Transportation Seminar Series
The Logic and Nexus - Transportation, Disability and Federal Policy
Sep 8, 2008 (3:00 - 4:00 p.m., IACC 422)
Throughout history, people with disabilities in the United States were isolated, segregated and treated as non citizens. National public policy, however, adopted in the last half decade or so has enabled people with disabilities to establish legal standing as full citizens with protection from discrimination. Some of this policy also recognizes that in order for people with disabilities to have equal opportunity, they sometimes need accommodations. The emergence of public policy establishing these rights has been evolutionary in building into law that for these people to have the opportunity to live the same kind of lives as all other people, they must also have access to accessible, affordable, safe and flexible public transportation to travel in and beyond their community. During this seminar, presentation and discussion will focus on some of these evolutionary developments with an emphasis on the Americans with Disabilities Act, known in the disability community as their Civil Rights Act.
Alan Abeson
Dr. Alan Abeson most recently served as the director of Easter Seals Project ACTION and as the Principle Investigator for the National Center on Senior Transportation also based at Easter Seals. During his career he has worked extensively with many national disability organizations, human service organizations and transportation groups demonstrating a lifelong commitment to issues that affect children and adults with life long special needs and their families.
Before joining Project ACTION in 2002, he was the Executive Director of The Arc (formerly known as The Association for Retarded Citizens) of the United States for 15 years. While with The Arc and The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) before that, Dr. Abeson was involved in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the initial version of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). His work has included a strong focus on working with government at all levels to advance educational and other opportunities for children and adults with disabilities through improved public policy.
Dr. Abeson's M.A.and Ed.D. in Special Education Administration were earned at Columbia University. His BS is from The Ohio State University.
