More resources and stories!

A video on assistive technologies: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/disability_issues&id=7168130

A video featuring an dance class for youth with Down Syndrome: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/12/04/special.dance/index.html

A story on models with disabilities on a UK fashion show: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/arts/television/01model.html?_r=1&ref=arts

A story on wheelchair rugby: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/16/wheelchair.rugby/index.html

A story on a school for the blind in Iraq: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/11/20/iraq.school.blind/index.html

A video and story on a talented artist, who has Autism: http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/download_video.aspx?Id=1507&Mode=Mac

If you are interested in disability advocacy in the US, please go to http://aapd.com/ and sign up for the Justice For All listserv, which emails you news updates biweekly!

Thanks for the submissions everyone,
Isra

More links to stories...

Assalaamu alaikum,

Thanks for sending in these links!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/16/wheelchair.rugby/index.html

http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/download_video.aspx?Id=1507&Mode=Mac

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/trackandfield/news/story?id=4666817

A Blessed dhul hijjah to everyone. Btw, if anyone has stories related to disability, accessibility and hajj, I'm sure we'd all love to be enlightened... (I searched "disability and hajj" and came across this link http://www.hajinformation.com/main/t21.htm)

Isra

Assalaamu alaikum !!

Here's a link on technology for those with visual impairments, and an associated documentary: http://goingblindmovie.com/steve/index.html

Thanks Debbie Aunty!

Isra

A great model

Assalaamu alaikum everyone, and belated Eid Mubarak!

As you might recall, one goal for this blog was to highlight success stories and share resources about accessibility. One success story in the making -- mashaAllah and inshaAllah -- has been the Muslim Education Center (MEC) in Morton Grove, IL, which is mosque, community center, and school. Newly remodeled, it is now physically accessible. It also has a working group of individuals and families that are making the community more inclusive. Some recent actions taken by the group include:

-- Establishing a regular support group for families of children with disabilities
-- Talking to leadership to include accessibility issues on the policy and funding agenda
-- Developing literature to help community members better support individuals and families with disabilities
-- Distributing literature on Eid to discuss MEC's work to become more accessible and to invite comments and advice on how to understand and cater to needs even better
-- Making sure the Eid khutba/sermon was available in print for deaf individuals and any others who needed it

MEC was featured on the website "JJ's List" -- a site that reviews businesses and services for accessibility. See http://www.jjslist.com/pages/bridge_builder_detail/28.php?id=261 for the reviews! As a side note, check out JJ's list -- the website is fantastic, and please contribute your reviews as well.

MashaAllah, MEC, a job well done and keep up the good work.

Isra

Some more very interesting articles!

Assalaamu alaikum,

Here are some more interesting links (thanks Sarah!). If you come across interesting articles please email them to us at faaida1@gmail.com.

-- A great speech delivered by a Muslimah student at Wellesley, mashaAllah: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAxKXxO4kkI (Part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwfJqwkJ8ok (Part 2)

-- An article about a test car for blind drivers: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AheadoftheCurve/story?id=8233087&page=1

P.S. The ISNA Panel video is on its way! And we are in the process of making "screening packages" with the documentary and discussion guide. Please email us if you are interested in receiving a package.

Isra

Interesting links and your help requested

Assalaamu alaikum everyone,

A few interesting links have been emailed to us, and we'd like to share them.

First,a very interesting story about guide ponies! http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/vid/14792577

Second, people mentioned earlier about the need for an online directory of accessible locations and especially masajid. Lauro shared this link for Access Guide Canada, which is a Canadian online directory of accessible locations across the country, including places of worship of all faiths. It may be a good place to include masajid that are accessible. It is free and easy for anyone to update and post. Here's the link: http://www.abilities.ca/agc/

Third, I have received a request for contacts for Muslims who are doing disability and accessibility related work in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and Muslim religious leaders in those states who would be interested in interfaith disability/accessibility work... If you know any, please email faaida1@gmail.com.

Thanks a lot!

Isra

The Documentary Is Here!

Assalaamu alaikum everyone!

Thanks to Asad, here is the documentary we showed at ISNA, available on Youtube. Here are the links, and embedded video!

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtyuLbQwqu8&feature=related



Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6RsJuqvLnE&feature=related



Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I66rSyohLkE&feature=related



Hope you've renewed your motivation by watching the video! Now, please look at the action points in the last blog (below) and comment or email faaida1@gmail.com with suggestions, questions, and answers. We have some great proposed work, and people with questions that need answers, so please do give us your feedback.

Also, we encourage you to screen the video and have a discussion about it at your masjid, community center, MSA, school, or organization. If you would like to organize a showing of the film for people in your community, contact us at faaida1@gmail.com or 416-844-1951, with your name, contact information, and where and why you plan on showing the video. We are preparing packages containing the DVD, handouts, discussion questions, next steps, and resource lists that we can send to help you screen the video and discuss issues productively.

Thanks a lot, and keep up the good work!
Isra, Asad, and the Team

Next Steps and Questions for You

Assalaamu alaikum! Many of you have offered ideas for next steps -- projects that we can start in our local masjids or communities, or at a national/continental level. I've made a list of these ideas. Please note the (*) symbols indicating questions that need answering. Please comment to answer them:

1) Providing sign language at khutbas and Eid prayers; and providing Braille Qur'an. Lots of people have emailed me and asked me *where can I get a sign language interpreter for khutba or Eid prayer? and *how much would one cost? I've also been asked *where a masjid can get a Braille Qur'an and *how much that would be. Those of you who know these answers, please let us know by commenting!

2) Building a directory of masajid that are accessible. A great idea from Heiwa: make a list of masajid we know that are structurally accessible (ramps, elevators, lifts, bathrooms, etc.), provide interpreters, supply Braille Qur'an, offer support groups, etc. We can start this by people commenting with names, locations, and websites of centers they know that fit various criteria. For example, the Muslim Education Center in Morton Grove, IL offers ramps and elevators, a support group for families of children with disabilities, and is working on getting an interpreter for khutbas as well as Braille Qur'an.

3) Creating online sign-language instruction videos for Muslims. I've actually talked this idea over with some students from Gallaudet University in D.C. and inshaAllah we can get some videos up to instruct Muslims on basic ASL (American Sign Language) as well as some more "Islamic" vocabulary and phrases. Our sister Bree from GU shared this great link out of the UK that can serve as a model: www.signlabs.org.

4) Piloting a community-based interpreting service. This idea is a union of #1 and #3 and is inspired by the East London Mosque in the UK, which trained some of its own members in British Sign Language to help greet and reach out to deaf Muslims, and to work with professional interpreters at khutbas. InshaAllah we can pilot a similar project with one of our own local masajid and report back on the successes and challenges of such a project.

5) Lastly, I'd like to highlight some great work being done by our brother Asad in Michigan who aspires to build the first ultra-accessible masjid in the States! He's working with Mohammed Yousuf, one of our panelists, to make it happen inshaAllah. Hopefully he can keep us updated on his community's progress.

So keep your ideas coming and if you'd like to post something, email it to faaida1@gmail.com and we'll put it right up inshaAllah. The documentary video should be coming soon inshaAllah along with the panel video. If you are interested, here is the list of the panelists who spoke on the panel, in the order of their talks:

-- Dr. Mona Amer, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at American University in Cairo and Yale University, and Editor in Chief of the Journal of Muslim Mental Health
-- Imam Zaid Shakir, Scholar at Zaytuna Institute
-- Mobin Tawakkul, Founder of American Muslim Health Professionals' Disability Needs and Awareness Working Group
-- Mohammed Yousuf, Founder and Director of HelpHandicap Foundation and an expert on structural accessibility
-- Video produced by: Asad Ali Moten, MPH
-- Moderator: Isra Bhatty

Assalaamu alaikum everyone!

Just a quick message to say we haven't forgotten about you all and the fabulous motivation everyone has to work on increasing accessibility in our communities. Very soon we will have the documentary video link and panel video link up onto this blog inshaAllah -- I anticipate by the end of this weekend. Please be patient with us and we work through the technicalities.

As for the handout that some of you have been asking about, I am going to email that as an attachment to all those who signed up at the panel. If you were not at the panel and want a copy, please email faaida1@gmail.com and I will include you on the list! I will email the handout inshaAllah by tomorrow night.

Thanks everyone, and stay tuned!

Isra and the ISNA Panel Team

Continuing the Dialogue...

Assalaamu alaikum (peace be with you) --

The purpose of this blog is to continue the discussion that we started at the ISNA Panel, "Improving Inclusion of Muslims with Disabilities in Islamic Community Life."

Please use this blog to post comments, ask questions, share resources, and exchange experiences. The panelists and organizers will do the same.

Together, let's work to make our Muslim communities -- and broader society -- more inclusive for people of all abilities.