Disabled community 'left behind' in vaccine rollout one year later

Hundreds to thousands of calls come in to the Disability Information and Access Line (DIAL) each week from disabled people across the country with questions about COVID-19, vaccinations, testing spots and more.

As one of the first call centers to focus specifically on the needs of disabled people, the federally funded hotline continues to pick up speed, filling a service previously unmet, according to the line's director Sara Clark. The more people know about it, she says, the more calls they're fielding.

Full article here: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/...

77% of workers with disabilities say their employer has done a better job supporting them since the pandemic started

2021 was a prominent year for DE&I efforts across businesses nationwide. Hybrid work not only helped with issues like workplace discrimination, but ushered in a more accessible environment for disabled workers.

According to a recent Adobe survey of 1,000 full-time workers, part-time workers, and students based in the U.S. — including respondents with and without disabilities, employers have done a better job supporting disability needs, but improvements can be made to etiquette education, recruitment and retention.

Full article here: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/3...

‘Unintentional discrimination’ at the heart of disability lawsuit against California community college district

In a case some say could have a profound impact on disabled students’ rights, California’s largest community college district is planning to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a case centered on blind students’ access to textbooks, handouts and other classroom materials in a format they can understand.

Arguing that federal disability rights laws don’t cover unintentional discrimination, the Los Angeles Community College District board of trustees has announced it would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling in favor of the students. But in hopes of settling the case before it reaches the high court, the board also plans to ask for a 60-day extension to allow negotiations to continue. The deadline for the extension is Jan. 3.

Full article here: https://edsource.org/2021/unin...

ADAM HILLS AWARDED MBE FOR SERVICES TO PARALYMPIC SPORT AND DISABILITY AWARENESS

All at Off The Kerb send their congratulations to Adam Hills as he is awarded an MBE and recognised for services to Paralympic sport and disability awareness in the New Year Honours.

Adam has said that he ‘still was not convinced someone isn’t playing a prank on me’ after receiving his MBE.

‘I am absolutely chuffed to bits to be given this honour,’ he continued. ‘I’ve already googled “Australian comedians who have received honours”, “when can I start writing MBE after my name?” and “are Australians even eligible for an MBE?”‘

‘Turns out the answers are “Barry Humphries and Clive James”, “when you receive the medal” and “yes”.’

Full article here: https://offthekerb.com/news/ad...

Meet the UCL students making a change for people with disabilities

From fighting for better curriculums to mentoring with lived experiences, these students are doing a lot to improve accessibility

Disability History Month runs annually from November 18 to December 18 in the UK, and International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPWD) also falls on December 3 of every year.

This past IDPWD, UCL Student Support and Wellbeing held an online conference that brought together “academics, advisers and students to explore Leadership and Participation of Persons with Disabilities.” SSW Manager (Disability Support) and event organiser Louise described the event as “a platform for the students we work for, via the expert student panel, as well as the amazing work and research our UCL community has done, in, and for, disability participation over the past year.”

Having been fortunately invited to share my experiences and journalism as a disabled student, I met some UCL students actively making a change for disabled people in the uni and broader community. Here are some of them.

Full article here: https://thetab.com/uk/london/2...

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