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Welcome
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From the Desk of Kathleen Egan:
There is something so exciting about the fall - leaves turning colors, the yummy soups and warm sweaters, and the start of school,programs, and projects! I hope those of you who are in the midst of a new start are experiencing success and feeling encouraged by those around you.
These last couple months have been particularly busy here at the Michigan Community Service Commission. We recently wrapped up our second annual Disability/Inclusion Week, which took place October 17-21. The goal of this week is to empower national service programs (including AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn-and-Serve), volunteer organizations, mentoring programs, and others to make service a part of the lives of individuals with disabilities. This week-long effort raises awareness about disability and inclusion and provides programs with valuable tools and resources to help serve and connect with those with disabilities. The week included interesting Michigan facts and inspiring quotes, tips for making service more inclusive, resources and ideas for connecting with disability organizations, and a series of inclusion webinars. If you were not able to join us during Disability/Inclusion Week, I encourage you to check out our Disability/Inclusion page on the MCSC website at www.michigan.gov/mcsc.
On a more personal note, I am excited to announce that I will be continuing on at the MCSC for a second year as the Inclusion AmeriCorps*VISTA. If you have any questions related to inclusion, or would like to make a recommendation for article topics or the program spotlight for future editions of IN Touch, please don't hesitate to contact me at egank@michigan.gov. I hope you find the information in this latest edition of IN Touch helpful!
In Service,
Kathleen Egan
Cross-Stream/Inclusion AmeriCorps*VISTA
Michigan Community Service Commission
To see past editions of IN Touch you can access the archived versions by visiting the Resources section of the Disability/ Inclusion section of the MCSC website.
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Universal Design
Universal Design is a global movement that asks engineers and designers to produce products, homes, and other items that are "human based" in their design - meaning they are accessible to both those with disabilities and those without. For an item to be considered part of the Universal Design movement it must follow these 7 principals:
1. Equitable use
2. Flexibility in use
3. Simple and intuitive
4. Perceptible information
5. Tolerance for error
6. Low physical effort
7. Size and space for approach and use
Examples of universal design can be anything from a typeface that is designed with dyslexic readers in mind, to the use of door handles instead of door knobs, to ground level entrances that don't require stairs. Universal design is proving to be a popular design choice and there are many programs across the country that teach universal design to their students. There is even a store in Boston, MA that is devoted entirely to items that follow the universal design principals. Customers can shop and view items through their online store at: http://www.ihcdstore.org/
With a rapidly aging population of baby boomers, universal design is rising in prominence as it is a strong marriage of form and function, and allows for users of any ability to use with ease. Ron Mace, an American architect who had polio as a child and used a wheelchair and a ventilator, coined the term universal design and figured out how to define it in relation to accessible design. Mace stated that universal design is "not a new science, a style, or unique in any way. It requires only an awareness of need and market and a commonsense approach to making everything we design and produce usable by everyone to the greatest extent possible."
To learn more about universal design and the products that follow the principles of this concept, visit The Institute for Human Centered Design. The PBS show, A Wider World featured the Institute in a segment you can view here.
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High Expectations
Robin Bennett is an AmeriCorps*VISTA serving with the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living. In this month's spotlight, Robin reflects on the impact of her two years of service.
"To the best AmeriCorps VISTA the Ann Arbor CIL has ever had." That was the expectation-filled salutation pinned to a large bouquet of flowers set on the desk that would be mine as I began my term of service almost two years ago at the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living (AACIL). I read those words with an equal helping of hope and dread. On one hand, I had hope that I would make a difference; on the other hand, the dread the dread that I would not live up to the aforementioned best VISTA ever. With one bouquet of flowers, I found myself stuck between the two extremes that I would ping-pong between during my time as a VISTA.
My personal game of psychological table tennis had little to do with the fact that I have a disability. I was born with a rare genetic illness called Friedreich's Ataxia (and it seems it's not enough to have a life-threatening illness - it also takes a dozen years to learn to spell!). The disease remained hidden, slowly peeking out as I grew, searching out ways to trip me up, slow me down and make me different. My older brother, Chris, had been diagnosed with FA (so much simpler, right?!) when he was 12. I was only five at the time, and didn't make the fatal connection between my growing limitations and the same ones that had led him to a wheelchair at 16. Long story short, I've used a wheelchair full-time now for 11 years. But, after so much time, I was about to learn how "normal" I could be, and that the ups and downs, goods and bads, or pings and pongs of working in non-profit were applied equally, disability or no.
Beginning my service at the Ann Arbor CIL was an exercise in extreme humility. My encounters with others with visible disabilities (because - make no mistake - disabilities are everywhere, but there are many one can hide) was limited. Several of my coworkers are in chairs for a variety of different reasons. I was no longer "special" in my abnormality. At the CIL, disability was the norm and expectations of me and my abilities were not automatically assumed to be less (commence the first serve: Ping, Pong, Ping...). My coworkers-I think it's safe to say, "My friends"- have ushered me into a whole new world of adaptive sports, advocacy, and understanding. Not only has my job resume exploded in the Skills and Accomplishments sections (I'm on to two pages!) because of the CIL, but the wisdom and knowledge of resources that I could add to my "life" resume could fill a book...."
To read Robin's full story, click here.
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The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) offers webcasts throughout the year on a wide variety of topics. Sign up for free and join educational sessions on topics like disability etiquette, assistive technology, management techniques, and the latest on accommodations and the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Click here for more information.
A Wider World is a 30 minute, magazine-style show that airs in the US and Canada and focuses on disability topics. Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living AmeriCorps*VISTA, Robin Bennett was featured in an episode! For more information on the show visit their facebook page.
Christian Boer, a graphic designer with dyslexia, has helped design a typeface that will help make reading easier for those who are dyslexic. For more information on the typeface, click here. To learn more about Boer, visit his website here (just make sure your Google translate is turned on!).
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About the MCSC: The Michigan Community Service Commission is firmly committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation in its programs, activities, and materials. Please call (517) 335-4295 to request accommodation or to obtain materials in an alternate format.
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