February 6, 2017
Barry Whaley, MS., has joined the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University as the director of the Southeast ADA Center. Mr. Whaley has over 35 years’ experience enabling people with disabilities to go to work and to live a self-determined life.
Prior to joining the Burton Blatt Institute, Whaley was the director of the Supported Higher Education Project at the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute. At University of Kentucky, he also provided training and consultation to employers, service providers, people with disabilities, and families on their rights and responsibilities under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Additionally, Whaley provided analysis of “Year one Year out” data for the Kentucky Post-School Outcomes Center. Previously, he worked as a consultant for Atlas Research providing technical assistance and training for staff working with the Homeless Veterans Supported Employment Project at Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. For many years, he was the director of a supported employment provider in Louisville, KY. He has also worked for the Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. He began his career with the “New Neighbors” de-institutionalization project that allowed hundreds of people to exit state institutions and return to their home communities. Whaley is a founding board member and past president of Kentucky APSE. He currently serves by gubernatorial appointment as a member of the Advisory Council for Medical Assistance.
About the Southeast ADA Center
The Southeast ADA Center, based in Atlanta, GA, provides leadership, information, training, and guidance on the Americans with Disabilities Act and disability access tailored to the needs of business, government, and people at the local, state, and regional levels. The center also conducts research to reduce and eliminate barriers to employment and economic self-sufficiency and to increase the civic and social participation of Americans with disabilities. The Southeast ADA Center is a project of the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) of Syracuse University and one of ten regional centers in the ADA National Network funded since 1991 by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, & Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).
About the Burton Blatt Institute
BBI reaches around the globe in its efforts to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of people with disabilities, with offices in Syracuse, NY, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, GA. BBI builds on the legacy of Burton Blatt, a pioneering disability rights scholar, to better the lives of people with disabilities. For more information about BBI, visit: https://bbi.syr.edu.