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BBI Chairman, Peter Blanck, guest edits Journal of Disability Policy Studies special issue on Supported Decision-Making

Peter Blanck
Peter Blanck

Supported decision-making (SDM) is a paradigm in which people use friends, family, and professionals to help them address the situations and choices they encounter in everyday life. SDM is to empower individuals to make their own decisions to the maximum extent possible to increase self-determination. SDM is an alternative to restrictive guardianship or substitute decision-making regimes to which persons with cognitive and mental health disabilities historically have been relegated.

To examine emergent issues in SDM in research, law, and policy, the Journal of Disability Policy Studies is proud to present a special issue of articles guest edited by Dr. Peter Blanck, University Professor at Syracuse University and Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute (https://bbi.syr.edu/bio/peter-blanck/). The special JDPS issue examines SDM from American and comparative law, research, and policy perspectives, as recognized in Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and from the perspective of the lived experience. Continue Reading

Diane R. Wiener will read from her new poetry chapbook, Flashes & Specks, at the Tioga Arts Council (TAC),

Full-color book cover featuring original artwork—“The Origins”—by Lucy Wales. Book title in rectangular banner, top; deep blue background with white sans serif, capitalized lettering. The words “Poems by Diane R. Wiener” (at the very top) look as if made with an old school label maker, with the effect of appearing to be embossed. The words “Flashes & Specks” (after a white horizontal line) have blue spots in the lettering, as if mottled—possibly like a Crip appaloosa horse. The main scene on the cover is a fantastical world depicting steampunk grasshoppers, slugs, and snails. The slugs are suspended from shells (like hot air balloons) as they travel from a watery planet-orb through the sky to the land below. When they land, the shells connect to their bodies, and they become snails. The grasshoppers, aloft, have top hats and gears; the slugs-to-snails have steam engines on their shells (with accompanying, emergent smoke) and wear monocles. The artwork is multi-media—ink with watercolor. The color palette is a reflective mixture of the environments depicted—blues, greens, grays, and tans, with some creams, ivories, whites, and, indeed, magic

On Saturday, June 26, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. (Eastern), Diane R. Wiener will read from her new poetry chapbook, Flashes & Specks, at the Tioga Arts Council (TAC), in the gallery located at 179 Front Street, in Owego.

The reading can also be accessed on Zoom: https://syracuseuniversity.zoom.us/j/98763044729
Zoom Meeting ID: 987 6304 4729
Automatic captions will be provided on Zoom, with Otter.ai. Continue Reading

ADA Live! A Look at the Mental Health Needs of Indigenous People in America

Wednesday, June 2, 2021 – 1:00 pm EDT

Indigenous people – Native Americans or Alaska Natives – make up nearly two percent of the U. S. population, and many have more than one ethnic identity. Indigenous people experience greater health problems with lower life expectancy, higher rates of substance abuse, and a suicide rate 2.5 times greater than the rest of the United States. Economic barriers and poor access to medical care, and cultural differences result in a higher prevalence of mental health conditions for Indigenous people.
Continue Reading

Peter Blanck presents, Inclusivity in Sustainable Design: Global Universal Design Commission – How architecture can transcend accessibility, innovate and serve all

  

person measuring a tableJoin us for a look at the essential role of inclusivity in design through the lens of innovation as we explore how the sustainable future of inclusivity embraces global universal design principles.
The highlight discussion will focus on insights, design details and a critical paradigm shift towards implementation. Chairman of the Global Universal Design Commission, Peter Blanck, Ph.D., J.D., will share the universal design principals that allow the design and development of buildings and environments to be usable by all people to the greatest extent possible without the need for retrofitting or specialized design. Moderator, Dr. Christine Bruckner, FAIA of M Moser Associates and past AIA IR President will introduce the essential importance of implementing inclusivity in architecture to serve all users and the importance of embracing universal design as an innovative baseline for a sustainable, vibrant, inclusive future. Continue Reading

ADA Live! Special Episode: Gil v. Winn-Dixie, 11th Circuit Decision on Web Access and the ADA

Wednesday – April 21, 2021
1:00 PM (Eastern)] | 12:00 Noon [Central]

ADA Live! is a free online program of the Southeast ADA Center, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University. “ADA Live!” focuses on the rights and responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). New episodes are available the first Wednesday of each month on SoundCloud ADA Live! Continue Reading

Stephen Kuusisto, awarded the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation 2021 fellowship awards for Poetry

Stephen Kuusisto
Credit: Tyler Flynn Dorholt

We are  thrilled to share that the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation 2021 fellowship  honor our own Stephen Kuusisto, University Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach at the Burton Blatt Institute! Guggenheim Fellowships are intended for individuals who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts. Continue Reading

Americans with Disabilities Act Symposium

ADA SymposiumFriday, April 23, 2021 | 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET | Zoom Webinar

Thirty years ago, the ADA became law, ensuring basic civil rights for people with disabilities in all areas of public life. Over the past few decades, the field of disability rights law has experienced rapid growth, as scholars, practitioners, and legislators alike have sought to advance the mission of the ADA to create a more fair, just, and equal world.

To that end, Syracuse University College of Law founded, in 2005, the award winning Disability Law and Policy Program, which has become the most extensive disability law program in the United States. DLPP faculty and students work on the front lines of domestic and international issues of paramount significance to people with disabilities all around the world.

ADA Symposium Poster

Volume 71 of Syracuse Law Review hopes to recognize, and continue, this progress with the publication of a Special Volume. This latest issue features scholarship that discusses both where we have been, and, perhaps more importantly, where we have yet to go in the field of disability rights law.

Commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); the 15th anniversary of the Disability Law and Policy Program; and the Syracuse Law Review ADA Special Volume

AGENDA*

10:00 a.m. Arrival of Participants

10:05 a.m. Welcoming Remarks

Introductions

Speakers:

  • Dean Craig M. Boise
  • Arlene S. Kanter, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence and Director, Disability Law and Policy Program
  • Lisa G. LiuSyracuse Law Review Lead Articles Editor
  • Michael D. Stoianoff, Syracuse Law Review Lead Articles Editor

10:15 a.m. Morning Keynote
Biden Administration Goals for Community Living and Disability Inclusion

Speaker:

  • Alison BarkoffActing Administrator & Assistant Secretary for Aging, Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

10:30 a.m. Panel Discussion I
Presentations by Special Volume Contributors

Panelists:

    • Getting It: The ADA After Thirty Years
      Elizabeth F. Emens, Columbia Law School, Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law
    • Centering Disability Justice
      Natalie M. Chin, City University of New York School of Law, Associate Professor of Law
    • Policing Under Disability Law (Stanford Law Review, Vol. 73, Forthcoming)
      Jamelia Morgan, University of Connecticut School of Law, Associate Professor of Law and Robert D. Glass Research Scholar
  • The Future Is Here: The Right to Work Remotely Under Title I of the Americans With Disabilities Act
    Professor Arlene Kanter

Moderator: Doron Dorfman, Associate Professor of Law

12:00 p.m. Roundtable Discussion

Informal Discussion on the ADA’s past and future with presenters and Mercedees Rees, President, Disability Law Society, and students from the Disability Law and Policy Program.

1:00 p.m. Afternoon Keynote
Overview of the ADA: The Past, Present, and Future

Speakers:

  • Judy Heumann, International Disability Rights activist, author of Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist
  • Arlene Mayerson Esq., Founding Directing Attorney Emerita, Of-counsel, DREDF

Moderator: Professor Arlene S. Kanter

1:30 p.m., Panel Discussion II
Presentations by Special Volume Contributors

Panelists:

    • Program Access Under Disability Discrimination Law
      Mark C. Weber, DePaul College of Law, Vincent de Paul Professor of Law
    • The ADA Constrained: How Federal Courts Entrench the Perpetrator Perspective in Prison Cases
      Prianka Nair, Brooklyn Law School, Assistant Professor of Clinical Law and Co-Director,  Disability and Civil Rights Clinic
    • The Commonality of Discrimination: Class Certification Under the ADA
      Steven Schwartz, Center for Public Representation, Litigation Director
      Kathryn Rucker, Center for Public Representation, Staff Attorney
  • The ADA’s Imagined Future
    Professor Doron Dorfman

Moderator: Professor Arlene S. Kanter

2:30 p.m. Q&A Session
Special Volume Contributors and Speakers Panel

3:00 p.m. Closing Remarks

*Subject to alteration before April 23, 2021.

CART and sign language interpreters will be provided. Additional accommodation requests can be made on the registration form.

A Crip Reckoning: Reflections on the ADA@30 View Archive

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach (OIPO)at the Burton Blatt Institute hosted an accessible Zoom webinar, open to the public, featuring a distinguished panel of thought leaders and scholar-activists in the worlds of disability culture, education, advocacy, and innovation.

The February 2, 2021 Zoom webinar—moderated by OIPO Director, Prof. Stephen Kuusisto—addressed many topics, including: ableism, cultural change, equity, creativity, and intersectionality. The event was made possible with generous support from University Lectures and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

NEW Report on Virginia SDM study by the Arc of Northern Virginia and the Burton Blatt Institute

“I learned that I have a voice in my future”: Summary, findings, and recommendations of the Virginia supported decision-making pilot project.

The Arc of Northern Virginia (The Arc) and The Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University (BBI) are pleased and proud to present this report on the work, findings, and recommendations of the Virginia Supported Decision-Making Pilot Project (the Pilot Project).

This report will first provide background information and foundational research on Supported Decision-Making (SDM) as an alternative to guardianship1 and a way to increase self-determination and enhance quality of life for people with disabilities. Continue Reading

Invitation to Participate in the Inclusive Public Space research project on unequal pedestrian access to streets

Feet walkingPhysical distancing measures. Electric scooters, bikes, silent cars. Floating bus-stops, confusing or dangerous crosswalks. Blockages, low branches, slip and trip hazards. Spaces that have to be shared with vehicles or with pedestrians looking at their phones. Poor signage, lighting, noise, fumes. Roadworks. And so on!

Do you find some streets in Syracuse (New York) or Atlanta (Georgia) difficult to use?

Have you reported them?

Have you thought about bringing legal action?

Have you tried to persuade local or state government to make things better? Continue Reading