 Governor John Kasich spoke at the launch of the BlindSquare technology at Columbus State Community College.
 Columbus State student Patrick Simmons demonstrates how a smart phone app helps him navigate the campus.
Governor John Kasich, Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD) and Columbus State
Community College announced on July 30 that Columbus State is the first
community college in the nation to offer BlindSquare, an innovative navigation support
system for blind and low-vision students at its downtown campus.
Through OOD funding, the college is now navigable by smart phone
technology through the free BlindSquare Event app, which utilize Bluetooth
technology and GPS beacons at key locations on campus. The
BlindSquare beacons interact with the app to guide users by supportive audio
instructions around the school and to adjacent public transit.
Governor Kasich, OOD Director Kevin Miller and Columbus
State President David Harrison announced the collaboration, which makes it easier
for individuals with vision impairments and other wayfinding disabilities to
successfully pursue higher education and career advancement.
“Universities and community colleges
across this state ought to fund this immediately,” Kasich said. “There is a lot
of progress that can be made, but we’ve got to do this together and make sure
this is just the beginning. With Columbus State here, you’re looking at the
future of education.”
BlindSquare works by determining a user’s location using smart phone GPS capabilities and looking up information about the surrounding
environment, which at Columbus State is provided by a series of beacons around
campus and in select buildings. After finding directional information, the app
speaks in a clear, synthetic voice. It can track the user’s destination and
periodically announce the distance and direction while traveling, as well as
mark locations so they can be found more easily later on.
“Embracing technology that supports assisting those with disability
challenges is rapidly becoming the norm,” Miller said. “Innovative approaches
to removing barriers are necessary in this age of technology. OOD’s partnership
with Columbus State is a standard for which others should follow.”
“Columbus State is proud to be a leader in serving people with
disabilities among our students, faculty, staff and visitors,” Harrison said.
“Incorporating BlindSquare functionality advances our commitment to inclusion
while furthering accessibility for anyone who can benefit from location and
directional support.”
To find out more about how OOD is transforming lives of individuals
with disabilities through technology, visit BlindSquare
Fact Sheet or see a video of the event at the Ohio
Channel.
The new Communication Disability Law verification form is
available on the OOD website for
individuals with a medically-diagnosed communication disability who drive.
By voluntarily enrolling in a database that connects to the Law Enforcement
Agencies Data System (LEADS), individuals with communication disabilities (e.g.,
individuals who are deaf or have autism spectrum disorder) or someone who
regularly has a person with a communication disability in their vehicle, can
apply. Officers will be made aware that the driver or a person
in the vehicle may have difficulty communicating and reduce any potential
misunderstandings or communication problems. Only law enforcement will have access to this information.
Individuals who are interested in self-identifying can
complete a verification
form and take the completed form to their licensed
medical practitioner who can validate the individual has a
communication disability. For more information, visit Communication
Disability Law.
 Youth Leadership Forum delegates, mentors and volunteers at the Ohio Statehouse.
This year marks
the 20th anniversary for Ohio’s Youth Leadership Forum (YLF), a five-day education
and advocacy training program in Columbus for high school juniors and seniors with
disabilities from around the state.
Co-Chair Brianne Riffle has attended every year
since Ohio’s first YLF.
She
first came as a youth delegate. “I knew I had an Individualized Education Program
(IEP), but I did not identify as a person with a disability,” she recalls of
her debut in 1999 as a high school junior. “However, once at the forum, I
realized I belonged to a larger community of individuals with disabilities.”
YLF Co-Chair Brianne Riffle
Today’s YLF
program includes activities ranging from a panel discussion about planning for college, to a fashion show revealing what not to wear to a job
interview, and the traditional visit to the Statehouse, a huge hit
among the delegates.
This year’s event
included 23 first-year high school delegates, plus 14 peer mentors
who returned to the forum to enhance what they learned as prior delegates. A
staff of volunteers, consisting mostly of YLF alumni, heads these small groups in
discussions and helps individuals plan their future.
The experience of
Brianne’s first YLF was very powerful, which is why she continues to come back
year after year as a volunteer who assists with workshops and mentors the youth.
“It’s all about seeing the change in a young person coming in scared and unsure
and then seeing their personal growth in such a short time. It’s great to hear
them say ‘I don’t want to leave. I don’t feel alone anymore,’” said Brianne. For more information, visit OOD
YLF.
After 11 years helping local businesses
become more inclusive of people with disabilities, the Ohio Business Leadership
Network is changing its name to Disability:IN Ohio to signal its commitment to
creating an economy where people with disabilities participate fully and
meaningfully.
The
name change is part of a larger rebranding effort by the United States Business
Leadership Network, which changed its name to Disability:IN to give more
visibility to the cause nationally. The organization’s 40+ affiliates across
the country will be joining in the effort of creating a more unified brand to
create more awareness of the importance of including people with disabilities
throughout the workforce, supply chain and market place. Companies that hire
people with disabilities are not only demonstrating good corporate citizenship,
but benefit from a more inclusive culture. This diversity of talent has been
shown to lead to improved innovation and decision-making, as well as more
accessible products and services which open markets to a wider audience of
consumers.
OOD congratulates several Ohio employers who
were recently recognized as 2018 Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion
by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and
Disability:IN (formerly the US Business Leadership Network). To earn this
distinction, businesses must score 80 points or higher on a scale from 0 to 100
on the Disability Equality Index (DEI), a national benchmarking tool that
allows America’s leading corporations to self-report their disability policies
and practices. The Index measures key performance indicators across
organizational culture, leadership, accessibility, employment, community
engagement, support services and supplier diversity.
The following Ohio employers scored 100% on
the DEI: American Electric Power (AEP), Aramark, Booz Allen Hamilton,
CVSHealth, Huntington National Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Manpower Group, Meijer,
Procter & Gamble, Synchrony, US Bank and Verizon. Those Ohio employers
scoring 90% include Northwestern Mutual and United Parcel Service (UPS); 80%:
Amazon and Norfolk Southern Corporation.
Collectively, OOD has assisted more than 300
individuals with disabilities to obtain employment with these businesses since
January 2017. OOD partners with these 2018 Best Places to
Work employers plus hundreds of other companies throughout Ohio to promote
employment for individuals with disabilities. OOD also provides services to
employers at no cost, including recruitment assistance of job ready candidates
with disabilities, disability etiquette and disability awareness training for
employees, plus hiring events and job fairs.
More information about how OOD’s Business
Relations staff support disability inclusion practices in the workplace can be
found at OOD Employers -
Business Relations Team. An Employer Toolkit that provides
information about recruiting, hiring and retaining workers with disabilities is
available at ODJFS Employer
Toolkit.
Anne Gerhardt contributes to her STABLE Account with money earned from her jobs.
STABLE
Accounts, which are made possible by the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) act was the nation’s first savings and investment account for individuals
with disabilities. Ohio leads the way nationally and has the largest plan,
overseen by State Treasurer Josh Mandel. This account dramatically improves the
lives of individuals with disabilities and can be used for educational
expenses, living expenses, transportation expenses and more.
Prior to the STABLE Account, individuals
with disabilities were limited by resource-tested public benefits like Medicaid
and Social Security Income (SSI) as to how much money they could save before they
became ineligible for government benefits. Now individuals can save and invest up to
$15,000 per year without losing their benefits. Also, if the person with a
disability is employed, up to $12,060 in additional earned wages can be
contributed.
Anne Gerhardt is 21 years old and is working
two jobs this summer. She is an intern at the CincinnatiUSA Regional Chamber
and is also a courtesy worker at Kroger. With these two jobs, Anne and her
family put money in her STABLE Account for things she wants and needs. “Anne
puts money from her jobs into her STABLE account to save for her own
apartment,”
said her mother, Jane Gerhardt.
OOD works with individuals who have
disabilities to gain and maintain independence. The STABLE Account helps assist
in this process by giving the individual financial independence. Signing up for a STABLE Account is a quick
and easy process. For more information, visit the STABLE Account website.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) periodically reviews cases
to make sure that people receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits are still considered disabled and entitled to those benefits.
This process is called a Continuing Disability Review (CDR). The law
requires SSA to perform a medical CDR at least once every three years; unless
it is determined a medical condition is expected to improve sooner. If a
medical condition is not expected to improve, reviews are made every seven
years.
If it is determined that the individual no longer has a qualifying
disability, the decision can be appealed. The first step of appeal, called reconsideration,
occurs at the state level with OOD’s Division of Disability Determination (DDD). An
adjudicator who has had no prior involvement with the case reviews the file to
ensure an appropriate decision was made. If the decision is upheld, individuals
then have the opportunity to meet with a disability hearing officer to explain
why they believe they are still disabled. They can review their case file,
submit new information and provide witnesses. If the unfavorable decision is
upheld, appeals can continue through the administrative law judge for a hearing
and appeal, and on up through the federal court.
Individuals have 60 days to appeal decisions at the next level. This past
year, DDD processed 37,732 CDR decisions and 4,273 hearings. They are
projected to process 38,243 CDRs and 4,800 hearings this fiscal year.
Kristen Alexander is a disability claims supervisor in
OOD’s Division of Disability Determination. Watch as she talks about how DDD helps Ohioans who are facing challenges in their lives. To see Kristen’s video, visit A Link in the Chain: Kristen
Alexander.
Connect to OOD on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to see more items like OOD Director Kevin Miller announcing the launch of the BlindSquare app at Columbus State Community College – the first permanent installment in the nation at a college.
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The services
described are funded, in part, with federal funds awarded by the U.S. Department
of Education (DOE) under the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), Supported
Employment Services, and the Independent Living Services for Older Individuals
Who are Blind (OIB) programs. For purposes of the VR program, the federal VR
grant paid 78.7% of the total costs of the program. In federal fiscal year
(FFY) 2018, the VR agency received $100,336,097 in federal VR funds. Funds
appropriated by the state paid 21.3% of the total costs $27,155,767 under the
VR program.
The Pre-Employment
Transition Services provided under the VR program, described, are funded 100%
through a grant from the U.S. DOE. For FFY 2018, the total amount of grant
funds used for these services is $15,050,415.
For purposes of
the Supported Employment program (youth with a disability program), federal
funds paid 100% of the total costs. In FFY 2018, the VR agency received $303,725
in federal supported employment funds (youth with a disability program).
For purposes of
the Supported Employment program, federal funds paid 95% of the total costs. In
FFY 2018, the VR agency received $303,725 in federal Supported Employment
funds. State appropriated funds paid 5% $33,747 of the total costs under the Supported
Employment program.
For purposes of
the OIB program, federal funds paid 90% of the total costs incurred under the
program. In FFY 2018, the agency received $1,174,400 in federal grant funds for
this program. Funds appropriated by the State paid 10% $130,489 of the total
costs incurred under the OIB program.
The services
described are funded, in part, with federal funds awarded by Health and Human
Services (HHS) under the independent living (IL) program. For purposes of the federal
IL program the federal grant paid 90% of the total costs of the program. In FFY
2018, OOD received $632,411 in federal IL funds. Funds appropriated by the state
paid 10% of the total costs $70,268 under the IL program.
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