2.7.1.3 Coalition of Texans with Disabilities (CTD) Collaborative (Orsag)
| TX-Center on Disability and Development, UCEDD | |||
| Program Type | UCEDD | Fiscal Year | 2020 |
| Contact | Meagan Orsag, Ph.D. | ||
| [email protected] | |||
| Phone | 979-485-4612 | ||
| Project Description | |||
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Coalition of Texans with Disabilities Annual Outreach Efforts July 2019 - June 2020 The Coalition of Texan with Disabilities (CTD) is pleased to have the support of Texas A&M Center on Disability and Development in providing outreach and training to a wide variety of consumers, providers and to private sector companies looking to become more inclusive throughout the state of Texas. Between July 1, 2019 and June 30 of 2020 CTD has provided in-depth advocacy and issue specific training, participated in panel discussions, attended and spoke at disability conferences, lead accessibility and inclusion discussions and raised awareness on disability issues including the annual CTD Film Festival Cinema Touching Disability to approximately 1,082 Texans. July 2, 2019 SXSW Accessibility & Inclusion Discussion Number of attendees: 7 CTD was asked to work with the senior staff of South by South West to help ensure they were not only just meeting the ADA requirements but going above and beyond when it came to access for attendees and presenters with disabilities, user experience, staff and volunteer training, hiring people with disabilities and creating an inclusive environment from the ground up at their annual event. This meeting sparked a number of later discussions on how to develop that kind of access to an event that covers 13 days, has over 230,000 attendees, 92 music venues across Austin, 4,800 conference speakers, 2,128 conference sessions and people from over 106 countries represented by attendees. Having an opportunity to work on access at this level has an amazing effect on how others perceive the disability community and why other festivals and conferences should follow their lead. July 18, 2019 Co-hosted A Screening of Peanut Butter Falcon Number of attendees: 80 CTD and the Austin Film Society hosted a special advance screening of 2019 SXSW Narrative Spotlight Audience Award winner, THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON, with filmmakers in attendance! In this modern Mark Twain style adventure story, Zak (newcomer Zack Gottsagen), a young man with Down syndrome, runs away from his residential nursing home to follow his dream of attending the professional wrestling school of his idol, The Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church). After the show Zack and the Director spent time talking with the audience about being an actor with a disability in the film industry. July 26 & 29, 2019 E4 Texas Number of attendees: 12 E4Texas is for people who are 18 years and older and have graduated from high school, or have a GED, and want to be a Personal Care Attendant. The E4Texas experience combines classroom instruction with practical career building experiences in addition to independent living skills and self-determination. E4Texas has three goals. 1. Empower Texans to become self-determined & independent. 2. Educate Texans to gain employment skills, as well as professional and independent living skills. 3. Employ Texans in the area of Personal Care Attendants and related fields, and who will Excel in life! Tiffany Williams (Policy Advocate at the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities) had the opportunity to partner with the E4 program to educate young adults with disabilities about self-advocacy. may see where they can engage in office visits or testimony. Tiffany also gave a short lecture on how to build relationships with local legislators. In order to prepare students for their mock hearing, Tiffany assisted them in writing and thinking through their testimony. She reviewed the committee hearing process with them so they knew what to expect the following day, as well as templates to use for their testimony. Tiffany had the opportunity to be mock legislators for their hearing and provide feedback on the students testimonies. There is no question that these students are well on their way to accomplishing the fourth goal of E4, and that is excelling! Oct 18-19, 2019 Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival Number of attendees: 260 CTDs 16th annual Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival and Short Film Competition was held in Austin, Texas on October 18-19 of 2019. The event was extremely successful with 260 attendees. All CTD staff and many volunteers were involved in planning and executing the event. The Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival and Short Film Competition celebrated 16 years in 2019! This Austin staple film festival shines a spotlight on films that positively and accurately represent disability. The festival continually serves as a unique and entertaining way of dispelling common misperceptions about disability. As always, we began our program both nights with winning entries from our international Short Film Competition, selected from over 130 submissions. One thing that made our 16th festival so amazing was having it hosted by RJ Mitte an actor with a disability, best known for his role in in the AMC series Breaking Bad. Friday nights offerings also included the thought provoking HBO documentary DARK LIGHT: THE ART OF BLIND PHOTOGRAPHERS. Following the program, we headed to the Drafthouse patio, where attendees stuck around well into the evening to meet RJ, get an autograph, and continue discussions about the films and navigating the film industry as a person with a disability. Saturday night, our Short Film Competition screenings resumed, with the winners of the documentary division. It was a big night for international filmmakers: Turkish FOOTSTEP, about amputee bomb-defuser Hosyar Ali, scooped up 1st place. ANDRE THE ANTI-GIANT, a Canadian biopic of three-foot-something comedian Andre H. Arruda, won 2nd place and Audience Favorite. After intermission, it was time for our highly anticipated focus on adaptive fashion. Fest guest Stephanie Thomas, Los Angeles-based Disability Fashion Styling Expert and founder of Cur8able.com (below), discussed her work as a stylist for actors, models, and other performers with disabilities. Her call to action: reaching out to clothing companies about making more accessible options is an act of self-advocacy. Tell brands what you wish they made, and keep the pressure on them until they do. Doors may close on you, and thats ok. But keep knocking! Designer Vanessa Villalva of Ronkita Design, models Mimi Hau, Tanya Winters, Josselyn Sosa-Williams, Marisa Cogswell, and Carol Gilson, designer Aisen Chacin of UTMB MakerHealth Space. It was a fascinating discussion, which we were thrilled to continue the following morning at our Adaptive Fashion Panel, with partner Art Spark Texas! October 21st, 2019 Akins High School discussion on Disability and Cancer Number of attendees: 25 Susie Angel a long time CTD employee spent time speaking with high school students about being a person with Cerebral Palsy that has caused significant physical and speech impairments, the barriers she faced early in life, in school, as an employed professional and how all of those barriers she faced helped to prepare her for her fight against breast cancer. October 28th, 2019 Travis High School discussion on Disability and Cancer Number of attendees: 30 Susie Angel a long time CTD employee spent time speaking with high school students about being a person with Cerebral Palsy that has caused significant physical and speech impairments, the barriers she faced early in life, in school, as an employed professional and how all of those barriers she faced helped to prepare her for her fight against breast cancer. November 5th, 2019 UT Services Scholars Seminar Number of attendees: 15 Chase Bearden CTDs Deputy Director was invited to speak at the University of Texas at Austin Services Scholar Seminar. Many of the students in this program are looking to become leaders in their fields and were interested in how each field might affect the disability community. November 7th, 2019 (THBI) Texas Health and Bio Science Seminar Number of attendees: 115 Chase Bearden CTDs Deputy Director spoke on a panel to pharma industry leaders, state legislators and their staff on all patients rights to the most effective and cutting-edge procedures, studies and medications. Much of the discussion was on the pharma industry working hand in hand with the disability community on educating people to advocate for their right to access the right medications at the right time. December 4th, 2019 ADA Discussion with Katy High School Students Number of attendees: 3 Dennis Borel CTDs Executive Director spoke with students doing research on how the effects of the Americans with Disabilities Act has helped people with disabilities since its passing. December 5th, 2019 TX Secretary of States 31st Annual Election Law Seminar for Cities, Schools and Other Political Subdivisions Number of attendees: 450 Chase Bearden CTDs Deputy Director was invited to give a training on voting in Texas, accessibility at polling sites and the issues many in the disability community face when trying to cast a private, independent ballot. January 15th, 2020 American Institute of Dental Public Health Number of attendees: 80 Dennis Borel CTDs Executive Director presented on the need to ensure that adults with disabilities on Medicaid in Texas should have access to a preventative dental plan. |
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