Navigating Today™

"Independent Living News For People With Disabilities And The Community"

Fall 2007 Issue

Volume 1, Number 1

In This Issue

· Center News

· Disability Mentoring Day

· New Employee Spotlights

· Center Utilizes Experience Works Program

· Center forms National Partnership with ILRU

· 2007 Disability Needs Assessment Survey

WCICIL Staff

Executive Director ………………GlendasFarkas

Outreach Director ………………Ryan Jansen

Program Director ……………..Dale Winner

Youth Services ………………Dustin Gorder

Home Services & Reintegration Coordinator ………………Jennifer Kelly

Independent Living Specialist …..…………Patricia Bissell

Independent Living Specialist ……………..JoezPashka

WCICIL Board Members

Chris Bunch, President Marcia Holmes,Vice-President Mona Pyatt, Treasurer Mike Killebrew, Secretary Unetta Mallory Shari Jones Karye Willard

WCICIL Services

Main Services

· Advocacy

· Independent Living Skills Training

· Information and Referral

· Peer Counseling

Additional Services

· Reintegration Program

· Youth Services

· Equipment Loan Program

· ADA Technical Assistance

· Braille Services

· Personal Assistant Program

West Central Illinois Center for Independent Living

Main Office:

300 Maine Street Suite 104 Quincy, IL 62301

217-223-0400

800-225-0407

TTY 217-223-0475

FAX 217-223-0479

Satellite Office:

440 N. Lafayette First Banker’s Trust Bldg. Macomb, IL 61455

(309)-533-5766

(888)-309-5766

TTY(309)-836-5695

FAX (309)-836-5867

cilod@adams.net

www.wcicil.org

Center News

New WCICIL Location - 300 Maine

We have moved! Our new location is 300 Maine Street, Suite 104 in Quincy, Illinois.

Disability Mentoring Day to feature Keynote Speaker Dr. Ken Upshaw

Quincy, October 17, 2007: The program is presented by Two Rivers Regional Council of Public Officials and Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities with participating partners: West Central Illinois Center for Independent Living, Transitions of Western Illinois, Illinois Department of Employment Security, Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Services, Quincy Public Schools, Quincy Society of Human Resource Management, Illinois Department of Human Services, Disability Works, and LWIA 14.

The event will be held on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 at the Quincy Senior and Family Resource Center, 639 York Street beginning with a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Persons interested should RSVP by October 10, 2007 to Julie Herring by phone at 217-222-1560, extension 235, or by e-mail at j14.herring@trrcopo.org.

Disability Mentoring Day is an opportunity to emphasize the connection between school and work, evaluate personal goals, target career skills for improvement, explore possible career paths, and develop long-lasting mentor relationships. The event will

also hold mock interviews for persons with disabilities. Job-shadowing opportunities tailored to the participants’ career interests to be announced at a later date.

New Employee Spotlights

Dustin Gorder has been named the new Youth Services Specialist for the West Central Illinois Center for Independent Living in Quincy. Gorder will be responsible for the coordination of youth programming, accessing resources for students and parents regarding Individual Education Plans (IEP) and 504 plans for educational needs. Gorder is also available as a liaison to assist in navigating the special education system within the WCICIL’s six county area for students with disabilities.

Gorder received his bachelor’s degree in Communications from Quincy University in 2003.

and

Jenny Kelly has been named the new Home Services and Re-Integration Coordinator for the West Central Illinois Center for Independent Living in Quincy. Kelly will be responsible for the coordination of home services and accessing resources for Community Reintegration.
Jenny is also qualified in Personal Assistant Training to improve the home services system within the WCICIL’s regional area for people with disabilities. Kelly received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Quincy University in 2002.

WCICIL Home Services / Reintegration Co-Ordinator Jenny Kelly

Center Utilizes Experience Works Program

The West Central Illinois Center for Independent Living has long valued its volunteers and is pleased to announce its continuing partnership with Experience Works. Recently, WCICIL has obtained an Experience Works participant which has allowed the satellite office in Macomb, Illinois to be fully staffed. The new EW participant works at the center Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday while Patricia Bissell, Independent Living Specialist, staffs the office on Wednesday and Friday. Macomb office hours are: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 8:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. and Tuesday 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Center Forms National Partnership with ILRU

Assistive Technology has increasingly become a necessity in the every day lives of persons with disabilities. From voice activated computers to hand held talking GPS navigation units or wheelchairs that climb stairs, AT is breaking down barriers and creating opportunities that may not have been previously possible. The Independent Living Research Unit is partnering with the WCICIL to obtain information about Assistive Technology needs for persons with disabilities from a consumer prospective via an online survey. The survey asks several in depth questions about current AT use; products the customer would like to have, whether or not service dogs are considered AT, as well as what sources consumers are utilizing to obtain their devices. This research is conducted by ILRU as part of the Technology for Independence Community-Based Resource Center at the University of Iowa College of Law, and Syracuse University.

For more information about how you or someone you know can take the survey, please contact Ryan Jansen, Outreach Director at WCICIL.

2007 Disability Needs Assessment Survey

The West Central Illinois Center for Independent Living, in collaboration with several local agencies and schools, is currently gathering information on the needs of persons with disabilities which are not being met within the community. The purpose of the survey is to identify those gaps and utilize the information provided to enhance delivery of services and programs - ultimately to reach proactive solutions. The survey is available online at www.wcicil.org or a hard copy can be picked up at the Center.

Co-written by Ryan Jansen, Outreach Director
and Karye Willard, WCICIL Board Member

Got Braille?

WCICIL has the capacity of providing material in large print and Braille for individuals, institutions or businesses. WCICIL provides materials at minimal cost.

Equipment Needed!

WCICIL is in need of new or used assistive devices and equipment in good and clean condition for our equipment loan program. We especially need standard and wide wheelchairs, raised toilet seats, and shower chairs 300 lb capacity. All

Equipment must be brought as a donation to the Center.

What is the Equipment Loan Program?

The Equipment Loan Program is for persons with disabilities needing assistive devices and/or equipment on a temporary loan basis at no cost. A doctor’s prescription is required. We offer mobility, bathroom, bedroom and a variety of other items. The loan program only allows a six-month limit on all equipment and devices. If this limit is exceeded the need for the item must be reevaluated.

Quincy Noon Kiwanis Awards Funding To WCICIL for Youth

The Quincy Noon Kiwanis awarded $250 to the West Central Illinois Center for Independent Living for their Youth Services Program. This generous award was used to purchase educational and entertainment items plus a carrying case to transport them. These items will be used for the youth to provide an enriched learning and entertaining environment during meetings scheduled between the Youth Services Specialist and their parent(s).

Announcements:

The Cross Disability Support Group meets every first Friday of the month from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. at WCICIL, 300 Maine St., Suite 104, Quincy, IL. For more information contact Ryan (217)223-0400 ext.11.

The Vision Impaired Support Group meets every first Thursday of the month from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon at IETC, 107 N. 3^rd St., Quincy, IL. For more information contact Patricia (217)223-0400 ext.15.

Next Personal Assistant Training will be Thursday, November 15, 2007 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at WCICIL. For more information contact Jenny (217)223-0400 ext.21.

DisABILITY Etiquette / People First Language

People with disabilities are not conditions or diseases. We are individual human beings. For example, a person is not an epileptic but rather a person who has epilepsy.

First and foremost we are people. Only secondarily do we have one or more disabling conditions.
We prefer to be referred to in person, in print or broadcast media as People with Disabilities.

Acceptable Terms

Unacceptable Terms

Person with a Disability

Disability, a general term used for functional limitation that interferes with a person's ability, for example, to walk, hear or lift. It may refer to a physical, mental or sensory condition.

Person who had a spinal cord injury, polio, a stroke, etc. or a person who has multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, arthritis, etc.

Has a disability, has a condition of (spina bifida, etc.), or born without legs, etc

Deaf / hearing impairment. Deaf refers to a person who has a total loss of hearing. Hearing impairment refers to a person who has a partial loss of hearing.

Person who has a mental or developmental disability.

Use a wheelchair or crutches; a wheelchair user; walks with crutches.

Person who is able to walk, see, hear, etc.; people who are not disabled. People who do not have a disability.

Cripple, cripples - the image conveyed is of a twisted, deformed, useless body.

Handicap, handicapped person or handicapped. This term originated from the street person - cap or hat in hand – begging for money… not a pleasant picture.

Victim. People with disabilities do not like to be perceived as victims for the rest of their lives

Deformed, vegetable. These words are offensive, dehumanizing, degrading and stigmatizing.

Deaf and Dumb is as bad as it sounds. The inability to hear or speak does not indicate intelligence.

Retarded, moron, imbecile, idiot. These are offensive to people who bear the label.

Confined/restricted to a wheelchair; wheelchair bound. Most people who use a wheelchair or mobility devices do not regard them as confining. They are viewed as a liberating means of transportation.

Healthy, when used to contrast with "disabled." Healthy implies that the person with a disability is unhealthy.