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NCHPAD - Building Healthy Inclusive Communities

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Opportunities to Advocate for Inclusion in Fitness and Recreation


An older adult exercises with exercise bands at a fitness conference.
An older adult exercises with exercise bands at a fitness conference.
Working as an Information Specialist at NCPAD, I often answer requests from individuals and organizations regarding how to make fitness facilities more accessible and inclusive. More recently, I have begun conducting disability awareness training to help fitness center staff understand how to break down the environmental, programmatic, and attitudinal barriers that people with disabilities and many disability rights advocates are all too familiar with. Inclusion of people with disabilities into mainstream fitness and recreation is a right, and it will take a collective voice to continue to educate the people working in the fitness sector to make it a reality. This brings me to the reason I have asked to be the guest FITT columnist this month.

Opportunity #1: Inclusive Fitness Pavilion at the Athletic Business Conference and Expo

What: Inclusive Fitness Pavilion

When: December 2, 2010, 1 pm-7 pm, and December 3, 2010, 1 pm-5 pm
( http://www.athleticbusinessconference.com/trade-show/hours.aspx )

Where: San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA; The Pavilion will be located in booth 1446.

Who: You! Help us to advocate for change and break down barriers in mainstream fitness!

Why: This is your opportunity to review and provide feedback on a wide array of strength and cardio equipment as well as some of the most up-to-date fitness technology.

You may remember that the NCHPAD and the Inclusive Fitness Coalition (IFC) ( http://www.incfit.org ) put together an Inclusive Fitness Pavilion for the 2009 Club Industry fitness conference in Chicago. Well, we have once again partnered with a mainstream fitness conference to put together an Inclusive Fitness Pavilion showcasing equipment that is accessible to people with disabilities. This year, the event will take place at the San Diego Convention Center at the Athletic Business Expo and we need the support of local people with disabilities and disability rights advocates to help us educate show organizers and attendees and make our mark on the fitness industry.

For more information, please contact Jessica Madrigal via email, jmadri1@uic.edu jmadri1@uic.edu, or phone, 800-900-8086.

Please help us to spread the word about the event, and consider joining us if you are in the area!

Already attending the conference?
If you are already planning on attending the Athletic Business Conference
( http://www.athleticbusinessconference.com/default.aspx ), or one of the affiliated conferences (Medical Fitness Association, National Alliance for Youth Sports, International Council on Active Aging) please consider stopping by the Pavilion and helping us inform others of the need for more inclusion in fitness. If you would like to volunteer in the Pavilion, please contact me (Jessica Madrigal) via email, jmadri1@uic.edu jmadri1@uic.edu, or phone, 800-900-8086 to make arrangements.

Not attending, but interested in helping out?
If you're not attending the full seminar program, you can register for a free trade show only pass, which gives you access to the Pavilion and trade show, keynote session, early-morning workout (an awesome chance to discuss the inaccessibility of the workout area), and Athletic Business Conference's reception. If you prefer, we can arrange for your pass to be ready for you. You can request assistance by contacting me via email, jmadri1@uic.edu, or phone, 800-900-8086. Again, if you would like to help out by volunteering in the Pavilion, contact me for more details.


Opportunity #2: U.S. Department of Justice to Hold Public Meetings - Request for Comments Regarding Fitness and Recreation

In addition to our inclusive fitness event, it is important that you are aware of an additional opportunity regarding access to fitness and recreation. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will host three public hearings to gather comments and feedback on questions regarding proposed requirements for accessibility of fitness and recreation. The Department's goal is to ensure that equipment and furniture used in programs and services provided by State and local government entities and private entities that are considered to be places of public accommodation are accessible to individuals with disabilities.

The full Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) has specific questions on proposed regulations for the provision of movie captions, video description, next generation 9-1-1, furniture, and equipment. Areas that are important to people with disabilities, disability rights advocates, recreation professionals and staff who work in our field are DOJ's questions regarding proposed requirements for accessible fitness equipment and accessible golf carts.

Your Role:
The first public hearing is scheduled for November 18, 2010, in Chicago. The other two public hearings will be held in Washington, D.C. (December 16, 2010), and San Francisco (January 10, 2011). We at NCHPAD encourage people with disabilities, disability rights advocates, and fitness and recreation professionals to submit comments as soon as possible, either by speaking at the public hearings or submitting input through the period of public comment, which ends January 24, 2011.

To learn more about the different questions that require comment, please visit our Inclusive Fitness Coalition's Call for Comments page at ( http://incfit.org/node/465 ).


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