Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL)

[ARTICLE]: Meet the advocates who are fostering a community of disability inclusion. Read more: http://ow.ly/GcEM50EiMwT Keah Brown, author of "The Pretty One" and creator of #DisabledAndCute, stands next to a photo of Harriet Tubman.

[TEXT]: Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) is proud to partner with Accessible Festivals to provide American Sign Language at the upcoming Inclusion Dining & Jams concert and livestream at the Musikfest Cafe on April 11th, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. EST. The event is designed to include and accommodate individuals of all abilities, and in addition to ASL will feature: captions, video descriptions, sensory supports, and more! LVCIL empowers persons with all types o...f disabilities to achieve independence in an inclusive community. Find out how we can help you by visiting www.lvcil.org #DisabilityInclusion #Accessibility

[TEXT]: Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) is hiring! Join our team and help us make a difference in the Lehigh Valley. Click the link below for a complete listing. http://ow.ly/YiBN50Eeoyk Image shows the LVCIL logo with the text, 'Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living.'

[TEXT]: Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation PATF will host its next Money Talks webinar on Wednesday, April 21 from 1:00 2:00 p.m. The topic, "Decision-Making for Adults with Disabilities" will show how to take control over your finances, from when to buy a car, choose an apartment, or negotiate a salary. When it comes to these decisions, you don't have to make them by yourself. Learn about the differences among supported decision-making, representative payee, gua...rdianship, and powers of attorney. Attendees will learn: Different ways people with disabilities can get help in decision-making about health care and money; How to incorporate supported decision-making; Ways to self-advocate for the control in decisions you want and need; and Practical next steps and resources for help. This webinar is part of a free series hosted by PATF on financial empowerment for people with disabilities. If you are a person with a disability, a family member of someone who has a disability, an advocate, an educator, or a service provider, this series is for you. Sessions will include 30-45 minutes of interactive learning and 15 minutes for questions. Each session will be fully accessible, and recordings and slides will be made available. Learn more, view previously recorded webinars, and register for this month’s webinar at: http://ow.ly/xktP50EfsrM Want to purchase your assistive tech but don't know how? LVCIL has partnered with the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF), a nonprofit organization that provides low- and no-interest loans to qualifying individuals so that they can buy the devices they need. For information, visit www.patf.us. #DisabilityInclusion #Accessibility #Advocacy

LVCIL's Ready Set Spring Raffle ends April 14! - https://mailchi.mp//lvcils-ready-set-spring-raffle-ends-ap

[ARTICLE]: "Money Follows the Person has been renewed for three years under legislation approved in late December. The Medicaid program gives states extra funds to provide employment, housing and other services to help people transition from nursing homes and other institutions to homes in the community." Read more: https://www.disabilityscoop.com//program-helping-pe/29143/ #NursingHomes #Covid19 #Medicaid... Two people hug each other while sitting on a couch. Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) empowers persons with all types of disabilities to achieve independence in an inclusive community. Find out how we can help you by visiting www.lvcil.org

Have questions about disclosing a disability at the workplace? Get answers here! Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) offers this free webinar Tuesday at 2pm. Send an email to Carly Beck, Career Path Coordinator at [email protected] to receive a Zoom link.

[ARTICLE]: National Council on Independent Living offers this article "Congress Passes COVID-19 Bill; Disability Community Needs Continue to be Unmet." Read more: https://advocacymonitor.com/congress-passes-covid-19-bill-/ #COVID19 #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityRights Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) empowers persons with all types of disabilities to achieve independence in an inclusive community. Find out how we can help you by visiting www.lvcil.org

[ARTICLE]: "To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Yale alumni led a special livestream forum featuring two iconic national disability rights figures who were instrumental in the passage of this historic bill." Read more: http://ow.ly/Sj2N50CNhkl #DisabilityRights #DisabilityInclusion #ThanksToTheADA

[TEXT]: LLehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL)has various assistive devices and medical equipment looking for a good home! The devices available include amplified telephones, switches, ringers, CapTel, commodes, canes, walkers, wheelchairs, scooters, and more. These items are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Call Katie Krum at 610-770-9781 x 123 or email [email protected] for information. TTech OWL - Technology for Our Whole Livesis a statewide assist...ive technology program and is the Commonwealth's Assistive Technology Act Program at the Institute on Disabilities at TTemple University funded through a grant from the Administration on Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. TechOWL is LVCIL's partner in offering assistive technology (AT) services and LVCIL is representing TechOWL in our region. LLehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL)empowers persons with all types of disabilities to achieve independence in an inclusive community. Find out how we can help you by visiting www.lvcil.org #AssistiveTech

[ARTICLE] The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, along with 76 groups, issued a statement on the need for President-elect Joe Biden to name an attorney general of the United States and other senior leadership of the U.S. Department of Justice who have strong records with regard to civil rights enforcement and justice reform. Read more: https://civilrights.org//groups-call-for-a-justice-depart/# #Justice #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityRights... Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) empowers persons with all types of disabilities to achieve independence in an inclusive community. Find out how we can help you by visiting www.lvcil.org [IMAGE CAPTION] The words "United States of America Office Of The Attorney General" are displayed on the grey walls of a building.

[ARTICLE] Here are a few words from Janice Haley-Schwoyer, the new President for the Board of Directors at Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) in Allentown! I was asked to join the Board of LVCIL to provide marketing help, but I have learned so much more from them than I could ever give back. My daughter, an adult with cognitive disabilities, volunteered as a receptionist there and quickly learned job skills and the confidence to go for full-time employment. ...She works in Admissions at Dorney Park during the summer and was a zombie at The Haunt during Halloween her dream job! LVCIL looks at people with disabilities, not just in terms of what they can do instead of what they can’t but focuses on what they want to do. It’s an incredibly empowering environment, and I’m proud to be part of it. Janice Haley-Schwoyer has more than 40 years of practical management experience as a writer, broadcast producer, and creative director in advertising, public relations and marketing. She was the co-owner and creative director of Jangle Advertising, Marketing & Communications, a full-service advertising agency in Nazareth until 2016. Her agency served a variety of local, regional and national clients and specialized in branding and positioning strategies, as well as a full spectrum of creative executions and marketing planning activities. She currently works as a freelance writer, editor and proofreader and serves on the board for the Partnership for a Disability Friendly Community. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kentucky and completed graduate work in marketing communication from Temple University in Philadelphia. In addition, Haley-Schwoyer is a graduate of the Institute of Advanced Advertising Studies, sponsored by the American Association of Advertising Agencies. LVCIL empowers persons with all types of disabilities to achieve independence in an inclusive community.

[ARTICLE]: "Introduced by Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) and Katie Porter (D-CA), the Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act prohibits discrimination against individuals based on their disability when seeking an organ transplant. This legislation would uphold and enforce rights established in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990." Read more: https://www.ndss.org/lawmakers-introduce-federal-legislati/ #OrganDonor #Transplant #Disa...bilityRights Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) empowers persons with all types of disabilities to achieve independence in an inclusive community. Find out how we can help you by visiting www.lvcil.org Text in red shows the words, "ndss" and in blue text above, the words, "National Down Syndrome Society."

[ARTICLE] While the world marked International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 3, the history of people with disabilities is still not fully taught in schools. Read more: http://ow.ly/dD5B50CS6Ex #DisabilityInclusion #Accessibility #Deaf #Blind A historical photo of Helen Keller meeting with former President John F. Kennedy.

[ARTICLE] While 63% of the national population was employed in 2019, only 19% of people with a disability had jobs. Project SEARCH, a one-year internship program for high school graduates with developmental and intellectual disabilities, aims to change that statistic. Read more: http://ow.ly/3TNt50CS2KC #Employment #Workplace #DisabilityInclusion Emmett Larimer, sitting at a desk, is in his second year of the Project SEARCH program.... Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) empowers persons with all types of disabilities to achieve independence in an inclusive community. Find out how we can help you by visiting www.lvcil.org

[ARTICLE] One school district decided to start sending the bus, which it calls the Magic Bus, to the homes of special education students in September. Read more: https://www.disabilityscoop.com//school-bus-mobile-/29121/ #Education #Pandemic #SpecialEd #DisabilityInclusion... Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) empowers persons with all types of disabilities to achieve independence in an inclusive community. Find out how we can help you by visiting www.lvcil.org [IMAGE CAPTION] A teacher works with a student inside a makeshift classroom on a bus.

[ARTICLE]: "Recently, a wave of innovative technologies and designs has rendered the outdoors more accessible than ever. Here's a glimpse at some of today's many adaptive-gear options." Read more: http://ow.ly/LnK250D1y1M #AssistiveTech #DisabilityInclusion... People use adaptive equipment to go down a snowy ski slope. Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) empowers persons with all types of disabilities to achieve independence in an inclusive community. Find out how we can help you by visiting www.lvcil.org

[TEXT]: Check out this free webinar, "Making the Connection: Aging, Transportation and the ADA" January 26, 2021 2:00pm to 3:30pm EST Presented by TransCen, Inc. and the Mid-Atlantic ADA Center ... The webinar will focus on transportation and mobility options for seniors when driving is no longer possible. Topics will include the importance of mobility for social connections and health, the range of mobility options, role of caregivers, transportation accessibility, and ADA considerations. Information on finding community resources for transportation, role of mobility managers, assistance from aging services and Centers for Independent Living, will also be provided. Presenters are Ken Thompson and Heather Edmonds from the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC) Real-time captions will be available through the webinar platform. To register, visit: https://www.adainfo.org//making-connection-aging-transport #Transportation #ThanksToTheADA #Disability Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) empowers persons with all types of disabilities to achieve independence in an inclusive community. Find out how we can help you by visiting www.lvcil.org The interior of a metro bus with seats on either side.

[TEXT] Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. Make it Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL)! Visit www.smile.amazon.com to set up an account.

Today Is the Day! Here is some Election Day info from American Association of People with Disabilities If you have not yet cast your ballot please do so your vote is your way of representing yourself and your community and contributing to the decisions that influence our daily lives. ... To support you and those within your network prepare to vote this election and answer any questions you may have, check out AAPD REV UP’s Voting in 2020 page for state voting guides, FAQs, and more at http://ow.ly/FQvw50Caibr. If you have any difficulties when voting, you can also reach out to your local Protection and Advocacy organization. There are also several election hotlines you can contact, including the ASL Hotline at 301-818-VOTE (301-818-8683) and the Election Protection Hotline at these numbers: English, talk or text: 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) Spanish or English: 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888-839-8682) Asian Languages or English: 888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683) Arabic or English: 844-YALLA-US (844-925-5287) We believe that our democracy only works for everyone when everyone can vote. The American Association of People with Disabilities believes that all votes matter, it is critical that our election officials support every vote matters, and it is critical to our democracy that every vote cast gets counted. #REVUP #VotingRights #AAPD #Election2020

SEVERE WEATHER ALERT! Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) staff are working virtually today, but our building is closed. Please be safe out there everyone!

[ARTICLE] This fitness platform offers workouts for people with disabilities Read more: http://ow.ly/jLjq50CRdXe #Fitness #DisabilityInclusion ... People with disabilities perform workouts using the Kakana fitness platform.

Tune in Live for Joyce Bender's Disability Matters Podcast featuring Disability Rights Pennsylvania CEO Peri Jude Radecic as they talk to callers about how they're experiencing Election Day. Click here: http://ow.ly/QzKV50C54lr Image shows Peri Jude Radecic and Joyce Bender and the text, "Election Day Live with Disability Matters, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. 2 to 3 p.m. EST. Call in to the show to discuss your Election Day issues at 1-866-472-5788."

Struggling To Connect Through A Screen, Special Ed Teachers Make House Calls READING, Pa. For the first few weeks of the school year, Leslie Esterly struggled to connect with Levi Wilson. With the COVID-19 pandemic far from over, the Reading School District began classes this fall virtually. That meant Esterly, who teaches students with multiple disabilities at Lauer’s Park Elementary School, was introduced to the 6-year-old kindergartner online.... He never met me before the screen, Esterly said. That can make connecting with any student difficult. It made connecting with Levi who is nonverbal due to Leigh Syndrome, a severe neurological disorder that leads to progressive loss of mental and movement abilities nearly impossible. Esterly said Levi wasn’t responsive to virtual lessons and wouldn’t interact with the stranger talking to him through his computer. And Esterly couldn’t provide the hands-on help she would normally give in the classroom. On screen, I can’t tell if he’s touching the right object or looking at the right thing, she said. Levi can’t manipulate a mouse, so his mom would have to be moving it for him. The same was true with several other students in the multiple-disabilities program. Esterly and her fellow teachers were frustrated, wondering how to give their students what they need and, quite frankly, deserve. They decided to pitch an idea to the district administration. Instead of trying to slog through the challenges of virtual instruction, they would put a plan into action that would let them teach their students face to face. And since the district’s schools were shut down, that meant making house calls. Read more: http://ow.ly/DLXz50C7fjO #Disabilities #VirtualLessons #SpecialEd #OnlineSchool #DevelopmentalDisabilities

State Reverses Decision Allowing Social Workers To Refuse Clients With Disabilities DALLAS A state council voted this week to reverse a decision that would have allowed social workers to turn away LGBTQ clients or those with disabilities. After backlash from lawmakers, social workers and advocacy groups, the Texas Behavioral Executive Council voted unanimously to again include disability, sexual orientation and gender identity in the nondiscrimination clause of the social w...orker code of conduct, according to The Texas Tribune. On Oct. 12, in a joint meeting with the Texas State Board of Social Work Examiners, the council had voted unanimously to take those protections away. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s office had recommended that move, saying it would align better with the state’s discrimination policy for social workers, the Occupations Code. Read more: http://ow.ly/a9VN50C7hsJ #DisabilityInclusion #Legal #LGBTQ

Research aims to reduce stigma of facial paralysis "A little bit of sensitivity training can help people form better first impressions of those with facial paralysis, reducing prejudices against people with a visible but often unrecognizable disability, new research from Oregon State University indicates. There is a natural tendency to base first impressions on a person's face, but those impressions can be inaccurate and often negative when the person has facial paralysis, sa...id Kathleen Bogart, an assistant professor of psychology in the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State University." Read more: http://ow.ly/KJuO50C7caC #FacialParalysis #HealthCare #Stigma Image: Image shows Kathleen Bogart, an assistant professor of psychology at Oregon State University. Her research focuses on the psychosocial implications of facial movement disorders such as facial paralysis and Parkinson's disease. Photo Credit Oregon State University.

Mark your calendar! Dec 1 is #GivingTuesday. How will you give? Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) helps all people with disabilities. Visit www.lvcil.org to learn more about our mission! Our theme this year is #EndItStrong... We want to know, what's keeping you strong during the pandemic? Send us your thoughts, images, stories and phrases and we'll post them to our social media! And don't forget to send in a donation of any size on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 1. You can donate directly to our website at www.lvcil.org/donate. It's been a tough year so let's End It Strong! #GivingTuesday

Polls may be accessible, but barriers remain "There are plenty of other obstacles that people with disabilities face in casting their ballots, like getting to their polling places, waiting in long lines and lowering the voting machines to wheelchair height. And even though mail-in ballots have presented a more accessible alternative, they can still pose a challenge for people who are blind and those who have dexterity issues." Read more: http://ow.ly/kWaR50C7b8y... #Voting #DisabilityInclusion #TheBarriersWeFace #WhatsAtStake #Election2020 #Accessibility Image: Image shows Elizabeth Clay, a Conshohocken voter with a physical disability. (Courtesy of Elizabeth Clay)

NCIL wants to hear from you about the ACA Earlier this week, the Senate voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. National Council on Independent Living and over 50 other national, state, and local disability rights organizations sent a letter urging the Senate to oppose her nomination. NCIL said it opposed her nomination because of her history of decisions that have harmed the disability community, and in particular her vocal opposition to t...he Affordable Care Act (ACA). Despite her confirmation, NCIL will continue to fight to save the ACA. The disability community played a huge role in saving the ACA in 2017, and we must do the same again, according to NCIL. NCIL wants your stories of how the ACA has helped you, and how overturning the ACA would be harmful. Please share your stories with NCIL by using this online form at: http://ow.ly/49Cu50C7a4D or emailing: [email protected]. NCIL is extending the deadline for this request to Sunday, November 1, 2020. Millions of people gained health insurance coverage because of the ACA, and would be at risk of losing it if the law is struck down. #ACA #WhatsAtStake #DisabilityInclusion #HealthCare

Virtual Training Teaches Parents To Manage Autism Behaviors Since parents play an important role in the treatment of their children’s autism symptoms, developing effective, efficient, socially acceptable and accessible training so they can implement these interventions is critically important, said Wayne Fisher, director of the Rutgers University Center for Autism Research, Education and Services, who led the study. However, many parents do not have access to this complex ...training due to geographic, economic and time barriers or more recently the pandemic, which has made in-person training difficult. Read more: http://ow.ly/Evpm50C55Ui #Autism #DevelopmentalDisabilities #Pandemic #Covid19 #Training

Election 2020: Decided by People with Disabilities? 67.7 million Americans who either have a disability or have a household member with a disability are eligible to vote in the November 2020 elections, totaling more than one-fourth of the total electorate. If mobilized, those voters with disability-related concerns could influence or even determine election outcomes, according to a recent study from Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations. Despite this,... the current presidential candidates have not directly targeted this constituency, and the needs of people with disabilities has not been a strong focus among either party’s campaign. Read more: http://ow.ly/pOm150C74AC #Election2020 #Voting #WhatsAtStake #DisabilityInclusion #Accessibility Image: Image shows a person in a wheelchair waiting to vote.

It’s important to build support from people that have similar experiences as you and people you can find community with in the face of academic ableism and in the face of this environment that is systematically designed to boot you out, Morales said. Read more: http://ow.ly/zJcO50C55dM #Advocacy #Accessibility #DisabilityInclusion #Berkeley #Ableism #ThanksToTheADA... Image: Image shows student advocates Alena Morales and Katie Savin.

This collection is going to enable historians and scholars to document the shift from a time when people with disabilities were seen as objects of charity needing medical supervision to people who were taking control of decisions affecting their own lives, said Susan O’Hara. Read more: http://ow.ly/ajaN50C3PB5 #Berkeley #DisabilityRights #DisabilityInclusion #ThanksToTheADA... Image shows Don Lorence in 1980 (Photo from the Disabled Students’ Program photograph collection, UARC PIC 28H:144, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley).

Learn more about voting rights for people with psychiatric disabilities Under federal law, a person cannot be barred from voting because of incompetence except in very limited circumstances. As a rule, if a person is competent enough to go to the polls and vote, or to complete an absentee ballot, federal law requires that the person be allowed to vote. Read more: http://www.bazelon.org/our-work/voting/... Find out how Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL) can help you. Visit www.lvcil.org/voting #MentalHealthLaw #VotingRights #Ballots #Election2020 #CripTheVote #REVUP