NEW PROGRAM
Academy for Adult Learning

"To offer an authentic college experience for individuals with intellectual disabilities."
  –The primary goal of the Academy for Adult Learning (AAL)

After months of planning, 10 individuals with disabilities are spending a semester on Temple's main campus to get a taste of college life through the newest program at the Institute on Disabilities, the Academy for Adult Learning (AAL).

Participants attend classes, explore career options based on their goals and skills, participate in a variety of activities, and experience college life.

"It was a challenging project to launch," says Kathy Miller, Assistant Director at the Institute on Disabilities and AAL's Project Director. "But with the first semester nearly complete, it has exceeded our expectations."

Planning for AAL began in early 2004 when an advisory committee drafted the program's objectives and outlined how such a program would "look and work." A diverse focus group fleshed out and solidified the committee's ideas:

• The program would be an authentic learning experience.
• Participants would determine what supports they would need.
• The outcomes would be personalized for each individual.
• Participants would be involved in weekly group activities for assistance and support.

The first step was to select the participants. In addition to being age 18 or older, applicants must have been receiving services through the Philadelphia County Office on Mental Retardation. "We selected students who we thought would really flourish in a college environment," Ms. Miller says. "We then created a plan that could help them achieve their goals."

Each student was assigned a mentor, selected from more than 40 Temple students who applied. "The job of the mentor is to be a guide, an unofficial advisor, and someone who could point the AAL participants in the right direction," says Susan Richmond, AAL Project Coordinator. The mentor was selected during a unique event which featured quick introductory meetings, very much like a "speed dating" format. "Each participant met each mentor for five minutes and then they rotated," Ms. Richmond said. "We then tried to match the participant with his/her first choice of a mentor."

While there have been some difficult moments during this first semester of AAL, there have been many successes. One of the most poignant involves a student who spent much of his life confined to a small living space. He had the opportunity to attend a live theatrical performance for the first time. Ms. Miller says, "I get emotional telling the story. After seeing the play at Temple, he was transformed. He has decided to take an acting class. His life has been changed by that play and by the Academy for Adult Learning."

The Institute has already begun planning for the fall semester. "It's been a positive experience for everyone," Ms. Richmond says. "Now that we’ve ironed out some of the kinks, next semester should be even better."

Contact: Kathy Miller, Assistant Director of Training, Institute on Disabilities
Email: millerk@temple.edu

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PROGRAM FOCUS
Criminal Justice

The Criminal Justice Program at the Institute on Disabilities is recognized as a national and international leader in the field of disabilities and the criminal justice system.

Through research, training and technical assistance to self-advocates as well as to criminal justice, victim assistance and disability professionals in Pennsylvania and throughout the country, we strive to reduce the risk of victimization and ensure equal justice for individuals with disabilities when they come into contact with the criminal justice system.

The Institute on Disabilities has been a part of several key initiatives including End the Silence, National Academy for Equal Justice, and Project Illumination.

Contact: Beverly Frantz, Criminal Justice Project Coordinator, Institute on Disabilities
Email: bfrantz@temple.edu

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

This issue of Inside Information focuses on an important topic that most of us are hesitant to discuss – what happens when people with disabilities come into contact with the criminal justice system as victims, defendants, or witnesses of crime. For more than 10 years, the Institute on Disabilities has addressed this topic through ongoing training, research, information dissemination, policy work, and direct service. We "illuminate" parents, disability service providers, and self-advocates about the nature and scope of the problem and what can be done to reduce risk factors. We have also begun to enlighten the criminal justice system about how to provide "equal justice" to people with disabilities. It is my hope that through our efforts we are slowly improving justice for all!

Diane Nelson Bryen, PhD
Professor and Executive Director

Our Mission

In partnership with people with disabilities, families and allies from diverse cultures, the Institute on Disabilities works to change systems so that people can live, learn, work, play and worship in communities of their choice. The Institute on Disabilities is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities in their pursuit of interdependence, contribution, and inclusion. This mission is accomplished through training, technical assistance, services and supports, research, dissemination, and advocacy.

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DONORS

Many thanks to our friends listed below for supporting the Institute on Disabilities and our special funds...

INSTITUTE ON DISABILITIES

• Ms. Karen L. Davis

FRIENDS OF ACES

• Mr. Bill Delaney
• Mr. and Mrs. Bill and Julie Delaney
• Mr. Greg Delaney
• Ms. Pat Delaney
• Jean Larson
• Mr. Joseph P. McDermott
• Mr. and Mrs. Mia and Mike Pelosci
• Verna M. Posey
• Ms. Marion L Shore
• Lofton H. White
• Mr. and Mrs. Peter and Amy White

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY LENDING LIBRARY

• Ms. William Ehrman
• Ms. Donya Geagan
• Ms. Amy S. Goldman
• Ms. Dolores M. Gorman
• Ms. Leona B. Hudak

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PROGRAM FOCUS:
Criminal Justice—It's all in the Words

Beverly Frantz, Criminal Justice Project Coordinator at the Institute on Disabilities often begins her presentations with a humorous anecdote. On his first day at a new job in London, her husband was shocked when his secretary asked him for a "rubber." He had a good laugh days later when a colleague explained that in England, a "rubber" was NOT slang for a prophylactic—as in the U.S., but just another word for eraser!

The story illustrates the power of words and the confusion that words may cause. For individuals with intellectual disabilities, words, acronyms and language can be confusing, misleading and even dangerous when they come into contact with the criminal justice system. For that reason, the Institute provides technical assistance and training to criminal justice, victim assistance and disability service professionals, as well as self-advocates, on the importance of communication and language.

"The Institute supported one victim who had told her parents that a boy in the neighborhood 'bothered' her," Ms. Frantz says. "The victim did not have the vocabulary to communicate what had actually happened. Months passed before it was determined that she had been raped.”

Communication begins with education and relies on patience and understanding. A proactive approach to making criminal justice and victim-service professionals aware of differences in how people communicate, especially their use of and understanding of vocabulary, is a priority. Individuals with intellectual disabilities often have difficulty with abstract concepts, such as date and time. Perhaps because of communication difficulties, individuals with disabilities are less likely to report sexual abuse and robbery, while incidence is 10 and 12 times higher than the general population respectively.

Current research tells us that persons with a developmental disability have a 4 to 10 times higher rate of victimization than do people without disabilities and that 50% of women with developmental disabilities who had been sexually assaulted had been assaulted 10 or more times.

Communication is more than just words, Ms. Frantz says. It's also learning about and understanding personal safety – in the community, at school and at work. "To reduce the risk of people with disabilities coming into contact with the criminal justice system as victims, witnesses, or defendants, personal safety education is paramount." It's about understanding the vocabulary and the meaning of words that relate to boundaries, touch, space, and healthy sexuality. It's a comprehensive approach to helping individuals with disabilities stay safe.

Ms. Frantz says, "Open, honest dialogue about relationships, social etiquette and sexuality, will contribute to enhanced communication and, perhaps, even a reduction in victimization."

Communication is three part–the ability to express oneself, the ability to be understood, the ability to understand. The criminal justice professional, along with the person with a disability and his/her family and support, must work together as a team to ensure that the complete and correct information is communicated and, fair and just action is taken.

Communication Confusion

The same word can mean different things to people of different generations, cultures and environments.

For example: 1 word — 3 meanings:
For people of a certain generation, RUBBERs were worn in the rain.
In England, when people use the word RUBBER it means an eraser.
The colloquial term for prophylactic is RUBBER in some environments.

"Project Illumination" to Distribute Toolkits

"Project Illumination," a cooperative effort of the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University, The ARC of PA, PA Protection & Advocacy, PCAR and the Office of Mental Health & Substance Abuse, works to bring attention to the issue of sexual violence against people with developmental disabilities.

In February, Project Illumination began distributing "toolkits" to 52 rape crisis centers in Pennsylvania and to the 39 chapters of The Arc in the Commonwealth. These toolkits not only will help raise awareness but will increase capacity to handle cases of violence involving people with developmental disabilities. Included in the kits are fact sheets, personal safety videos, technical assistance bulletins, sample press releases, a resource guide and definitions to understanding developmental disabilities.

Web Accessibility Contest

Quince Orchard High School, in Gaithersburg, MD and Flower Valley Elementary School in Rockville, MD have been named winners in this year’s “Web Site Accessibility Contest” for schools, grades kindergarten through 12. The contest, sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Consortium on Accessible Information Technology in Education (a program of the Institute on Disabilities), welcomed entries from Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Sites were evaluated based on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Priority 1 Checkpoints and Section 508 Web Standards.

Institute Executive Director named to Gaskin Panel

Dr. Diane Nelson Bryen, Executive Director of the Institute on Disabilities, has been selected to the Advisory Panel established to oversee the many components of the Gaskin Settlement. This landmark settlement between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and 12 named plaintiffs has 5 years to make a significant impact in the education of all students, especially those with disabilities. "I am deeply honored to have been selected as one of the 15 Advisory Panel members for the Gaskin Settlement Agreement," Dr. Bryen says. "I am also humbled by the task ahead in Pennsylvania in finally recognizing that 'separate can never be equal' for students whether they are students of color or students with disabilities."

MARC at Temple

The Institute on Disabilities—along with Temple University's Computer Services department—announces that Temple University has been named as a Microsoft Accessibility Resource Center (MARC).

Forty-six MARC centers have been established in the United States with a goal to increase awareness of accessible technology solutions available on today’s computers.

MARCs provide technology, training and assistance for people with a variety of disabilities that affect computer use, including low vision, hand and wrist pain, and hearing loss. The Centers are equipped with resources designed to train people on the accessibility options in Windows, Office and Internet Explorer.

"We are excited to join forces with Karl Horvath, Assistant Director, Computer Services at Temple, and his staff in bringing a MARC to the main campus," says George Heake of the Institute on Disabilities.

Contact: George Heake, Accessible Electronic and Information Technology Coordinator, Institute on Disabilities
Email: gheake@temple.edu

NEW Leadership Training Program!

The Institute's newest program, "Competence and Confidence: Partners in Policymaking for Inclusive Education," was introduced during the May 13 workshop, "Creating Schools for All Children," at the Hershey Lodge in Hershey, PA. Featured were keynote addresses by Norman Kunc, Emma Van der Kleft and Jerry Petroff, PhD, and opening remarks by Linda O. Rhen, EdD.

"Competence and Confidence: Partners in Policymaking for Inclusive Education," will begin in the Fall of 2006.

Contact: Kathy Miller, Assistant Director of Training, Institute on Disabilities
Email: millerk@temple.edu

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS

• May 9,11, & 16 - Helping Tools for Older Pennsylvanians & Their Caregivers– Train-the Trainer Workshop
• May 10 - Families First
• May 12 - C2P2 Early Intervention Training
• May 13 - C2P2 Inclusive EducationIntroductory Session
• May 20 - Families First Training
• May 23 - PIAT Legislative Day Harrisburg
• June 2 - C2P2 Early Intervention Training
• June 3 - C2P2 Early Intervention Training
• June 16 - Equal Justice Symposium
• June 24 - Families First Training
• June 27-28 - Gaskin Advisory Panel (Public Comments)
• June 26, 27, 28 - Don Johnson Training
• July 9-21 ACES (Augmentative Communication and Empowerment Supports) Leadership Brunch

For information on trainings for self-advocates & families in Pennsylvania, log on to The Partnership website at www.TheTrainingPartnership.org

FOR MORE INFORMATION

With suggestions or comments about our newsletter, contact Susan Fullam, Dissemination Coordinator, Institute on Disabilities at Temple University: sfullam@temple.edu. Available in alternate formats, upon request.

Para información en español, favor contactar a Silvia Lee por teléfono al 215-204-9348 o por correo electrónico al latino@temple.edu

Institute on Disabilities, Pennsylvania's University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service at Temple University
1301 Cecil B. Moore Ave.
Ritter Annex Room 423 Philadelphia, PA 19122
215.204.1356 Voice/TTY
215.204.6336 Fax
http://disabilities.temple.edu

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