Accessible Information Exchange: Meeting on a Level Playing Field
Issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, this publication focuses on planning and conducting meetings and events that are accessible to people with physical and sensory disabilities.
For more information, go to http://www.ada.gov/business/accessiblemtg.pdf.
2008 BRFSS Data and Documentation Online Tables Now Available
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Behavioral Surveillance Branch is pleased to announce the release of the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data and documentation and prevalence and trends tables.
These files are available at http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/technical_infodata/surveydata/2008.htm. The 2008 BRFSS prevalence and trends data are available at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/index.asp. For more information about the data, please call the BRFSS office at 770-488-2455.
Disability Organizations Directory, Disaboom.com
This recently launched directory identifies almost 450 organizations, ranging from local to international, that work to improve the lives of people with disabilities. The Directory is divided into three categories: Major Disability Organizations, Disability-Specific Organizations, and Organizations for Living with Disabilities. Each organization's listing contains brief information about the organization, its mission and services, and a link to the organization's website. Nonprofits, government agencies, and education services are included.
Disaboom's Disability Organizations Directory can be found at http://www.disaboom.com/Resources/DisabilityOrganizations/Default.aspx.
Tommy Wilson Memorial Grant, American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation (AAPAR)
Application Deadline: December 1, 2009
AAPAR has reconfigured a past award into a new grant opportunity. The Tommy Wilson Memorial Grant will give up to $1,500 to a nonprofit entity to directly support recreation programs for people with disabilities. The grant is made possible by the Tommy Wilson family, which originally established the award in 1975 in remembrance of their son, who had cerebral palsy and died at the age of 16. The deadline for submissions is December 1, and grants will be presented at each annual Convention of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
For more information, go to http://www.aahperd.org/aapar/ or contact AAPAR at aapar@aahperd.org.
Camp Abilities Road Trip
Justin Haegele, a recent SUNY Brockport graduate with a Master's degree in adapted physical education, and Matt Mescall, an undergraduate in the same program, are hitting the road on a 3-week trip from New York to Camp Abilities Alaska in Anchorage. During their 4,000+-mile adventure, Haegele and Mescall hope to raise awareness about Camp Abilities, a developmental sports camp for children ages 9 to 19 with visual impairments or deaf-blindness. The road-trippers will stop at colleges, universities, and state schools for the blind to talk about Camp Abilities, which has nine camps throughout the US and Puerto Rico. Virtually take part in their journey by visiting www.CAARoadTrip.weebly.com, and offer words of encouragement while they're on the road by calling 516-312-8361. "I am sure there will be times when we will need to hear voices other than our own," Justin says. Happy trails, gentlemen!
Benefits of Sport Participation for Students with Physical Disabilities, Olympic Coach E-Magazine, Spring 2009, Volume 21, Number 2
By Doug Garner, Coach of the University of Texas at Arlington's Wheelchair Basketball Movin' Mavs
Excerpt: Unfortunately, there are many students in this country who never have the opportunity to participate in a school sport. They never get the valuable advice that a good coach/mentor can give and they do not have the opportunities to experience the life lessons or develop the self-confidence that participation in a quality sport program can provide. In the vast majority of schools across the United States, sport programs for students with physical disabilities do not exist. Despite the passage of federal legislation supporting the rights of students with disabilities, the majority of United States schools do not provide interscholastic or extracurricular sport programs for students with physical disabilities.
To read this article, access Olympic Coach E-Magazine at http://coaching.usolympicteam.com/coaching/kpub.nsf.
Newsletter, "Promoting Health through Physical Activity," Prevention Research Center, University of South Carolina (USC)
This USC PRC, who has recently been approved for another 5-year cycle of support from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), continues to explore multiple strategies to promote physical activity in underserved populations. One of its methods for communicating breaking news from science, practice, and advocacy is its newsletter, which can be accessed at http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/newsletter/2009/2009_index.htm.