Independent Perspective 1757 with Hayley Joyce on the Disability Pride Celebration on July 26

Host: Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL).

Our guest today is Hayley Joyce, Community Engagement Coordinator of WNYIL, and I'm your host, Ernie Churchwell.

Welcome to the program Hayley.

Guest: Thank you for having me.

Host: It's our pleasure.

You're here because you coordinate events for the agency and one of our biggest of the year is coming up in the very near future, namely the Disability Pride celebration.

Of course, this is all about the Americans with Disabilities Act, which people born in the last 30 years might not be aware of it.

But up until 1990, when it was signed, there were relatively few protections of the rights of people with disabilities in this country, and many have called this the most important piece of legislation in history for residents of the US. In the interests of time.

Would you like me to rattle off the key components of the Americans with Disabilities Act?

Guest: Absolutely. Go for it.

Host: Alright, aren't there are five key titles.

The first one is barring discrimination on the basis of disability in employment unless the individual is physically or mentally not capable of doing the job.

Second part is barring discrimination by state and federal governments.

As federal is already taken care of by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which I'm sure you knew, and the next is places of public accommodation, businesses, restaurants, stores, hotels, theaters.

Other places that do business are not permitted to discriminate against people with disabilities, although in some odd cases a place that hasn't made appropriate modifications might be grandfathered in.

As the saying goes, they must find an alternative way to assist people with disabilities.

Say if there's no wheelchair entrance to their facility, they might just have to go out to the curb and assist them there.

Four is telecommunications, such as the telecommunication relay services for the deaf.

Although I dare say in the last 33 years, a lot of deaf people have taken to using text messages on their smartphones, so it probably isn't used nearly as much as it was at one time. And there's a miscellaneous provision in Title 5, saying barring reprisals against whistleblowers who report people for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Now here's the area of your expertise. You are planning all the events. Can you tell us when and where and what?

Guest: Absolutely. So, we are going to be celebrating on the actual ADA anniversary. It is the 33rd anniversary and it's going to be Wednesday the 26th of July and we're going to be at Pierce Lawn at Canalside in Buffalo from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m.

We have an expansive list of vendors who are going to be participating. These include community resources, other recreational activities that are based around people with disabilities.

We'll have free food; we'll have music and performers from people with disabilities.

Host: And one of the favorite aspects for young people tends to be costume superheroes. I guess you're still in the process of lining up people for that, but that's always fun to take selfies and whatnot.

Guest: Absolutely. We're hoping to get a great turnout. I know for sure Mario's coming. So, we'll see. We'll see who else comes up.

Host: All right. And of course, lots of free food.

Guest: Oh yeah, we're going to have hot dogs provided by Sahlen’s and hot dog buns from Costanzo's.

Host: Sounds great. Is there any charge for being there, or do people have to pre-register?

Guest: This event is free to the public, so anyone who finds themselves downtown by canal side, maybe they're stopping at a coffee shop or, you know, getting some Tim Horton's on the street next to it. We're going to be right there with our big stage. We're going to have that large tent with all the vendors underneath and some people will be outside. We're going to have seating for all the entertainment, so whoever feels like stopping by can and should.

Host: We're totally out of time. I'm sure people have questions. How can they reach you?

Guest: My number is 716-836-0822, my extension is 146 and I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Host: Thanks so much for being with us, Hayley.

Guest: Thank you.

Host: You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today was Hayley Joyce, Community Engagement Coordinator of WNYIL, and I've been your host, Ernie Churchwell.