NALSWD Blog

Register for the 2011 NALSWD Conference Now!

After extensive technical difficulties, Full Information about the conference, a Tentative Schedule, Lodging Recommendations, a Conference FAQ, and – most importantly – the Registration Form are now available online!

They are posted as Pages to the this blog (look at the right hand bar, Pages section). Updates will be posted regularly, but registration is appreciated as soon as possible!

Only 2 months until the conference! Hope to see you there!

Questions, comments, or problems with any of the pages or registration form, please email .

See below for a wonderful scholarship opportunity if you have mental or psychological disabilities. Deadline for applications is January 4th, 2011.

Subject: Unique Opportunity to Complete Research and/or Creative Mental Health Project

Active Minds, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to college student mental health, is offering an exciting opportunity for you to complete a research or creative project related to mental health and receive a stipend of $750 (with an additional $250 available for project expenses).  Learn more and download the application at www.activeminds.org/scholars.   All undergraduate and graduate students in the U.S. are eligible to apply.  The fellowship will connect you with a prestigious network of young scholars and national experts in the field of behavioral health.  APPLY TODAY!  Applications will be reviewed on rolling basis December 1, 2010 – January 4, 2011 and preference will be given to early submissions.

For questions, email Sara Abelson, (), Program Director of Active Minds.

For those in the D.C. area, on November 30th, the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) are hosting an event to celebrate the passage and enactment of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010.  See below for more details if you’re interested in attending….

Giving Thanks for Accessible Technology

Tuesday, November 30, 2010. 4-6 p.m.

Cannon Caucus Room

House Office Building, Capitol Hill

Speakers include Representative Ed Markey and Senator Mark Pryor

Emceed by The Honorable Tony Coehlo, Chairman, AAPD Board of Directors

Sponsored by the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT)

and coordinated by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD).

RSVP by Nov. 24 to: or (202) 521-4316

The U.S. DOE has awarded CourseSmart, Alternative Media Access Center and AccessText Network a grant of $1.1 million to support the STudent E-rent Pilot Project (STEPP), an eTextbook rental program aimed at improving low-cost access to higher education eTextbooks for all students, including those with print-related disabilities such as blindness or dyslexia.

If you use e-textbooks and are a member of the disability community, please see the press release below for information about how you can take advantage of this program.

Project Director: Christopher Lee, Enterprise Innovation Institute – Provost Office 75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314 Atlanta, Georgia 30308 E-mail: Telephone: 404-894-7655

Summary: The Alternative Media Access Center (AMAC) in partnership with CourseSmart and the AccessText Network (ATN) have come together to request funding in support of an innovative, e-textbook rental program entitled the STudent E-rent Pilot Project (STEPP). While STEPP is designed to meet the textbook rental needs of any postsecondary student, the program is unique in that its textbook offerings are specially modified for accessibility, and comply with Section 504 requirements under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

In brief, STEPP leverages the expertise of AMAC, one of the nation’s leaders in producing accessible educational text, with the established distribution network of CourseSmart, the nation’s number one electronic textbook rental service, and the reach of ATN, the nation’s only ―one-stop shop‖ for disability service providers with a need for alternative format text files. For the first time, students with disabilities will enjoy the benefits of significant cost savings inherent in a textbook rental program, as STEPP provides universally accessible e-textbook files for top titles.

Goals:

The goals of the STEPP initiative are as follows: (1) To save students an average of 50 percent off the retail cost for purchasing textbooks; (2) To provide students with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in textbook rental programs and experience cost savings; (3) To develop and demonstrate a viable business model for rendering e-textbooks for rent, which are universally accessible to all; (4) To create awareness of the availability of universally accessible e-textbooks for rent; and (5) To increase knowledge and awareness amongst all players in the marketplace of the need for and the profitability of providing universally accessible e-textbooks.

We recently received word from Daniel Davis at the HHS of job opportunities in their office of general counsel. Please see below for details…

Qualified prospective applicants should check out the HHS Office of General Counsel’s career page at http://www.hhs.gov/ogc/careers/openings.htm. All job listings are posted there and individuals can sign up to be alerted every time a job posts. I strongly recommend anyone interested in a legal career at HHS sign up there.

Please note that the Office of the Inspector General and Office for Civil Rights are other offices with a number of legal jobs and post their jobs independently of the General Counsel’s office.

Attention all law students with disabilities! The Legal Aid Society – Employment Law Center has summer clerkships available through their Workers’ Rights Clinics in the San Francisco area. In addition to participating as employment counselors at the clinics, participants may get the opportunity to represent workers who have been denied wages or unemployment insurance benefits.

The LAS-ELC has done outstanding work in the areas of disability and LGBT rights in addition to gender equity and racial equality. The Workers’ Rights Clinics assists low-income individuals with a wide ranger of work-related issues, such as denial of wages, discrimination, harassment, work safety, unemployment benefits and wrongful termination.

The summer clerkship program through the LAS-ELC is a full-time, 10-week program, typically beginning the day after Memorial Day. The LAS-ELC also offers seminars during the summer on a wide range of legal topics. Other events scheduled include baseball games, outdoor concerts and barbecues. Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. For more information about this amazing organization and to find out how to apply please visit: http://www.las-elc.org/about-clerkships.htm