• White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111 (TTY/TTD: 202-456-6213)
• Email White House through official form, and please use “Foreign Policy” for the category and ask for a response.

Feel free to use the bullet points (or the entire message) below:

I am writing to urge the White House to send the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) to the Senate with haste and to vigorously promote its ratification. Ratification of the CRPD is a human rights issue; congruent with the administration’s stance, current federal law and U.S. public policy on disability. In fact obligations under our own laws negate the concerns over “sovereignty” that are sometimes leveraged in opposition to engaging in international treaties through the U.N. If the Senate fails to ratify the CRPD, America’s role as a world leader, particularly when it comes to human rights will significantly diminish along with our voice and our influence in international affairs. It is essential that this treaty be ratified by the US Senate prior to the September CRPD Committee meetings when election that will guide treaty implementation will be held. The next window with of opportunity for high level participation and leadership is 2015.

Following ratification, the U.S. will:

1. Have an opportunity for a U.S. disability leader to be elected to the CRPD Committee to guide implementation of the convention across the globe
2. Ensure global initiatives on disability issues and rights will continue to be influenced by U. S. disability leaders
3. Ensure students with disabilities from the U.S. and all countries will have opportunities for accessible, inclusive education including higher education.
4. Ensure that U.S. travelers, entrepreneurs and employees with disabilities working abroad have can access transportation, housing, retail and commercial facilities.
5. Take its proper place among 112 nations including Australia, Canada, France and Japan in ratifying this 21st century treaty affirming the rights of the disabled around the world, including disabled veterans.

Thank you for continuing this work with allows disabled individuals from our country and around the world to take their proper place in our increasingly global society.

Respectfully,
Gina Carson

It’s About Ability – An explanation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

In New Jersey, it is estimated that one in five people will experience mental illness in their lifetime. That’s about 1.6 million residents. It affects our neighbors, coworkers, family members, friends and maybe even you or me.

The misinformed and misdirected stigma associated with mental illness serves only to discourage people from seeking treatment, which can exacerbate a condition into a crisis. Scientific and statistical studies have discredited myths suggesting that mental illness is a character weakness, the result of poor parenting, or a cry for attention. Equally misleading is the perception that people with mental illness are dangerous. In fact, most often they are victims of assault and exploitation. People with mental health disorders deserve the right to acknowledge and address their illness without shame or judgment.

Read more Lift stigma from mental health

Web design for the disadvantaged.
–for the disabled, poor, rural, elderly, and illiterate.

Precise figures are difficult to find and the ways they are measured vary, but in the United States about 10% are disabled in some way and something like 80% are either poor, rural, elderly or illiterate. How many fit in more than one of these groups is hard to tell, but somewhere between 35% and 75% of Americans qualify as disadvantaged. World wide it is much higher, as much as 90%.

GAAD 2012

Mark May 9 on your calendar for the first Global Accessibility Awareness Day!

On May 9, we invite you to join us for the first Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). The purpose of the day is to get people talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) accessibility and users with different disabilities, especially among the design, development, usability, and related communities who build, shape, fund and influence technology use and change.  While people may be interested in the topic, the reality is that they often do not know how or where to start. Awareness comes first.

On May 9 we encourage everyone to take part in activities to experience first-hand what it is like to need  accessibility features when using different technology. Ideas include: Unplugging the mouse for an hour and using the keyboard alone, or turning on mobile device’s accessibility features and surfing the web or using favorite mobile apps. Ideas and resources are on our website. After spending an hour exploring and experiencing, we invite people to reflect and share what happened using their blog, Twitter, or other social media. We will have blog space for those of you who do not have one. In addition, join us on May 9 for a public introductory talk on digital accessibility or a networking event planned in cities in Australia, Canada, India, The United Kingdom, and the United States.

Full details on our website (in English only this year) http://www.globalaccessibilityawarenessday.org. Show your support for the effort and stay up to date by Liking and sharing the event’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/globalaccessibilityawarenessday.

Follow @gbla11yday on Twitter and tweet using the #gaad hashtag. Our final request is that you share information about May 9 with your family, friends and colleagues.

You can reach us at globala11yawarenessday@gmail.com.

Thanks for your support.

Joe Devon and Jennison Asuncion, Co-Organizers, Global Accessibility Awareness Day http://www.globalaccessibilityawarenessday.org

10 Chemicals Linked to Autism and Learning Disabilities:

• Lead
• Methylmercury
• PCBs
• Organophosphate pesticides
• Organochlorine pesticides
• Endocrine disruptors
• Automotive exhaust
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• Brominated flame retardants
• Perfluorinated compounds

The legalized killing of every person on earth (with pesticides) 3/8/2012 – Can you imagine making a profit by killing or maiming millions of innocent men, women and children – everyday? Companies like, The Dow Chemical Company, DuPont and Monsanto produce some of the deadliest pesticides on the planet. These pesticides are slowly killing people (everyday) and damaging our…

Common pesticides double children’s risk of ADHD 3/6/2012 – Many people think organic fruits and vegetables are too expensive to buy for family meals. But those who have a hyperactive child should think again. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 4.5 million children ages 5 to 17 in the US have been diagnosed with ADHD….

Procrastination Kills

From: Student X [studentx@xxxx.mailcruiser.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 16:04
To: Gina Carson

I have trouble focusing on what I’m supposed to do, I worry a lot, and then I procrastinate.  What do you recommend?

Student X

________________________________________

Hi Student X!

Read my answer

I’ve collected a running list of such videos, which I recently updated…

Videos of How People with Disabilities Navigate the Internet with AT

• May 3: the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII)
• May 22 Better Communication With Plain English

Registration for both is online at: http://easi.cc/clinic.htm/#may

Free Webinar: the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII)

Thursday May 3: 11 AM Pacific, Noon Mountain, 1 PM Central and 2 PM Eastern
(all US daylight)
Presenter: Jim Tobias, Inclusive Technologies

Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII) is about building  accessibility features into the infrastructure of the Internet itself. GPII  will combine cloud computing, web, and platform services to make access simpler, more inclusive, available everywhere, and more affordable. When completed it will provide the infrastructure needed to make it possible for companies, organizations, and society to put the web within reach of all – by making it easier and less expensive for consumers with disabilities, ICT and AT companies, Public Access Points, employers, educators, government agencies and others to create, disseminate, and support accessibility across technologies.

Free EASI Webinar: Better Communication With Plain English

Tuesday May 22 at 11 AM Pacific, Noon Mountain, 1 PM Central and 2 PM
Eastern (all US daylight times)

Presenter: Angela Hooker

One of the hazards of academia is that people often believe they must provide lectures, papers and even Web pages using pedantic language with long compound, complex sentences and with, not 4-letter words, but 4-5 syllable words and sound like a doctor or lawyer trying to impress the client with their learning. We sometimes try to dazzle the audience rather than communicating. Government and some businesses have joined the ‘plain English’ movement.
The first goal of a Web page should be to communicate rather than to dazzle or entertain. Angela is an avid proponent of this cause.

Register for either or both of these webinars at: http://easi.cc/clinic.htm/#may