Access Living Founder Marca Bristo Announces She is Stepping Down as CEO Due to Health Reasons
A message to the disability community from our founder, Marca Bristo:
Dear Friends,
I’ve made the tough decision to step down as CEO of Access Living. My body is telling me it is time, and my doctors treating my cancer agree. This is a tough decision but one I am making so that I can have more time with my family.
I will retain the title and responsibilities of President. Daisy Feidt is taking on the role of Acting CEO immediately, and our board has begun the search for a new President and CEO. Thank you for your love and support for this decision.
I step down from my leadership with pride, gratitude, and love for the entire Access Living and disability rights community. Together we have shared victories and setbacks in our fight for disability rights. The greatest joy of my professional life has been helping young people find their power and seize their rightful place in the world.
My spirits remain high. I have every confidence that Access Living and the future of the disability rights movement are in good hands. The values our next generation of disability leaders will carry forward will change the world. In the words of our beloved Justin Dart: Lead on!
September is National Recovery Month
Harris unveils disability plan focusing on education and employment opportunities | CNN
Presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris unveiled her plan for Americans with disabilities on Thursday, with a focus on employment through access to education and social programs.
“As President, Harris will expand access to health care, fight for integrated employment opportunities and fair wages, ensure our emergency preparedness and disaster programs are fully inclusive, fight to adequately fund classrooms to ensure equal access, build a diverse federal workforce that includes people with disabilities and fight for the civil rights of people with disabilities across the country,” Harris campaign wrote in a press release.
Inaccessible Phone Apps Can Put the Safety of Blind and Low-Vision Users in Jeopardy | Rooted in Rights
Inaccessible apps can be a hassle for blind or low-vision people, especially if you use a screenreader like TalkBack for Android or VoiceOver for iPhone. As a blind person, inaccessible apps have prevented me from playing games on my phone or sharing photos with friends on Snapchat. And while this may just seem frustrating, there comes a point where lack of accessibility isn’t just inconvenient; it can be dangerous.
Ruth Madeley Wants To Be The First Marvel Superhero In A Wheelchair | Refinery 29
The first time viewers meet single mum Rosie Lyons (Ruth Madeley) in the BBC mini-series Years and Years, she’s just gone into labour with her second son and is figuring out where to drop off her eldest. The youngest of the four Lyons siblings, Rosie isn’t known for planning ahead. But she’s buoyant, funny, and kind — an ever-positive presence in a show that often veers into devastating territory.
Some Disabled People Blasted ‘Queer Eye.’ But Without Talking About Race, It Misses the Point | HealthLine
The new season of Netflix’s original series “Queer Eye” has gotten a lot of recent attention from the disability community, as it features a Black disabled man named Wesley Hamilton from Kansas City, Missouri.
Is Captioning an Audiobook Illegal? Major Publishers Say Yes, And They’re Suing Audible | Gizmodo
Seven of the biggest names in publishing filed a lawsuit against Audible on Friday, arguing that its recently announced AI-generated captions feature breaks copyright law. The Amazon subsidiary debuted the service, Audible Captions, last month with a release lined up for the start of this upcoming school year (which, of course, these publishers want the courts to put a stop to). Designed in part for educational purposes, Audible Captions does exactly what its name would imply: It throws up captions on your phone or tablet corresponding to the words narrated in an audiobook.
Inaccessible Phone Apps Can Put the Safety of Blind and Low-Vision Users in Jeopardy | Rooted in Rights
Inaccessible apps can be a hassle for blind or low-vision people, especially if you use a screenreader like TalkBack for Android or VoiceOver for iPhone. As a blind person, inaccessible apps have prevented me from playing games on my phone or sharing photos with friends on Snapchat. And while this may just seem frustrating, there comes a point where lack of accessibility isn’t just inconvenient; it can be dangerous.
National Federation of the Blind Condemns New Public Charge Rule | NFB
The National Federation of the Blind commented today on the new “public charge rule” issued on August 12. Our statement follows:
Status of Hispanic Older Adults: Insights from the Field – Reframing Aging | NHCOA
Many Americans think of aging as deterioration, decline, and dependency. If we reframe how we talk about aging, over time we can change how we think about aging. Aging is a process of “building momentum”. When discussing aging, we need to focus on experience and wisdom which enable older adults to improve their communities. By framing aging as a dynamic and forward-moving process we can help people see aging in a more positive light.
Renters with disabilities sue Oakland for housing discrimination | The Mercury News
The class action lawsuit alleges the city’s rent control program excludes people with disabilities
‘Trauma Doesn’t Go Away By Itself.’ How El Paso Is Tackling Mental Health Stigma After the Walmart Mass Shooting | Time
For decades, health professionals in El Paso County have made efforts to increase access to mental health care by reducing the leading barrier to care — stigma — with some minor success. But since the mass shooting at a Walmart in the border city that killed 22 people on August 3, those working in the mental health care field say there has been increasing demand for their services and they believe it may be a turning point in public perception.
Introducing Drag Syndrome, a group of outspoken drag artists with Down syndrome | CBC
Drag queens and kings from the U.K. want to challenge the way we view performers with disabilities
The Pioneers of Black Women’s Suffrage | Now This
These are the heroes and pioneers of Black women’s suffrage
Sally Ride Barbie and Rosa Parks Barbie dolls debut on Women’s Equality Day | USA Tpday
For Women’s Equality Day, Mattel, the maker of America’s most iconic doll, announced the addition of two role models to the Barbie Inspiring Women Series. Barbie dolls of Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks and Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut, are now for sale at Barbie.com for $30.99 a piece.
A Crisis Of Care: As America Gets Older, Who Will Pick Up The Slack? | WBUR
The older population of the U.S. is skyrocketing, with the number of seniors expected to approximately double in the next few decades – while the population over 85 nearly triples. The aging of the baby-boom generation means millions of job openings for elder care workers, as well as geriatricians, geriatric nurses and other healthcare workers, and soaring health expenses.
Memory loss, dementia an understudied yet widespread phenomenon among Chinese Americans | Medical Xpress
The U.S. Chinese population is growing—and graying—rapidly! From 2000 to 2010, the Chinese American population aged 65 and over grew at a rate four times higher than the overall U.S. older adult population. As of 2016, 14% of the approximately four million Chinese Americans were aged 65 and older. As this population ages, they are increasingly susceptible to memory loss and lacking the necessary supports for healthy aging, according to four new Rutgers studies published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
I Loved Planning My Queer, Disability-Friendly Wedding — But It Wasn’t Easy | Refinery24
One in four adults in the U.S. are living with a disability, but you wouldn’t know it given the lack of representation in media, Hollywood, and the workforce. We’re shedding light on the real stories — not the caricatures — of this dynamic and vibrant community of individuals. Read more stories from our Voices of Disability series. My fiancé Macey and I had already toured a couple of wedding venues on our list when we drove to Gloucester, Massachusetts in mid-November to see a historic castle museum. On the way there, we snaked through twisty roads covered with leaves that made the entire scene look like the burnt orange sun touching the horizon at sunset. “It’s too bad we’re not having a fall wedding because this is beautiful,” I said. “I want to stop and take photos.”
Mindset Matters: How The Business Roundtable Is Illuminating A New Disability Narrative | Forbes
Singer songwriter, and Poet Laureate Bob Dylan wrote “There’s a battle outside and its ragin’, it’ll soon shake your windows and rattle walls, for the times they are a changing.” Over the past week these words have certainly begun to ring true with a seismic shift happening across the business landscape. The Business Roundtable is an association of exclusively chief executive officers of America’s leading companies focused on promoting a vibrant and growing U.S. economy and expanding opportunities for all Americans through comprehensive public policy to enhance businesses role in society.
Amid A Caregiver Shortage, People With Disabilities Are Filling The Gap In D.C. | WAMU
After graduating from college in 2015, Antonio Myers, 25, had some trouble finding steady work. He was a marketing assistant at a nonprofit. Then, he became a mail clerk at a federal agency in D.C. He had two stints of unemployment — one that lasted about 15 months. In between jobs, he helped out at his father’s work.
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