In recognition of National Kidney Month in March, learn about kidney disease and your health, kidney transplants, and kidney donors. Our guest is Dr. Frita McRae Fisher, M.D., a board-certified physician and nephrologist with Midtown Nephrology, P.C., in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Frita is also a member of the Georgia National Kidney Foundation Board of Directors.
New ADA Live podcast! Episode 115: Living Well with Kidney Disease
Angelica Deaton
Angelica is from Bogota, Colombia, where she earned her Bachelor of Law at the National University of Colombia. She also received an M.Ed. Degree in Organizational Leadership and Communications at the Belmont University of Nashville, Tennessee, in 2018. She has over seven years of professional experience in the United States, ensuring that the diversity of individuals and populations is addressed in educational and communication services that affect the health of a community. Her experience includes working with the CDC Foundation, TN Disability Pathfinder- Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, and Alive Hospice. She also has more than twenty years of working as a legal program manager and as an attorney for Colombia’s government programs that serve low-income and underprivileged communities.
Angelica currently serves as a member of the AUCD Spanish Caucus Steering committee, identifying, and addressing barriers to language access for Spanish-speaking network members. Also, as a facilitator of Padres Comprometidos at Conexion Americas, she aims to foster a strong connection between Latino parents and schools playing a leading role in preparing their children for college. She also serves as a member of the Community Advisory Council for the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and as a Cultural Consultant for the University of Kentucky
New ADA Live podcast! Episode 113: Stories of Parenting with a Disability
The American social reformer and clergyman Henry Ward Beecher once said, “We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.” Families come in many forms and in the United States, nearly 10% of children live with a parent with a disability.
Join us for an engaging conversation on parenting with a disability and a new book on the topic, “A Celebration of Family: Stories of Parents with Disabilities,” with our four guests
New ADA Live podcast! Episode 112: A Successful Path to Employment with the Innovative Supports for Autistic Workers (ISAW) Project
Some autistic adults have difficulties in finding employment opportunities that match their interests, gifts, and talents. Many autistic adults are unemployed or underemployed. Continue Reading
Barry Whaley
Barry Whaley is the Director of the Southeast ADA Center, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute, Syracuse University. Funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research, the Southeast ADA Center is one of ten regional centers that provide guidance, publications, research, and training on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Previously, he was project director of the Supported Higher Education Project at the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute. This project, one of twenty-six original Transitional Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities, explored the supports necessary for students with significant impact of disability to be successful in the post-secondary college environment. At UK he also provided ADA Title I Employment Consulting for employers, employees, and families and also provided analysis of Year One Year Out student data for the Kentucky Post-School Outcome Center. Previously, he was a Consultant for Atlas Research providing technical assistance and training for the Homeless Veterans Supported Employment Project. For many years, he was the Executive Director of Community Employment, Inc. a non-profit supported employment provider that focused exclusively on providing integrated competitive and customized employment and self-employment opportunities for people with significant disabilities. He has worked for the Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and began his career with the “New Neighbors” deinstitutionalization project. He is a founding board member and past president of Kentucky APSE.
Barry holds two Bachelor of Arts Degrees from Indiana University and a Master of Science in Mediation, Arbitration and Dispute Resolution from Sullivan University.
Publications
2025
Hyseni,F., Avila-Acosta, M., Goodman, N., Pagano, G., Lawson, S., Whaley, B., Williamson, P., & Blanck, P. (2025). Dismantling Barriers: How Disability, Race, and Other Characteristics Influence Employment Outcomes. Burton Blatt Institute Research Brief #1 – January 2025.
2024
Whaley, B., Martinis, J., Pagano, G., Barthol, S., Senzer, J., Williamson, P., Blanck, P., (2024) The Americans with Disabilities Act and Equal Access to Public Spaces, Laws 13: 5. available at www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/13/1/5
2023
Walia, B., McDonald, K., Hammel, J., Frieden, L., Morris, M., Whaley, B., Nguyen, V., (2023) Economic Equity and People with Disabilities: Development and Characterization of a Novel Index, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, available at bbi.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/application/pdf/bio/whaley-2023-economic-equity.pdf
Whaley, B., Williamson, P., (2023) The ADA, Addiction, and Recovery, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 58, no. 3, 299-305. available at: bbi.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/application/pdf/2023-whaley-ada-addiction.pdf
2022
Whaley, B., Williamson, P., Goodman, N. (2022) Financial Inclusion and Pathways to Employment for People with Disabilities, American Banker Magazine (in preparation).
Whaley, B., Williamson, P., Goodman, N., Altunkol-Wise, F., Morris, M. (2022) Inclusion for all: improving banking practices for customers with disabilities. available at: adasoutheast.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/inclusion-for-all-banking.pdf
2021
Blanck, P., Baker, A., Barrett, C., Battisto, J., Gellerstein, J., Irogue, E., Martinis, J., Nanni, A., Rees, M., Torres, C., Whaley, B., Williamson, P., Felakos, J. (2021) Inclusive Public Space: Law, Universality and Difference in the Accessibility of Streets.
2020
Williamson, P. R., Morder, M. J., & Whaley, B. A. (2020) The ADA and Face Mask Policies [Fact sheet].
2019
Morris, M., Williamson, P., Whaley, B., Cummins, R., Adya, M., & SE ADA PAR Team. (2019). Draft Quality Indicators Financial Inclusion Tool (QI-FIT). On file with author.
2018
Sheppard-Jones, K., Kleinert, H., Butler, L., Whaley, B., Volume 56 Number 1, (2018) 69-74. Life Outcomes for Young Adults with Intellectual Disability in Higher Education. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
2017
Whaley, B.A., Walters, C., (2017) Service Animals in the Workplace, America’s Job Exchange Employer’s Blog.
Whaley, B.A., (2017) When Things Aren’t As They Seem (Non-Obvious Disability and Employment, America’s Job Exchange Employer’s Blog, Boston, MA.
2016
Grigal, M., Whaley, B. (2016). What is inclusive higher education for people with intellectual disabilities, and how does it connect to vocational rehabilitation? A primer for VR leaders and practitioners. VR and Youth Rehabilitation Research and Training Center Practice Brief, Issue No. 01. Rockville, MD: TransCen, Inc.
Butler, L., Sheppard-Jones, K., Whaley, B., Harrison, E. & Osness, M. volume 44 (2016) 295-298. Does Participation in higher education make a difference in quality of life for students with Intellectual disability? Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Whaley, B. (2016) Should I Disclose my Disability During a Job Search? America’s Job Exchange Employer’s Blog blog.
Whaley, B. A., Cummins, R., Williamson, P., Killeen, M., Adya, M., Morder, M., & Morris, M. W. (2016). Pathways to careers: An Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) roadmap. ADA and Self-Advocacy for Youth – Train-the-Trainer Curriculum: An Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Roadmap.
2014
Whaley, B., (2014) The Disability Landscape is Changing: Making Higher Education More Inclusive, Job Training and Placement Report volume 38, issue 12, Impact Publications Waupaca, WI.
Whaley, B., (2014) Employment Strategies for Returning Veterans Job Training and Placement Report, Oshkosh, WI Impact Publications.
2013
Whaley, B. (2013) Job Development Strategies for Ex-Offenders, Job Training and Placement Report, Oshkosh, WI, Impact Publications.
2012
Whaley, B., (2012). Know Your Employment Rights under the ADA, A Guide for Veterans, Louisville, KY. National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation and Research (NIDRR).
2001
Whaley, B. (2001). Chapter 15, Transition to Employment. Transition Planning for Secondary Students with Disabilities. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Merrill-Prentice Hall.
Pamela Williamson
Pam Williamson serves as the Assistant Director of the Southeast ADA Center, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University. The Southeast ADA Center is a member of the ADA National Network and is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, a Center within the Administration for Community Living located in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Ms. Williamson has expertise on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), supported employment, including disability as part of diversity in the workplace, building effective grassroots networks, special education services, and aging populations.
Ms. Williamson contributed to the development and implementation of four online courses: Foundations of the Americans with Disabilities, Act, ADA Basic Building Blocks, At Your Service: Welcoming Customers with Disabilities, and the ADA Title II Tutorial. She also co-authored the curricula, Serving Customers with Disabilities in Air Travel and the ADA and Self-Advocacy for Youth – Train-the-Trainer Curriculum: An Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Roadmap, and the publication, The ADA and Face Mask Policies.
Ms. Williamson is a person with a psychiatric and neurological disability. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Therapeutic Recreation from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia.
Janice Baldon-Gutter
Janice Baldon-Gutter, MS-HRE, MBA, SHRM-CP, HCRI-PHR, has joined the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University as the Program Coordinator – outreach to underserved communities of the Southeast ADA Center.
Ms. Baldon-Gutter has over 25 years’ experience in human resources and 18 years teaching in higher education. She has certifications from: The Society for Human Resource Management – Certified Professional (SHRM-CP); and Professional in Human Resources (PHR) – Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI).
Ms. Baldon-Gutter has a Master of Science in Human Resource Education from the University of Louisville, Master in Business Administration (MBA) from Bellarmine University and a Certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) from the University of South Florida.
Prior to joining the Burton Blatt Institute, Ms. Baldon-Gutter was a Human Resource Generalist for DuPont Chemical Company. She taught for 18 years at the University of Louisville School of Business (Economics) and currently teaches online (16 years) for Purdue University Global. She is also the author of “Caregiving A Daughter’s Story” and “The Triangle of Discrimination – Physical, Age and Disability.”
Ms. Baldon-Gutter is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. – part of the National Pan Hellenic Council (Divine 9) and the Louisville Society for Human Resource Management. She is currently learning American Sign Language (ASL) and beginning Spanish.
Janice Baldon-Gutter Joins the Burton Blatt Institute as the Senior Adviser on Multicultural Outreach at the Southeast ADA Center
Multicultural Outreach at the Southeast ADA Center
Janice Baldon-Gutter, MS-HRE, MBA, SHRM-CP, HCRI-PHR, has joined the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University as the Program Coordinator – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion of the Southeast ADA Center.
Ms. Baldon-Gutter has over 25 years’ experience in human resources and 18 years teaching in higher education. She has certifications from: The Society for Human Resource Management – Certified Professional (SHRM-CP); and Professional in Human Resources (PHR) – Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI). Continue Reading
New Episode Disability Rights Today! Karantsalis v. City of Miami Springs, Florida
Case Summary
The case of Karantsalis v. City of Miami Springs raises many questions about statutes of limitations, progressive disability, and advocacy. In 2008, Theodore Karantsalis, sued the city of Miami Springs, Florida, alleging the city was in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 because its facilities and infrastructure were inaccessible to him due to his multiple sclerosis. Later, he withdrew his lawsuit, believing he lacked constitutional standing because his symptoms at the time did not substantially limit his mobility. By 2019, Mr. Karantsalis’ multiple sclerosis had progressed and he required a wheelchair for mobility. He refiled his suit alleging the city and the city’s facilities, programs, and services were now inaccessible to him. The district court dismissed his suit, finding that Karantsalis was “barred by the four-year statute of limitations,” which was triggered before or during the 2008 suit when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The district court decision was reversed by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, noting that Karantsalis did not have to sue until his disability resulted in a loss of mobility. Continue Reading
New Episode ADA Live! Show Them How Smart You Are: Self-Advocacy, Parenting, and Autism
Episode 100:Show Them How Smart You Are: Self-Advocacy, Parenting, and Autism
On this episode of ADA Live!
Join us for episode 100 of ADALive! when our guests will be Clarise Shelby-Coleman and her son Chase Coleman who have championed the importance of self-advocacy through a non-profit they have begun, called ‘Show Them How Smart You Are”.
Of all the skills we can learn, being able to advocate for ourselves could very well be the most important. Knowing who we are, what we need, and how to share that information with others is important for all of us, but especially for people with disabilities who are often denied choice in their lives or opportunities to make personal decisions. It is vital that people with disabilities have the opportunity to learn self-advocacy skills and become aware of how to ask for an accommodation in the workplace, or the post-secondary classroom, or to make decisions about lifestyles, living arrangements, or everyday choices.