Tennessee Disability Coalition News Blog

This may be the best MegaConference to date! Hope you’re planning to attend! It’s May 28th to May 30th, 2008 at the Nashville Airport Marriott. For more detailed information about MegaConference visit: http://www.tndisabilitymegaconference.org/

Anticipated Keynote Speakers

Michae May

Michael’s personal life and professional career are characterized by pioneering efforts in business and in community service. After obtaining a Masters’ Degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; Mr. May worked at the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency in McLean Virginia as a Political Risk Analyst.

He subsequently moved to the West Coast to work for the Bank of California and then for TRW/ESL developing a new business area for high tech political risk assessment.

In 1984, Mike May joined 3 colleagues from ESL to start Finial Technology, developer of the world’s first Laser Turntable where he helped raise six million dollars in venture capital while heading up worldwide marketing and distribution. Mike founded two ventures in Oregon, Maytek Products and CustomEyes Computer Systems, which he eventually sold, before returning to Silicon Valley in 1995 to join Arkenstone as Vice-President of Sales. He left Arkenstone in late 1999 to form the Sendero Group. Sendero combines the skills of high tech professionals with orientation experts to put accessible location information into the hands of people who are blind or visually impaired.

Sendero is the lead organization in a $2.25 MM wayfinding grant backed by 5 other organizations. Mike and Sendero have pioneered accessible GPS from a back-pack laptop version in 1994 to the 1-pound BrailleNote version 10 years later . He presents worldwide on accessible wayfinding.

Mike May received the first American Foundation for the Blind Kay Gallagher award recognizing his mentoring role and contributions to community organizations including Society for the Blind, Discovery Blind Sports, United States Association of Blind Athletes, Blind Babies Foundation, Lighthouse for the Blind, Vista Center, Sensory Access Foundation and Project Hired.

Among Mike’s current challenges are raising two boys, Carson 14 and Wyndham 12 and to see his dream of an accessible GPS navigation and information system be readily available to blind people worldwide.

Nelson Lauver

At Age 29 He Could Not Read

At Age 32 He was Reading Scripts as a National Weatherman

Today, He Shares His Formula for Success and Overcoming Hard Times

Nelson Lauver was determined to overcome illiteracy forced upon him by Dyslexia and an educational system that chose to label him “unteachable”. Nelson had dreams for his booming radio voice but the inability to read and write was stopping him from meeting his goals.

At 29 years old he sought help through an occupational rehabilitation program. Through professional and exhaustive evaluations, it was determined that as a means of compensating for his reading and writing disability, he had unknowingly fined honed his listening and speaking to extraordinary levels. The little boy who teachers had given up on was actually quite brilliant.

During rehabilitation, he purchased a simple word processor to practice his letter and sentence structure. Not knowing how and what to type, he started to “hunt and peck” short stories about himself, friends, and the small Pennsylvania community around him. He produced many fine short stories that soon became the basis for his first CD, “The American Storyteller”.
In 1997 Nelson made a forty-mile walk from Maryland to the Library of Congress in Washington, DC to register “The American Storyteller” CD. Each mile of the trip represented one million Americans who are still functionally illiterate.

Today the “American Storyteller” has become part of a nationally syndicated radio program featuring Nelson and his gifted voice. A syndication that everybody said could not grow, let alone survive.
Nelson is currently celebrating his fifth year of syndication and he is now heard on 56 stations throughout the Midwest. In 2001 he released his second CD in the “American Storyteller” series.

His communication skills can be heard in two presentations that example his courage and mastery of public speaking. Both “Rules for Surviving Hard Times,” and “Secrets to Success” demonstrate why his speaking has gained high praise from attendees who have heard him speak at college campuses, association conferences and corporate meetings.

Juliette Rizzo

From covering and coordinating national news stories as a journalist to being selected by an organizing committee of the Atlanta Olympic Games to carry the Olympic torch through downtown Dallas, Juliette Rizzo has proven that personal dreams and goals are within reach for people with disabilities when the appropriate supports are in place.

Juliette empowers Americans by sharing her experiences and adventures with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma and fibromyalgia through an empowering platform, “Power through Participation: Illuminating Opportunities for People with Disabilities.” She believes participation is more than having a physical presence in your community. It is about finding your identity through your involvement in and personal contribution to community life.

She enlists people by sharing personal and professional examples of participating in her own life and encourages others to find their courage, share their vision and help her change the world!
With a strong background in media outreach, accessible events planning and strategic communication targeted at raising awareness of issues of importance to persons with disabilities, Juliette has worn many hats and promotes a continuous dialogue speaking throughout the nation with diverse audiences from 10 people to 20,000, including people with disabilities, families, policymakers, corporations, teachers, advocates, service professionals and the media.

In addition, she also has coordinated national outreach and media efforts with the Department of Education and other federal agencies, the White House and Congress to celebrate key anniversaries of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other national disability awareness months and events.

Juliette currently is Director of Exhibits and Events Planning in the Department of Education, raising awareness of educational opportunities for all Americans. Collaborating with other federal agencies to ensure people with disabilities are informed about initiatives important to them, Juliette recently provided input to the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Improve the Health and Wellness of Individuals with Disabilities and is currently working on disability-related national outreach projects and initiatives with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.

Juliette regularly participates in aquatics exercise and also sails with Chesapeake Regional Accessible Boating (C.R.A.B.) and Shake-A-Leg Miami, promoting the benefits of accessible boating. She previously skippered a Colgate 26 sailboat with a two-man crew and has been featured in the sailing industry’s Spin Sheet magazine.

She was recently appointed as The National Arthritis Foundation’s National Public Relations Chair for Arthritis Walks all across the nation and just spoke at the National Press Club as a spokesperson for the launch of the new American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation. Amidst the stories of great disability leaders, Juliette’s passionate message can be found in the recently published “Enabled in Words: The Real Lives, Real Victories of People with Disabilities.”

Oct. 19th and November 30th

Who: Brothers and sisters of children with special needs.

Ages: 7-12 years

What: Sibshops are best described as opportunities for brothers and
sisters of children with special health and developmental needs to
obtain peer support and education within a recreational context.
Sibshops are lively, pedal-to-the-metal celebrations of the many
contributions made by brothers and sisters of kids with special
needs. The Sibshops intersperse information and discussion
activities with new games (designed to be unique, off-beat, and
appealing to a wide ability range), cooking activities, and special
guests. Sibshops are as fun and rewarding for the people who host
them as they are for the participants!

When: October 19th and November 30th (Fridays)
Hope Presbyterian Church
From 6:00-8:00 pm (pizza dinner provided)

How Much: $10.00 per child per Sibshop session.
($20.00 for two or more children in the same family).
Scholarships are available. Donations to the Sibshop
Scholarship Fund are welcomed.

For More Info Call: Julie DeMarco, 901-756-8399, jdzimm1@cs.com
Harwood Center, Inc., 711 Jefferson Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee,
38105, (901) 448-6580 * FAX 448-4734

Sibshops Flyer and Registration Form in PDF

For more about Sibshops

Sponsored by:
Hope Presbyterian Church
The Harwood Center, Inc.
UT Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities

Benefits To Work Program

Date Posted: October 12, 2007

Position Description - Responsibilities and Requirements:
Responsible for educating SSA beneficiaries about the effects of earned income on SSA and other federal/state benefit programs. Assist with identifying and accessing work incentives available through SSA and other federal and state agencies. Job duties include counseling on work incentives, benefit programs, and employment options to facilitate informed choices about employment. Prepare comprehensive and accurate written work incentive plans based on information gathered, work incentives available and customer preference.

Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of education and/or experience. Ability to communicate complicated information in a manner that is understandable. Ability to investigate, validate, and document information from a variety of sources efficiently and accurately. Position based in southeast TN and requires regional travel. Serves southeast TN. Experience in working in federal or state benefit and entitlement programs a plus. We offer a competitive salary and benefits package.

Contact Information and Procedure:
Send resume to BenefitsToWork@gmail.com or P.O. Box 3180, Kingsport, TN 37664 by October 26.

Cathy Randall
Benefits To Work - TN Disability Coalition
P.O. Box 3180
Kingsport, TN 37664

Website: http://www.tndisability.org/benefitstowork
Phone: 423-956-5919