On March 5, acclaimed dancer David Levanthal spoke at the Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD) in Boston about about Dance for PD®. Mr. Leventhal is a founding teacher and Program Director for Dance for PD®, a collaborative program of the Mark Morris Dance Group and Brooklyn Parkinson Group that has now been used as a model for classes in more than 100 communities. He leads classes for people with Parkinson's disease around the world and trains other teachers in the Dance for PD® approach.

Read more and view a Dance for PD® report from PBS FRONTLINE and The News Hour.

Photo: David Levanthal, founding teacher and Program Director for Dance for PD®.  

Join Vinfen for films focusing on people with brain injury including Life. Support Music and The Crash Reel. The festival takes place on Saturday March 22, 2014, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur in Boston.

Register to attend the film festival!

The Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire (BIANH) and the Governor's Commission on Disability (GCD) announce a FREE Legislative Leadership Training.  The training is on April 25, 2014 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. It will be at the Legislative Office Building, Rooms 206-208; 33 North State Street, Concord, NH. Lunch will be provided along with a statehouse tour.   This training is for people with disabilities, parents, family members, and professionals. The goal of the training is to help develop of self-advocacy and leadership skills.  For more information and registration, please contact Ellen Edgerly, BIANH, 603-332-9891, ellenedge@metrocast.net.

The Rhode Island Department of Health Office of Special Needs, Rhode Island Department of Education Office of Student, Community, and Academic Supports, the Regional Transition Centers and the Rhode Island Parent Information Network is sponsoring the 6th annual Dare to Dream Student Leadership conference on Wednesday May 21, 2014 at the University of Rhode Island (URI). The conference highlights strategies and information to prepare students with special needs to become college and career ready. Dare to Dream features keynote presentations from accomplished young adults with special needs who have demonstrated exemplary self-advocacy and leadership skills.

View the event flyer and register.

Congressional Designated Wilderness areas offer unique opportunities for remote area experiences with solitude and self-reliance. This webinar will review what is required and what is not required in relation to people who have disabilities who are seeking access to wilderness areas.

The primary audience for this webinar is anyone who works with the wilderness. The presenter will be Janet Zeller, U.S. Forest Service National Accessibility Program Manager, Thursday, March 27, 2014, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM EST.

Join the webinar from your computer or access an audio-only feed from your phone by dialing 1-888-621-9649.

Photo: Janet Zeller.

Each year, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) offers 30 merit-based scholarships to U.S. college students who are blind. The scholarships range from $3,000 - $12,000 and are awarded based on academic excellence, community service, and leadership. Learn about eligibility requirements and find answers to frequently asked questions. Apply online. Application deadline is March 31, 2014.

The National ADA Symposium is an annual conference on the Americans with Disabilities Act. This four day event is made up of a pre-conference, keynote, break-out sessions, advanced discussion groups, exhibits, and hands-on learning activities.The schedule features 72 break-out sessions providing cutting edge information on a wide range of topics related to the ADA by nationally recognized presenters representing key agencies and organizations involved with the ADA such as: Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S. Access Board, EEOC, National Center on Accessibiliy and the International Code Council.

Learn more!

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed rules to help emergency
responders better locate wireless callers to 911. The proposed updates to the Commission's Enhanced 911 (E911) rules respond to Americans' increasing use of wireless phones to call 911, especially from indoors, and take advantage of technological developments that allow for more accurate location information to be transmitted with 911 calls.

Read the full story.

The U.S. Access Board has elected Michael K. Yudin as its new Chair. Yudin currently serves as Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). He serves as DOE's principal advisor on special education, vocational rehabilitation, and disability and rehabilitation research. Sachin Dev Pavithran was elected as Vice Chair.

Read the official announcement.

Photo: Michael K. Yudin and Sachin Dev Pavithran.

In the spring of 2012, four best friends drove across the country in search of adaptive sports for individuals with physical disabilities, and lived to tell the story in a feature documentary film. From rehabilitation patients to Paralympic athletes, cameras captured the reality of broken boundaries and common goals among all who are active.

View the trailer and learn how you can access the film on DVD, Blu-Ray, and Digital Download this summer.

Learn how you can arrange a screening of Endless Abilities at a location near you!

The Olympic and Paralympic spirit is empowering and has the potential to reinforce the values of Excellence, Friendship, Respect, Courage, Inspiration, Determination and Equality for everyone, for ALL athletes. Perhaps these seven values together could form a new look, a new set of "rings/agitos", images melded together. There is power to inclusive design that unites rather than divides, excludes or segregates. If the Paralympic and Olympic spirit is about inclusion, humankind, and uniting together, would this indeed be a way forward?

Read more and learn about the Inclusive Sports Initiative at the Institute for Human Centered Design!

Photo: From mpower-sports.com.