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Programs & Events

Disability Awareness Week at TC

Disability Awareness Week 2008  

Teachers College is proud to announce the Third Annual Disability Awareness Week to promote perspectives on disabilities "from the inside out"  including Lectures, Awards, Films, Adaptive Technology, Faculty Luncheon.

Sponsored by: Faculty Executive Committee, Gottesman Libraries, Office of Access & Services for Individuals with Disabilities, Office of Disability Services; Columbia College, Office of Diversity & Community, Office of Residential Services, Office of Student Activities & Programs, and the Office of the Dean

For a complete listing of events visit: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/oasid/daw/daw.html

Art of Accessible Teaching Award

Winners:  Ruth Adrienne Zealand and Russell Scott Rosen

Did you know -

 

The New York City Transit subways and the Staten Island Railway (SIR) currently only have approximately 12% of their more than 492 stations wheelchair accessible. http://www.mta.info/mta/ada/transit.htm

 

Less than 20% of Americans that could benefit from hearing devices have them. (Hearing Review, 2000) http://www.wirelessrerc.gatech.edu/SOT/press/media/Disability%20Facts%20and%20Stats.doc

 

A 2003 survey in the United States found that almost three-quarters of employers reported that employees with disabilities did not require any special accommodation. http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/questions.shtml#one

 

In the United Kingdom, "-'only 17% of disabled people were born with their disabilities."  

http://www.shaw-trust.org.uk/page/6/90/

 

Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, never telephoned his wife or mother because they were both deaf.   http://www.vsarts.org

 

In addition to improved ADA requirements for arenas and stadiums, the designers of stadium-style movie theaters will no longer be permitted to install wheelchair viewing locations in the front row of the theater, right in front of the screen-'"the worst seats in the house! The newest 2003 ICC ANSI A117.1 regulations specify that, "wheelchair viewing locations shall be located within the rear 70% of the seats provided." 

http://www.iccsafe.org/cs/standards/a117/index.html

 

The National Federation of the Blind "estimated that over one million persons in the U.S. are blind and each year 50,000 more will become blind. Studies show that only AIDS and cancer are feared more than blindness." http://www.nfb.org/nfb/Who_We_Are.asp

 

In all 50 states, the law requires drivers to yield the right of way when they see an extended white cane. http://www.nfb.org/nfb/Who_We_Are.asp

United Airlines is one of the few airlines that has a special page featuring information for "Customers with Special Needs". http://www.united.com/page/middlepage/0,6823,1039,00.html

Men with severe disabilities earn 55 percent more than women with severe disabilities. http://www.aauw.org/issue_advocacy/actionpages/positionpapers/disabilities.cfm

 

81% of websites are inaccessible to people with difficulties such as dyslexia, poor or partial vision, and visual stress.   http://www.disabilityblog.info/disabilityblog/accessibility/index.html

                                               

Famous people who have dyslexia include: Albert Einstein (Scientist, philosopher), Cher(Entertainer, actress), Leonardo Da Vinci (Renaissance artist, sculptor, painter), Tom Cruise (Actor), Walt Disney (Cartoonist, visionary founder of Disneyland/Disneyworld), Thomas Edison (Inventor, scientist), Winston Churchill (Former Prime Minister of Britain), Woodrow Wilson (Former president of the United States).

 

It is an often neglected fact that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (18th century composer) is suggested to have been a

       person with Tourette Syndrome.       http://www.tourettes-disorder.com/mozart.html

Brought to you by the O&O Center, Teachers College, Columbia University

Disability Awareness Week. March 26-March 30, 2007

               

It is estimated that 1.6 million people in South Africa use Sign Language as a first language. Of these

     600 000 are profoundly deaf and 1 million are extremely hard of hearing.  This figure is higher than those 

     for speakers of four of the eleven official languages, i.e. Tsonga (1.35 million), Swaz (926,000), Ndebele

     (799,000) and Venda (763,000).      http://www.signgenius.com/info-statistics5.shtml

Disability has always been a part of society. As early as 1580 B.C., an Egyptian stone slab portrayed Antef of Egypt, a man with a wither leg who used a crutch.  http://www.vsarts.org

In 1776, Stephen Hopkins (1707-1785) referred to his cerebral palsy when he signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence saying, "My hand trembles, but my heart does not." http://www.vsarts.org/x1629.xml

There are approximately 9,000 students with documented disabilities enrolled in credit-bearing courses at the City University of New York. http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/studentaffairs/disabilityServices_facts.htm

The 100 year old Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA provides accessible seating, parking, accessible portable toilets, signed interpreter, and audio description.  It serves as a model for parade planning nationally.  (Skulski, J. December 2006). Indiana University-Bloomington: National Center on Accessibility. http://www.ncaonline.org/making-the-grade/roseparade.shtml

A U.S. Teenager won an international award for his short acerbic Disability Awareness Video called "Thumbs Down to Pity". http://www.disabilityworld.org/index.htm

One of the "hit" NBC shows, is Friday Night Lights which portrays a small town in Texas where the only shared experience is the ups and downs of the Friday night games of the high school football team. The show stars Scott Porter as Jason Street, the quarterback who becomes quadriplegic from a game injury. In Texas alone 10 high school students a year are paralyzed through sports. http://www.disabilityworld.org/01_07/media.shtml

Disability film festivals are proliferating around the U.S. and in 2006 included the following: Reel Life in Michigan; Cinema Touching Disability in Texas; Bodies of Work and Screening Disability in Chicago; Sprout in New York City; University of Oregon in Eugene; and one in Beverly Hills, featuring films about inclusion of people with disabilities. http://www.disabilityworld.org/01_07/media.shtml

 According to U.S. Census Bureau 2005 American Community Survey, the total school enrollment between ages 18 to 34 of people with any disability is 4,505,696 with13.9% enrolled in college or graduate school.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2005 American Community Survey, the total employment status of individuals with disabilities between ages 16 to 64 years old is 22,790,299 (37.5%).

People living in England have been led to believe that they are years behind America when it comes to facilities and services for people with disabilities.  But did you know that all London buses and ALL taxis are wheelchair accessible now. http://www.raggededgemagazine.com

 

In a 1999 study, the number of postsecondary undergraduate students identified as having disabilities in the U.S. was found to represent 6% of the student body. The types of disabilities reported by these students were: Learning Disabilities (45.7%), Mobility or orthopedic impairments (13.9%), Health Impairments (11.6%), Mental Illness or emotional disturbance (7.8%), Hearing Impairments (5.6%), Blindness and Visual Impairments (4.4%), Speech or Language Impairments (0.9%), and Other Impairments (9.1%).

http://www.uni.edu/disability/faculty/responsibilities/statistics.shtml