In 1988, Tiffany Callo, then a 20 year old woman with cerebral palsy unable
to walk or fully use her arms, fought for custody of her two sons and
lost. Since then, the Americans with Disabilities Act has made great strides
in securing the rights of people with disabilities. Tiffany Callo, now
Sabreena Westphal, finds herself again fighting for custody of her child,
this time her 5-year-old daughter. Ms. Westphal is not able to walk or
use her arms independently. She cannot get out of bed or get dressed alone,
and she has no circle of support to assist her. Recognizing the importance
of allowing parents with disabilities to raise their own children, a California
court soon will balance her interests with the well-being of her daughter.

Full Story:

Patty Fisher, A Disabled San Jose Mother Fights again for Right to Raise
Child, Chicago Tribune (January 8, 2008), available at

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0108disabled_filljan08,0,7766912.story

In Bates v. UPS, the Ninth Circuit approved a new affirmative defense for
employers sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act. UPS claimed
their use of a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) standard requiring
drivers of large trucks to pass a hearing test can be used to screen the
drivers of smaller trucks with hearing impairments. The court agreed with
UPS's reliance on the DOT safety standard as evidence of their business
necessity defense in regard to larger trucks. UPS has yet to prove the
standard is necessary to use against all drivers with hearing impairments,
regardless of the size of the commercial vehicle being driven.

Full Story:

Dan Levine, 9th Circuit Switches Gears on UPS Drivers in Closely Watched
Class Action, Recorder (January 2, 2008), available at

http://biz.yahoo.com/law/080102/b59339d106fae01e55c0e002fc921f49.html?.v=1

Court Decision:

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopini...pdf?openelement

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently conducted an evaluation
of the Department of Defense's (DOD) school programs for students
with dyslexia and its use of $3.2 million in funds to support such programs.
The GAO administered a survey to school principals, parents, and school
staff in six different school districts. Findings indicate that DOD schools
used the funds to support online and other training techniques to develop
teachers' abilities to help students who have difficulty reading.
The funds also went to extra online instruction for students who were
tested and appeared to have dyslexia and to a reading program that was
set up for students with dyslexia.

Full Report:

GAO, Additional Reporting Could Improve Accountability for Academic Achievement
of Students with Dyslexia, (December 2007), available at

http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-08-70

New York officials seeking to limit the use of aversive electric shock
therapy at a Massachusetts school for special education students face
opposition from parents of the children receiving the shock therapy. The
Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Canton, Massachusetts, is the only
school in the nation using electric shock therapy. Students wear backpacks
containing a device allowing staff to administer a moderate shock when
the student engages in voluntary, prohibited behavior such as self-mutilation,
head banging, or biting. While proponents of the shock therapy argue the
treatment can successfully manage inappropriate behaviors without the
use of antipsychotic drugs, New York State, which funds the education
of New York students at the school until age 21, criticizes Rotenberg's
use of shock therapy. New York alleges the use of shock therapy is used
too broadly, and for behaviors effectively treated with less extreme alternatives.


After New York enacted a ban in 2006 of shock treatment on New York students,
the parents of more than 40 students won an injunction to keep treatments
going. In 2007 the state set a new ban. The parents' amended lawsuit
is now pending.

Full Story:

Kaufman, Parents Defend School's Use of Shock Therapy, NY Times
(December 25, 2007), available at

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/25/nyregion/25shock.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

'Menus That Talk' is a business providing devices that enable
restaurants to make their menus accessible to patrons with disabilities.
The device, a programmable audio menu, is the size of a DVD case. For
themed restaurants, the menu can speak in a voice that coincides with
the theme of the restaurant. Some of the other features of the device
include Braille and category buttons for individuals with visual disabilities
and French and Spanish language options. Once a customer selects an
order, the menu lights up to alert the server.

Full Story:

Scott Joseph, Menus that Speak Out Aid Sight Impaired Diners, Orlando
Sentinel (January 4, 2008), available at

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-menusthattalk08jan04,0,6886121.story

Menus That Talk:

http://www.menusthattalk.com/products.html

The World Health Organization (WHO) has published a study on resources
and services available to persons with intellectual disabilities throughout
the world. The study seeks to create a baseline for data collection on
the availability and nature of such services. Questionnaires using specific
terms from the study's glossary were administered to over 140 WHO
member countries. Results indicated disparities in services offered to
persons with disabilities and in information about and documentation
of such services. The study is intended to aid planners of health and
social policies and services and nongovernmental organizations.

Full Report:

World Health Organization, Atlas: Global Resources for Persons with Intellectual
Disabilities (2007), available at

http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/atlas_id_2007.pdf

A report published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies looks
at the effect of raising a child with intellectual disabilities on mothers
in three different cultures. The study collected data on Irish, Taiwanese,
and Jordanian mothers and found that mothers experienced poor mental
health, increased levels of stress, and poorer family functioning across
all three cultures. Researchers identified children's behavioral
problems as the most significant source of maternal stress among a variety
of other stresses, including single parenting, housing-related stress,
and low levels of education.

Full Article:

Roy McConkey, et al, The Impact on Mothers of Bringing up a Child with
Intellectual Disabilities: A Cross-Cultural Study, International Journal
of Nursing Studies (August 2006).

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published a fact
sheet offering information and technical assistance about employment tests
and selection procedures. The fact sheet follows a public meeting hosted
by the EEOC addressing legal issues associated with employment selection
procedures. The sheet lists various types of employment tests and explains
how the governing laws affect an employer's use of selection procedures.
Relevant laws include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans
with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The
fact sheet also details recent litigation on the subject and lists employer
best practices for using selection procedures.

Full Report:

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Employment Tests and Selection
Procedures (December 3, 2007), available at

http://eeoc.gov/policy/docs/factemployment_procedures.html

A Florida newspaper reported that corporate policies of inclusion have
far-reaching benefits felt both by employees and consumers. The article
references a Department of Education guide to disability in the workplace
that provides strategies for employers seeking to include persons with
disabilities in the work environment. Strategies address integration at
all levels of the workforce, accessible communications, recruitment strategies,
access to facilities and services, and community outreach programs.

Full Story:

Allen Appel, Making Your Workplace Disability-Friendly Benefits Everyone,
TCPalm (December 25, 2007), available at

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/dec/25/appel-column-making-your-workplace-disability-frie/

Full Report:

U.S. Department of Education, Disability Employment 101 (August 2007),
available at

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/products/employmentguide/index.html

Disabled Sports USA, marking its 40th year in business, expects to provide
adaptive ski and snowboard lessons to over 600 people this season. The
organization began as a group of Vietnam veterans learning to cope with
disabilities and has since developed into a nonprofit organization with
85 chapters serving 60,000 people across the country. Instructors focus
on individual skiers' strengths and abilities, and use a variety
of equipment and teaching techniques to provide people with a wide range
of disabilities the opportunity to ski or snowboard.

Full Story:

Julie Brown, Ability NOT Disability: Adaptive Ski School Begins 40th Year,
Nevada Appeal (December 20, 2007), available at

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/SS/20071220/NEWS/839225359

Texas House Democrats are convening a legislative study group to address
reports of abuse and neglect at state institutions for persons with intellectual
disabilities. House Speaker Tom Craddick stated in August that improving
conditions would be a top legislative priority but failed to take affirmative
steps on the issue. Craddick's staff reported that he has considered
appointing a special committee early next year, but House Democrats felt
that more immediate action was necessary, especially in the wake of a
U.S. Justice Department report documenting civil rights violations at
the Lubbock State School. The legislative study group has scheduled hearings
at state schools and plans to have a final report completed by November
2008.

Full Story:

Emily Ramshaw, Texas Democrats Set Up Disability Study Group, The Dallas
Morning News (December 21, 2007), available at

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/...ls.25c63df.html

Santa Cruz County recently swore Juan Pablo Guzman into office as Clerk
of the Superior Courts. Guzman, who has been visually impaired since birth,
takes office following seven years of service as public information officer
for the city of Nogales. He uses the screen reader JAWS to read and research
at work. Guzman attributes his successes in part to a loving and supportive
family.

Full Story:

Lupita Murillo, A Disability Becomes "Ability" for a Nogales
Man, KVOA Tucson (January 2, 2008), available at:

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=7569628&nav=HMO6

In its 2007 World Disasters Report, the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies focused on the types of discrimination
that occur during and after disaster has struck. One of the areas discussed
was the treatment of persons with disabilities before, during, and after
a disaster. The report framed the issue by stating: "[People with
disabilities] are particularly at risk of marginalization and discrimination
in such situations due to exclusionary policies and practices by communities
and the agencies involved in providing humanitarian aid and intervention."


Recommendations in the report include: 1) actively engaging people with
disabilities in all stages of preparedness and response, 2) supporting
Disabled People's Organizations who disseminate information to people
with disabilities, and 3) implementing Inter-Agency Standing Committee
guidelines on inclusion.

Full Report:

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, World
Disasters Report 2007 (December 13, 2007), available at

http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/pubs/disasters/wdr2007/WDR2007-English.pdf

In a recent newsletter for the co-op and condo community, the author recommends
that managers and staff of high rise apartments are trained in evacuating
the building, and know which tenants will need assistance in the event
of an evacuation. Matthew Sapolin, executive director of the New York
City Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities, suggests managers
solicit every resident for information regarding their ability to evacuate
the building, keeping in mind some disabilities are not apparent. It is
also suggested that managers get to know the residents as some might have
a mental disability they are unwilling to divulge such as the onset of
Alzheimer's.

Full Story:

Lisa Lannucci, How to Care for at Risk Residents, Cooperator (December
2007), available at

http://cooperator.com/articles/1542/1/How-to-Care-for-at-Risk-Residents/Page1.html

Obesity, low blood pressure, impotence, AIDS, certain mental illnesses,
and other conditions have been added to Israel's National Insurance
Institute's list of disabilities. The Institute's list, unchanged
since the 1950s, applies to insurance claims, civil suits, and benefits eligibility.
The additions arose from a committee comprised of physicians, lawyers,
and people with disabilities concerned that many people with disabilities
were being denied important benefits.

Full Story:

Ruth Sinai, Obesity Now Recognized by NII as a Disability, Harretz.com
(January 3, 2008), available at

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/941178.html

In response to several disability rights groups, the Directorate General
of Civil Aviation in India issued a draft of new Civil Aviation Requirements
(CAR) mandating free services to passengers with disabilities. Such services
include carrying people on stretchers, transporting people with mobility
issues to terminals, and providing ambulifts. Airlines are fighting the
CAR, claiming that while they already provide the services, the decision
to do so free of charge should be left to the commercial airlines themselves
as opposed to requiring it by law. The commercial airlines argue people
without disabilities who request extra services must be charged a fee
and to waive that fee for people with disabilities would be unfair. Airlines
use the example of stretchers: "a stretcher requires displacing
nine seats that would otherwise be sold as revenue. It must be clear that
these seats must be reserved in advance and paid for." The airlines
argue that if this is not permitted, the price of tickets will have to
go up for everyone to re-coup the cost.

Full Article:

Saurabh Sinha, Free Help to Disabled Can't Be Enforced, Times of
India (December 30, 2007), available at

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India...how/2661352.cms

In England, where some people with disabilities who can drive receive £45
a week for transportation, those who are blind and cannot drive only receive
£17 a week. People who are blind say the weekly allotment is insufficient
to cover the cost of taxi fares and as a result have to resort to public
transportation and walking. A recent report from Transport Research Laboratory
found that one in every 300 people with blindness have been injured while
walking or using public transportation. The Royal National Institute for
the Blind thus far has been unsuccessful at persuading lawmakers to amend
the law.

Full Story:

Sophie Borland, Travel Allowance "Puts Blind at Risk," Telegraph
(December 26, 2007), available at

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/26/nblind126.xml

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