Hi.  I am new to the list.  My name is Michele.  I am sometimes known as
“Michele in California” or “California Michele”.  I homeschool my special
needs kids.  My oldest child has a lot of problems and I have gotten very
good at accommodating his special needs.  I often speak in online forums of
how I homeschool my special needs kids. Popular demand lead me to start a
website.  A friend helped me set up my website and she is always talking
about web development issues that I began calling “universal design”.  My
intended audience is families with special needs kids, so I have worked hard
to make sure my website is as accessible as possible.  I recently tripped
across EASI and I have signed up for the free clinic with EASI for January
15th and I am seriously considering pursuing the certificate.

I have been a “failure” my whole life because I was living with an
undiagnosed medical problem and receiving little to no accommodation for it.
By January of 2001, I was so sick that I had to drop out of college and I
ended up bedridden for 4 months.  In May of 2001, they finally gave a better
name to my problem than “lazy and crazy” and began calling it by the name of
some obscure and recently discovered genetic disorder.  Although I was still
extremely ill, I promptly returned to school in June on the theory that
there was no reason to wait if there was no cure and I did well in school as
a kid, in spite of missing 18 or 19 days of school every single year and
dragging myself to school sick much of the rest of the time so they would
not flunk me for too many unexcused absences.

With finally getting adequate treatment and appropriate accommodation for my
medical handicap, I have completed more college classes in the last 2 ½
years than in the 13 years before that -- in spite of the fact that the last
3 years have been some kind of epic tale (aka “medical hell”).  I mostly
take online classes and I now have a laptop so I can take it to bed with me,
if necessary.  I have an Associate’s in Humanities and a Certificate in
Geographic Information Systems.  I am pursuing a Bachelor’s in Environmental
Resource Management with a concentration in Land Use Planning and Policy.  I
intend to pursue my Master’s in Planning and Development Studies.

A few months ago, I joined an online forum for urban planners.  I ran across
an old post asking if anyone knew of resources in design for the “able
disabled”.  The original questioner has a brother who is partially paralyzed
by a stroke.  The brother can get around on his own if there are handrails
everywhere but needs a wheel chair if there aren’t.  There was virtually no
response to his question and I revived the thread.

From what little research I have done, there is almost nothing out there in
terms of research or educational programs or anything related to how urban
planning can be done to empower moderately handicapped people to live full
lives.  I immediately wondered if that was an area I might want to pursue
for my specialty or niche.  I have done this kind of accommodation for years
for my sons, particularly my oldest.  And getting my own handicap finally
identified has been such a life-changing experience.  I think I really have
something unique to offer.

I was surfing the archives of this list and saw a job posting.  I know how
crucial technology is to my life and to my entire family.  We have only one
old beat up car but every family member has their own computer, customized
to their own unique needs.  So I think the certificate in accessible
information technology would be a good place to start. But that is only a
piece of the puzzle for design or planning work.  So I am wondering if
anyone here can give me information about design work that goes beyond
assistive technologies.  Are there other educational programs for applying
legal requirements or design principles for accessibility?  What other kinds
of jobs do you know of that relate to this type of work?

I am launching a consulting business and I intend to ask additional question
in the planning forum.  But there was so little response to the original
thread about planning and design for disabled people that I doubt anyone
there knows anything about educational programs, jobs, and so forth in this
area.  It is possible that what I want to do has never been done before.
But I would like to start with learning something about what has already
been done and what is being done.

Thank you for your patience in reading this long-winded intro.  (Sooner or
later, I become the “poster child for excessive length” in most forums I
join.)

Michele

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“Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created
 them.”
– Albert Einstein.

-------------------------------------------------------------
 See EASI Special October Bonus offer at http://easi.cc/clinic.htm
EASI November courses are:
Barrier-free E-learning, Accessible Internet Multimedia and Business Benefits of Accessible IT Design:
http://easi.cc/workshop.htm
EASI Home Page http://www.rit.edu/~easi

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