Greetings from the City of Bloomington Council for Community Accessibility! Inside our monthly newsletter you'll find lots of important information regarding Council events and updates!

Spotlight on Accessibility 

• Bloomington 2023 Mayoral Candidates Forum: Disabilities, Accessibility, and Inclusion
• Volunteer Surveyors Needed: The Case is Made
• Public Sector Accessibility: The Essence of Service
• Deaf Cultural Competence
• Facebook Posts of Note

Monthly Selections

• TED Talk
• Book of the Month

Community Involvement

• Bloomington Volunteer Network Presents the Be More Awards

New Accessibility Concerns

• Report an Accessibility Issue

Council Opportunities

• Next CCA Meeting
• Join a CCA Committee
• About the CCA

Bloomington 2023 Mayoral Candidates Forum:

Disabilities, Accessibility, and Inclusion

Paul Helmke, Moderator

Kerry Thomson

Joe Davis

Susan Sandberg

Don Griffin

Volunteer Surveyors Needed: The Case is Made

Check out this GREAT WFHB Activate podcast by CCA's own members, Chris Jackson (Accessibility Committee Chair) and Michael Bird (super volunteer!). What a case for volunteering as a surveyor.

Contact cca@bloomington.in.gov if you're motivated after listening!

Public Sector Accessibility: The Essence of Service

by BlueDAG Staff

“According to the US Census Bureau, in 2018, approximately 12.8% of the US population, or around 41 million people, had a disability. This percentage is probably underestimated, as it only includes individuals who reported having a disability and may not include those with undiagnosed or invisible disabilities. Accessibility is fundamental to serving the needs of citizens because it ensures that all community members have equal opportunities to utilize the services and resources provided by the government. Accessibility is essential for a fair and well-functioning democracy.”



For more…

Deaf Cultural Competence

by Michael Shermis

This past month, I was fortunate enough to go to an excellent training. Given I go to an average of a couple trainings a month, I don’t use the word “excellent” lightly. The Diversity and Resiliency Institute of El Paso held a webinar on Deaf Cultural Competence. It was a crash course in terminology and important social context related to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. It discussed culturally Deaf behavior, communication modalities, and offered basic guidance regarding how to communicate with a Deaf person. This training sought to raise awareness of Deaf culture and provide hearing people with important perspective so they can be allies to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. It was facilitated by Alma Pizarro-Gould, who is Deaf. The ad for the webinar asked these questions:

• What would you do if a Deaf individual came into your place of work?
• Would you or your office support staff know what to do?
• Do you feel uncomfortable at the thought of interacting with a Deaf individual?
• How much do you know about the Deaf community?  

I wasn’t too scared of the first two questions as our office deals with people with disabilities all the time. And I’ve interacted enough with people who are Deaf to not feel uncomfortable. But for that last question, I must admit to feeling woefully inadequate. Not so much after the training. While I can always learn more, things that I’ve said in the past that clearly indicated a gap in my knowledge are much less chasms and more like crevices now. One thing I’ve said in the past is I don’t really understand why people who are Deaf don’t want to be better connected with people with disabilities. Now I have a better idea on some of the challenges. I also didn’t know as much about the right terminology since I’ve been kindly corrected a couple times. Part of this was that different disabilities can find different ways of speaking about their disabilities as offensive. But we can always be more sensitive to what people want to be called and why.

After a couple hours of hearing numerous examples of how challenging it is for people who are deaf, I walked away feeling more encouraged to pursue a better connection with people who are Deaf. Good timing since our most recent CCA meeting (Feb. 27) was with two individuals from the Deaf community. They, Holly Elkins, Chair, Legislative Committee, Indiana Association of the Deaf, and Dr. David Geeslin, Superintendent, Indiana School for the Deaf, are asking CCA to help with working on a local ordinance to require captioning to be automatically on public televisions. The Council wholeheartedly supported this effort and, serendipitously, this fits one of CCA’s stated goals that came out of our recent planning session. Stayed tuned to see a more articulate goal statement soon. We’ll be tapping into CCA members to help support this effort. 

Facebook Posts of Note

We know that not everyone checks our Facebook page regularly, where we post articles of interest. So we are sharing a few here that might be relevant to you.

Black Disability History & the Present

with Luticha Andre Doucette

"The complexity of our multiply marginalized identities becomes more apparent when celebrations and discussions do not have an intersectional lens. I see white people who want to hear my voice, yet there is an absence of the real deep work that needs to be done — particularly within the disability community around racism and ableism."

As we say goodbye to Black History Month 2023, take a moment to dive into this thinkpiece by Luticha André Doucette about the relationship between racism and ableism—and how we can undo racism in our own community.

This timely intervention makes important proposals about how we can center the concerns of Black people with disabilities and promote the leadership of Black activists and advocates in our organizations.

The Institute's Center for Health Equity: Survey of Caregivers

Are you a family caregiver of an individual with a disability? The Institute’s Center for Health Equity (CHE) wants to hear from family caregivers of individuals (minor or adult) with disabilities living in Indiana, about their mental health experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CHE invites family caregivers to complete a brief online survey. The results will help us better understand the mental health needs of family caregivers. This study is funded by the Administration for Community Living, U.S Department of Health and Human Services.

All responses will be released as part of group summaries, and individual responses will remain anonymous. The entire survey should take no more than 20 minutes to complete.

For questions, contact Jae Chul Lee at (812) 855-6508 (leejaec@indiana.edu) or Don Dumayas at (812) 855-2894 (ddumayas@indiana.edu).

Article: New Bill Aims to Improve Transparency Around Disability-Related Air Travel Complaints

This article, from Changing America, bring us back to a topic we discussed during Gather Round the Table for an Accessible Journey.

"Although the 1986 Air Carrier Access Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, individuals with disabilities still face obstacles when flying, the office of Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said in a statement. A new bill introduced by Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb) aims to increase transparency around disability-related complaints for air travel passengers."

Read the whole article online.

Article from New Mobilities:

How to Make the Most of an ABLE Account

"Disability life is expensive. There are a thousand potential costs that nondisabled people rarely have to think about. Achieving a Better Life Experience accounts offer an easy, tax-advantaged way to save for disability-related expenses, plus they let you save without violating draconian disability benefits asset limits. Thanks to a recent federal law that expanded ABLE age limits, more people than ever will soon be eligible for these accounts."

Read the full article...

TED Talk

Why Design Should Include Everyone

by Sinead Burke

Sinéad Burke is acutely aware of details that are practically invisible to many of us. At 105 centimeters (or 3' 5") tall, the designed world--from the height of a lock to the range of available shoe sizes--often inhibits her ability to do things for herself. Here she tells us what it's like to navigate the world as a little person and asks: "Who are we not designing for?"

Book of the Month

More the Same Than Different: What I Wish People Knew About Respecting and Including People with Disabilities 

By: Lorraine Cannistra

"Lorraine has been giving our readers an inside view of her life as a wheelchair user for years as a writer for Chicken Soup for the Soul. Her book is a helpful collection of observations and tips for those of us who aren't quite sure what to do when we encounter people with disabilities in our daily lives." - Amy Newmark, editor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books

Have you ever seen a wheelchair user who you thought might need some help, but you weren’t sure what to do? Have you ever wanted to start a conversation with someone who has a speech impediment but were afraid you might be awkward and say something offensive?

More the Same than Different: What I Wish People Knew About Respecting and Including People with Disabilities is a practical guide for anyone who may not have much experience interacting with people with disabilities and wants to feel more comfortable. Full of skills and strategies to implement, as well as stories from Lorraine’s personal experience, this book includes various scenarios and explains, from Lorraine’s perspective, what people did right and what could have happened differently.

Examples of chapter titles include The Importance of What You Say, The Importance of How You Say What You Say, Empowerment, Positive Interactions, Inclusion, Inspiration and the concept of Inspiration Porn, and Disability Etiquette. This book exemplifies in many ways that we are all more the same than different.

The Bloomington Volunteer Network Presents

the Be More Awards

Time is running out to nominate outstanding volunteers for the Be More Awards, the community volunteer awards presented by the City of Bloomington Volunteer Network, a program of the City of Bloomington Community and Family Resources Department.

Learn about this year's seven award categories, view the eligibility requirements and nomination checklist, find helpful writing tips, and submit a nomination at https://www.bloomingtonvolunteernetwork.org/bemore.

Each of the seven Be More Award recipients will receive a $1,000 cash award provided by Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County for the recipient's nonprofit organization in honor of their outstanding service.

Deadline for nominations is March 5th!

Report an Accessibility Issue

The Council for Community Accessibility is your advocate for all things accessibility. Think blocked ramps, deteriorating curb cuts, buildings without accessible signage, bathrooms with fixtures too high, objects within the path of travel, etc., etc. The Council stands ready to assist you with these kinds of issues in our City and at Indiana University.

Let us know via online (uReport—use the word "accessible" in your report), via e-mail (cca@bloomington.in.gov), or phone (812-349-3471).

Next CCA Meeting

Next meeting: March 27th, 2023, 4:00-5:30 p.m., Allison Room (#225) and on Zoom, Request Zoom info (cca@bloomington.in.gov)

Upcoming Meetings

• April 24th, 2023, 4:00-5:30 p.m., Allison Room (#225) and on Zoom, Request Zoom info (cca@bloomington.in.gov)

Join a CCA Committee

The CCA offers opportunities to participate on the following active committees (where the real work happens!):

Activities & Events: 

Karin Willison, event chairperson, Breaking down the Barriers

Next Meeting: TBD

Transportation & Mobility:

Deborah Myerson, chairperson

Now Happening: Accessible Transportation and Mobility Principles

Next Meeting: March 14th, 4:00-5:00 p.m., McCloskey Room, City Hall. Request Zoom info (cca@bloomington.in.gov)

Accessibility:

Chris Jackson, chairperson

Now Happening: Surveying local businesses for accessibility and working on a digital accessibility survey.

Next Meeting: March 27th, 2:45-3:45 p.m. Hooker Room, Request Zoom info (cca@bloomington.in.gov)

About CCA

The Council for Community Accessibility (CCA) is a volunteer group that advocates for the interests of people with disabilities. The CCA promotes awareness of the challenges faced by people with disabilities, and works to develop solutions to problems of accessibility in the community. Learn more...

Questions? Contact cca@bloomington.in.gov or (812) 349-3471 for details.