News & Notes
ILCKC announces First Annual California Disability History Week
Thousands of California High School students led the efforts to honor each second week of October as “California Disability History Week.” This year they will see the fruit of their labor fulfilled.
The FAIR Education Act, signed into law July 2011 by Governor Jerry Brown, ensures that students K-12 will learn about the contributions people with disabilities have made in our country. The stories of their valiant participation in the civil rights movement on behalf of people with disabilities are stories that must be told,” said Independent Living Center of Kern County’s Executive Director Jimmie Soto. “We have 22,000 people in Kern County with disabilities and hundreds of thousands state wide,” Soto added, “these individuals, like any other of California’s heroic history makers, deserve to be
remembered.”
Until recent years people with disabilities couldn’t attend mainstream schools, attend college, or even access buses or public buildings. The groundbreaking Americans with Disabilities Act passage two decades ago was a result of civil rights leaders Ed Roberts and the Rolling Quads who demanded equality for people with disabilities and was the beginning of the end to their segregation.
You won’t read about Roberts in current history books, but due to the FAIR Education Act that is about to change. Students will soon become educated about Roberts and others like him. Roberts was a Californian who spearheaded the Independent Living movement and worked tirelessly to advance the rights of people with disabilities. He overcame copious societal obstacles to gain admission to UC Berkeley and became Director of the California Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. It is the hope that, with the FAIR Education Act, discrimination, stigmas, and even bullying will be reduced, nurtured by a better understanding of people with disabilities.
For more information about the student lead California Disability History Week visit our ILCKC Facebook Page. Each day posts will share rich information about our history and the forefathers of the rights for people with disabilities.
Thank You Karen Goh and Supervisors!
Brandy Morgan (ILC staff member and VP for the Greater Bakersfield Council of the Blind) receives a Proclamation for the Council of the Blind naming October 2011 White Cane Safety Awareness Month in Kern County. The annual event raises public awareness about the state’s White Cane Law, which requires motorists to come to a complete stop when pedestrians with a white cane or a service dog cross a roadway. White Cane Safety Day also celebrates the ability of people with impaired vision to lead independent lives by using white canes and other mobility devices to successfully navigate a complex world.
Read more on the ILCKC Facebook page.
KGET News Story - Waiting on a Wheelchair
Tyice Morsette contacted everyone from Medicare to the independent contractor who came to her home to the medical supply company she uses. She's losing patience waiting for a wheelchair that her daughter needs to get around.
Ebony Ramirez was paralyzed in a car accident in 2003. Since then her mother, Tyice Morsette, has been her caregiver. When Ebony is not in her bed her mom has to place her in a wheelchair. The problem is Ebony has outgrown this chair. She needs a bigger one.
They were paid over $20,000 for a chair. That figure is what Morsette is referring to in these documents. The documents show Mobility Plus Equipment billed Medicare for a new electric chair back in January. That was after a contractor came out to her home and fitted her daughter for the chair.
Read more of "Waiting on a Wheelchair"
Photos from the story
