Social Movements & the Law

Empowering young people with disabilities to reach their full potential.

NCCJ, the National Conference for Community and Justice has been helping humans human better together since 1927.

Neurodiversity is a relatively new concept to some workplaces. Establishing a neurodiverse workplace can be challenging, but it also comes with benefits.

Stop Ableism advocates that people with physical disabilities should receive the same respect and consideration that able-bodied people receive.

Thoughts on disability justice, neurodiversity, intersectional activism from Lydia Brown, queer, autistic, east asian activist, writer, public speaker

As buzzwords like social justice, equity, and inclusion permeate our conversations, it’s essential for advocates of progress to remember another ‘ism.’

Thoughts on disability justice, neurodiversity, intersectional activism from Lydia Brown, queer, autistic, east asian activist, writer, public speaker

The global exclusion of persons with disabilities comes at significant economic, political, and societal costs. Decades’ worth of data substantiates this claim, yet progress has remained elusive. Now, due to the disruptions of a global health crisis and recession, it is likely that the situation for persons with disabilities will worsen. But this does not … Continue reading "The high cost of exclusion and what we need to do about it"

Preface: I wrote this post partly to try and capture/demonstrate/introduce/explain a concept that I haven't found an existing explanation on that would match my mental model. And partly to clear up m…

This blog post has been contributed by Portulans Senior Fellow Shane Kanady and Research Assistant Augusta Rentenbach, additionally co-authored by John Kelly, Isabel Hodge, Ronald Kasule and Petra Iuliana. COVID-19 has affected us all. The changes in our daily lives will surely lead to long-term effects for many, if not all, aspects of society. As … Continue reading "How COVID-19 is Affecting Persons with Disabilities Worldwide: Finding Opportunity in Adversity"

Individual differences is a natural encounter at the work place, nevertheless, the job must still be done but when one is working with the o...

The number of people with autism entering the workforce in the next 10 years and beyond is on the rise, with the growth cutting across racial, ethnic, and geographic lines. Currently, the unemployment rate among people with autism remains high, with some estimates coming in at over 80%. The heightened profile of disability, equity, and inclusion functions in major employers is already leading companies to think about forms of diversity beyond race and gender. Since the early 2010s, a network of major employers has developed targeted employment initiatives and protocols to better integrate this workforce into their companies. But the number of companies involved in neurodiversity hiring initiatives is modest today, as is the number of participating workers. What can we learn from the companies that have integrated these programs successfully, and how can companies without the resources for dedicated programs make real progress in bringing neurodivergent employees into their organizations?

Though many library staffers receive physical first aid and CPR training, mental health first aid training happens far less often. However, it can defuse tense situations, provide needed resources, and help patrons through crises.

. . . a work in progress

Statement from the National Alliance of Multicultural Disabled Advocates – August 26, 2019

The Navajo Nation goes before the Supreme Court in a water rights case it says is about ending nearly two centuries of injustice.

A longtime English professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University says his "decision to teach and speak about racial justice" led to a parent complaining and the university terminating his contract.

While many cheered the possibility of a huge financial windfall for the city's Black residents, one civil rights leader says the proposal is a distraction from tangible efforts to redress racism.

"In this long awaited new edition Oliver draws on his own experiences to paint a vivid picture of both the practical challenges of disablement and the theoretical understandings of disability. This approachable text is core reading for social work, nursing, health and social care and social science students taking modules in disability"--Provided by publisher.

This well-written and informative book has become the standard on the uses and laws regarding therapy and service dogs. With the expansion of new service dog types, a greater complexity with regard to service animal laws and regulations and the interpretation of these by the courts has developed. This book carefully examines these complexities at both the state and federal levels. In addition, the expanded use of therapy dogs in facilities and institutions has brought with it a paradigm shift in society's acceptance and acknowledgment of the canine capacity to contribute in meaningful ways to the lives of ill and institutionalized persons. This resource discusses the benefits of dogs as a therapeutic modality that reflects the importance of enrichment and healing to seizure patients, autistic children, and others with disabilities, including mental illness. Part I covers canines and canine caregiving, physical disabilities, mental disabilities, cancer sniffers, and the therapy dog movement. Part II explores traveling and living with canine caregivers, taking service and support dogs to schools, workplace scenarios, access rights of trainers and handlers, and proving service animal status and false assertions of such status. Part III discusses registration, licensing, tags, special gear for skilled dogs, traffic precautions, including cruelty and criminal interference laws protecting service animals. Part IV researches canine caregivers and social benefits, keeping animals with handlers in emergencies and disasters, tax benefits, and social service reimbursement for service animals. The author has provided a list of legal sources and service and therapy dog organizations by state. The information contained in this book is well-researched, factual, and appropriately cited. By reading this book, readers will acquire a clearer understanding of the many federal and state laws that apply to service and therapy dogs.

"A comprehensive study of the history of the Pennhurst State School and Hospital (1908-87), a state-operated institution in Pennsylvania for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Explores Pennhurst's enduring impact on the disability civil rights movement in America"--

This Handbook brings together twenty-nine authors from around the world, each expert in a different area within the history of disability. This collection of new and original essays forms a benchmark in a field of historical inquiry that has been growing and maturing over the last thirty years. It is the first book to gather critical essays that incorporate studies from South and East Asia, eastern and western Europe, Australia, North America, and the Arab world. This Handbook is unique among other disability history texts in that it engages simultaneously in methodological and historiographic debates and in a further articulation and analysis of the lived experiences of disabled people.

A sociological history of the fight for civil rights for people with intellectual disabilities. Allison Carey develops a relational practice approach to the issues of intellectual disability & civil rights, looking at how advocacy has progressed over the course of the past century.

"A study of the global oppression of people with disabilities and the international movement that has recently emerged to resist it ... A theoretical overview of disability oppression that shows its similarities to, and differences from, racism, sexism, and colonialism."--Jacket.

Many children have learning disabilities and it's up to parents and schools to work together to ensure that each child's unique educational needs are met. But what if the school disagrees with your goals for your child? You are at a disadvantage if you don't know the law. This book teaches you to: identify a learning disability; understand your child's rights to education; untangle eligibility rules and evaluations; prepare and make your best case to school administrators; develop IEP goals and advocate for their adoption, and explore and choose the best programs and services.

The memoir of a paraplegic journalist, describing his experiences as a reporter for National Public Radio in exotic locations, and the challenges of living in a wheelchair.

Theories of social justice are necessarily abstract, reaching beyond theparticular and the immediate to the general and the timeless. Yet such theories, addressing the world and its problems, must respond to thereal and changing dilemmas of the day. A brilliant work of practicalphilosophy, Frontiers of Justice is dedicated to this proposition. Taking up three urgent problems of social justice neglected by current theorie sand thus harder to tackle in practical terms and everyday life, Martha Nussbaum seeks a theory of social justice that can guide us to aricher, more responsive approach to social co-operation.

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Books for a Better Life Award, and one of The New York Times Book Review's Ten Best Books of 2012, this masterpiece by the National Book Award-winning author of The Noonday Demon features stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children, but also find profound meaning in doing so--"a brave, beautiful book that will expand your humanity" (People). Solomon's startling proposition in Far from the Tree is that being exceptional is at the core of the human condition--that difference is what unites us. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, or multiple severe disabilities; with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, and Solomon documents triumphs of love over prejudice in every chapter. All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves. Drawing on ten years of research and interviews with more than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges. Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original and compassionate thinker, Far from the Tree explores how people who love each other must struggle to accept each other--a theme in every family's life.