ADA in Iowa

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ADA Celebration 2010 Toolkit 20 Steps Toward the 20th

description

A toolkit and resource for organizations planning events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act in Iowa

Transcript of ADA in Iowa

Page 1: ADA in Iowa

ADA Celebration 2010

Toolkit

20 Steps Toward the 20th

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July 26th, 2010July 26th, 2010 marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, protecting individuals with disabilities from discrimination.

Your organization can commemorate this civil rights milestone by spreading the word on disability awareness.

Use this toolkit to: ► Get ideas for your ADA celebration ► Set a schedule and budget ► Learn about corporate sponsorship ► Search for a keynote speaker ► Learn about PSAs, PRs, and event promotion

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I: Get the idea!

Your organization wants to spread the word on disability awareness by hosting an ADA 20th anniversary event…but

where to get started? Brainstorming ideas, of course!

Here are 2020 ideas we’ve come up with to get you thinking!

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1: Host a wheelchair basketball game or wheelchair races.

2: Exhibit works by artists with disabilities.3: Sponsor a disabilities awareness poster or

essay contest.4: Demonstrate use of assistive devices at a

public event.5: Offer disability trivia quizzes.Famous People with Disabilites QuizFamous Athletes with Disabilities

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6: Display “Did you know?” posters featuring famous people with disabilities around your neighborhood, school, or workplace.

7: Make your own commercial similar to the AAPD’s public service announcement on YouTube.

8: Educate employers on tax incentives for disability accommodations.

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9: Conduct a daily/weekly SurveyMonkey quiz to get people thinking. If you need helping making a survey, or for access to an account without cost to you, contact us at [email protected]

10: Organize a disability pride parade.

11: Post fliers with interesting facts about disabilities.

12: Show the statistics on the status of Iowans with disabilities.

13: Teach Braille or sign language.

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14: Inform the public about the various disabilities that are protected under the ADA.

15: Engage participants in activities that give a perspective on what it’s like to live with a particular disability.

16: Educate local realtors and landlords on service animal accommodation.

17: Educate local construction firms on disability-friendly construction.

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18: Host a disabilities awareness fair.

19: Arrange for a speaker to visit a local school and talk to students about a disability-related topic.

20: Create and display an ADA timeline …Look how far we’ve come in 20 years!

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II: Plan your event!

Settled on an idea for an amazing ADA event? Wonderful! Now here comes the challenging part…

planning it!

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First, come up with an event timetable to help manage deadlines and schedules. This attached event timetable contains a worksheet that you can fill out as you organize, develop, and carry out your ADA event.

Depending upon your event, you may or may not need a budget. We found this basic budget worksheet and event planning checklist to be helpful.

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Need funding for your event?

Try a corporate sponsor, or in other words, an organization that may have an interest in your cause and event.

While there is no single database of corporate sponsors, you can easily search for sponsorship by perusing the Yellow Pages and calling, e-mailing, or visiting with organizations to ask them if they would like to sponsor your event.

It’s easy to do, and a great way to spread the word about the ADA! This link provides you with tips on asking for corporate sponsorship.

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III: Find a speaker!

An interesting and well-known keynote speaker will oftentimes reel in the crowds to an event.Begin by asking some similar organizations for recommended speakers. If a speaker was willing to participate in one event, then there’s a chance he or she would be interested in yours as well.

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Or, try searching for a speaker online. This link is a handy search engine; find speakers by location, language, keywords, area of specialty. Contact us at [email protected] for a list of speakers we’ve already collected for you!

Now that you’ve found a speaker, you need to invite him/her to speak at your event. Check out these step-by-step instructions on contacting a potential speaker, and convincing him/her to speak at your event.

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IV: Get the word out!

Advertising is perhaps the most important aspect of event planning. After all, if nobody shows up to your event, your hard work was for nothing! You can start with telling us at [email protected]

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The press release (PR)

One way of gaining publicity is through a press release, which is essentially a report written specifically to a member of the press to show the newsworthiness of your event and cause. Here are some links to get you started!

Publicity InsiderFree Press ReleaseeReleases: How to submitADA Press Release

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The Public Service Announcement(PSA)

While press releases are typically written, public service announcements (PSAs) are usually broadcasted. Check out these links to learn more about writing PSAs, and to see an example of a PSA.

How to write public service announcements

Example PSA on YouTube

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Additional resources• ►ADA Iowa logo

– http://adaiowa.webs.com/logo%20versions/logo1e.png

• ►Disability rights timeline– http://isc.temple.edu/neighbor/ds/

disabilityrightstimeline.htm• ►Americans with Disabilities Act

– http://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm• ►ADA summary

– http://www.disability-access.org/ada.php• ►Civil Rights Act

– http://finduslaw.com/civil_rights_act_of_1964_cra_title_vii_equal_employment_opportunities_42_us_code_chapter_21

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Additional resources• ►Past ADA events

– http://www.disabilitytraining.org/ada/ada-pics.html (Iowa City)– http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/cpps/ada/celebrations/ (Indianapolis)– http://www.wcicil.org/ADA_Fest_2008.htm (Quincy, IL)

• ►Disability awareness activities– https://www.dvusd.org/assets/pdfs/department_education/

Disability_Awareness.pdf• ►Disability statistics (Iowa)

– http://www.pascenter.org/state_based_stats/state_statistics_2005.php?state=iowa

• ►Census Brief: Disabilities Affect One-Fifth of All Americans– http://www.census.gov/prod/3/97pubs/cenbr975.pdf

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On behalf of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission VISTA project

, we thank you for your involvement in the 20th Anniversary of the ADA!

For any further questions, please contact: Anna McGlaun

[email protected]