This session explored some of the common hurdles for students with disabilities in distance learning/hybrid models during the pandemic. The presenters shared recommended practices and effective strategies that promote equity and meaningful progress. The presentation includes practical tips for families that can be put to use immediately.
This webinar on future planning for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) was presented in Spanish.
Planning for the future is important for all families. Thinking about the future can be challenging and emotional. However, experience shows that people with disabilities make a better transition from the family home when a future plan is in place. A future plan can also provide peace of mind for caregivers of people with IDD. Learn from staff at The Arc of the United States on how to get these discussions started and the steps your family should take to create a future plan. This presentation also provides an overview of The Arc’s Center for Future Planning website and resources that can help facilitate discussions to create a future plan.
Hacer planes para el futuro es importante para todas las familias. Pensar en el futuro puede ser emotivo y desafiante. Sin embargo, la experiencia muestra que los adultos con discapacidades logran una mejor transición de la casa familiar cuando tienen un plan futuro. Tener un plan también le puede dar tranquilidad a los cuidadores de las personas con discapacidades intelectuales y de desarrollo. Aprenda de personal de The Arc cómo empezar estas discusiónes y los pasos que su familia debe seguir para crear un plan futuro. Esta presentación también proporciona una descripción general del sitio web del Centro de Planificación Futura de The Arc y de los recursos que pueden ayudar a facilitar las discusiones para crear un plan futuro.
/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.png00The Arc/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.pngThe Arc2021-03-16 11:04:542021-09-23 11:43:28Planificación Futura: Es Posible y Necesaria
Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
Plaintiff: The Arc Maryland
Defendants: Baltimore City, Queen Anne’s County, Carroll County, Garrett County, Somerset County, Talbot County
Counsel: The Arc, Disability Rights Maryland, Brown & Barron LLC
Overview: The Arc Maryland filed a federal lawsuit alleging that six jurisdictions in Maryland, including Baltimore City, discriminate against people with IDD by denying them opportunities to access COVID-19 vaccinations inconsistent with the State’s Executive order and Vaccination Plan. This discrimination puts lives at stake and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
While vaccination sites must offer vaccines to the public in accordance with Maryland’s state vaccination plan, the five counties and Baltimore City exclude individuals with IDD in their list of who is eligible, preventing those with IDD from accessing vaccinations.
It is well established that COVID-19-related fatality rates among people with IDD who test positive for COVID-19 are nearly three times greater than the mortality rates among the general population who are positive for the virus. People with IDD also face heightened risk because many rely on caregivers or direct support professionals who provide assistance with activities of daily living, for which social distancing is often not possible. Frequently, such caregivers serve multiple people raising risks of transmission. Despite advocacy from The Arc Maryland, people with IDD are not getting equal access to vaccines, compelling the need for the lawsuit.
/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.png00Pam Katz/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.pngPam Katz2021-03-08 16:46:262023-01-27 12:19:48The Arc Maryland v. Baltimore City et al
Members of The Arc’s Policy, Advocacy, and Communications teams discussed 2021 policy priorities, upcoming resources and ways to get involved and advocate.
The ability to save is crucial in securing a life plan for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who often rely on public benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid, and housing and food assistance to pay for things that they need to live in the community. However, many public benefits have very strict limits on how much money you can have to qualify and keep the benefits. How do people know what public benefits they are eligible for? How can people save to buy the things they want and need when they have so little money to start with? What are special needs trusts and ABLE accounts, and when should people have one? Our panel of experts provides an overview of these important issues, plus helpful resources.
Theresa Varnet, M.S.W. J.D., has been an advocate for people with disabilities and their families for over 50 years. She is a former teacher and social worker and is now an attorney with Spain, Spain & Varnet, P.C. in Chicago, Illinois and Fletcher Tilton, P.C. in Worcester, Massachusetts. Theresa joined the Arc in 1968 and has been an active volunteer with chapters of The Arc in Illinois, Massachusetts, and Kentucky. She is also the parent of an adult daughter with IDD.
Miranda Kennedy
Miranda Kennedy is the Director of the ABLE National Resource Center (ABLE NRC), the leading source of information on Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts. ABLE NRC’s mission is to educate, promote and support the positive impact ABLE can make on the lives of millions of Americans with disabilities and their families. Miranda served as Director of Training for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration’s national Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) and Disability Program Navigator Initiative (DPN) from 2006-2018. She holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Denver Institute for Public Policy Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from University of Colorado at Boulder.
Delores Sallis
Delores Sallis is the founder of Parent University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Parent University serves as a resource for black families of people with disabilities and helps them navigate the systems of support for people with disabilities, including school systems, in the Milwaukee area. Delores has a great passion for the families she serves, because she knows there is a great divide of resources. Delores is the mother of five children, the youngest of which has multiple disabilities. She also has a granddaughter with cerebral palsy.
/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.png00Pam Katz/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.pngPam Katz2020-12-22 16:31:102021-04-14 15:28:52A Forum on Financial Planning for People With IDD
Talking to technology is something that most of us do every day. It’s become commonplace to ask a device to set a timer or turn something on or off rather than touching a button or flicking a switch. Amazon Alexa offers two new ways for students, educators, and parents to use their voice to interact with technology that can save time, deepen learning, and provide access to critical information.
With Alexa Blueprints and Alexa Routines, students can now track upcoming events on their calendar, create study resources, or even make appointments – all without needing to open their computer. Teachers can use Alexa to prepare for upcoming lessons, create quizzes and offer Q&A resources to students. And administrators can quickly access information needed for planning and communicate with faculty about dates, timelines and meetings.
With feedback from parents and educators, Alexa Blueprints now offers a feature that focuses on helping students regulate their emotions. Parents, educators, support professionals, and students themselves can access breathing and meditation exercises, calming music and even a “glow” that changes in color and intensity, all ways to help with self-regulation. It also features the capacity to build “social stories” that model desired routines and good behaviors.
For more information, check out this overview and this user guide to get started.
/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.png00Pam Katz/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.pngPam Katz2020-11-23 14:57:152021-04-14 15:32:13Alexa Blueprints and Routines
Guide for parents and legal guardians raising children with disabilities that provides financial considerations they need to factor, with expert-driven solutions.
/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.png00Pam Katz/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.pngPam Katz2020-11-05 00:39:422021-04-14 15:34:21Financial and Estate Planning for Children With Special Needs
The coronavirus has presented unprecedented challenges to disability services agencies and has caused many in our field to reimagine the way services are offered, including moving away from facility-based programs employment toward individualized, community-based employment and community life engagement supports. The Arc and ICI developed toolkits to guide organizational transformation and offers technical assistance to support disability services agencies to switch from providing facility-based to individualized, community-based employment and community life engagement supports.
/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.png00Pam Katz/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.pngPam Katz2020-10-19 19:11:472021-04-14 15:22:06Moving From Facility-Based to Community-Based Programs in the Time of COVID-19: Best Practices and Strategies
We are in the midst of a global health pandemic that is wreaking havoc on all of our lives and has been particularly devastating for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families. While we battle COVID-19, we must also plan for the future and the challenges ahead. In the wake of this health emergency and economic crisis, we need to organize and advocate more than ever before. The human rights of people with IDD and the supports and services they need to both live in and be valued members of their communities are at stake.
This Town Hall delves into The Arc’s response to the pandemic, the progress we’ve made, and the threats that remain. We also unveiled the new Strategic Framework for the Future of The Arc¸ a dynamic plan to build a more powerful, nationwide disability community movement.
/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.png00Pam Katz/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ArcLogo_Color_Rev_PNG_WEB.pngPam Katz2020-10-14 16:24:552021-04-14 15:48:33Town Hall: The Arc’s Response to COVID-19 and Plans for the Future
Overview: This amicus brief challenges Georgia’s “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard in determining intellectual disability in death penalty cases as creating a constitutionally unacceptable risk that defendants who have legitimate claims of intellectual disability will nonetheless be sentenced to death.
Excerpt: “Georgia was the first state in the Nation to establish a prohibition against executing individuals with ID thirteen years before the U.S. Supreme Court established a constitutional exemption in Atkins, and its leadership on the issue is to be commended…Despite Georgia’s early leadership on the issue, since Atkins not a single defendant in Georgia has been held to be exempt from execution due to ID pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 17-7-131.6 As set forth below, this onerous burden of “beyond a reasonable doubt” is inconsistent with the clinical diagnostic process and encourages jurors to default to stereotypes about people with ID.”
