Virtual World Conference about Real World Rights

[Treasure Ballinger]

Hi Forum Friends, been awhile since I Posted.  I wanted to tell you about the conference Virtual Ability is hosting this weekend.  Please do check out the calendar of presentations, and come by if any interest you.  Take care....I hope the links work, if they don't, this text is posted at http://virtualability.org also.  Thanks!

Treasure

 

Virtual World Conference about Real World Rights

 

Virtual Ability, Inc. announces the International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference (IDRAC2011) to be held Saturday and Sunday, July 23/24, in Second Life®.

 

In 2006, the United Nations held a Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The text of the Convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly, and now has over 100 signatory states, including the US and the European Union.

 

Legislation to protect the rights of persons with disabilities is becoming common around the world. However, the June 2011 World Health Organization study, the World Report on Disability, found significant barriers to equal access for persons with disabilities still exist.

 

This international conference will begin to explore legal protections around the world for persons with disabilities. Featured panels of persons from around the world will discuss local legislation that supports the rights of persons with disabilities. Panelists come from Australia, Belgium, Costa Rica, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK.

 

Featured presenters include Scott Gill, Simon Walsh, Sister Abeyante, and Roberta Walker Kilkenny.

 

Gill is Executive Director of Access 2 independence, a Center for Independent Living in Iowa, US; he will talk about the independence movement. Walsh is head of his own consulting firm in the UK; he will compare the US ADA legislation with the UK’s DDA. Abeyante is a Salvatorian Sister; she will discuss advocacy for disability (civil and human) rights. Kilkenny is a college instructor; she will present about the significance of the UN Convention.

 

Presentations by the National Service Inclusion Project and the Job Accommodation Network will highlight disability services available in the US. Other sessions will feature peer support, comedy, and dance, both as part of the affirmation celebration. 

 

Presentations will take place in Sojourner Auditorium on Virtual Ability Island within Second Life®: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/54/170/23.

 

The full schedule of confirmed presenters is posted inworld, and at http://virtualability.org/IDRAC2011.aspx.

 

Alice Krueger, president of Virtual Ability, Inc., stated: “It is a great pleasure to host so many wonderful speakers. Our audience will gain information about the extent of the issues facing people with disabilities, and the potentials for solutions to barriers.”

 

[Maryanne Solo]

Ditch the UN and I will come. They are so out of touch it's not funny. > Apart from the experts on disability, < the rest seem more and more to profit from the misery they do nothing to assist with. They need to do better than ask others to clean up the mess their band aid policies and beliefs result in.