Society for Disability Studies 18th Annual Conference:
Conversations and Connections Across Race, Disability, and Identity
June 8-11, 2005
San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

For more information, visit: http://www.uic.edu/orgs/sds/generalinfo.html#6

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MindFreedom 2005 Action Conference and Protest
April 29 - May 2, 2005
American University Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C.

MindFreedom International's 2005 Action Conference entitled, "Activism for Human Rights in Mental Health: How the Law Can Support Grassroots Action for Human Rights in the Mental Health System" will bring together key leaders, activists, allies and advocates in the field of human rights for people labeled with psychiatric disabilities. The conference will start Friday evening, April, 29 and take place all day Saturday, May 30 and Sunday, May 1, 2005. A nonviolent protest will be held at noon on Monday, 2 May 2005 at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PHRMA).The conference is co-sponsored by American University Washington College of Law and MindFreedom International.

For an invitation to the conference complete with information about registration, agenda, transport, lodging and the protest, go to the ACTION CONFERENCE INFO CENTER at:http://mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/action_conference.shtml.

YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Network Conference, "Building Brighter Futures for People with Developmental and Learning Disabilities"
May 9-13, 2005
New York, NY

YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Network will hold its 26th Annual International Conference at the Crowne Plaza Manhattan Hotel, 1605 Broadway, in New York City. The five-day conference will feature more than 150 seminars and workshops including: Advocacy/Self-Advocacy, Aging and Dementia, Clinical Issues, Early Childhood, Employment Training and Placement, Psychopharmacology for Non-Medical Staff, Recreation and Leisure, Sexuality and Social Skills, Special Education, Staff Training, Technology, Workforce Issues

A separate social work conference, focusing on research, practices and new developments in the field, also will be held at the Crowne Plaza from May 9-11.

For more information, contact:
Tina Sobel at tsobel@yai.org, 212-273-66457
Aimee Horowitz at ahorowitz@yai.org, 212-273-6255.

Disability Studies in Education: The 30^th Anniversary of I.D.E.A.
Its Impact on American Education and Society
May 19-21, 2005
New York, NY

The 5th Annual Second City National Conference on Disability Studies in Education (DSE) will be held at Teacher's College, Columbia University. DSE is a special interest group (SIG) of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). This year, the theme will underscore the DSE's commitment to advance often difficult discussions and contentious debates about disability studies in relation to education. As in the past, this year's conference will continue its custom of bringing together scholars, researchers, teachers, and agents of social change, all united through their interest in theorizing, politicizing, and reconceptualizing disability within the fields of education and rehabilitation.

For more information, visit: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/ceoi/spring05/IDEA30/index.html

Beginning in March, you can view the international conference brochure and register for the conference at www.yai.org

9th International Conference of Post-Polio Health International with International Ventilator Users Network: Strategies for Living Well
June 2-4, 2005
Saint Louis, Missouri

This meeting will focus on "Strategies for Living Well." The conference will offer over 45 practical and participatory sessions including "New Bracing: the Challenge and the Payoff;" "What About Nutraceuticals?;" "Anesthesia Precautions for People with Neurological Conditions;" "Expressing Sexuality: What Works for Me;" "Considering Exercise: What Steps to Take," and more.

For more information, visit: www.post-polio.org.

CHHA Conference 2005 - Natural Sounds
June 2-4, 2005
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

The Canadian Hard of Hearing Association will host a four-day conference including a banquet and awards ceremony, trade show, workshops, meals, and entertainment. For the first time ever at the National Conference, there will be programs for hard of hearing children and their siblings ages 1-5, 6-12 and 13-18.

For more information, visit: www.chha.ca.

Collective Assistive Technology Conference
June 9-11, 2005
Westminster , Colorado

The Collaborative Assistive Technology Conference of the Rockies has a goal to enhance the quality of life for individuals with disabilities through the appropriate selection and use of assistive technology. Anyone with an interest in assistive technology devices and services is welcome.  Breakout sessions will focus on funding issues and legislation, education, employment, hands-on assistive technology training and the design and development of low-tech adaptive devices.

For more information, visit: www.uchsc.edu/atp.

IASSCS 5^th International Conference: Sexual Rights and Moral Panics
June 21-24, 2005
San Francisco, California

Moral panics have historically surrounded issues such as sexual purity, abortion, homosexuality, sexual education, and sexual violence. More recently reproductive technologies, LGBTQI identities, disability, and gay and lesbian marriage have been at the center of moral controversies. This conference examines how society and the media respond to these debates by analyzing the production of moral and sexual panics, past and present.

For more information, visit: http://iasscs.sfsu.edu/conference.html.

North American Collaborating Center Conference on the ICF
June 22-24, 2005
Rochester, MN
The North American Collaborating Center on the ICF will hold the 11^th annual conference at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN, June 22-24, 2005. A preconference tutorial will be held on Tuesday June 21. The NACC conference provides a forum to present papers related to the ICF. The primary focus this year is on "Mapping the Clinical World to ICF."

For more information about the conference visit: http://www.icfconference.com/.

Submission information for the APRIL 15 DEADLINE can be found at
http://www.icfconference.com/callpapers.htm .

RESNA's 28th International Conference on Technology & Disability
June 23-27, 2005
Atlanta , Georgia

Save the date and submit a proposal for a pre-conference instructional course or a conference workshop. For more information, visit: www.resna.org.

AXIS's Physically Integrated Dance Summer Intensive
August 19 – 28, 2005
Seattle, WA

AXIS, Jürg Koch of the University of Washington Dance Dept., and Olive Bieringa, of the Body Cartography Project will teach physically integrated contact improvisation, technique, choreography, performance, as well as site-specific dance. The intensive will culminate with an informal performance by workshop attendees and faculty.

For more information about AXIS visit: www.axisdance.org.
To register for the intensive, visit: http://www.axisdance.org/education/schedule.html.

Sight Lines: An American Studies Conference on the Culture and Science of Vision
September 23-24, 2005
Worcester, MA

Presented by the New England American Studies Association, American Antiquarian Society and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, this conference brings together new work in history, cultural studies, art and film studies, literary studies, and the growing field of science studies on the pivotal issue of vision. The goal is to gain a fuller picture of vision from start to finish; from the biology and neurobiology of vision, to the cultural factors that frame what is seen, and, finally, to the art, maps, and constructs that result from those views. What role does vision play in organizing American culture along lines of race and class? How does a cultural, philosophical, and technical understanding of sight help us to understand representations of the seen and unseen in American history and culture?

For more information contact:
Sarah Luria, English Department
College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, MA 01610
sluria@holycross.edu.

Job Accommodation Network (JAN) Annual Conference
September 26-27, 2005
San Francisco, CA

JAN's Annual Conference, Empowering Employers to Build an Inclusive Workforce, offers a unique learning opportunity to enhance your organization's ability to accommodate and employ people with disabilities. Interact with JAN staff and national experts during training sessions on accommodation strategies, ADA/legal issues, and innovative employment practices.

Visit the 2005 JAN Conference Web site for more details about who should attend, registration fees, and featured speakers: http://conference.jan.wvu.edu/.

PO Box 418
Wits 2050 Gauteng South Africa
Email: jenny@fotim.ac.za

Or visit the website: http://www.fotim.ac.za

Erasing the Margins: Researching Disabilities in Higher Education
October 5-7, 2005
Johannesburg, South Africa

This conference is designed to bring together academics and researchers in a forum that will cultivate inquiry and critical thinking and foster an understanding of a previously marginalized group of people seeking a tertiary education. Must register by September 1, 2005. To be held in Sturrock Park, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

For more information contact:
Jenny Taylor
Foundation of Tertiary Institutions of the Northern Metropolis

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Events for Spinal Cord Injury Community Announced for Spring

SCI Summit 2005 - Facing Issues Creating Solutions™: Co-chairs Tari Susan Hartman of EIN SOF Communications and Mark Johnson of the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia, welcome members of the spinal cord injury community who hope to shape and impact SCI policy, service, and practice in the coming years to the 2005 SCI Summit to take place May 9 through 11 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C. Currently the Summit is co-sponsored by the National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA), The Medtronic Foundation, Acorda Therapeutics, and The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.

NSCIA is also launching the Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame™ on the evening of May 9, 2005 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. This event is co-sponsored by the Kennedy Center Accessibility Program.

For a description about SCI Summit 200™; - Facing Issues, Creating Solutions and the SCI Hall of Fame™, visit: http://www.spinalcord.org/news.php?dep=1&page=2&list=275.

Foucault and the Government of Disability Now Available

From the University of Michigan Press comes editor Shelley Tremain's Foucault and the Government of Disability, the first collection of essays to consider the relevance of Foucault to the phenomenon of disability, and the significance of disability studies to understanding and interpreting Foucault. With a foreword by Ladelle McWhorter, this provocative international collection is a response to Foucaultâs call to question what is regarded as natural, inevitable, ethical, and liberating; hence contributors draw on Foucault to scrutinize a range of widely endorsed practices and ideas surrounding disability, including rehabilitation, community care, impairment, normality and abnormality, inclusion, prevention, accommodation, and special education.

For more information visit: http://www.press.umich.edu/special/tremain05.html.

Record Number of College Students with Disabilities Placed In Summer Federal Jobs, U.S. Labor Secretary Chao Announces

U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced today that a record 368 college students and recent graduates with disabilities were placed in summer and permanent job openings in the federal government under the department's Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP).

The 2004 placements increased in part because of a joint memorandum that Secretary Chao and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld issued on May 24 urging federal decision makers "to consider the candidates referred through this program for career development opportunities and permanent employment." Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and the Defense Department manage the WRP.

ODEP Assistant Secretary of Labor Roy Grizzard said: "As a former educator, I find the WRP is an important resource for employers to find an exceptional pool of talented applicants with disabilities who are eager to prove their abilities in the workforce."

Through WRP's complimentary CD-ROM database, employers were able to search for potential applicants by field of study, state or school, in disciplines ranging from computer sciences and business to communications, engineering and office administration. Searches generated candidate profiles, academic and demographic data and contact information from applications recruited by the program from more than 180 colleges and universities in over 40 states and territories. Each spring, the CD-ROMs and additional information are made available at www.wrpjobs.com, or by request from ODEP at (202) 693-7880.

Disability Activist Documentary, "The Kids Are All Right," Available Online

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT is a half-hour documentary about a renegade Jerry's Kid named Mike Ervin. A Muscular Dystrophy Association poster child in the 1960s, today Mike is an outspoken disability rights activist who challenges the MDA's representation of people with disabilities in its Labor Day telethon through his activist group, Jerry's Orphans. THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT documents the history of Jerry's Orphans and the last three years of their local Chicago Telethon protests. The film contrasts outdated attitudes with a view into the real lives of people with disabilities today. The goal of THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT is to raise consciousness about the subtle effects of pity, to empower people with disabilities to advocate for their own rights, and to inspire activism.

For more information, visit: http://www.thekidsareallright.org.

AAMR's Newsletter Available Online

The American Association on Mental Retardation publishes a monthly online newsletter titled F.Y.I. The newsletter is in its 5^th volume and previous volumes beginning with 2 are archived on the AAMR website.

Some articles this year include "Survey reveals that policies and practices in organ transplantation routinely exclude people with intellectual and other disabilities," as well as "Free, online toolkit helps you make community integration a reality for persons with developmental disabilities."

F.Y.I. is compiled by Anna Prabhala, editor. She welcomes comments, suggestions, tips, and news emailed to her at annap@aamr.org.
To access F.Y.I., visit: www.aamr.org/FYI/.

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The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) proudly announces that The Henry B. Betts Award Committee has selected Paul Longmore, Ph.D., an intellectual force and passionate spokesperson for all disabled people's right to dignified supports for independent living and self- determination, to receive the

2004 Henry B. Betts Award. Longmore is an internationally recognized disability rights activist historian, and spokesperson for the rights of people with disabilities.

A major founder of the field of disability studies, Longmore also helped to establish and now directs the Institute on Disability Studies at San Francisco State University (SFSU). A Professor of History, Longmore has also been working to make SFSU accessible to all people with all disabilities, and to ensure disabled individuals' access to higher education.

In announcing the award, AAPD President and CEO, Andrew Imparato said, "As a historian, prolific author and disability activist, Paul Longmore has been a pioneer in the growing field of disability studies, instilling in the disability movement a stronger sense of our community's history and cultural identity. Paul's clear message is helping to deepen America's understanding of the disability experience and inspiring a new generation of disability leaders."

In response to receiving the award, Longmore said to members of the Society for Disability Studies, "the Betts Award Committee made this year's selection as a way to acknowledge the importance of disability studies to the disability rights movement....This is an opportunity for our field to connect more strongly with the communities we serve, to explain to them what we do and how it can advance the interests and well-being of people with disabilities, and to seek their support for our work....This can be a historic turning point in the relationship between disability studies and the disability communities...."

The Henry B. Betts Award will be presented to Professor Longmore by AAPD and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago at the annual AAPD Leadership Gala, an awards ceremony and dinner, on March 9, 2005, Capital Hilton, Washington, DC. For ticket information, call 202-457-0046, ext. 24.

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Chairperson - BS/MS Occupational Therapy Program

Stony Brook University's School of Health Technology and Management invites applications for a full-time faculty position in the Department of Occupational Therapy. The position is a 12-month appointment as Chairperson.

Candidates must have a doctoral degree, a minimum of five years of academic experience in an occupational therapy program that includes teaching, administrative, and research responsibilities, and be eligible for a New York State license. In addition to providing direction to the Occupational Therapy program, the Chair will have the opportunity to develop post-professional programs and support the program's scholarly activity through interdisciplinary collaboration.

Send curriculum vitae to:
Eva Rodriguez, Chair, Search Committee,
Occupational TherapyProgram/Division of Rehabilitation Sciences,
School of Health Technology and Management, Health Sciences Center
Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8206 AA/EOE.

Visit www.stonybrook.edu/cjo for employment information.

The Washington Center Internship Program for Undergraduates with Disabilities Accepting Applications for Fall 2005

Competitive Placement Deadline: May 5th
Regular Deadline: June 15th

The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars (TWC) offers a comprehensive internship experience in Washington, DC. This program is way more than "just" an internship. TWC's program includes lectures by well known politicians and DC personalities; classes taught by professionals in the field; student/intern development- all in one of the greatest cities in the world! All interns are required to gain credit for the experience making this program highly demanding, academic and worthwhile.

Scholarships are available for qualified undergraduate students with disabilities thanks to a generous US Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) grant.
Technical Assistance on accommodations provided by AAPD.

For more information, visit: www.twc.edu/diversityingovernment.htm.

Also feel free to contact:
JT Taransky, Internship Logistics Coordinator
(V/TTY) 202-457-0046 or 1-800-840-8844
aapdjt@aol.com (email or IM)
jennyt@twc.edu (email only)