The 9th Annual Northeastern U.S. Conference on disAbility

Speakers
<strong>The</strong> Honorable Lynnae Ruttledge
Commissioner, Rehabilitation Services Administration, Office of
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department
of Education, Washington, D.C.
Lynnae M. Ruttledge was appointed by President Barack
Obama, to be the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services
Administration, Office of Sepecial Education and Rehabilitative
Services, U.S. Department of Education, Washington,
D.C.. She administers a public/private partnership that serves
one million individuals with disabilities annually and places
in employment almost 200 thousand annually on a budget
of three billion dollars. Also, she is the acting director of the
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
She previously served as the Director of the Washington Department
of Social and Health Service, Division of Vocational
Rehabilitation. Commissioner Ruttledge served for 25 years in
the Oregon vocational rehabilitation program, and began her
career in public service as a classroom teacher in Michigan. She
has received numerous recognitions and awards for her service
including the Washington Governor’s Award for Leadership
in Management in 2007. As a person born with a disability,
Ruttledge received assistance from the vocational rehabilitation
program and graduated from the Northern Michigan University
with a B.A. in Education.
Andrew J. Imparato
Andrew J. Imparato is the first full-time President and Chief
Executive Officer of the American Association of People with
Disabilities (AAPD), a national non-profit, non-partisan
membership organization of people with disabilities, their family
members and supporters that was founded in 1995. AAPD
pursues its mission of political and economic empowerment of
all people with disabilities through public policy advocacy and
programs fostering leadership development, mentoring and
career exploration, voting and civic participation, and member
benefits. Since Imparato joined AAPD in 1999, the organization
has more than quadrupled its membership, its annual
budget, and its staff size. With more than 100,000 members,
AAPD is the largest cross-disability membership organization
in the U.S.
John Hockenberry
John Hockenberry is a seasoned, experienced journalist who
has worked in all aspects of the broadcast profession for a quarter
century. His distinguished career has produced important
coverage and numerous awards, as well as initiated important
new styles of storytelling embracing all of the new media that
are currently transforming the profession. As correspondent
and anchor for NBC News/MSNBC from 1996 to 2005,
Hockenberry was awarded three Emmys; designed and an-
chored MSNBC program, Edgewise; participated in all coverage
for NBC of the Kosovo War; the elections of 1996, 2000,
and 2004; September 11th, and the Iraq War. Additionally,
he created and produced the first live-streamed audio Internet
program from a journalist’s office in 1999 and 2000. He has
written articles for <strong>The</strong> Washington Post, <strong>The</strong> New Yorker, Wired,
Metroplis and <strong>The</strong> New York Times. He has written two books:
a memoir, Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs and
Declarations of Independence, which was published in 1995; and
a novel, A River Out of Eden, published in 2001. He has also
written the off-Broadway, one-man show, Spoke Man, completed
in 1996.
Kathleen West-Evans
Kathleen West-Evans is the Director of Business Relations for
the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation
(CSAVR). She has over 30 years of vocational rehabilitation
and employment experience and is fluent in American
Sign Language. Kathleen worked within the Washington State
Division of Vocational Rehabilitation as a VR counselor, assistant
regional administrator, and a regional business relations
specialist before moving to the federal level with Region X office
of the RSA where she worked until 2005. Currently, she is
the founder and lead staff person for development of the NETthe
national Vocational Rehabilitation-Business Network.
<strong>The</strong> network serves business customers, VR consumers with
disabilities, and the 80 state vocational rehabilitation agencies.
<strong>The</strong> NET vision statement: To create a coordinated approach
to serving business customers through a national VR team that
specialized in employer development, business consulting and
corporate relations.
Hotel Information
Radisson Lackawanna Station
700 Lackawanna Avenue, Scranton, PA 18503 • (570) 342-8300
<strong>Conference</strong> rate of $94 (double room). Room reservations must be
made by September 7th for special conference rates.
Hilton Scranton & <strong>Conference</strong> Center
100 Adams Avenue, Scranton, PA 18503 • (570) 343-3000
Panuska College of Professional Studies
<strong>The</strong> University of Scranton, McGurrin Hall, Room 114
Scranton, PA 18510-4586
Please Post this Brochure
A conference for all who
are professionally or
personally interested
in the lives of
individuals with
disabilities.
October 6, 2010
<strong>The</strong> <strong>9th</strong> <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Northeastern</strong>
U.S. <strong>Conference</strong> on disAbility
<strong>The</strong> Patrick & Margaret DeNaples Center
<strong>The</strong> University of Scranton • Scranton, Pennsylvania
Honorary Chairpersons: Edward R. & Patricia Leahy
Presented by:
<strong>The</strong> University of Scranton
<strong>The</strong> Panuska College of Professional Studies
Edward R. Leahy, Jr., Endowment

About <strong>The</strong> University of Scranton
A Jesuit University in Pennsylvania’s Pocono
Northeast region, <strong>The</strong> University of Scranton is
known for its outstanding academics, state-of-the-art
campus and technology, and exceptional sense of
community. Founded in 1888, the University has
a student population of approximately 5,800
undergraduate and graduate students.
<strong>The</strong> University is nationally recognized for the quality
of education it provides. Prominent among these
national accolades is Scranton’s ranking among the top
10 master’s universities in the North in U.S. News &
World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” for the past
16 years. Scranton is also among just 100 schools in
the nation on Templeton’s Honor Roll of Character-
Building Colleges and is among only 19 colleges in
the nation named to the Carnegie Classification for
Community Engagement in 2008.
<strong>Conference</strong> Mission
<strong>The</strong> University of Scranton believes that disability
is part of the human experience and that assisting
individuals and families living with disabilities to achieve
optimal quality of life requires multi-disciplinary
interventions, education, research and leadership.
<strong>The</strong> mission of the <strong>Conference</strong> on disABILITY is to
positively influence the quality of life and wellness of
individuals and families living with disabilities by
promoting in its deliberations the foundational principles
of individualization, self-determination, productivity,
employment, independence and full participation in
community life by creating an effective learning
environment, collaborative and focused discussion
and the identification and sharing of effective practices
useful in the United States and around the world.
Program Wednesday, October 6 Registration
7:45–8:30 Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30–8:45 Welcome and opening Remarks
Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., President, <strong>The</strong> University of Scranton
Debra A. Pellegrino, Ed.D., Dean, <strong>The</strong> Panuska College of Professional
Studies
Edward R. and Patricia Leahy, Honorary <strong>Conference</strong> Chairs
8:45–9:45 <strong>The</strong> Honorable lynnae Ruttledge
Commissioner, Rehabilitation Services Administration, Office of Special
Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education,
Washington, D.C.
Introduced by William Gannon, Executive Director, PA Office of
Vocational Rehabilitation
9:45–10:45 Andrew Imparato
CEO/President of American Association of Persons with Disabilities
Introduced by Mrs. Patricia Leahy, Director of Government Affairs,
National Rehabilitation Association
10:45–11:00 Break
11:00–12:00 Concurrent Sessions
1. <strong>The</strong> Rehabilitation Act and <strong>The</strong> ADA: landmark
legislation Supporting the Employment of Americans
With Disabilities
Kathleen West-Evans
Director of Business Relations, Council of State Administrators of
Vocational Rehabilitation
2. ADA: Ensuring Equality of opportunity in the Workplace?
Stephen S. Pennington, Esquire, Executive Director, Pennsylvania
Client Assistance Program
Jamie C. Ray-Leonetti, Esquire, Assistant Director, Pennsylvania
Client Assistance Program
3. <strong>The</strong> ADA: Twenty years of challenges and progress.
Where are we now?
Keith Williams, Community Organizer
Rory Giovannucci, Housing Advocate
Sharon Quinn, Manager of Core Services
NEPA Center for Independent Living
Posters and Vendors
will be available in the ballroom
throughout the day, during breaks,
and before/after lunch.
FoR ADDITIonAl InFoRMATIon: Contact Rebecca Dalgin at (570) 941-7819 or dalginr2@scranton.edu
www.scranton.edu/disabilityconference
12:00–1:30 lunch
Edward R. Leahy, Jr. Awards for Excellence, Edward R. and
Patricia Leahy
<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> Poem, Josie Cordaro
Cultural Presentations
1:45–3:00 Concurrent Sessions
1. Building a Collaborative Approach to Business
Customers Through the nET: national Employment Team
Kathleen West-Evans,
Director of Business Relations, Council on State Administrators of
Vocational Rehabilitation
2. Assistive Technology—What’s new?!
Ann E. Dolloff, Assistant Director
Amanda Reinsfelder, Assistive Technology Specialist
Pennsylvania’s Initiative on Assistive Technology (PIAT), Institute on
Disabilities at Temple University
3. Hidden Disabilities and ADA Protection
Marian Vessels, Director, Disability and Business Technical Assistance
Center
3:00–3:15 Break
3:15–4:00
Senator Robert Casey (via teleconference)
Introduced by J. Joseph Grady, Esquire
4:00–6:00
John Hockenberry, Emmy Award-winning journalist
Cultural Experiences Including:
Musical Performances by Hands of Praise
Artwork on Display by Verve-Vertu and Matthew Mroz
Accessible Model Train Layout by Wheelchair Engineers Program
History of Disability Photographic Display by Temple University
Online registration: www.scranton.edu/disabilityconference
To register by mail: Complete and return this form.
Name
Title
Organization
Address
City State Zip
Telephone Fax
E-mail
Registration Cost
❑ Professional: $99
❑ Student/Individual with a disability/Family: $40
Method of Payment
❑ Check or money order payable to “<strong>The</strong> University of Scranton”
❑ Visa ❑ MasterCard
Card Number Expiration Date
Cardholder’s Name
Signature
Special Accommodation Requests must be made by September 25
❑ I have special communication, accessibility, accommodation
or dietary needs.
Please indicate
CEUs Please indicate type of CEU required.
❑ HRCI CEU Certification Number _______________________________
❑ Act 48 PDE Professional ID# _______________________________________________
❑ NBCC Certification Number _________________________________________________
❑ CRCC Certification Number ________________________________________________
❑ PA/Professional Counselor/LSW License Number ___________________
❑ CEUsPA/Marriage and Family <strong>The</strong>rapist License Number ____________
❑ ACHE Category II Certification Number _________________________
<strong>Conference</strong> Registration Deadline: September 30, 2010
Cancellations must be received on or before September 30.
<strong>The</strong>re will be no refunds after that date.
Mail completed form and fee to:
disABILITY <strong>Conference</strong>
Panuska College of Professional Studies
<strong>The</strong> University of Scranton, McGurrin Hall, Room 114
Scranton, PA 18510