-based certificate from Indiana University. CEUs and CRUs are available. To date, the EST training team has trained and certified over 2,500 employment specialists in the state of Indiana. Past participants have included job coaches, teachers, job developers, parents, mental health professionals, vocational coordinators, state agency and Work One staff.
Registration fee is regularly $300.00 per person. Act now and receive a $200.00 discount! Questions, want to register? Contact Kay Moore via e-mail at moorel@indiana.edu or call (812) 855-6508.
The Institute's innovative collaborative work technology is being used to conduct a series of provider focus groups around the topic of family support. Focus group participants from Monroe County and surrounding counties traveled to the Institute's Collaborative Work Lab in Bloomington to share ideas about providing family support services, current barriers, and elements of an ideal system last week. The week prior, Institute staff took the "portable" Collaborative Work Lab to St. Vincent/New Hope in Indianapolis to conduct a similar focus group of providers from various areas of the state.
Collaborative Work Lab staff providing the facilitation for these focus groups are from the Institute's Center for Planning and Policy Studies: Vicki Pappas, Jeffrey Chait, and Matt Norris. Information from these provider focus groups will be combined with information gathered from caregiver interviews and other focus groups of self-advocates. A report will be prepared and presented to FSSA, the state agency that is funding the Family Support Research Project. Phil Stafford and Vicki Pappas are project co-directors.
For more information about the use of the Collaborative Work Lab for focus groups, contact Vicki Pappas, Director, Center for Planning and Policy Studies at (812) 855-6508 or e-mail cwlab@indiana.edu.
The Early Childhood Program Area of the Department of Elementary Education at Ball State University, Muncie, is hosting its annual early childhood conference on Saturday, October 11, 2008. The theme of the conference will be Speaking Up for Children. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. at Teachers College on the Ball State Campus. There will be exhibitors from varied vendors and organizations throughout the conference. Workshop sessions will be available for administrators, teachers, (Infancy - kindergarten), and parents. Registration fee is $45.00 for professionals and $20.00 for students. Workshop titles and descriptions as well as registration information are available at www.bsu.edu/elementaryeducation.
New Items: The following new materials may be borrowed by Indiana residents from the Center for Disability Information and Referral at the Institute. To check out materials, contact the library at 1-800-437-7924, send e-mail to cedir@indiana.edu, or visit us at 2853 East Tenth Street in Bloomington.
Compart, P. (2006). The kid-friendly ADHD and autism cookbook: The ultimate guide to the gluten-free, casein-free diet. Gloucester, MA: Fair Winds Press.
Gast, C. & Krug, J. (2008). Caring for myself. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Morton, D. (2008). Nolo's guide to social security disability: Getting and keeping your benefits. Berkley: Nolo.