An blind undergraduate psychology major at Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM) teamed up with a STEM tutor and a fellow undergraduate studying ecology to create a new method for teaching advanced math to students with disabilities. Read more in this article by Kai Sinclair for Science Magazine. “In 2015 they formed the Logan Project and started tailoring their teaching method—called process-driven math (PDM)—for students with other impairments, including dyslexia and dysgraphia, a learning disorder associated with impaired handwriting.”
The UK’s planned withdrawal from the European Union, commonly known as ‘Brexit,’ could result in a reduction of legal protections for people with disabilities and their relatives. Learn more in this explainer article in The Guardian.
The National Center on Disability and Journalism is excited to welcome two new board members, Amy Silverman and Becky Curran.
Amy Silverman is an accomplished journalist, currently the managing editor at the Phoenix New Times. In addition, she is a commentator at KJZZ, the National Public Radio affiliate in Phoenix. Silverman is author of the book, “My Heart Can’t Even Believe It: A Story of Science, Love, and Down Syndrome” and the blog, “Girl in a Party Hat”. She lives in Phoenix with her daughters, Annabelle and Sophie, and her husband, Ray.
Becky Curran owns and manages DisABILITY in Media, which promotes talents of people with disabilities using storytelling and social media. She is also the chapter president of Little People of America in New York City. She has delivered motivational speeches from TEDx talks to schools, corporations and nonprofits. Curran was born with achondroplasia, a common type of short-limbed dwarfism. She works to change the way the world reacts to people with disabilities, including the 30,000 little people that live in the United States.
Curran and Silverman join other talented professionals in providing advice and support to the NCDJ.
NY Times reports Hideto Kijima, a disabled rights activist who is partly paralyzed, said he was told by staff of a Japanese airline that he could not board because the small plane was not wheel-chair accessible. The episode has drawn significant public attention and the airline, Vanilla Air, has since apologized. Read more.
Kayhan Life reports that the short film “Love is Blind”, starring music therapist and actor Arsalan Nami, won the jury prize at the Entr’2 Marches International Festival in Cannes. The film tells the story of a man who is losing his vision and his changing relationship. Read more.
18-year old Tyneisha Wilder spoke to Pittsburgh’s Public Source about her desire to care for her child, who was taken from her by the county Children, Youth and Families office shortly after birth. Wilder has been diagnosed with an intellectual and developmental disability. To remain together, she must find a family to adopt both her and her son within 3-months. Read more.
Philadelphia Inquirer writer Jason Laughlin shares his experience with physical disability and online dating. He found that the response to his online dating profile changed when he added photos that showed his disability. Read more
Writer S.I. Rosenbaum breaks down a Washington Post story on disability aid, critiquing the paper’s approach and a larger tendency in journalism to succumb to cliches about disability.
May 18 is Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which aims to increase conversation about digital accesibility worlwide for people with disabilities. Read more
The 2017 Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability is the only journalism contest devoted exclusively to recognizing excellence in the coverage of people with disabilities and disability issues.
The winner of the 2017 contest will be announced in October. Entries for the 2017-2018 contest year will be accepted beginning in May 2018.
Awards are given to individuals or teams, with prizes of $5,000 for first place, $1,500 for second place and $500 for third place. Judges also may award honorable mentions.
The Schneider award is administered each year by the NCDJ, which is part of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. It is supported by a gift from Katherine Schneider, a retired clinical psychologist who also supports the Schneider Family Book Award, which honors the best children’s book each year that captures the disability experience for children and adolescents. That award is administered by the American Library Association.
In 2016, the top NCDJ Schneider award went to Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Chris Serres for “A Matter of Dignity,” an investigation into the segregation and neglect of hundreds of Minnesotans who are part of a system of state-subsidized sheltered workshops for people with disabilities. Second place went to WAMU 88.5, the NPR station in Washington, D.C., and third place was awarded to ProPublica. Judges also gave an honorable mention to Business World in New Delhi, the first international news outlet to be honored in the contest.
Entries are judged by professional journalists and disability experts based on the following criteria:
Explore and illuminate key legal or judicial issues regarding the treatment of people with disabilities;
Explore and illuminate government policies and practices regarding disabilities;
Explore and illuminate practices of private companies and organizations regarding disabilities;
Go beyond the ordinary in conveying the challenges experienced by people living with disabilities and strategies for meeting these challenges;
Offer balanced accounts of key points of controversy in the field and provide useful information to the general public;
Special consideration will be given to entries that are accessible to those with disabilities. For example, broadcast pieces that are available in transcript form and text stories that are accessible to screen readers. All entries will be published on the NCDJ website in accessible formats.
Schneider, who has been blind since birth, hopes the award will help journalists improve their coverage of disability issues, moving beyond “inspirational” stories that don’t accurately represent the lives of people with disabilities. “That kind of stuff is remarkable, but that’s not life as most of us live it,” she said.
The NCDJ, which has been housed at the Cronkite School since 2008, offers resources and materials for journalists covering disability issues and topics. For more information, visit our About page.
