Apostrophe Magazine, published by AWARE, Inc., features stories about people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities living productive lives and achieving success at home, at work and at play. The magazine's title comes from its core message about people "overcoming apostrophes in their own lives. Forget can't and don't. We can and do."

The Northeast ADA Center recently posted You Have a Lot to Offer: Ten Points for Veterans to Consider When Returning to Work with a Disability [PDF]. This fact sheet is geared toward veterans re-entering the workforce, but many of the tips and resources apply to anyone with a disability seeking employment.

Social Inclusion at Work by Janis Chadsey is now available for purchase through the AAIDD Bookstore and other vendors. According to the AAIDD web site description of the book: "It is well-known that being included in social groups at work increases job security and quality of life outcomes for people with or without disabilities. This practical reference tells practitioners how to socially integrate people with developmental disabilities into employment settings. The step-by-step assessment procedures and intervention strategies presented in this book should ensure that social inclusion is a reality for employees with disabilities. Case studies present real-life situations and step-by-step approaches to dealing with them."

Building an Inclusive Workforce Desktop Flip Guide [PDF] from ODEP offers a variety of resources geared toward employers but that employment specialists may also find helpful.

Do sheltered workshops enhance employment outcomes for adults with autism spectrum disorder?, a study published in the journal Autism, compares two different groups of 215 supported employees with an Autism Spectrum Disorder:  those who were in sheltered workshops prior to entering supported employment and those who were not. Results showed that individuals who participated in sheltered workshops earned significantly less and cost nearly two and half times more per person to serve than their non-sheltered workshop peers.

Read Dale DiLeo's latest blog post on the Oregon class action lawsuit on sheltered workshops. In his post, DiLeo writes, "Sheltered workshops are not only obsolete, their cost-effectiveness is less than supported employment, and they have been found to actually hinder realizing job outcomes for people with disabilities. The case against continuing to segregate people with disabilities needlessly in day facilities is very strong, and includes not only research outcomes, but violations of civil rights and wasteful spending of government dollars."

In the January webinar "Disability Disclosure in the Workplace: What Employers Should Know," Sarah von Schrader, Ph.D., assistant director of research for the Employment and Disability Institute of Cornell University, described findings from the research report, Emerging Employment Issues for People with Disabilities, released Dec. 7, 2011, by Cornell's Employment and Disability Institute and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). Findings discussed during the webinar include:

• People are most likely to disclose their disability when they need an accommodation or have a supportive supervisor.
• They are least likely to do so if they fear they will lose a job or fail to gain one by doing so.
• Employers are unable to provide accommodations that might improve employee productivity when they are unaware an employee has a disability.
• Some individuals "have learned the hard way to be cautious" about what they reveal to co-workers and supervisors. "There is a common and not unfounded fear that disclosing a disability may lead to not being selected for a position or result in differential treatment in the workplace." 
• Employees with disabilities are concerned the employer might focus more on disability than on their abilities.
• They fear losing health care, limiting their opportunities for promotion, encountering an unsupportive supervisor, and being treated differently by supervisors or co-workers. Harassment and bullying are also concerns.
• Timing of disclosure is considered important. Many respondents said they preferred to wait until they had been hired to disclose their disability.

According to von Schrader, the concerns cited are for the most part unrealized. "Most people have neutral or positive consequences from disclosure," she said during the webinar. Less than 27 percent said they had experienced negative consequences.

Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) is collecting comments on a proposed survey of all 80 state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies. Comments are due by April 3, 2012. Items RSA seeks to evaluate through the survey include: how VR agencies implement supported employment services; how VR agencies use Title VI Part B funds in conjunction with Title I funds to fund supported employment programs; whether VR agencies are effective in obtaining supported employment outcomes; and what factors contribute to successful supported employment outcomes.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Disability recently released People with Disabilities and Serious Health Conditions: The Top 5 Things You Need to Know About the Affordable Care Act (ACA) [PDF]. The fact sheet highlights key aspects of the ACA which meet the needs of consumers with disabilities.

The Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) recently released The Affordable Care Act and Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Other Developmental Disabilities [PDF]. This issue brief explores elements of the ACA that have implications for children and youth with ASD/DD.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is accepting comments on proposed regulatory amendments [PDF] addressing the appointment of persons with disabilities. The amendments would eliminate the requirement to supply a certification of job readiness, provide clarification on the special hiring authority for people with disabilities and update regulatory terminology from "mental retardation" to intellectual disability". The deadline for comments is April 9, 2012.

The Institute for Community Inclusion has published Decline in the Provision of Facility-Based Work Services for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities [PDF]. This Data Note, using data from the National Survey of State Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Day and Employment Services, reports that the percentage of individuals that have received facility-based work services declined from FY1999 to FY2004; however, there was no corresponding increase in integrated work services.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has posted What You Should Know: Questions and Answers about the EEOC and High School Diploma Requirements. The guidance clarifies that requiring a high school diploma when hiring is generally fine, but if an applicant tells an employer he cannot meet the requirement because of a disability, an employer should allow him to demonstrate the ability to do the job in some other way.

The Autism Campus Inclusion (ACI) Summer Institute is accepting applications for the 2012 session, which will take place August 12th through August 17th in Baltimore, Maryland. This training is meant to prepare students to engage in self-advocacy and pro-neurodiversity activism on their college campuses. Any current Autistic college student in the United States is eligible to attend. Students should have at least one more year remaining in college. The institute is offered at no cost to the students chosen for the program. Applications can be obtained by contacting Melody Latimer and are due by March 30, 2012, with accepted applicants being contacted in May 2012. Completed applications, responses to the essay questions, and resumes should be submitted to Melody Latimer at mlatimer@autisticadvocacy.org.

An Analysis of Disability-Related Provisions in the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA): What Universities and Policy Makers Should Know [PDF] is an October 2011 policy brief from Alan Kurtz, Ph.D. Candidate and Coordinator of Education and Autism at the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, in collaboration with the Maine CITE Coordinating Center. The brief includes discussion of access to financial aid and model comprehensive transition and postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities.

The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition resource library includes the March 2006 Parent Brief Preparing for Employment: On the Home Front [PDF]. This article provides parents with practical ideas, such as emphasizing work-based learning, to help their children prepare for the transition to adulthood.

The Transition Coalition at the University of Kansas has an online resource featuring reviews of transition assessments that can be sorted by title or rating (as provided by reviewers).

Educators, Centers for Independent Living, and Vocational Rehabilitation in Missouri have developed A Toolkit of Resources for Independent Living Specialists, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors & Teachers/Educators [PDF]. The toolkit covers such topics as using a team approach to transition, empowerment, and employment/training, and may provide ideas for other states considering the creation of a similar resource.

The Southeast TACE (Technical Assistance and Continuing Education Center) has posted the live streaming video and presentations from the highly acclaimed national Employment for Youth in Transition conference held in conjunction with the TASH National Conference, "No Excuses", November 30 - December 1 in Atlanta. Archived presentations include:

• Transition Assessments: Tools for Students with Significant Disabilities in School and Rehabilitation Services [PDF]
• Discovery: An Assessment Process That Leads to Employment [PDF]
• Transition Assessment [PDF]
• Tools for Students with Significant Disabilities in School and Rehabilitation Services [PDF]
• Transition Comes of Age [PDF]
• Establishing a Coordinated Set of Transition Activities [PDF]
• Post-Secondary Education and Employment Options [PDF]
• Customized Employment Outcomes [PDF]
• Building Bridges with Schools and Communities [PDF]
• The Role of Customization, Supports and Work Experiences for Transitioning Youth with Disabilities [PDF]
• Transition & Asset Building [PDF]
• Supporting a Seamless Transition to Adulthood [PDF]
• The Way to Work: Employment Success for Youth in Transition [PDF]

Innovative Programs and Promising Practices: Indian and Native American (INA) Summer Youth Employment Initiatives and the 2009 Recovery Act [PDF] is a June 2011 report describing how grantees used their Recovery Act funds to serve youth in their communities. Among the program strengths and successes highlighted in the report:

• Serving older youth (up to age 24) who might otherwise have a difficult time accessing jobs typically meant for teenagers or more experienced, older adults
• Staff's commitment and dedication to youth in the programs
• Comprehensive assessments (work interest inventory, work orientation and values inventory, and career exploration) and workforce readiness and life skills training (including how to gain confidence and self-esteem through work)
• Extending relationships with employers to create a foundation upon which to build the youth programs
• Positive experiences for youth
• Earnings to contribute to families, pay debts, save for the future, support selves, make restitution, etc.
• Learned about interests, skills, culture, community service
• Set goals for the future
• Acquired workforce, leadership, and life skills
• Earned employment-related certifications
• Gained sense of responsibility, self-esteem, work ethic, success, and accomplishment
• Larger community benefits, including:
• Additional staff to help employers complete work and accomplish goals
• "Youth learned the importance of their own tribes, the Native American community, and the need to serve other people, regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status" (p.47).
• Youth became more community- and more community service-oriented
• Youth involved with the juvenile justice system could make restitution
• Program served as stimulus to local economy