General Sessions
April 16 - 17, 2013, Tuesday and Wednesday
http://ada.osu.edu/conferences/2013Conf/callforstudentproposal2013.html for Call for Student Poster Information.
The thirteenth Annual Multiple Perspectives conference continues the university's efforts to bring together a diverse audience to explore disability as both an individual experience and social reality that cuts across typical divisions of education & employment; scholarship & service; business & government; race, gender & ethnicity. This year's theme "Looking Back and Thinking Ahead" is meant to encourage presenters and participants to consider topics, methods and programs from fresh perspectives.
Two decades ago Congress investigated the status of individuals with disabilities in society. Their findings led to the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990. How relevant are those findings today? As we approach the second decade under the ADA let's take stock of the status of disability.
Access:
..."individuals with disabilities continually encounter various forms of discrimination, including outright intentional exclusion, the discriminatory effects of architectural, transportation, and communication barriers, overprotective rules and policies, failure to make modifications to existing facilities and practices, exclusionary qualification standards and criteria, segregation, and relegation to lesser services, programs, activities, benefits, jobs, or other opportunities;"
Inclusion:
..."the Nations proper goals regarding individuals with disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals;"
Disability:
..."individuals with disabilities are a discrete and insular minority who have been faced with restrictions and limitations, subjected to a history of purposeful unequal treatment, and relegated to a position of political powerlessness in our society, based on characteristics that are beyond the control of such individuals and resulting from stereotypic assumptions not truly indicative of the ability of such individuals to participate in, and contribute to, society."