Watertown Commission on Disability

Monthly archive for January, 2007

Disabled vets gain easier access to parking plates

From Community Notes in the January 26, 2007 issue of the Watertown Tab:
Disabled vets gain easier access to parking plates
The commonwealth of Massachusetts has opened wider access to special license plates for veterans. The legislature strongly advocated for the passage of a law that will now permit veterans whose physical impairments already qualify them for [...]

(post) Holiday Op-Ed . . . .

This arrived in my email box today . . .
Tim Shriver, Chair of the International Special Olympics, wrote a very moving editorial published on Christmas day in the Washington Post. No Room at the Inn is a powerful story with an important message.

2005 Disability data from the U.S. Census Bureau

Disability happens and here are the numbers . . .
Data from the 2005 US Census is now available on the U.S. Census Bureau’s website.
a sampling:

Nearly 15% of the population 5 years and over (i.e., 40 million people) have one or more disabilities.

For the population 16-64 years, 12% of that population (i.e., [...]

Ten Small Business Mistakes

The Watertown Commission on Disability provides a link to this thirteen-minute video which identifies common mistakes that small businesses make when trying to comply with the ADA and addresses the importance and value of doing business with 50 million people with disabilities.
The video features statements by store owners expressing their doubts or misunderstandings about [...]

ADA: Assistance at Self-Serve Gas Stations

People with disabilities may find it difficult or impossible to use the controls, hose, or nozzle of a self-serve gas pump. As a result, at stations that offer both self and full service, people with disabilities might have no choice but to purchase the more expensive gas from a full-serve pump. At locations with only [...]

January Commission on Disability Public Meeting

The Watertown Commission on Disability will be holding it’s monthly meeting on January 17th, 2006 7:00pm to 9:00pm at Town Administration Building, 149 Main Street, Watertown, Massachusetts in the Lower Meeting Room. The building is wheelchair accessible and the public is invited to attend.
Please contact the Watertown ADA Liaison, Gayle Shattuck at 617-972-6443 by Friday, [...]

DIVERSE COMMUNITIES ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

On January 24th The Diverse Communities Committee of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership will be hosting three nation-wide roundtable discussions in January 2007 to identify needs, gaps in traditional models, existing practices and needed resources for populations including urban environments, rural environments, and students with disabilities. The free roundtable event will be held [...]

Closed Captions come to Watertown Community Access Television!!

Check out the Watertown Tab’s January 5 front page article on closed captioning coming to Watertown Community Access Television!
With the aging of the baby boomer generation, hearing loss is one of the fastest growing disabilities in the United States. In fact President Bill Clinton was diagnosed with a hearing loss and began using a hearing [...]

Recycle Your Assistive Technology

From the U.S. Department of Education
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)
On Feb. 1, 2001, President Bush announced the New Freedom Initiative-a comprehensive program to promote the full participation of people with disabilities in all areas of society. One of the pillars of the NFI is dedicated to increasing access to assistive [technology] and [...]