On November 27, 2007, Mitch Katz, San Francisco's director of public health,
announced a new program called "Success at Home." The program is the result
of a preliminary settlement agreement in the civil rights class action lawsuit Chambers
v. City and County of San Francisco regarding the Laguna Honda Hospital
and Rehabilitation Center, a nursing facility owned and operated by the City
with over 1,000 beds. The plaintiffs claimed that the City violated the Supreme
Court's Olmstead decision, which held unnecessary institutionalization
and confinement violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, by keeping
plaintiffs at Laguna Honda when they were capable of living in their own
homes or in accessible housing within the community.

"Success at Home" will provide some eligible San Franciscans with disabilities
community-based housing and services such as federally-subsidized medical
services, subsidized housing, attendant and nursing care, case management,
vocational rehabilitation, substance abuse treatment, mental health services
and assistance with meals, as an alternative to institutionalization. Additionally,
the program will allow Laguna Honda to emphasize short-term rehabilitation
as one of its goals. The preliminary settlement agreement is pending an approval
from the Court, Laguna Honda and the Health Commission.

Press Release:

Protection & Advocacy, Inc., Settlement of San Francisco Lawsuit to
Create New Community Services for Seniors and Adults with Disabilities (November
27, 2007), available at

http://www.pai-ca.org/news/LHH/LHHPressRelease-2007-11-27.pdf

After the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Wal-Mart in
Huber v. Wal-Mart, the Supreme Court has decided to hear the case, which
may settle a division in Circuit Courts across the United States. The case
concerns former Wal-Mart employee, Pam Huber who suffered an injury on the
job rendering her unable to continue working as an order filler. Ms. Huber
sought a new position within Wal-Mart, a router job, similar in pay to her
order filler position, and Wal-Mart denied her the position. Instead, Wal-Mart
offered the position to someone they considered more qualified and offered
Ms. Huber a janitorial job that paid $6.30 less than the router job.

The issue for the Court to consider is: When an employee is prevented from
performing the essential functions of her/his current position because of
a disability, and there is a vacant, equivalent position for which the employee
is qualified, does the ADA require the employer to reassign the employee
to that position even when there is a more qualified applicant? Specific
to this case, should Wal-Mart have given Ms. Huber the router position even
though she was not the most qualified applicant, or did Wal-Mart satisfy
the requirements of the ADA just by allowing Ms. Huber to apply for the router
position? A District Court in Arkansas found in favor of Ms. Huber, but the
decision was reversed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals holding the
ADA "only requires Wal-Mart to allow Huber to compete for the job, but the
statute does not require Wal-Mart to turn away a superior applicant."

Full Story:

Christopher S. Rugaber, Supreme Court Will Hear Wal-Mart Disability Suit,
USA Today (December 7, 2007), available at

http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2007-12-07-wal-mart-disability-suit_N.htm

Huber v. Wal-Mart, 486 F.3d 480 (8th Cir. 2007), available at

http://www.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/07/05/062238P.pdf

On November 14, 2007, both the House and Senate passed a bill addressing
problems in the Head Start program with a 381-36 and 95-0 vote, respectively.
Head Start, a 42-year-old program, serves more then 900,000 students. Renewal
of the program gives lawmakers an opportunity to show "the kind of legislation
that can emerge from bipartisan consensus and compromise." The program, in
part, will expand the population of families eligible for the program by raising
household income limits. President Bush signed the Bill on December 12, 2007
making it Public Law No: 110-134.

Full Story:

Alyson Klein,
Head Start Measure Expected to Launch New Era for Program, Education Week
(November 28, 2007), available at

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/11/28/13headstart.h27.html

{free subscription required}

Link to the text of the law:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c110:./temp/~c110LBf8rN

It is estimated that as many as one child in one hundred and fifty is diagnosed
with a form of autism. The number of students with autism has risen from
42,500 in 1997 to roughly 225,000 in 2006. Some doctors and researchers believe
the numbers grew so dramatically because the definition of autism has changed.
Other doctors and researchers believe the number of children diagnosed with
autism has been affected by the development of drug and medical treatment.
While the number of autistic students is on the rise, the number of students
with intellectual impairments (referred to as mental retardation under the
IDEA) is diminishing. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention suggest the numbers reflect how autism has become an umbrella
term under which falls a spectrum of disorders.

Full Story:

The Associated Press, Autism Explosion Due in Part to Expanded Definitions,
Chico Enterprise-Record (December 3, 2007), available at

http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_7620429

The U.S Department of Education has ordered 21 school districts in New
Jersey that have a disproportionate number of racially diverse students receiving
special education services, to move 15% of their federal education funding
toward early intervention services. The services will focus on early literacy
and behavior problems in the "average" classroom. These services will include
a phonemic awareness program, literacy resource coach, leveled readers, and
a computer based social learning program.

Full Story:

Erica Harbatkin, Area Schools Set Plans to Fix Racial Imbalance, Home News
Tribune (December 2, 2007), available at

http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071202/NEWS/712020508/1001

Ken Gan, an Auto repair shop owner, recently created a device to assist
him with customers who are deaf. The device is called an Interpretype; it
has a keyboard and a display that hooks up to another Interpretype or a PC
so that people who are deaf can type messages to each other. Gan now sells
the device to schools, libraries, government offices, and businesses, including
Enterprise Rent-a-Car. Similarly, Jason Curry, an entrepreneur in Missouri,
has developed the UbiDuo that uses wireless technology to connect two portable
units. Other technologies used to assist people who are deaf include video
phones and Communication Access Realtime Translation, which consists of typing
to an online operator. These technologies allow people who are deaf instant
communication without an interpreter.

Full story:

Seth Sutel, New Devices Open Communications for Deaf, Fox News (November
6, 2007), available at

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Nov06/0,4670,BusinessofLife,00.html

For more information on Interpretype:

http://www.interpretype.com

Microsoft, the personal computer and software giant, has teamed up with
Daisy, creator of digital talking books, to create a talking version of Word
2003 and 2007. These programs are designed to assist people who are blind
or reading impaired better use the popular word processing applications.

Full story:

Dana Blankenhorn, Microsoft and Daisy Will Make Word Speak, ZDNet Healthcare
(November 14, 2007), available at

http://healthcare.zdnet.com/?p=483

Yahoo! India has developed a program for people who are blind to access
Yahoo! Mail services. The program reportedly works with any standard screen
reader software to identify what is displayed on the screen then convey
it to the user with text-to-speech sound icons and Braille output.

Full story:

BS Reporter, Yahoo! Mail is Now for the Blind, Business Standard (November
22, 2007), available at

http://www.business-standard.com/iceworld/storypage.php?leftnm=8&subLeft=1&chklogin=N&autono=305047&tab=r

In three Washington, D.C., area medical centers, the Department of Veterans
Affairs and the Department of Defense are implementing a pilot program designed
to eliminate duplicative steps in the process by which veterans obtain disability
benefits. The new program includes only one medical examination and a disability
rating from a single source. The pilot program is a result of the President's
Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors and if successful
may be expanded into other locations.

Full Story:

VA/DOD Commence Single Disability Examination Pilot for Wounded Warriors,
News Blaze (December 3, 2007), available at

http://newsblaze.com/story/20071202115249tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has published a list
of the poorest performing nursing homes. The list is intended to identify
chronically underperforming nursing homes, as well as facilities with a "yo-yo" history
of compliance and noncompliance. The 128 facilities on the list have been
designated special focus facilities (SFFs) and are subject to additional
standard surveys and a policy of progressive enforcement. CMS says the purpose
of the list is to equip consumers with information and to promote improvements
in the standard of care in identified nursing homes.

Full Story:

Press Release, CMS, CMS Publishes National List of Poor-Performing Nursing
Homes, Key Tool for Families Seeking Quality Care (November 29, 2007),
available at

http://communitydispatch.com/Health_News...ming_List.shtml

In response to a Department of Justice (DOJ) request for comments on the
2004 Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to update the 1992 ADA
requirement, removal of physical barriers, the Small Business Administration's
Office of Advocacy sponsored a report analyzing the effect of the 2004 recommended
changes on small businesses. E.H. Pechan & Associates (Pechan), a private
consulting firm specializing in analytical and policy-oriented services--specifically
air-quality control, business practices, information processing and management
improvements--produced the report. Using "a representative national barrier
removal project cost data set that is used by the construction industry," the
report compares the cost of architectural barrier removal to small businesses,
such as restaurants and local hospitals, to the costs on larger businesses.

The report focuses on ten changes recommended by the ANPRM and commented
on by small businesses. They are to 1) modify employee work areas, 2)
modify public entrances, 3) modify reach ranges, 4) modify walking surfaces,
5) modify water closets, 6) install or modify knee and toe clearances,
7) install or modify changing rooms, 8) modify restaurant or bar areas,
9) install portable alarms, and 10) install visible fire alarms.

The report found that small businesses face between $82,449 (restaurant)
and $275,375 (small hospital) in expenses if the ANPRM rules are accepted
by the DOJ. The report breaks this cost down per square foot and by employee,
arriving at a 2.2 to 4.1 per square foot loss of space and a $499 to $17,458
per employee impact on small businesses. The report, in part, concluded the
numbers are from 1.5 to 7.9 times greater than the impact that large businesses
will face. Pechan used the 2002 Economic Census and the 2003 Commercial Building
Energy Consumption Survey to estimate square footage and employment.

Full Report:

Andy Bollman, Evaluation of Barrier Removal Costs Associated with 2004 Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines, E.H. Pechan & Associates,
Inc. (November 2007), available at

http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs312tot.pdf

Historically, students with cognitive disabilities stay in high school until
the age of 22 to learn life skills, but in Massachusetts a new pilot program
allows more than a dozen students with cognitive disabilities to attend regular
community college classes at MassBay and Holyoke Community College. The program,
which will expand to four other community colleges in the spring, gives students
the opportunity to audit one introductory academic, vocational, or recreational
class.

While skeptics are concerned about the academic integrity of such programs,
Maureen Conroy, program coordinator at Holyoke Community College, explains
the program is about more than just the academic aspect; the program "has
transformed how [the students] see themselves and how others see them." Student
Wilson Lee "now rides the train from his home in Newton to class, then to
downtown Boston to his father's office, on his own. He zips around the school
cafeteria, once an overwhelming place, with ease."

Full Story:

Peter Schworm, Campuses Widen the Mainstream: Program Welcomes Some with
Cognitive Disabilities, The Boston Globe (December 10, 2007), available
at

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/12/10/campuses_widen_the_mainstream/

San Jose State University in California is going to purchase more Evacu-Tracs
chairs after the chairs proved useful in an October earthquake. The Evacu-Tracs
chair grips to the steps in stairwells making it easier for someone to assist
people with disabilities evacuate from multi-storied buildings. This proved
to be the case during the recent earthquake, where one student with no training
on how to use the chair was able to evacuate a student with disabilities
using the chair. The school currently has 45 chairs on campus, but plans
on using allocated funds in next year's budget to purchase more chairs.

Full Story:

Sarah Kyo, SJSU purchases more evacuation chairs: Same device used to help
students get out of King Library after earthquake, Spartan Daily (November
14, 2007), available at

http://media.www.thespartandaily.com/med...s-3099058.shtml

In Bergen County, New Jersey, the Division on Disability Services is giving
residents with various disabilities Community Emergency Response Training,
(CERT). The program lasts eight weeks, consists of three-hour sessions, and
will train both the residents with disabilities and the instructors. As the
residents with disabilities learn how to respond in times of disaster, the
instructors learn how to care for and meet the needs of people with disabilities
during times of disaster. The training is one of the first in New Jersey
and allows all involved to reach a new level of understanding in disasters.
Program information is available at the Bergen County Division of Disability
Services: 201-336-6500 (Voice) or 201-336-6505 (TTY).

Full Story:

Post, Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) for Persons with Disabilities,
The Paramus Post (November 28, 2007), available at

http://www.paramuspost.com/article.php/2007112819530159

In an effort to plan for emergencies, the Pitt County Emergency Management
team is sending out a voluntary questionnaire on flyers placed in monthly
utility statements. The flyer requests information about the transportation
and medical needs of people with disabilities. The last emergency the county
faced was Hurricane Floyd in 1999. The Emergency Management team hopes that
this information will be useful in future countywide emergencies. Greenville
Utilities will send the flyers to over 60,000 people. The Emergency Management
Team acknowledges that not everyone in the county utilizes Greenville Utilities
and so will make the flyers available "anywhere people go to pay bills."

Full Story:

Kathryn Kennedy, Form will help during natural disasters, The Daily Reflector
(November 28, 2007), available at

http://www.reflector.com/local/content/news/stories/2007/11/28/flyer.html

The United Kingdom's Channel 4 released an investigative report in November,
alleging the misspending of an estimated £4.5 billion allocated for
the education of children with special educational needs who attend school
in mainstream classrooms. The allegations stem from a report issued by the
Policy Exchange think-tank and from charities claiming the money has been
used to paint buildings, purchase new toilets, upgrade gym facilities, and
provide services to gifted children. In addition to the schools' misspending,
Channel 4 found that many local authorities have failed to satisfy their
duty of explaining to the schools how to spend the money.

Full Story:

Graeme Paton, Money for Special Needs Pupils 'Being Misspent,' Daily Telegraph
(Nov. 26, 2007), available at

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/26/nkids326.xml

Prior to compulsory education for children with disabilities, Germany's
education system, which included special-needs schools, was seen as advanced.
Today, with scientific studies now showing that inclusive classrooms are
more beneficial, Germany's system has not adapted. Only 13% of the country's
children with special needs are educated in regular public schools, compared
to an average 79% among Germany's western European neighbors.

While Germany officially recognized the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which includes an article on inclusive
education, the Bundestag (German legislature) has not yet ratified it. Once
the Convention is ratified, the German government is expected to take a more
active role in requiring individual states to provide inclusive education
for all children.

Full Story:

Jennifer Abramsohn, Disability Activists Face Tough Task in Germany's Schools,
DW- World.DE (Nov. 20, 2007), available at

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2934405,00.html

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's message on the International Day of
Disabled Persons was clear: the "deplorable" disability-based employment
discrimination taking place around the world must come to an end. Recognizing
people with disabilities are able to make valuable contributions in the workforce,
Ki-moon noted that at least half of the people living with disabilities in
developed countries are unemployed and most others are underemployed. Ki-moon
cited the barriers encountered by people with disabilities and called for
immediate change.

Full Story:

UN Chief Calls for End to Job Discrimination Against Disabled People, International
Herald Tribune (Dec. 4, 2007), available at

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/04/news/UN-GEN-UN-Day-of-Disabled.php

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