The Disability RAPP – The latest in Research Advocacy Policy and Practice

Person-Centered Planning

In this issue we look at what person-centered planning is — and isn’t — and why it is important that New Hampshire reimagine what it means to support people with disabilities in living a self-determined life.  We encourage our readers to reflect on what person-centered means to them and invite conversation about how we can advocate for systems that reflect authentic choice.

Download a PDF of this issue 

Table of Contents:

• Take Control of Your Life
• Thinking Outside the Box
• Supporting Real Person-Centered Planning in NH
• Charting the LifeCourse: A Human-Centric Approach to Supporting Persons with Disabilities and their Families
• Creating Person-Centered Systems
• What is Graphic Recording
• Remembering Jeff Dickinson
• In Memory of Denis Greenwood
• Helpful Tools and Resources
• NH Council on Developmental Disabilities – Highlights
• Disability Rights Center-NH – Person-Centered Organizations

Words Matter

In this issue we look at how the language we use when talking about disability affects the way we see ourselves and each other. Learn how the systemic use of ableist language has cultivated exclusionary policies and how the evolution of language can help us break down barriers to inclusion and foster a sense of dignity for people with disabilities.

Table of Contents:

Words Matter

• A Discussion on Language
• A Definition of Disability
• Linguistic Ableism
• Four Disability Euphemisms That Need to Bite the Dust
• The Power of Language
• Disability Language Guide
• How to Talk About Disability Sensitively and Avoid Ableist Tropes
• In Memoriam – Remembering Freda Smith
• In Memoriam – Memorial Statement for Freda Smith
• Your Request Cannot be Filled – The Shortage of ASL/English Interpreters in the U.S.
• Three Reasons to Say “disability” Instead of “Special Needs”
• UNH Institute on Disability – The Civic Language Perceptions Project
• NH Council on Developmental Disabilities – Highlights
• Disability Rights Center-NH – Planning for the Future

Disability and Housing

In this issue we get an inside perspective on a local shelter, explore universal design, and review the laws that protect the rights of people with disabilities and their service animals. This issue also includes a featured section where we dive into the topic of divisive concepts and the role intersectionality plays in our fight for disability rights.

Table of Contents:

Disability and Housing

• Taking Shelter: The Ins and Outs of Survival
• Recommendations for a More Inclusive Shelter System
• Know Your Housing Rights
• Are Institutions a Thing of the Past? Consider Institutional Qualities
• A Little Help from Your Friends: Service and Emotional Support Animals in Housing
• A Place to Call Your Own: Housing for People with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities
• Prohibiting Discrimination Against Voucher Holders
• Accessibility Opens Doors
• Universal Design Resource List
• ABLE NH – Housing Insecurity Makes an Impact

Issue Spotlight on Disability and Divisive Concepts

• The Banned Concepts Statute: A Significant Threat to the Disability Rights Movement
• The Truth will Build a Better Future
• First Steps in Advocacy
• Let’s Talk Progress
• New Hampshire’s ‘Divisive Concepts’ Law and the Big Chill

The Intersection of Disability and Sexuality

Welcome to the newly renamed and redesigned Disability RAPP. The Spring 2020 issue focuses on the intersection of disability and sexuality, informs us and empowers us to break barriers and challenge traditional ideas of what it means to live with a disability. We updated the Disability RAPP design to be more accessible in both its print and digital formats.

We want to hear from you. Please share your ideas for future themes, or your suggestions of how we can increase accessibility, by emailing mail@drcnh.org.

Some content contains sensitive material which may not be appropriate for all readers.

Table of Contents

• Finding Love with Common Ground
• Friendship Survey
• Finding Love. Losing Eligibility.
• Teaching Sexual Self-Advocacy
• The Right to Sexual Relationships
• Five Things You Should Know Before You Take a Crip to Bed
• Brain Injury and Sexuality
• Making a Difference Through Advocacy
• Crisis Help Line
• Organizational pages: NH Council on Developmental Disabilities, Institute on Disabilities, Disability Rights Center-NH
• It Just Takes Finding The Right Person
• Healing Through Relationships

Big Dreams for Little Ones - Birth to Three (Fall 2019)

From the moment of diagnosis, parents of children with disabilities enter a new world of services and supports.  In the Fall 2019 issue of the RAP Sheet, we explore the experience of disability for these young children and their families, from diagnosis to age 3, a critical period for learning, growing, and opportunity that will impact long-term health and ability.

Table of Contents

• Right From the Start
• Thank You, Susan Covert
• Disability Diagnosis Dialogues: Shifting the Narrative
• Know Your Rights: Early Intervention
• Maneuvering Through the Maze
• New To Newborn Screening
• Is Assistive Technology for Infants?
• Partners In Health
• Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND)
• Financial Planning in a World of Go Fund Me
• NERGN – Supporting Connections to Genetics Care
• Organizational pages: NH Council on Developmental Disabilities, Institute on Disabilities, Disability Rights Center-NH

Advocacy for Everyone (Spring 2019)

Whether protesting in a hospital gown to bring attention to the mental health crisis, testifying at your local school board meeting to improve special education, or persuading legislators to add an adult oral health benefit to Medicaid – advocates make our state a better place for all of us.  From direct action to inspiring artwork, the Spring 2019 issue of the RAP Sheet explores ways we can all advocate.

Table of Contents

• Leaving Your Comfort Zone
• In Memoriam
• The NH Leadership Series: Unleashing the Power of Advocacy
• As Long as it Takes
• ABLE NH
• Overcoming Adversity to Find Strength in Advocacy
• Youth Leadership in NH
• Advocating for Oral Health
• Art as Advocacy
• Self-Advocacy is for Everyone
• ADVOCATE NH
• Allies in the Aisles – NH Bipartisan Legislative Disability Caucus

With Justice for All (Fall 2018)

People with disabilities are incarcerated at significantly higher rates than people without disabilities. They also are more likely to be the victims of crime. In the Fall 2018 issue of the RAP Sheet, we look at the intersection of disability and our justice system.

Table of Contents

• Personal Story: Getting Help
• Intersection of Disability and Criminal Justice
• Disability and the Juvenile Justice System
• Personal Story: Independence, Safety and Lip Gloss
• Shifting Our Lens
• Navigating the Waters
• Trump Administration Delays Equity in IDEA Regulations
• Advocating for Safer Communities
• View RAP Sheet: Justice for All

Special Education - Opportunities and Challenges (Spring 2018)

40 years after passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), children with disabilities and their families continue to face significant challenges. The work to ensure that special education students are truly included in their schools and have the support and opportunities they need to succeed is far from finished.

Table of Contents

• Running to Make a Difference
• Family-centered Early Supports and Services
• Personal story: Finding a way
• High Expectations Should Not Be a Privilege
• From a family perspective: Deaf education
• Educational Choice Legislation and Its Impact on Special Education Students
• Parent Information Center
• STABLE New Hampshire
• DRC-NH Turns 40!