International Day of Persons with Disabilities is marked around the world annually on December 3rd, as per United Nations’ General Assembly resolution 47/3 of 14 October 1992, to promote awareness and mobilize support for critical issues pertaining to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in society and development. The Presidential Proclamation from the White House can be found here.
The theme for 2015 is “Inclusion Matters: Access and Empowerment for People of All Abilities”. According to the UN,the sub-themes are: making cities inclusive and accessible for all; improving disability data and statistics; and including persons with invisible disabilities in society and development.
In August, Berkeley Lab invited employees to join an Employee Resource Group (ERG) for disability inclusion, now called “All Access”. This ERG was created to address the needs and concerns of individuals with disabilities (IWDs) at the Lab, and is open to all employees, including IWDs, family members and friends of IWDs, advocates, and supporters of disability inclusion. We currently have members representing Divisions across the Lab.
If you’re interested in joining, please contact the Diversity and Inclusion Office at dio@lbl.gov.
The Lab lags behind the campus is providing assistive listening capability;
notably the Building 50 auditorium does not appear to provide for hearing impaired persons.
The new Building 59 does have such lecture rooms, labeled as such.
Might more places at the Lab be made suitable for hearing impaired persons?
The most common systems are infrared, FM, and looped.
Paul, thanks for noting your observation above; we’ll be sure to inform the ERG. The newly established disability inclusion ERG, called All Access, is exploring ways to help make the Lab more accessible for individuals with disabilities (IWD). Additionally, you can also join this group to contribute your ideas: dio@lbl.gov.
-Diversity and Inclusion Office