Echo from Justin Dart, Jr.

Almost six years ago, we lost what I would readily call the most profound and visionary voice that the disability community has ever produced. It was the voice of Justin Dart, Jr. aka “the father of the Americans with Disabilities Act.”

(Remarks delivered to the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work)

Colleagues, our culture and our movement stands at an historic crossroads. People throughout the world have lost patience with decades of unkept promises that they would be included in the good life potential of science and democracy. These angry people have overthrown the Soviet empire. They are dismantling communism and traditional authoritarian regimes everywhere. In America they have sent us a powerful message through the polls and the ballot box. Decisive, responsible solutions are demanded… now. Radical change will continue to occur. We of the disability community have never had a better opportunity to lead, and we of the disability community have never been in greater danger of being trampled underfoot by the opportunistic demagogues of reaction.

It is in this context that we meet today to consider strengthening partnerships for responsible solutions. I propose that we form one grand, global partnership between all members of the international disability community – to initiate strong civil rights laws and comprehensive empowerment-oriented policy that will enable people with disabilities in every nation to achieve their productive potential. The empowerment of people to exercise their fundamental human rights is the one issue that leaps the boundaries of all disabilities, classes and cultures. It is the one vision that can be communicated into the minds and hearts of all people now… preparing the way for more complex understandings that must occur over time.

Comprehensive civil rights protection is the one specific objective with the universality and the power to be a solid foundation for the unity and growth of strong national and international disability rights partnerships. It is the one absolutely essential platform for advocating those services and rights which are appropriate for particular people in particular places at particular times. It is the one argument to secure, for progressive Canadian rehabilitation, the greatly increased supports that your magnificent results command. Now we have made a good start. There has been outstanding progress in many European nations. The upcoming UN report on human rights and disabilities is very positive.

You in Canada are leading the way in many areas Canadian people are supporting Disabled Persons International. Your healthcare system is a cutting edge experiment that has received favorable comment throughout the world. You have enacted the Charter of Human Rights. You have required proportional representation of people with disabilities in employment. You of Canadian rehabilitation, business, labor and government are making a truly responsible effort to meet the challenges of a geographically vast and culturally diverse nation.

"...the ADA is not equality and it is not employment.
The ADA is a promise to be kept."

In my country, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 is a landmark breakthrough. People with disabilities have been granted full, legally-enforceable, equality by one of the world’s most influential nations. Significant leaders in many countries have expressed the intention to pursue similar legislation. The ADA is an absolutely essential legal and educational tool to achieve equality and to achieve employment. But the ADA is not equality and it is not employment. ADA is a promise to be kept.

And what is that promise? For whatever the law says legally, the clear promise of the ADA is that all people with disabilities will be fully equal, fully productive, fully prosperous, and fully welcome participants in the mainstream. Keeping the promise of the ADA is not going to be easy.

Civil rights laws have been successful in America. Millions of African Americans, women and Hispanics have moved into the mainstream. But millions have not. Twenty-seven years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we still have black, brown, and white ghettos in the United States. There has been a miracle of progress for people with disabilities in America, but the magnificent programs of the last few decades have not been implemented on a society-wide basis. The employment rate among disabled people today in America is about 33% - down… that is down from 40% in 1970. Employment has increased in absolute numbers and certainly in quality but has not kept pace with the population explosion caused by advances in modern medicine and by changes in the nature of work. 43 million Americans with disabilities are still the poorest of the poor and they are getting further behind every year.

Colleagues, the time has come to face a hard reality. In today’s society of exploding change and complexity we are not going to solve the massive problems of minority employment, poverty and budget-busting welfare simply by implementing the legal requirements of civil rights laws and by conducting business, politics and advocacy as usual. Real solutions are going to require expanding the definition and the process of civil rights and, indeed, of our movement and of democracy itself… to include as their focus a concept of empowerment, a policy of empowerment, and a science of empowerment.

Concept: the legitimate purpose of civil rights, of human society and its governments, is not simply to guarantee equal opportunity to pursue life, liberty and happiness; but to empower all people to make those free choices and to take those concrete actions that actually produce lives of quality. Empowerment - quality of life potential fulfilled - must be the clearly-focused goal and the final measurement of civil rights, of government, of our movement, and of all human activities. They must be the definition of productivity.

Example: “Employment”. Protection from job discrimination means little, if you are not empowered to get a good job, to do a good job, and to compete successfully for a good future. There is no excuse for unemployment in a responsible modern democracy.

Example: “Productivity”. It is self-evidently irrational to say that creating one million dollars worth of lethal cigarettes is productivity in the same sense as creating one million dollars worth of empowerment through automated farm machinery or quality health care. In a responsible democracy there is no excuse for blatant misuse of productive power.

“Empowerment”… what is it? Empowerment is when we who have disabilities reject stereotyped roles of eternal childhood, failure and subservience… when we say “no” to the big lie that we can trust paternalistic authority to give us equality and the good life.

Empowerment is when we are enabled to take control of our own lives and to participate as equals in controlling government and the programs that affect us. Empowerment is when we take full responsibility to utilize all of our abilities to produce a life of quality for ourselves, for our families, and for our communities.

Empowerment is when the rehabilitation counselor, the teacher, the employer, takes the approach of a good coach or of a good attorney – working in partnership with each individual client to create a customized program designed to enable that individual to achieve what that individual wants to achieve. 

Empowerment is what we do for top company executives, national leaders, soldiers and doctors when we really need those people to protect our money, our liberty, and our lives. Colleagues, the empowerment society will not occur until we understand that the responsible leaders are all of us – that the disabled can be any of us – and that the productivity and quality of life of the person with mental illness or deafness, are just as important to our pocketbooks and to our happiness as the productivity of the President of Coca Cola and the quarterback of the Washington Redskins.

To be continued next month...

Read more about Justin Dart on Ability Magazine's website: http://www.abilitymagazine.com/JustinDart_remembered.html

Read more about Justin Dart from the American Association of People With Disabilities http://www.aapd-dc.org/JFA/memoriam.php

FACT SHEET: Job Coaching Services

Virginia Commonwealth University has published a fact sheet entitled Job Coaching Services and Benefits to Businesses and People with Disabilities. The fact sheet notes that job coaches are often key to the employment success of individuals with significant disabilities. In addition to describing the activities of job coaches, this fact sheet examines the benefits to businesses that use job coaching services. Benefits to employers include the following:

• Job coaches can reduce the time it takes businesses to locate workers by giving the business access to a pool of pre-screened candidates;

• Job coaches can assist with the identification of accommodations for the company and be a resource for their diversity efforts;

• Job coaches can assist the employer with possible tax credits such as the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and the Disabled Access Tax Credit for small businesses; and

• Job coaches provide ongoing supports and job retention services.

See: http://www.worksupport.com/documents/va_board_factsheet.pdf

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EVENT LISTINGS

EVENT: Larry Robbin Disability Employment Training Series

Sunnyvale, CA ~ March 13th, April 24th, & June 12th, 2008 

Regardless of what your job title is or what type of people or disabilities you work with, if improving employment outcomes is your goal, then don't miss these workshops! You'll leave each idea packed session with an incredible amount of best practices for your program design and direct services that you can put into use immediately. These sessions feature creative, practical, and state-of-the-art solutions to your disability employment program needs. Help open the doors to employment opportunities for people with disabilities at levels you never thought possible.

  More Information Here (pdf)

  Email Inquiries: ddrews@sensoryaccess.com

EVENT: Pacific Rim Conference

Honolulu, HI ~ April 14 & 15, 2008

The Pacific Rim Conference has evolved into one of the top rated international educational offerings for and from persons with disabilities, family members, researchers, service providers, policymakers, community leaders, advocates, and nationally recognized professionals in the various disciplines in the diverse field of disabilities.

  More Information Here

EVENT: National ADA Symposium & Expo

“Conference on the ADA and Disability Law”

St. Louis, MO ~ May 12 – 14, 2008

The National ADA Symposium is the most comprehensive conference available on the Americans with Disabilities Act and related disability laws.

 More Information Here

EVENT: The 19th Annual National APSE Conference

"The Winners Cup ...Everybody Works! Everybody Wins!"

Louisville, KY ~ July 9-11, 2008

The APSE conference is exclusively focused on employment of people with significant disabilities in the community, and is the forum for sharing knowledge and expertise on the latest developments and innovations in the field with APSE members from across the country. 

EVENT: Workforce Innovations 2008

“Success Decoded”

New Orleans, LA ~ July 15 – 17, 2008

Workforce Innovations 2008: Success Decoded will bring together local, state and national-level strategic workforce investment partners to learn from successes and cultivate the talent development solutions needed in today's global economy. Workforce Innovations is the premier annual conference promoting collaboration among leaders from workforce development, business, economic development, education, community-based organizations, and philanthropy.

 More Information Here 

EVENT: USBLN Annual Conference and Career Fair

“Expanding Inclusion: The Business Strategy”

Portland, OR ~ October 5 - 8, 2008

The preeminent national event for business, community leaders and Business Leadership Network chapters that have an interest in hiring, retention and marketing to people with disabilities. This year’s event promises to provide informational and educational opportunities of the highest quality.

  More Information Here

EVENT: 2008 Conference of the National Association of Disabled Students (NEADS)

“Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow”

Ottawa, ON ~ November 14 - 16, 2008

This year’s event will be an exciting opportunity for students, consumer advocates, service providers, employers and all others interested in exploring key issues of equal access to post-secondary education and employment for students and graduates with disabilities. We welcome delegates from across Canada and around the world.

More Information Here