MEETING THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF
MINORITIES WITH DISABILITIES:

A REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT
AND THE CONGRESS




                            Summary of

                         Proceedings of a
                  Conference Co-Sponsored by the
                National Council on Disability and
                     Jackson State University
May 6-7, 1992

                                and

                     A Public Hearing Held by
                the National Council on Disability
                on How Minorities with Disabilities
                     Are Faring Under the ADA
                         October 21, 1992




Edited by

Tennyson J. Wright, Ph.D., CRC
University of South Florida
Tampa, Florida

and

Paul Leung, Ph.D.
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, Illinois





April 26, 1993

























MEETING THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF MINORITIES WITH DISABILITIES:
A REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT AND THE CONGRESS


Publication date:  April 26, 1993

National Council on Disability
800 Independence Avenue, SW
Suite 814
Washington, DC 20591

(202) 267-3846 Voice
(202) 267-3232 TDD
(202) 453-4240 Fax


The views contained in the report do not necessarily represent 
those of the Administration, as this document has not been 
subjected to the A-19 Executive Branch review process.




                       Letter of Transmittal


                                   April 26, 1993

The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

    The National Council on Disability is pleased submit to you 
this special report entitled Meeting the Unique Needs of 
Minorities With Disabilities:  A Report to the President and the 
Congress.  We are particularly proud of this report, because it 
addresses a set of issues that has been largely overlooked by 
U.S. policymakers.

    The National Council has targeted the significant, unmet 
needs of minorities with disabilities as a policy priority.  
Minorities constitute a disproportionate share of the disability 
community and have a unique set of needs in addition to those 
experienced by other people with disabilities.  Many minority 
persons with disabilities face discrimination on the basis of 
both minority status and disability.  This report reflects the 
results of a recent National Council conference on minorities 
with disabilities co-sponsored with Jackson State University in 
Mississippi, and a public hearing identifying the needs of 
minorities with respect to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 
1990 (ADA), P.L. 101-336, held in San Francisco, California. 

    With the completion of this report, the National Council 
remains fully committed to ensuring that the unique needs of 
minorities with disabilities and their families are addressed.  
It is only then that we can rest assured that all of our citizens 
with disabilities have access to the American dream.  We look 
forward to working with you in achieving that essential goal.

Sincerely,




John A. Gannon                     Sandra Swift Parrino
Acting Chairperson                 Chairperson
February 1993-Present              October 1983-February 1993


(This same letter of transmittal was sent to the President Pro 
Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives.)

                          ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

    The National Council on Disability wishes to thank the 
    members of the Minorities with Disabilities Working Group and 
    others who contributed to its minorities with disabilities 
    initiative, including the many individuals who participated 
    in its conference and testified at its hearing.  The 
    administration of Jackson State University was particularly 
    helpful in developing and implementing the conference, 
    including Dr. James E. Lyons, Sr., President; Dr. Herman 
    Smith, Interim President; Dr. Frank Giles; and Dr. Celestine 
    R. Jefferson.  We would also like to acknowledge Alyce 
    Jenkins, Dr. Evelyn Davis, Dr. Sylvia Walker, Dr. Vannoy 
    Thompson, Wolanda Thompson, Edward Brewington, Elysse L. 
    Brewington, Edward Shields, Dr. Theda R.W. Zawaiza, Dr. Ruben 
    C. Warren, David Cabrera, David Belgrave, William Murrain, 
    Carl Boyd, F. Burns Vick, Jr., Hope Yasui, and Dr. Frederick 
    D. Bedell.  The Council truly appreciates the support of the 
    U.S. Department of Justice through the participation of John 
    R. Dunne, former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, 
    and John L. Wodatch, Chief of the Public Access Section.

                         TABLE OF CONTENTS


MISSION OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY.................vii

NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY, MEMBERS AND STAFF..............ix

PROJECT STAFF...................................................x

CONFERENCE PAPERS..............................................xi

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...............................................1

  1. INTRODUCTION:  MINORITIES WITH DISABILITIES...............11

  2. EDUCATION.................................................19

  3. VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION.................................23

  4. EMPLOYMENT................................................27

  5. EMPOWERMENT...............................................31

  6. MENTAL HEALTH.............................................33

  7. PHYSICAL HEALTH...........................................35

  8. PREVENTION OF DISABILITIES................................39

  9. SUBSTANCE ABUSE...........................................41

 10. RESEARCH NEEDS............................................47


REFERENCES.....................................................51

APPENDICES

A.  Conference Program.........................................55
B.  List of Conference Participants............................73
C.  ADA Watch Hearing Agenda...................................89
D.  Biographies of National Council Members and Staff..........95

           MISSION OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY


     The National Council on Disability is an independent federal 
agency composed of 15 members appointed by the President of the 
United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.  It was 
established in 1978 as an advisory board within the Department of 
Education.  The Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1984 transformed 
the Council into an independent agency.  The mission of the 
National Council on Disability is to provide leadership in the 
identification of emerging issues affecting people with 
disabilities and in the development and recommendation of 
disability policy to the President and the Congress.  The 
statutory mandate of the National Council includes the following:

     ù Reviewing and evaluating on an ongoing basis the 
       effectiveness of all policies, programs, and activities 
       concerning individuals with disabilities conducted or 
       assisted by federal departments or agencies;

     ù Assessing the extent to which federal policies, programs, 
       and activities provide incentives for community-based 
       services, promote full integration of individuals with 
       disabilities, and contribute to the independence and 
       dignity of individuals with disabilities;

     ù Providing to the Congress, on an ongoing basis, advice, 
       recommendations, and any additional information that the 
       National Council or the Congress considers appropriate;

     ù Providing ongoing advice to the President, the Congress, 
       the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services 
       Administration (RSA), the Assistant Secretary of the 
       Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services 
       (OSERS), and the Director of the National Institute on 
       Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) on programs 
       authorized in the Rehabilitation Act;

     ù Establishing general policies for reviewing the operation 
       of NIDRR;

     ù Submitting an annual report with appropriate 
       recommendations to the President and the Congress 
       regarding the status of research affecting persons with 
       disabilities and the activities of RSA and NIDRR;

     ù Providing advice to the RSA Commissioner on policies;

     ù Making recommendations on ways to improve research; the 
       collection, dissemination, and implementation of research 
       findings; and the administration of services affecting 
       persons with disabilities;

     ù Reviewing and approving standards for independent living 
       programs;

     ù Reviewing and approving standards for Project With 
       Industry programs;

     ù Providing guidance to the President's Committee on 
       Employment of People with Disabilities; and

     ù Issuing an annual report to the President and the Congress 
       on the progress that has been made in implementing the 
       recommendations contained in the National Council's 
       January 30, 1986, report, Toward Independence.

     While many government agencies address issues and programs 
affecting people with disabilities, the National Council is the 
only federal agency charged with addressing, analyzing,
and making recommendations on issues of public policy that affect 
people with disabilities regardless of age, disability type, 
perceived employment potential, economic need, specific 
functional ability, status as a veteran, or other individual 
circumstance.  The National Council recognizes its unique 
opportunity to facilitate independent living, community 
integration, and employment opportunities for people with 
disabilities by ensuring an informed and coordinated approach to 
addressing their concerns and eliminating barriers to their 
active participation in community and family life.
         NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY, MEMBERS AND STAFF


Members

John A. Gannon, Acting Chairperson
Cleveland, Ohio, and Washington, D.C.

A. Kent Waldrep, Jr., Vice Chairperson
Plano, Texas

Linda Wickett Allison
Dallas, Texas

Ellis B. Bodron
Vicksburg, Mississippi

Larry Brown, Jr.
Potomac, Maryland

Mary Ann Mobley Collins
Beverly Hills, California

Anthony H. Flack
Norwalk, Connecticut

Robert S. Muller
Grandville, Michigan

George H. Oberle, PED
Stillwater, Oklahoma

Sandra Swift Parrino, Former Chairperson
Briarcliff Manor, New York

Mary Matthews Raether
McLean, Virginia

Shirley W. Ryan
Chicago, Illinois



Anne Crellin Seggerman
Fairfield, Connecticut

Michael B. Unhjem
Fargo, North Dakota

Helen Wilshire Walsh
Greenwich, Connecticut


Staff

Andrew I. Batavia, J.D., M.S.
Executive Director

Edward P. Burke
Chief, Government Liaison

Billie Jean Hill
Program Specialist

Mark S. Quigley
Public Affairs Specialist

Brenda Bratton
Executive Secretary

Stacey S. Brown
Staff Assistant

Janice Mack
Administrative Officer

Lorraine Williams
Office Automation Clerk



                           PROJECT STAFF


National Council on Disability
Initiative on Minorities with Disabilities

Larry Brown, Jr., Chairperson
Mary Ann Mobley Collins
Anthony H. Flack
John A. Gannon
George H. Oberle, PED
Sandra Swift Parrino
Mary Mathews Raether
A. Kent Waldrep, Jr.

Report Editors

Tennyson J. Wright, Ph.D., CRC
Paul Leung, Ph.D.

                      Conference Coordinators

                    Frederick D. Bedell, Ed.D.
                   Celestine R. Jefferson, Ed.D.

Project Officers

Andrew I. Batavia, J.D., M.S.
Kate Seelman, Ph.D.

Report Production Managers

Andrew I. Batavia, J.D., M.S.
Edward P. Burke
Mark S. Quigley
Billie Jean Hill
Judy Cleary/EEI


This report summarizes the papers commissioned by the National 
Council for the conference and the testimony provided at the ADA 
Watch hearing on minorities with disabilities.  The views 
expressed and the recommendations presented are those of the 
authors and witnesses and do not necessarily represent those of 
the Council.
CONFERENCE PAPERS


  1. Introduction:  Minorities with Disabilities

     Paul Leung, Ph.D.
     University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
     Champaign, Illinois

     Tennyson J. Wright, Ph.D., CRC
     University of South Florida
     Tampa, Florida


  2. Educational Needs of Minorities with Disabilities

     Frederick D. Bedell, Ed.D.
     President, Del-K Educational Consultancy Services
     Albany, New York

  3. The Vocational Rehabilitation of Minorities

     Frank L. Giles, Ph.D., CRC
     Department of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services
     Jackson State University
     Jackson, Mississippi

  4. Employment of Minorities with Disabilities

     Alyce Earl Jenkins, M.Ed., CRC
     Associate Professor, College of Education and Human Services
     Wright State University
     Dayton, Ohio

  5. Empowerment of Minorities with Disabilities

     Eva P. Britt, Staff Attorney
     Information, Protection, and Advocacy Center
     for Handicapped Individuals, Inc. (IPACHI)
     Washington, DC

  6. Mental Health and Minorities:  Emerging Issues

     Timothy Summers, M.D.
     Jackson, Mississippi

  7. Prevention of Primary and Secondary Disabilities

     Julie Clay
     Rural Institute on Disabilities
     University of Montana
     Missoula, Montana

  8. Minorities, Physical Health and Disability

     Anita Leal, Ph.D.
     Director, Employee Support Program
     University of California, Santa Cruz
     Santa Cruz, California

  9. Substance Abuse and Disabilities Among Minorities

     James G. Brown, Ph.D.
     Florida Department of Labor and Employment Security
     Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
     Tallahassee, Florida

 10. Research Needs Related to Minorities with Disabilities

     Paul Leung, Ph.D.
     University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
     Champaign, Illinois

                         EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


   People with disabilities have always been excluded from the 
   bounty of our nation's resources.  Minorities with 
   disabilities, in particular, have been the most 
   disenfranchised of the disenfranchised.  It is time that we 
   bring them into the fold as full, first-class participants in 
   our society.

                                   Hon. Rev. Jesse L. Jackson
                                   National Rainbow Coalition


     The National Council on Disability, recognizing our 
society's general neglect of the needs of minority persons with 
disabilities, and the many social disadvantages that such 
individuals encounter, developed a key initiative on addressing 
the needs of minorities with disabilities.  Meeting the unique 
needs of minorities with disabilities has been a priority for the 
National Council for several years.  This report represents one 
of the many efforts that the Council has made to seek full 
inclusion for minorities in disability policy decisionmaking and 
development.

     Disability policy and disability politics are like other 
areas of domestic policy and politics in our nation-they are 
dominated by the culture, values, and biases of the majority 
middle class.  Unless we make determined and targeted efforts to 
ensure the inclusion of minorities in the policymaking process, 
we will not develop policies and programs that address their 
unique needs.  Too often, little consideration is given to the 
needs of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, 
Native Americans, and other minorities with disabilities.  The 
United States consists of a diverse population and we must make a 
conscious effort to meet the needs of all our people.

     Persons with disabilities who are also members of minorities 
face double discrimination and a double disadvantage in our 
society.  They are more likely to be poor and undereducated and 
to have fewer opportunities than other members of the population.  
It is not certain why this is the case, but we can surmise that 
it results from the cumulative effect of poor socioeconomic 
status and poor health that place minorities at greater risk of 
disability and at greater risk of not receiving needed services 
if they have a disability.

     The National Council's minorities with disabilities 
initiative has thus far included two major events-a national 
conference and a public hearing on the broad array of issues 
concerning minority persons with disabilities.


        National Conference on Minorities with Disabilities

     On May 6-7, 1992, at Jackson State University, the National 
Council on Disability convened a national conference entitled 
"Addressing the Unique Needs of Minorities with Disabilities:  
Setting an Agenda for the Future."  The conference considered a 
wide range of disability issues, including education, 
rehabilitation, employment, empowerment, mental health, physical 
health, prevention, substance abuse, and research, as they relate 
to the concerns of minorities.  (See Appendix A for the 
Conference Program.)

     The conference was attended by 186 persons, most from 
minority backgrounds.  (See Appendix B for a List of Conference 
Participants.)  A variety of papers was commissioned by the 
National Council from experts on minority and disability issues, 
including persons with disabilities, service providers, and 
researchers.  The papers addressed each of the nine subject areas 
of the conference.  After the papers were presented at the 
conference by their authors, other experts presented their 
reactions to them.

     The conference papers and reactions are discussed in 
sections 2 through 10 of this report.  A summary of the general 
findings and recommendations of conference participants is 
presented in this Executive Summary.  Specific recommendations 
concerning the various subject areas of the conference are 
presented in the relevant sections of this report.


              Conference Findings and Recommendations

     The proceedings of the conference-both in the commissioned 
papers and in the reactions of the experts who responded to 
them-contain sets of policy recommendations to improve the lives 
of minority persons with disabilities.  Throughout the 
presentations, and implicit in the recommendations, are findings 
on the needs of minorities with disabilities.  While specific 
consensus was not sought at the conference, there was 
considerable overlap among the various findings and 
recommendations made by participants.

     This report provides a synthesis of the many findings and 
recommendations presented throughout the conference.  The 
recommendations are based upon a general assumption among 
conference participants that disability policy and government 
programs should target those in our society who often have the 
least and need the most.  The consistency of the findings and 
recommendations demonstrates not only their credibility, but the 
urgency for action.


Findings

     The findings of the conference are as follows:

  1. Issues involving minority persons with disabilities are 
     complex and require the coordinated attention of many 
     government programs as well as the competencies of 
     professionals from many different disciplines.

  2. As a group, minority persons with disabilities are more at 
     risk, have fewer personal and family resources, have less 
     knowledge and understanding of externally available 
     resources, and fare less well socioeconomically than do 
     minorities without disabilities.

  3. There has been limited research on issues related to 
     minority persons with disabilities, and consequently there 
     are insufficient data on these populations to offer 
     substantial guidance for policy or service development.

  4. Staff for service delivery systems, including the 
     state/federal vocational rehabilitation program, are not 
     sufficiently trained to work with multicultural populations.

  5. There have been insufficient outreach efforts to ensure the 
     participation of minority persons with disabilities in the 
     mainstream of their communities.

  6. There have been insufficient efforts to address issues 
     concerning prevention of disability that often affect 
     minority persons, including the effects of racism, violence, 
     substance abuse, and poor general health.

  7. There is a need to develop and implement a data set 
     sufficiently descriptive to assess incidence and prevalence 
     of disabilities and the impact of interventions among all 
     minority populations regardless of population size.

  8. Education continues to be a key factor for minority persons 
     with disabilities in achieving success; therefore, it must 
     be designed to be more positive, focusing on the abilities 
     of children with disabilities rather than on their 
     limitations.

  9. Minority children with disabilities require adequate 
     academic accommodations and support through the attention of 
     sensitive educational personnel and mentors.

 10. The ADA holds great promise for minority persons with 
     disabilities, but the promise will be realized only if 
     specific efforts are made for outreach, education, and 
     removal of barriers in minority communities.

 11. There is a need to develop grassroots networks and to 
     establish a funded pool of resources to help minority 
     persons with disabilities become part of the mainstream of 
     their communities.


Recommendations for Policymakers

     The following are general recommendations that were 
developed during the conference.  Additional specific 
recommendations relating to the various topics addressed by the 
conference can be found at the end of each section of this 
report.

  1. Federal, state, and local agencies should coordinate 
     government policies and programs to meet the needs of 
     minority persons with disabilities, using the competencies 
     of professionals from many different relevant disciplines.

  2. Policies should be established by all federal, state, and 
     local agencies that administer existing government programs 
     to ensure the inclusion of minorities with disabilities in 
     their programs.

  3. Congress should authorize targeted research on minorities 
     with disabilities, and federal disability research agencies 
     such as the National Institute on Disability and 
     Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) and the National Center for 
     Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) should plan and fund 
     such research.

  4. Federal disability research agencies such as NIDRR and NCMRR 
     should develop policies that include minorities with 
     disabilities in all disability and rehabilitation-related 
     research.

  5. Service delivery systems, including the state/federal 
     vocational rehabilitation program, should train staff 
     sufficiently to work with multicultural populations.

  6. All federal, state, and local disability programs should 
     develop outreach efforts to ensure the full participation of 
     minority persons with disabilities.

  7. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) should 
     develop a specific initiative to address issues concerning 
     the prevention of disability for minority persons, including 
     the effects of racism, violence, substance abuse, and poor 
     general health.

  8. Federal disability research agencies such as NIDRR and NCMRR 
     should develop a data set sufficient to assess the incidence 
     and prevalence of disabilities and the impact of 
     intervention among all minority populations, regardless of 
     the size of the population.

  9. The Department of Education should develop policies and 
     programs to improve the outcomes of education systems for 
     minority persons with disabilities.

 10. The Department of Labor should develop policies and programs 
     to ensure that minority persons with disabilities will be 
     able to participate as full members in the workforce of the 
     future.

 11. All federal, state, and local agencies responsible for 
     implementing the ADA, including the Department of Justice, 
     the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department 
     of Transportation, the Federal Communications Commission, 
     the Access Board, and NIDRR, should target greater resources 
     to minority populations with disabilities and the 
     communities in which they live.

 12. Federal, state, and local government should foster the 
     development of grassroots networks connected to more formal 
     regional and national networks for the dissemination of new 
     information and technology and should establish a funded 
     pool of resources to help minority persons with 
     disabilities.


Recommendations for the National Council

     The following recommendations specifically target actions 
for the National Council on Disability, the primary sponsor of 
the conference, to consider:

  1. Establish a National Council policy that all programs of the 
     Council will include the perspectives of minority 
     populations.

  2. Develop and implement a national task force on minority 
     populations with disabilities to assist in the review of 
     ongoing and prospective Council programs and activities.

  3. Collaborate with all federal agencies that address 
     disability issues to ensure that policies and activities 
     affecting minority populations with disabilities meet their 
     needs.

  4. Maintain liaison with national minority organizations (e.g., 
     National Urban League, NAACP) for advice, as well as 
     outreach toward minority populations with disabilities.

  5. Initiate national and regional meetings to increase 
     awareness of disability issues, particularly issues 
     concerning the ADA, by minority organizations and their 
     constituencies.

  6. Continue to hold forums addressing disability issues that 
     affect minority populations in settings that are fully 
     accessible to minority persons with disabilities.

  7. Establish relationships with other federal agencies that 
     affect minority populations with disabilities, such as the 
     Bureau of the Census and the National Institutes of Health, 
     to ensure adequate and appropriate data to assess the need 
     for, and impact of, service delivery programs.

  8. Monitor progress within the federal government to ensure the 
     participation of minority persons with disabilities in all 
     aspects of federal policy and programming.

  9. Increase outreach to minority populations with disabilities 
     using different languages and alternative approaches to 
     ensure effective communication.


         ADA Watch Hearing on Minorities with Disabilities

     On October 21, 1992, in San Francisco, California, the 
National Council held a public hearing on how minorities with 
disabilities are faring under the Americans with Disabilities Act 
of 1990 (ADA).  (See Appendix C for hearing agenda.)  This 
hearing was part of two National Council initiatives:  the 
Minorities with Disabilities initiative, discussed above, and the 
ADA Watch initiative, which monitors implementation of the ADA.  
A summary of the testimony and recommendations presented at the 
hearing is provided in this Executive Summary.

     The testimony and recommendations from the hearing supported 
one of the major findings of the National Council from the first 
year of ADA Watch:  "Minorities with disabilities, 
overrepresented in the disability community, are significantly 
underreached by current ADA information and technical assistance 
efforts."  This finding, in conjunction with the testimony 
presented, further supports the Council's major ADA Watch 
recommendation concerning minorities with disabilities:

     New materials and dissemination strategies should be 
     developed that are targeted to, and sensitive to the needs 
     of, African Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian 
     Americans/Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, and other 
     minority populations.


               Hearing Testimony and Recommendations

     The individuals who testified at the ADA Watch hearing on 
minority issues discussed their experiences with discrimination 
on the basis of disability and minority status, as well as their 
difficulty in gaining access to the resources needed to become 
self-sufficient.  They also presented a variety of 
recommendations to remedy the problems confronted by minorities 
with disabilities.  As with the conference, there was substantial 
consistency among the recommendations of the witnesses.


Hearing Testimony

     An overarching finding of the ADA Watch hearing on persons 
from minority backgrounds with disabilities was that such 
individuals have greater difficulty obtaining employment and 
gaining access to public accommodations and transportation than 
do other Americans with disabilities.  Witnesses testified that 
persons from minority backgrounds with disabilities tend to have 
the following characteristics:

     ù Are more disabled (i.e., have more functional limitations) 
       than other members of the disability community as a result 
       of such factors as socioeconomic status, educational 
       level, and occupation;

     ù Face the double challenge of having to contend with 
       discrimination on the basis of both disability and 
       minority status;

     ù Have the added obstacle of being subjected to greater 
       negative attitudes by the majority in society than other 
       minority groups;

     ù Have language and communication differences that 
       complicate their ability to obtain meaningful information 
       and technical assistance on the ADA;

     ù Have differences in cultural values, low self-concepts, 
       and distrust of "government" and "systems," which affects 
       the way they respond to policies and programs;

     ù Are isolated from the mainstream of American life, 
       reducing potential benefits under the ADA;

     ù Do not have appropriate training and career development 
       opportunities appropriate from the standpoint of 
       cross-cultural and cross-disability familiarity; and

     ù Are unable to take full advantage of the ADA and other 
       disability policies because of a lack of (a) effective 
       educational and training models, (b) adequate role models, 
       (c) appropriate vehicles of communication, and (d) 
       economic opportunity.


Recommendations

     The following are recommendations of witnesses from the ADA 
Watch hearing on minorities with disabilities:

  1. Require that all ADA implementation activities be sensitive 
     to the linguistic differences, communication styles, and 
     cultural attributes of the various minority groups and 
     persons with disabilities in those groups.

  2. Ensure that federal funding is set aside for public and 
     community-based agencies to develop and implement 
     multicultural approaches to providing information, technical 
     assistance, and services related to the ADA.

  3. Develop services and publications that focus on minority and 
     disability groups-and that use their preferred language 
     and/or method of communication-for information 
     dissemination, outreach activities, and technical assistance 
     on the ADA.

  4. Appropriate funds for public agencies and private 
     community-based entities to develop and implement training 
     and to provide opportunities for economic independence for 
     minorities with disabilities.

  5. Establish a high priority on public policies that focus on 
     self-esteem development, advocacy, and personal empowerment 
     of minorities with disabilities.

  6. Apply appropriate economic and human resources to enforce 
     the ADA through vigorous compliance investigation, 
     mediation, and legal redress for minorities with 
     disabilities.

  7. Designate and fund at a reasonable level a federal entity to 
     collect, analyze, and disseminate data periodically on the 
     various minority groups with disabilities.

  8. Explore the extent to which the spirit and letter of the ADA 
     can be extended to Native Americans who live on 
     reservations.

  9. Develop and fund leadership training activities for 
     minorities with disabilities to further to foster their 
     increased self-advocacy and empowerment.

 10. Analyze the extent to which minorities, including ethnic 
     minorities with disabilities for whom English is a second 
     language, are inappropriately placed in special education, 
     and develop strategies to eliminate inappropriate 
     placements.

 11. Provide incentive funding for colleges and universities to 
     train disability and other (legal, health, etc.) 
     professionals and providers to be sensitive to the needs of 
     people of different races, ethnicities, cultures, and 
     disabilities.

 12. Explore ways to eliminate existing disincentives for 
     minorities with disabilities to use publicly-funded programs 
     and services and to increase responsiveness to professional 
     interventions.
          1.  INTRODUCTION:  MINORITIES WITH DISABILITIES


     Minority persons with disabilities are among the most 
     untapped of our nation's resources.  Most have not been 
     given an opportunity to contribute productively to the 
     well-being of our society.  It is essential to the success 
     of our country in the 21st Century to utilize the resources 
     of minority persons with disabilities.

                                   Larry Brown, Jr.
                                   Council Member
                                   National Council on Disability


                     Minorities and Disability

     Minority populations in the United States can be defined or 
described in many different ways, depending upon whether the 
emphasis is on race, ethnicity, or culture.  For the purposes of 
this report, the focus will be primarily on African Americans, 
Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, and Native 
Americans.  During the last decade, there has been tremendous 
growth in these minority populations in the United States.

     U.S. Bureau of the Census (1990) data indicate that there 
are 30 million African Americans (an increase of 13.2% since 
1980); 22.4 million Hispanic Americans (an increase of 53%); 7.3 
million Asian Americans (an increase of 107.8%); and 2.0 million 
Native Americans (an increase of 37.9%).  In comparison, the 
European American (i.e., White) population grew 6.0% since 1980.  
The projections into the year 2000 are as dramatic; for example, 
current minority populations in California are projected to 
become the majority by the turn of the century.

     In her conference paper on the physical health of minorities 
with disabilities, Dr. Anita Leal describes the four minority 
groups as follows:


African Americans

     ù Largest minority population in the United States-12% of 
       the general population.

     ù In 1987, only 64%, compared to 77% of European Americans, 
       had graduated from high school.

     ù In 1986, 31.1%, compared to 11% of European Americans, 
       lived below the poverty level.

     ù Worst health status among minority groups.


Hispanic Americans (Latino Americans)

     ù Second largest minority group in the United States-8% of 
       the general population.

     ù Heterogeneous group comprised of people of Mexican, Cuban, 
       Puerto Rican, and Central and South American origin.

     ù Share a common language-Spanish-either as a first or 
       second language.

     ù Considered an ethnic group and are classified as "White" 
       90% of the time in racial categories.

     ù Forty-nine percent of Hispanic Americans over age 25 have 
       not completed high school.

     ù Proportion of children under 18 years living in poverty is 
       significantly greater than non-Hispanics (47.7% vs. 
       38.3%).

     ù Based on limited data, their health status is closer to 
       that of European Americans than that of other minority 
       groups.


Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders

     ù Fastest growing population in the United States-2% of the 
       general population.

     ù Major subgroups are Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese, 
       Vietnamese, Asian Indians, and Koreans.

     ù Data are scant on health risks and morbidity patterns.

     ù Only a few epidemiologic surveys have been done in the 
       West and most studies have been conducted in Hawaii.

     ù Median family income is higher than that of other minority 
       groups and European Americans; however, Vietnamese have a 
       very low average family income.


Native Americans and Native Alaskans

     ù Smallest minority group in the United States-1% of the 
       general population.

     ù Poverty rates are similar to those of African Americans 
       and Hispanic Americans.

     ù Second worst health status among minority groups, after 
       African Americans.


                   Minorities with Disabilities

     As a result of factors such as poverty, unemployment, and 
poor health status, persons of minority backgrounds are at high 
risk of disability.  Based largely on population projections and 
substantial anecdotal evidence, it is clear that the number of 
persons from these minority populations who have disabilities is 
increasing.  Moreover, based on similar projections, the 
proportion of minority populations with disabling conditions will 
probably increase at even faster rates than that of the general 
population.

     However, due to a disturbing lack of hard data on minority 
populations with disabilities, it is not certain precisely how 
many members of minority groups have disabilities or how fast 
this population is growing.  Most of the data available on 
minority populations with disabilities relate to African 
Americans.  Some data are available on Hispanic Americans and 
Native Americans, and almost none are available on Asian 
Americans.

     Bowe (1992), using 1988 U.S. Bureau of the Census Current 
Population Survey Data, reported approximately 2,512,000 African 
American working-age adults with disabilities.  The only major 
prevalence study on minorities with disabilities found that 
African Americans and
Hispanic Americans with disabilities have lower incomes and lower 
educational levels than their European American counterparts 
(Asbury, Walker, Maholmes, Rackley, and White, 1991).


              Neglect of Minorities with Disabilities

     These data, or lack thereof, suggest the need for much more 
research on minority populations with disabilities.  The needs of 
such individuals have been ignored largely for two reasons:

     First, minority populations have been generally preoccupied 
     with their own particular needs related to survival and 
     elimination of discrimination and racism; disability issues 
     affecting minorities have not been a priority.

     Second, the disability community has been preoccupied with 
     general disability issues, such as access to health 
     insurance, personal assistance services and assistive 
     technology; issues specifically affecting minorities with 
     disabilities have not been emphasized.

     Overall, public policies and programs of service delivery 
for Americans with disabilities have been designed for the 
general population and have not adequately benefited people with 
disabilities from minority populations.  Even the passage of the 
ADA may not, by itself, have a substantial impact on minorities 
unless both the minority and majority communities become much 
more aware of, and sensitive to, the needs of minorities with 
disabilities.

     The need to address the concerns of minorities with 
disabilities arises from several perspectives.

     First, as noted earlier, the number of minority persons with 
     disabilities is increasing and will continue to increase.

     Second, minorities constitute a disproportionate share of 
     the population of persons with disabilities.

     Third, the future workforce needs of America will be met not 
     only by its diverse racial and ethnic populations, but by 
     persons within those populations who have disabilities.

     Finally, minority persons with disabilities have the right 
     to equal opportunity in our society and the right to benefit 
     fully from disability policies.


       National Council/Jackson State University Conference

     On May 6-7, 1992, in Jackson, Mississippi, the National 
Council on Disability and Jackson State University held a 
national conference on meeting the needs of minorities with 
disabilities.  Experts on minority and disability issues, 
including researchers, service providers, and government 
officials, developed and presented papers.  The conference was a 
key component of the National Council's initiative to ensure that 
the needs of minority persons with disabilities are met.

     Over the past several decades, there has been a growing 
awareness that minorities with disabilities in the U.S have even 
fewer opportunities than other people with disabilities.  To 
address their problems, two conferences were planned and 
implemented collaboratively by professional, state and federal 
agencies prior to 1990.  These events were held at predominantly 
African American colleges and universities.

     The National Association of Non-White Rehabilitation Workers 
convened the first conference at Tuskegee University in Alabama 
in 1973 and the second conference at Jackson State University in 
Mississippi in 1980.  Among the issues addressed at each event 
were the status of minorities with disabilities, state and 
federal support for addressing the needs of minorities with 
disabilities, and the availability of qualified professionals to 
serve minorities with disabilities.

     Since these conferences, few collective efforts have focused 
on the "state of affairs" of minorities with disabilities.  In 
the fall of 1991, the National Council on Disability approached 
the Administration of Jackson State University about hosting a 
national invitational conference on meeting the needs of persons 
with disabilities.  The purposes of this conference were to:

     ù Assemble educators, researchers, service providers, 
       administrators, students and other interested persons to 
       examine the state of affairs of minorities with 
       disabilities in the U.S.

     ù Identify recommendations for improving the quality of life 
       of minorities with disabilities.

     ù Develop a document to be disseminated to educators, human 
       service agency administrators, elected officials and other 
       interested persons to inform them of the problems 
       encountered by minorities with disabilities population.

     ù To develop an agenda for the future to identify and 
       address the unique needs of minorities with disabilities.


                  ADA Watch Hearing on Minorities

     On October 21, 1992, in San Francisco, California, the 
National Council held a public hearing on how minorities with 
disabilities are faring under the Americans with Disabilities Act 
of 1990 (ADA).  This hearing was part of the National Council's 
ADA Watch initiative, as well as its Minorities with Disabilities 
initiative.

     Fifteen panelists were featured presenters at the hearing.  
The ethnically diverse panel included five African Americans, 
five Hispanic Americans, three Asian Americans, one Native 
Hawaiian, and one Native American.  Nine of these individuals 
have at least one severe disability, two have a child or parent 
with a disability, and the others are professionals who focus 
primarily on the needs of ethnic minorities with disabilities.

     In addition to the panelists, 16 witnesses presented 
testimony during two "open microphone" sessions.  Ten have at 
least one disability.  Approximately 55 other persons, many with 
disabilities, attended the hearing.  The testimony and 
recommendations of the panelists and witnesses are summarized in 
the Executive Summary to this report, as well as in the specific 
sections of the report on the nine subject areas.

     Based largely on the testimony at the hearing, the National 
Council on Disability (1993a) found that "[m]inorities with 
disabilities, overrepresented in the disability community, are 
significantly underreached by current ADA information and 
technical assistance efforts."  The general recommendation of the 
National Council (1993a) concerning minorities with disabilities, 
based on the first year of ADA Watch, was the following:

     New materials and dissemination strategies should be 
     developed that are targeted to, and sensitive to the needs 
     of, African Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian 
     Americans/Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, and other 
     minority populations.


                        Overview of Report

     The National Council/Jackson State University Conference and 
the conference proceedings that this report summarizes are part 
of a legacy of national, regional, and local conferences that 
began in the 1960s and continue to bring issues confronting 
minorities with disabilities to the forefront of our society.  
Focusing on the issues that particularly affect minority 
populations with disabilities, the conference planners selected 
nine subject areas:  education, vocational rehabilitation, 
employment, empowerment, mental health, prevention, physical 
health, substance abuse, and research.

     Each subject area by itself is important.  However, each 
area can also be seen under the broad umbrella of the ADA and 
other disability laws protecting all people with disabilities, 
including minorities with disabilities.  The National Council 
commissioned papers on each of the conference subject areas as 
they relate to minorities with disabilities, and asked other 
experts to react to the papers after they were presented.  
Several of the papers presented at the conference discuss how the 
ADA affects minorities with disabilities.  The papers are 
summarized in sections 2 to 10 of this report.

     Statistical data vary widely within the papers.  Much of 
this variability results from the different sources used, as well 
as from differences in definition.  Certainly, such discrepancies 
in data point to the need for consistent definitions of 
disabilities among persons from minority populations, as well as 
uniform approaches to data collection and measurement.  Some of 
the papers use data that are anecdotal and experiential.  The 
paucity of "hard data" reflects limitations in current knowledge 
and suggests an extensive research agenda on minorities with 
disabilities.

     The information contained in this report has been abstracted 
by the editors from the original papers commissioned by the 
National Council.  The complete papers, which are contained in 
the unpublished conference proceedings, are a rich source of data 
and information.  They substantiate, from very different 
perspectives, some of the day-to-day concerns of persons with 
disabilities who are also members of minority ethnic/racial 
populations.  In addition, they contain some practical solutions 
that can be utilized to improve the lives of persons with 
disabilities and enable the empowerment process to occur.

     A complete copy of the conference proceedings is available 
from the National Council on Disability for those who are 
interested in in-depth knowledge of the topics summarized in this 
report.  Readers are encouraged to use this information and to 
incorporate the recommendations into policies and practices to 
enhance the quality of the lives of minority persons with 
disabilities.  We hope that readers will be challenged by the 
information and will become an active part of the process to 
empower minority persons with disabilities to be full 
participants in American society.
2.  EDUCATION

     Our education system is overloaded, confused, and bogged 
     down.  We need to refocus our educational priorities and 
     concentrate on the restructuring of our educational system.  
     We need to go back and take a page out of the successful 
     methodologies used in the one-room school house.  We do not 
     need to segregate students.  We need to find ways to 
     mainstream.

                                   Frederick D. Bedell, Ed.D.


     The National Commission on Excellence in Education Report, A 
Nation At Risk (1983), brought two important concepts to the 
forefront in education:  1) the interdependence of an achieving 
nation and achieving students and 2) the idea of being "at risk," 
a term now used to describe children whose achievement is 
undermined by health, social, educational, and/or economic 
factors.

      A report to the President and the Congress of the National 
Council on Disability (1989), The Education of Students with 
Disabilities:  Where Do We Stand? found that students with 
disabilities generally are at risk, and minority students with 
disabilities are particularly at risk, of inadequate preparation 
for employment and for full participation as citizens in our 
society.  It is clear that for our nation to achieve, all of its 
students must achieve, including all of its students with 
disabilities.


                          Primary Issues

     The present education system is overloaded and confused.  
Poverty, racism, cultural differences, the dissolution of 
families, and the weakening of home influences are among the 
contributing social factors that challenge the schools.  When 
these variables are combined with low self-esteem, peer pressure, 
lack of self-discipline, and inadequate role models, students do 
not arrive at school ready to learn.  To exacerbate the 
situation, those who are prepared to learn are often subjected to 
inappropriate curricula, inadequate support services, and, in 
some instances, a hostile school environment.

     As dysfunctional as conditions are for students generally, 
they are worse for students with disabilities and still worse for 
students with disabilities from minority backgrounds.  The 
problems they confront are discussed in a recent report of the 
National Council on Disability  (1993b) entitled Serving the 
Nation's Students with Disabilities:  Progress and Prospects.  In 
addition to the issues facing students with disabilities 
generally, there are many issues concerning the education of 
minority students with disabilities at all levels of the Nation's 
education system.

     Learning must occur for students with disabilities in 
integrated, mainstreamed settings if they are to be able to 
compete on an equal basis.  Too often, children who are 
considered at risk find themselves failing in schools that have 
the least resources, deteriorating physical plants, and 
dispirited and uninspired teachers.  Many students are misplaced, 
written off, or "fall between the cracks."


                 Practices in the Education System

     Several specific variables have a negative effect on student 
achievement, particularly among minority students.  Among these 
are the following:

     ù The disproportionate placement of minorities in special 
       education programs;

     ù The placement of minority students in special education 
       programs for longer periods of time than nonminority 
       students;

     ù Environmental factors such as malnutrition, poverty, and 
       parental addiction to alcohol and/or other drugs; and

     ù The general orientation of the schools toward students 
       with behavioral problems, which does not adequately take 
       into consideration the causes of the problem.


                  Placement of Minority Students

     The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, 
Public Law 94-142 (renamed the Individuals with Disabilities 
Education Act [IDEA]), did little to acknowledge the unique needs 
of minority children with disabilities.  Figueroa (1989) noted 
that IDEA did not adequately acknowledge the needs of Hispanic 
American children or those whose native language was not English, 
and concluded that miseducation of bilingual children may be the 
norm.

     After the passage of the Education for All Handicapped 
Children Act, 10 million children were identified as "educably 
mentally retarded."  Of that number, 43% were African American.  
In a paper presented to the National Alliance of Black School 
Educators, Ruth Love (1989) found that 85% of students in special 
education programs in Chicago are African American.  In school 
systems in which "ability grouping" is practiced, a 
disproportionate number of minority children are placed in 
special education classes.

     Misplacement of children into segregated programs often has 
placed them at a disadvantage.  The National Council on 
Disability (1989) reported several findings from the results of 
the national study discussed above.  Among them are:

     ù Parents and students reported that schools have low 
       expectations of students with disabilities and establish 
       inappropriate learning objectives and goals;

     ù Services often are not available to meet the needs of 
       disadvantaged, minority, and rural families who have 
       children with disabilities;

     ù Special education is a relatively separate system of 
       service delivery; and

     ù Current thinking regarding effective schools and teaching 
       practices can facilitate the integration of students with 
       special needs into general classrooms.


                          Recommendations

1.  To educate students with disabilities, especially those from 
    minority backgrounds, we must look for a new model that 
    involves a collaborative approach and includes all levels 
    from preschool to higher education.

2.  The education system must affect students with disabilities 
    in a positive, not a negative, manner.  There must be a focus 
    in preschool programs on preparing students with disabilities 
    from minority backgrounds to be ready to learn.

3.  Schools must be restructured to eliminate negative effects on 
    students.  Cooperative learning is a good example of 
    students' learning through sharing of knowledge rather than 
    competition.  Diverse student populations are integrated so 
    that students learn to work together.

4.  Schools must be able to serve students based upon their needs 
    for individualized services.  In other words, each student is 
    unique and schools must be able to develop and modify 
    programs to fit each student's needs.  True individual 
    service planning would go a long way toward meeting the needs 
    of all students in the educational system.

5.  Finally, students with disabilities from minority populations 
    must have the opportunity to achieve their potential 
    regardless of the level of education.  Attention must be 
    given to funding and ways to enhance access to all education, 
    including higher education.

                   3.  VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION


     In general, minorities with disabilities are less likely to 
     be accepted or found eligible for state/federal vocational 
     rehabilitation services when compared to Whites with 
     disabilities.  If accepted for vocational rehabilitation 
     services, minorities are less likely to be rehabilitated and 
     are provided fewer opportunities for academic training as 
     compared to Whites.

                                   Frank L. Giles, Ph.D., CRC


     A major service delivery program for adults with 
disabilities has been the state/federal vocational rehabilitation 
program.  However, it has been noted that participation by 
ethnic/racial minority persons within vocational rehabilitation 
has not been at the levels warranted by their need, taking into 
consideration their proportion of the population (Atkins and 
Wright, 1980; Danek and Lawrence, 1982).  The Rehabilitation 
Services Administration (1989) indicates that, of the total of 
213,842 persons rehabilitated in 1989, 80.00% were European 
American, 17.50% were African American, and the remaining 2.5% 
were from all other minorities.


          Public Vocational Rehabilitation and Minorities

     Danek and Lawrence (1982) found that more time was required 
for African Americans than for European Americans to be accepted 
for vocational rehabilitation services.  Herbert and Martinez 
(1992), analyzing Pennsylvania data, concluded that 33% of 
European Americans were found ineligible, compared with 40% of 
minority persons.  These statistics support earlier findings by 
Rivera (1974), who found that Hispanic Americans are more likely 
than European Americans to be found ineligible for vocational 
rehabilitation.

     For the approximately 500 Native American tribes recognized 
by the U.S. government, there are approximately 13 
tribal-operated vocational rehabilitation programs, but there are 
relatively little data on rehabilitative outcomes of Native 
Americans (Martin, Frank, Minkler, and Johnson, 1988).  There are 
almost no data related to the use of vocational rehabilitation 
programs by Asian Americans.


               Barriers to Vocational Rehabilitation

     Current participation in the public vocational 
rehabilitation program by minorities with disabilities is below 
expected levels.  There is a need for the vocational 
rehabilitation system to be more responsive to the unique needs 
of minority populations.

     Atkins (1988) advocated using an "asset-oriented" strategy, 
in which the focus is on the individual's strengths and 
abilities.  Belgrave and Walker (1991) highlighted the importance 
of factors such as transportation in rehabilitation.  Rivera and 
Cespedes (1983) advocated for the use of community structures 
such as churches and other community organizations as part of the 
vocational rehabilitation process.

     Leung and Sakata (1988) suggested the need to incorporate 
languages other than English and to use family support systems.  
Finally, Martin et al. (1988) identified the need for culturally 
appropriate interventions in the vocational rehabilitation 
process.


         Training Minorities in Rehabilitation Counseling

     A related vocational rehabilitation issue involves the 
training of persons from minority backgrounds as service 
providers and specifically as rehabilitation counselors in the 
vocational rehabilitation system.

     Only four universities with rehabilitation education 
programs listed in the National Council on Rehabilitation 
Education Directory (1992) are considered to be historically 
African American institutions.  Two programs were identified as 
having significant Hispanic American students while one 
university noted significant enrollment of Asian Americans.  
Total minority enrollment in master's level training has been 
approximately 15 to 16% during the last decade.

     Better representation of minority persons in rehabilitation 
counseling programs will be needed to meet the demands of 
changing demographics, in which the total numbers of persons of 
minority background will increase while those currently in the 
majority will decrease.


                              Summary

     In general, minorities with disabilities are less likely to 
be accepted or found eligible for state and federal vocational 
rehabilitation services compared with the overall disability 
community.  If accepted for vocational rehabilitation services, 
minorities with disabilities are less likely to be rehabilitated 
and are provided fewer opportunities for academic training 
compared with other persons with disabilities.

     Rehabilitation Services Administration data regarding 
individuals rehabilitated between FY 1984 and FY 1989 indicate 
that the numbers of Native Americans/Alaskans and Asian 
Americans/Pacific Islanders rehabilitated have remained fairly 
constant during the period.  The numbers of Hispanic Americans 
rehabilitated increased slightly and the numbers of African 
Americans rehabilitated under programs sponsored by the 
Rehabilitation Services Administration decreased.

     Rehabilitation counseling preservice academic training 
programs can have a critical impact on the success or failure of 
minorities with disabilities.  Counselors must have an 
educational background that enables them to work successfully 
with clients who are of different races or cultures.


           Recommendations on Vocational Rehabilitation

1.  Federal policies should enable the provision of vocational 
    rehabilitation services that are culturally appropriate.

2.  Research is needed to determine effective models, services, 
    and resources related to the vocational rehabilitation of 
    persons with disabilities from minority racial/ethnic 
    backgrounds.

3.  Training for vocational rehabilitation personnel must include 
    multicultural emphases and clinical training experiences 
    involving persons with disabilities from minority 
    populations.

4.  Preservice education programs must include specific courses 
    related to multicultural experiences and service delivery.

5.  Incentives should be provided for recruitment and education 
    of underrepresented racial/ethnic populations in vocational 
    rehabilitation.  The Rehabilitation Services Administration 
    should continue to fund colleges and universities with 
    substantial enrollments of minorities.

6.  There is a need for increased numbers of tribally operated 
    vocational rehabilitation programs to meet the growing needs 
    of Native Americans and Native Alaskans.
                          4.  EMPLOYMENT


     We must establish an [employment] agenda for minorities with 
     disabilities which will be multifaceted.  Indeed, this 
     interrelatedness of disability, poverty and undereducation 
     dictate implementation of a multidisciplinary, 
     intergovernmental, and interagency approach to the problem.

                                   Alyce Earl Jenkins, M.Ed., CRC


     Expansion of employment opportunity is absolutely essential 
to promoting the economic self-sufficiency of persons with 
disabilities.  However, for persons with disabilities from 
minority ethnic and racial backgrounds, "employment 
opportunities, particularly at the higher levels, are sharply 
limited" (Wright, 1960).  The lack of employment opportunities 
for such individuals results in part from dual sources of 
discrimination based on minority status and disability; minority 
women with disabilities may be subject to "triple jeopardy" 
(Wright, 1988).

     High unemployment figures for racial and ethnic minority 
members with disabilities are particularly significant, in that 
minority populations themselves have higher incidence and 
prevalence rates of disabilities than the general population.  
One study notes that "most ethnic minority persons with a 
disability are at a high risk given that a larger percentage of 
this population fall at or below the poverty level" (Asbury, 
Walker, Maholmes, Rackley, and White, 1991).

     According to ADA Watch hearing witnesses, notwithstanding a 
decade of experience with the Rehabilitation Act, government 
entities at all levels have failed to take adequate steps to 
establish appropriate cultural diversity and disability awareness 
training designed to further recruit, employ, and retain 
minorities with disabilities within the public sector.  The 
witnesses indicated that the private sector must also be given 
greater incentives to employ minorities with disabilities.

     The problems encountered by minority persons with 
disabilities in securing and maintaining employment can be the 
result of exclusionary practices by employers, labor unions, and 
the vocational rehabilitation service delivery system.


                             Employers

     According to a Louis Harris (1987) poll commissioned by the 
National Council on Disability, over two-thirds of persons with 
disabilities are unemployed.  Similarly, Bowe (1990) indicated 
that only 32% of working age (16-64) adults with disabilities 
work or are actively seeking work.  The levels of employment for 
African Americans with disabilities in the workforce were even 
lower, at 22% employed; for Hispanic Americans with disabilities, 
the level was 23% employed.  Braddock and McPartland (1987) 
suggested that there are built-in barriers such as segregated 
networks, information biases, and negative stereotypes held by 
employers, all of which result in low employment levels.


                           Labor Unions

     Jenkins stated that, while labor unions have been known for 
their advocacy of workers' rights, persons with disabilities, 
including those of minority ethnic/racial backgrounds, have not 
benefited greatly from their efforts.  Labor unions might be 
reluctant to advocate for ethnic/racial minority persons with 
disabilities in their negotiations with management.

     This neglect may be based upon fears that employment of 
persons with disabilities may weaken wage structures and that 
restructuring jobs may lead to contract changes (Whitehead, 
1990).  Unions often are reluctant to "bend the rules" concerning 
seniority clauses (Bradford, 1990).  Consequently, according to 
these researchers, unions have not been a progressive force in 
increasing the numbers of minority persons with disabilities in 
the workforce.


                     Education and Employment

     Education has always been considered a key to employment 
success for minorities and persons with disabilities.  Yet, 
education for students with disabilities remains problematic.  
Brolin and Gysberg (1989), in their study of education and 
persons with disabilities, concluded that "[s]tudents with 
disabilities are not attaining greater vocational and independent 
living success than they did in previous years" (p. 155).

     Persons with disabilities, including minorities with 
disabilities, have been shortchanged in both regular and special 
education programs.  Failure to provide quality, relevant 
education to minority persons with disabilities results in their 
continued exclusion from the workforce.  This topic is discussed 
further in section 2 on education.


             Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment

     The public vocational rehabilitation program is specifically 
charged with providing services to all persons with disabilities 
without regard to their race or ethnicity.  However, it was noted 
more than a decade ago (Atkins and Wright, 1980) that ". . . a 
large percentage of Black applicants were not accepted for 
service; of applicants accepted for service, a larger percentage 
of Black cases were closed without being rehabilitated; and 
Blacks whose cases were closed as successfully rehabilitated were 
more likely than Whites to be in the lower income levels" (p. 
42).

     Differential participation in the vocational rehabilitation 
process serves to exclude minority persons with disabilities from 
employment opportunities.  Although the research that has been 
conducted in this area has not included all minority groups, it 
appears that the proportion of minorities with disabilities who 
gain access to and succeed in the vocational rehabilitation 
system is much lower than their proportion of the general 
population, thereby contributing to their low employment figures.

     The number of persons from minority populations employed in 
the vocational rehabilitation system may also be a factor 
limiting the participation of minority clients.  Humphreys (1980) 
suggested that if we are going to attract minority clients to 
that system and if we are going to get them the services they so 
desperately need, we need a much higher proportion of 
rehabilitation professionals, counselors, supervisors, and 
administrators who are African American, Hispanic American, Asian 
American, and Native American.

     However, Jenkins (1989) concluded that little is known about 
the number of minority persons employed as part of the vocational 
rehabilitation service system.  This topic is discussed further 
in section 3 on vocational rehabilitation.


                   Recommendations on Employment

1.  An agenda for the employment of minority persons with 
    disabilities must be multifaceted.  There must be a 
    collaborative effort of employment programs, public 
    education, private enterprise, and health and human services 
    programs to enable minorities with disabilities to access 
    employment.

2.  An advisory body should be established with the support of 
    the Department of Labor to address concerns related to 
    apprenticeships, supported employment, and job restructuring 
    to enhance access of minority persons with disabilities to 
    labor unions. 

3.  A national network of employers and minority persons with 
    disabilities should be established to enable the sharing of 
    job leads, to reduce feelings of isolation, and to provide a 
    forum for proactively discussing employment issues.

4.  Strategies should be developed to ensure the inclusion of 
    minority children with disabilities in appropriate education 
    at all levels from preschool to higher education, as already 
    required under the IDEA legislation.

5.  The Rehabilitation Services Administration should use its 
    existing networks to develop a national outreach program 
    targeting minority populations in order to increase their 
    employment levels.
                          5.  EMPOWERMENT


     We, in the U.S., are faced with a dilemma of staggering 
     seriousness.  Our minority citizens with disabilities are 
     born identified as a minority within a minority.  They 
     suffer and are ignored.  They are disenfranchised, 
     discriminated against, and are dying physically and 
     spiritually; they are hungry, unclothed, unemployed, 
     unsheltered, and completely unaware of the quality of life 
     which is their constitutional right and guarantee.

                                   Eva P. Britt, J.D.


     Empowerment is often described as giving an individual the 
official power or authority to determine his or her destiny.  The 
conference paper by Eva Britt states that minority persons with 
disabilities face a double dilemma as a minority within a 
minority.  They have little or no power to advocate for 
themselves and have not been empowered by the majority society to 
determine their own destiny.

                   Minorities with Disabilities

     Britt notes the following major problems faced by minority 
persons with disabilities:

     ù African Americans and other minorities with disabilities 
       have been and continue to be isolated from the mainstream 
       of health and human service delivery systems;

     ù African Americans and other minorities with disabilities 
       are overrepresented in every statistical indicator of 
       lower socioeconomic status and poor health;

     ù There are few bilingual persons available to serve those 
       for whom English is a second language;

     ù There are a lack of accurate data on the racial/ethnic 
       backgrounds of persons with developmental disabilities;

     ù Agencies do not institute outreach programs to encourage 
       participation of African Americans and other minority 
       persons with developmental disabilities;

     ù An insufficient number of African American and other 
       minority professionals are trained to work with minority 
       persons with developmental disabilities; and

     ù Health and human services agencies generally are not well 
       versed in or familiar with the provisions of the Civil 
       Rights Act-Title VI, The Rehabilitation Act, or the ADA.


                  Recommendations on Empowerment

     Britt stated that serious problems demand creative 
solutions.  Among the solutions she recommended were the 
following:

1.  African Americans and other minorities with disabilities who 
    are knowledgeable of the issues that affect them must be 
    included in implementing solutions.

2.  Organizations such as state protection advocacy systems, 
    state mental health administrators, state developmental 
    disabilities councils, and others must become information and 
    empowerment centers and "think tanks" for the minorities with 
    disabilities.
                         6.  MENTAL HEALTH


     Members of minority groups perceive themselves as different 
     from the majority group and they are perceived as being 
     different by Whites.  These perceived differences, the 
     historical context of the groups' interactions, and their 
     place in economic history have resulted in a complexity of 
     feelings, attitudes and perceptions.  These differences have 
     often resulted in differential treatment which permeates the 
     U.S. and its institutions including the mental health 
     system.

                                   Timothy Summers, M.D.


     Mental health is a general term that refers to the ability 
of an individual to negotiate the daily challenges and social 
interactions of life without cognitive, emotional, or behavioral 
dysfunction.  In addition to socioeconomic variables, mental 
health is affected by biological and genetic factors, as well as 
acute or chronic physical conditions.

      Demographic information on mental health in minority 
populations is very limited; diagnosis and prevalence studies are 
insufficient.  Extant epidemiologic studies suggest that minority 
populations, especially African Americans and Hispanic Americans, 
have not had resources to cope with mental health problems.  For 
example, an East Baltimore study found that 53% of minorities had 
unmet mental health needs, in contrast to 44% of non-minorities 
(DHHS, 1991).

     At the same time, African Americans and Hispanic Americans 
appear to be overrepresented with respect to prevalence of 
alcohol abuse/dependency and the use of other drugs such as crack 
cocaine and heroin (as discussed in section 9), and they are more 
likely than European Americans to be diagnosed as having paranoid 
schizophrenia.  European Americans are more likely to be 
initially diagnosed as having affective disorders such as 
depression.  Interestingly, subsequent rediagnosis by trained 
personnel often eliminate these diagnostic differences (DHHS, 
1991).

     Alcoholism and suicide among Native Americans is 
significantly higher than in the majority population, with 
estimates that "alcohol abuse and its consequences are nearly 
twice as pervasive among Native Americans as among any other 
population in the U.S." (DHHS, 1991).  Again, there are very 
limited data available on the mental health of Asian Americans, 
or on whether they or other minorities have adequate access to 
the mental health system.

     In today's multicultural society, mental health workers must 
consider factors such as beliefs, attitudes, language, and 
communication difficulties.  Mental health workers must be able 
to correctly interpret behavior and comprehend psychiatric 
symptoms within the cultural context of the client.


                 Recommendations on Mental Health

1.  In addition to providing traditional interventions such as 
    psychotherapies and medication management, service providers 
    should establish programs for the development of caring 
    communities.

2.  Efforts should be made to stimulate the community's positive 
    response to individuals with mental health needs and to 
    create local initiatives to provide solutions.

3.  Ethnic diversity should be seen as a positive, healthy, and 
    expected characteristic of communities, one to be understood 
    with respect and tolerance.

4.  Significant attitudinal changes and new priorities should be 
    established to find new ways to benefit from old 
    technologies.  The lingering notion that persons from 
    minority racial/ethnic backgrounds are inherently inferior to 
    others in our society must be rejected.  This attitude has 
    significant negative impact on potential treatment outcomes.  
    Mental health approaches must recognize this problem and 
    create positive alternatives to addressing the needs of 
    persons from minority racial/ethnic backgrounds.

5.  Government programs must be restructured to be more 
    responsive to the needs of minorities with disabilities. 
    Current funding structures may need to be rethought so that 
    new initiatives will have resources.  The emerging problems 
    of mental disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, and HIV/AIDS 
    prevalence in minority communities have a direct impact on 
    the larger society.  Only through cooperative, collaborative 
    mechanisms will solutions develop.
                        7.  PHYSICAL HEALTH


     Disability is not yet fully a part of the debate on the need 
     for better health care for minorities, in particular 
     minorities with disabilities.  Instead, epidemiology studies 
     . . . [focus] on pathology and ignore disabilities, to the 
     chagrin of the disability studies' field.

                                   Anita Leal, Ph.D.


     The conference paper by Anita Leal entitled "Minorities, 
Physical Health and Disability" offers a rich discourse on the 
physical health status of minorities in the United States.  The 
purpose of her paper was to "draw attention to and increase 
awareness of the unique needs of minorities with disabilities."  
She presented the following:

     ù A review of the state of physical health of minorities in 
       the United States;

     ù An exploration of available information about minorities 
       with disabilities, current models of the disablement 
       process, and its application to minorities;

     ù An examination of the experience of minorities with 
       disabilities in the state/federal vocational 
       rehabilitation system; and

     ù Conclusions and recommendations for improving the physical 
       health of minorities.


                   Minorities with Disabilities

     According to Dr. Leal, our society has known for years about 
the poor physical health of minorities generally and their 
vulnerability to disability.  Despite this awareness, health care 
providers and agencies know virtually nothing about the 
following:

     ù The physical health status of minorities with 
       disabilities;

     ù The experience of minorities with disabilities in health 
       care delivery systems;

     ù The experience of minorities in the disablement process; 
       and

     ù The experience of minorities in the vocational 
       rehabilitation process.

     Approximately 35 million Americans have conditions that 
interfere with major life activities.  Dr. Leal cited studies 
that identify the meaning and concept of disability.  Most 
important, she noted that the traditional meaning has expanded 
from a medical condition (e.g., physical or mental) to include 
environmental and contextual factors.  She also indicated that 
little is known about the disablement process experienced by 
minorities.

     The 1980 Bureau of the Census Report (Bowe, 1983) included 
the following data concerning disability rates among working age 
adult minorities:

     ù 8.5% of working adults reported a disability limiting the 
       amount or type of work they could do.

     ù Just over 14% of African Americans reported a work 
       disability.

     ù 8.4% of Hispanic adults reported a work disability.

Other data cited from the National Health Interview Survey (Ries 
and Brown, 1991) for the years 1983-85 indicate that a work 
limitation was reported by as many as 6.1% of European Americans, 
10.3% of African Americans, 3.3% of Asian Americans/Pacific 
Islanders, and 10.4% of Native Americans.


               Physical Health Status of Minorities

     Among the highlights cited by Dr. Leal from the Secretary's 
Report of the Task Force on Black and Minority Health (DHHS, 
1985) and Health Status of Minorities and Low-Income Groups 
(DHHS, 1991) were the following:

     ù The life expectancy of African Americans is 69 years of 
       age as compared to 75 years of age for European Americans.

     ù The physical conditions for which risks of death are 
       highest for African Americans under age 45 are 
       tuberculosis, hypertension, and anemia.

     ù Death rates for heart disease are higher among African 
       American men and women under age 70 than among European 
       Americans.

     ù There is an 11% excess incidence of cancer among African 
       Americans compared with nonminority Americans.

     ù High cancer rates for Hispanic Americans included cancer 
       of the stomach, prostate, esophagus, pancreas, and cervix.

     ù Heart disease is the leading cause of death for Asians.

     ù The death rate of Native Americans under age 45 is 
       strikingly high (43%) because of unintentional injuries, 
       cirrhosis, homicide, suicide, pneumonia, and diabetes.

     ù The risk for AIDS among African American and Hispanic 
       American men was almost three times that of European 
       American men in 1989.

     ù Fifty-one percent of all female cases of AIDS were among 
       African American women.

     ù Nineteen percent of all female cases of AIDS were among 
       Hispanic American women.

     ù African Americans have been found to receive fewer health 
       care preventive services than European Americans.

     Britt, in her conference paper on empowerment, also 
presented rather alarming data on the health status of African 
American children in the United States.  She noted the following:

     ù African American children are much more likely to suffer 
       from poor health than are the majority of their peers;

     ù An African American child has a 30% greater probability of 
       dying by his or her 14th birthday than does a European 
       American child;

     ù An African American child living in deteriorating housing 
       has a 25% chance of having excessively high levels of lead 
       in his or her teeth and blood;

     ù Over 40% of all African American children, compared with 
       29% of European Americans, do not see a physician each 
       year;

     ù Seventeen percent of all African American children have no 
       regular place of care, despite their strong possibility of 
       poor health;

     ù Thirteen percent of all African American children are born 
       with low birthweights; and

     ù African American adolescent mothers are most likely not to 
       receive prenatal care or to delay it until the last three 
       months of pregnancy.


                Recommendations on Physical Health

     Dr. Leal concluded that, "[D]isability as a health issue 
gets minimal attention from the epidemiological community...and 
the disability community itself neglects minorities in its policy 
planning."  She also noted that, "[T]here is also mounting 
evidence that medical services as well as 
disability/rehabilitation services have been underutilized by 
minorities."  She concluded that health care providers and 
researchers have not linked disability and rehabilitation 
conceptually or empirically with physical health status and that 
this particular area must be the focus of research and policy 
planning.

     Among Dr. Leal's recommendations were the following:

1.  There is a need for improved collection of information on the 
    incidence and prevalence of disability among minorities;

2.  Existing untapped databases must be accessed and used as a 
    basis for further research;

3.  Additional funds are needed to conduct research on the 
    physical health status of people of minority group origin;

4.  The aggressive recruitment and inclusion of minority 
    researchers and educators in the field of health, disability, 
    and vocational rehabilitation is strongly encouraged; and

5.  Communication must be improved between the minority 
    communities and government agencies that are charged with the 
    provision of health related services, including the 
    Rehabilitation Services Administration.
                  8.  PREVENTION OF DISABILITIES


     Strategies need to be developed in which American Indians 
     and other minorities are included in an immediate national 
     agenda for prevention.  This will be the only way to ensure 
     that minority populations will have a voice in the 
     development of prevention programs that are relevant to 
     them.

                                   Julie Clay


     Four excerpts from Culture Shock:  Waking Up in a Foreign 
Land by Tower were cited as illustrative of the need for 
culturally appropriate primary and secondary prevention 
activities.  The struggles of these four young persons with 
differing levels of spinal injury highlighted a series of 
recommendations.  While the focus was on Native Americans, the 
recommendations have value for all racial/ethnic populations with 
disabilities.

     Native Americans experience the highest percentage (13.4%) 
of major activity limitations among ethnic groups:  it has been 
estimated that one-third of Native Americans over 18 years of age 
have a functional limitation.  The Indian Health Service recently 
sponsored a conference, "Disabilities and Their Effects on 
American Indians and Alaskan Native Communities."  Participants 
in the conference developed recommendations in four areas:  an 
Indian Health Service definition of disability; education, 
identification, and prevention; service delivery; and 
information.

     As discussed in the Introduction and section 7 on physical 
health, disability occurs at a greater rate among most racial and 
ethnic minorities.  Approximately 14.1% of adults in the African 
American population are considered "disabled," compared with 8.4% 
of the European American population.  The unemployment rate for 
African Americans with disabilities is estimated to be 
approximately 60% to 90%.  Poverty is the primary underlying 
factor that contributes to a high incidence of disability among 
African Americans.

     It is important that any model of primary and secondary 
prevention recognize the importance of culture.  For example, 
within the American Indian population, spirituality is an 
integral part of wellness.  Spiritual beliefs, such as wellness 
as the harmony of body, mind, and spirit, must be part of any 
preventive efforts.


                   Recommendations on Prevention

1.  Develop strategies specifically targeted at minority 
    populations to decrease the prevalence of disability caused 
    by injuries and chronic diseases.  The goal is to reduce the 
    incidence of disabilities resulting from a variety of 
    factors, including environmental factors that cause or 
    contribute to new disabilities.

2.  Ensure that primary and secondary prevention of disability 
    among minorities receives national attention and becomes a 
    policy priority through increased education.  Request that 
    the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) obtain and disseminate 
    knowledge of the variables that lead to disabilities in 
    minority populations and how to prevent them.

3.  Develop a community model of primary and secondary prevention 
    that includes culturally relevant strategies.  This will 
    require that minority persons with disabilities most directly 
    affected must be a part of the effort to develop a strategy.

4.  Develop a survey instrument to measure incidence and 
    prevalence of various disabilities in minority populations.  
    This will allow the identification of risk factors, the 
    magnitude of risk, and the degree to which risk can be 
    controlled.  Eventually, survey data will permit the 
    development of effective preventive interventions.
                        9.  SUBSTANCE ABUSE


     Alcohol and substance abuse is a problem for many persons 
     with physical and/or mental disabilities which further 
     complicates rehabilitation.  Rehabilitation services must be 
     offered with an understanding and knowledge of 
     racial/ethnic/cultural groups, disability, and substance 
     abuse if successful rehabilitation is to occur.

                                   James G. Brown, Ph.D.


     Recent estimates by the National Institute on Drug Abuse 
(1991) of the number of Americans who use or abuse alcohol and/or 
other substances in the United States are alarming.  They include 
the following:

     ù 7.3 million Americans abuse alcohol.

     ù 66.1 million Americans have used marijuana.

     ù 37.5 million Americans have used crack cocaine.

     ù 0.66 million Americans have used heroin.

     Alcohol and substance abuse are problems among many persons 
who have physical and/or mental disabilities.  Researchers have 
estimated that the prevalence of alcohol and substance abuse for 
persons with physical disabilities may be as high as 60% compared 
with 8% to 10% in the general population (Western Center 
Drug-Free Schools and Communities, 1990).  Particularly high 
incidence has also been reported in persons with traumatic brain 
injuries, mental disorders, and among those with hearing and 
visual impairments (Bell et al., 1987).

     Approximately 5% of persons served by the state/federal 
vocational programs of the Rehabilitation Services Administration 
have a diagnosis of "multidisabled alcoholism."  Significant 
incidence of alcohol and substance abuse also exists among 
minorities with disabilities, including African Americans, 
Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans.


                         African Americans

     Alcohol and/or substance abuse among African Americans is 
reported to be high (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1991); 
data reflect the following:

     ù Approximately 8.2 million African Americans have used 
       marijuana

     ù Approximately 1 million African Americans have used crack 
       cocaine

     ù Approximately 101,000 African Americans have used heroin

     Barriers to the rehabilitation of African Americans with 
disabilities associated with substance abuse include the 
following:

     ù Prejudicial attitudes

     ù Negative stereotypes of substance abusing persons

     ù Few, if any, supportive family members

     ù Lack of transportation

     ù A greater sense of hopelessness

     ù A history of failure and chronic emotional stress


                        Hispanic Americans

     According to some researchers (Lawson and Lawson, 1989), 
Hispanic Americans represent one of the fastest growing and 
youngest minority groups in the United States.  Approximately 15 
to 20 million Hispanic Americans (9% of the population) are legal 
residents; an additional 6 million are estimated to live here as 
undocumented aliens.  Forty-four percent are under the age of 18.  
Approximately 22% live below the poverty line, compared with 11% 
of non-Hispanics.  The unemployment rate for Hispanic Americans 
is estimated to be as much as one-third higher than the national 
average.

     Patterns of alcohol and/or substance abuse are alarmingly 
high among Hispanic Americans (Lawson and Lawson, 1989).  
Estimates are as follows:

     ù Hispanic Americans are three times more likely to 
       experience alcohol-related difficulties than persons in 
       the general non-Hispanic population.

     ù Alcohol is the most frequently abused drug, followed by 
       marijuana, cocaine, and heroin.

     ù Hispanic Americans have a higher than average use of 
       inhalants (e.g., model glue).

     Other factors that may contribute to alcohol and substance 
abuse among Hispanic Americans are the cultural concept of 
machismo and the stresses of cultural shock, acculturation, and 
high unemployment.


                         Native Americans

     Alcohol and/or substance abuse among Native Americans is 
alarmingly high (Brod, 1975).  Estimates of abuse include the 
following:

     ù Alcohol-related death rates ranged from 4.3 to 5.5 times 
       the U.S. rate for all races, including diseases of the 
       heart, accidents, malignant neoplasms, and cerebrovascular 
       disease.

     ù Females use drugs at the same rate as males.

     ù Youth are consistently reported to have the highest 
       prevalence rates for inhalants.

     ù Acculturation and deculturation contribute significantly 
       to feelings of discouragement and an array of other 
       dysfunctional behaviors and conditions.


                          Asian Americans

     Asian Americans are considered to be one of the fastest 
growing minority populations and the second smallest minority 
group in the United States.  The Asian American community is 
comprised of 28 ethnic groups with diverse cultures and 
languages.  Because of limitations in data collection methods, 
there is a scarcity of data on the extent of disability among 
Asian Americans. 
It is also theorized that the lack of data may be a result of the 
fact that Asian Americans tend not to acknowledge the existence 
of persons with disabilities in their communities.

     The following factors contribute to a high susceptibility to 
disability (Kitano et al., 1985; Sue, 1987):

     ù Economic, social, and political inequities

     ù Inadequate health care

     ù Alienation and powerlessness

     ù Acculturation

     Despite the lack of verifiable data, there appears to be a 
low incidence of alcohol and other drug abuse in the Asian 
American community.  However, there are signs of a growing 
consumption of alcohol and other drugs among Asian Americans, 
which may be the result of acculturation (Kitano et al., 1985; 
Singer, 1974; Sue, 1987).

     Despite the seeming lack of widespread alcohol and/or 
substance abuse among Asian Americans, there appears to be a 
relatively high percentage who are diagnosed as having psychosis.  
Some studies indicate that Asian Americans are more severely 
disabled by psychiatric disorders at the time they are brought to 
the attention of mental health service providers (Sue, 1987).

     There is an urgent need to develop methodologies to enhance 
effective service delivery to Asian Americans with disabilities.


                Recommendations on Substance Abuse

     The following are among the recommendations concerning 
minority populations identified as requiring immediate 
implementation:

1.  Legislate funding for prevention, treatment, and interdiction 
    of illegal drugs and alcohol and/or substance abuse;

2.  Include grassroots and community-based organizations in 
    federal grant initiatives to address the problems of alcohol 
    and substance abuse;

3.  Legislate a national health care program and insurance for 
    all Americans;

4.  Require pregnant women who are disabled by addiction to 
    participate in drug treatment programs;

5.  Require all local, state, and federal treatment programs to 
    provide culturally specific treatment providers who speak the 
    native language of the person with a disability;

6.  Support the National Congress of American Indians' 
    recommendation to require that the entire 1% Title I 
    allocation be spent for Section 130 vocational rehabilitation 
    programs; and

7.  Establish research and training centers whose mission is to 
    generate research and training information on health and 
    cultural issues for minority persons with disabilities.
                        10.  RESEARCH NEEDS


     Previous research has often related only to the agenda of 
     the researcher, and results of research frequently have not 
     been shared with those who participated.  One aspect of 
     research must involve developing trust with, and a 
     commitment of, the community.  The objectives must be 
     shared, developed and implemented with the people who will 
     benefit from the research.

                                   Paul Leung, Ph.D.


     Research on minority groups with disabilities has not been a 
priority in the national disability research agenda.  The 
research that has been conducted in this area has often been 
problematic because of the way it has been conducted (e.g., 
flawed methodologies) and because the results have not always 
directly affected minority persons with disabilities and their 
communities.  Despite recognition of the importance of research 
on minorities with disabilities, little has been accomplished.

     For example, the draft of the research plan for the National 
Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (1991) recognized that 
"influencing factors" affecting the rehabilitation process 
include cultural, ethnic, and gender diversity.  The plan 
specifically stated that "most of the conditions leading to 
restricted mobility disproportionately affect minority 
populations."  However, it did not specifically target research 
for minority populations with disabilities.


                         Current Knowledge

     The identification of problems that minority persons with 
disabilities encounter is most advanced with respect to data on 
African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans.  
Because of their relatively small numbers, there are few data on 
Asian Americans.  The data available for all groups are often not 
particularly helpful in formulating policy, developing planning 
strategies, or devising interventions.

     Much of the research that has been conducted on minorities 
with disabilities has concerned mental disabilities.  There has 
been relatively little research related to physical and sensory 
disabilities among minority populations.  One comprehensive 
review of the literature on rehabilitation of minority persons, 
compiled by Wright and Emener (1989) with an annotated 
bibliography, indicates that less than 25% of the 526 entries 
related to physical/ sensory disabilities.

     One of the key findings of the ADA Watch hearing was that 
there is a lack of demographic data about people of various 
racial, ethnic, and cultural minorities with disabilities and 
their families.  Research on the demographics of disability among 
various cultural/ethnic/racial minority groups will greatly 
facilitate the ability of government and local agencies to 
develop policy and to implement appropriate interventions.  The 
following is a brief review of work in a few key areas.


                     Access to Rehabilitation

     Early work on the issue of access of minority persons to 
vocational rehabilitation programs suggested an 
underrepresentation of African Americans compared with others 
(Atkins and Wright, 1980).  Further studies by Asbury et al. 
(1991) and Walker et al. (1991) suggested that there are complex 
issues concerning educational levels and lower socioeconomic 
status that impede access to rehabilitation.  Graham (1992) 
suggested that research comparing African Americans and
European Americans should incorporate socioeconomic status to 
"disentangle race and social class effects."


                 Assessment and Eligibility Issues

     Within the rehabilitation process, there is a need for 
research that examines data such as those compiled by the 
Rehabilitation Services Administration on minority persons with 
disabilities.  There have been no systematic efforts to study 
these issues within the state/federal vocational rehabilitation 
system.  Research is needed to identify important variables 
related to assessment and access to rehabilitation for minority 
populations with disabilities.


                Culturally Specific Rehabilitation

     All of the presently funded Rehabilitation Research and 
Training Centers related to minority populations with 
disabilities have focused their attention on the development of 
culturally specific rehabilitation models.  These models may have 
application far beyond the particular group for which they are 
developed and result in programs that more effectively serve all 
rehabilitation participants, as a result of the individually 
appropriate nature of culturally specific models.

                    Recommendations on Research

1.  Minority communities and persons with disabilities should be 
    involved in the process of planning research, implementing 
    research, and interpreting findings of research.

2.  The data base on minority persons with disabilities should be 
    improved, by using sampling techniques that allow analysis of 
    smaller populations in meaningful ways.

3.  Data collection efforts on issues relating to minority 
    persons with disabilities should be increased.

4.  Specific research initiatives should focus on particular 
    racial, ethnic, and cultural minority populations.

5.  The federal government should continue establishing Research 
    and Training Centers targeting minority populations.

6.  Federally funded research projects on persons with 
    disabilities, such as the Research and Training Centers, 
    should be required to include underrepresented groups in all 
    their research efforts.

7.  Training and education programs in disability and 
    rehabilitation research for persons of minority backgrounds 
    should be developed to enhance the total research capability.

8.  A large longitudinal study should be planned and conducted to 
    explore the effects of rehabilitation on minority populations 
    with disabilities over time.
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Minority Persons with Disabilities.  Howard University, Research 
and Training Center, Washington, DC.

Western Center Drug-Free Schools and Communities. (1990).  
Substance Abuse Among Youth with Disabilities:  Prevention 
Research Update (No. 7, Summer 1990).  Portland, OR:  Northwest 
Regional Educational Laboratory.

Whitehead, C. W. (1990).  A manual for labor organizations and 
their members and rehabilitation organizations, employment 
specialists, job coaches, rehabilitation counselors and advocates 
(funded by the Ohio Developmental Planning Council).  Miami, FL:  
Rolard Printers, Inc.

Wright, T. J., & Emener, W. G. (Eds.) (1989).  Ethnic Minorities 
with Disabilities:  An Annotated Bibliography of Rehabilitation 
Literature.  Tampa, FL:  University of South Florida.

Wright, T. J. (1988).  Enhancing the professional preparation of 
rehabilitation counselors for improved service to ethnic 
minorities with disabilities.  Journal of Applied Rehabilitation 
Counseling, 19(4), 4-10.

                            APPENDIX A

                        Conference Program


















                            APPENDIX B

                  List of Conference Participants















                            APPENDIX C

                     ADA Watch Hearing Agenda





                            APPENDIX D

           National Council Member and Staff Biographies


           NATIONAL COUNCIL MEMBER AND STAFF BIOGRAPHIES

                     National Council Members


John A. Gannon, Acting Chairperson

     John Gannon of Cleveland, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., 
founded John A. Gannon and Associates.  His firm has offices in 
Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; and Washington, 
D.C.  A fire fighter for more than 30 years, Mr. Gannon was an 
active leader of the International Association of Fire Fighters 
(IAFF) Local 93.  Starting as a member of the local IAFF 
committee, he eventually became president, a position he held for 
10 years before being elected to national office.

     In September 1988, Mr. Gannon was elected IAFF president 
emeritus.  He had served as President of the 170,000-member 
organization since 1980.  Under his leadership, the IAFF expanded 
its role in occupational safety and health.  Concerned about the 
hazards of his profession, he guided and directed a series of 
programs to promote greater safety and health protection.  One 
program sponsored research on safer garments and equipment for 
fire fighters.  Mr. Gannon also fostered development of the IAFF 
Burn Foundation, which raises funds for research on the care of 
people who have experienced severe burns.  In 1985, the 
Metropolitan General Hospital in Cleveland dedicated the John 
Gannon Burn and Trauma Center in recognition of his support for 
the hospital.

     Mr. Gannon was elected vice president of the AFL-CIO, with 
which the IAFF is affiliated.  Within the AFL-CIO, he is vice 
president of the Public Employee Department.  On the Executive 
Council, he is a member of several committees.  He serves on the 
board of the National Joint Council of Fire Service Organizations 
and in 1982 served as its chairman.  He is a member of the board 
of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  Mr. Gannon attended Miami 
University in Ohio and Glasgow University in Scotland, and 
studied at Baldwin-Wallace College and Cleveland State 
University.

A. Kent Waldrep, Jr., Vice Chairperson

     Kent Waldrep has been involved with disability issues on the 
local, state, and national levels since his spinal cord injury in 
1974 while playing football for Texas Christian University.  
Since 1981, Mr. Waldrep has served on the National Council.  
Beyond serving as vice chairperson, he serves as chairman of the 
Research and Prevention Committee.  He was instrumental in 
formulating the National Council initiative on preventing primary 
and secondary disabilities.

     Mr. Waldrep, one of 15 original drafters of the Americans 
with Disabilities Act, gave the legislation its name.  He has 
lectured nationwide on subjects ranging from national disability 
policy to medical research targeted at curing paralysis.  He 
founded the American Paralysis Association and the Kent Waldrep 
National Paralysis Foundation. He has appeared on Good Morning 
America, the Today Show, the NBC Nightly News, and CNN, and has 
been featured in People, Look, USA Today, and other magazines.

     He was selected by the U.S. Jaycees as one of 1985's ten 
Outstanding Young Men in America and received a special award
from the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and a sports/fitness award 
from the President's Council on Physical Fitness.  Kent Waldrep 
Days have been celebrated in four Texas cities and Birmingham, 
Alabama.  He serves on many boards, including the Texas 
Rehabilitation Commission.  He is past chairman of the Texas 
Governor's Committee for Disabled Persons and the Dallas 
Rehabilitation Institute.  He also is chairman of Turbo-Resins, 
Inc., a family-owned and -operated aviation repair business.  He 
lives in Plano, Texas, with his wife, Lynn, and two sons, Trey 
and Charles Cavenaugh.

Linda Wickett Allison

     Linda Allison of Dallas, Texas, is a long-time advocate of 
people with disabilities.  She is a board member of the National 
Paralysis Foundation and a trustee for the International Spinal 
Research Trust.  Mrs. Allison, who grew up in Fort Worth, has 
three children.  Her daughter, Marcy, was paralyzed from the 
waist down in a 1979 automobile accident.  Marcy graduated from 
the University of Texas School of Law in 1986 and practices law 
in Austin.  Mrs. Allison's late husband, James N. Allison, Jr., 
owned the Midland Reporter Telegram and other newspapers in Texas 
and Colorado and was a deputy chairperson of the Republican 
National Committee.

Ellis B. Bodron

     Ellis Bodron of Vicksburg, Mississippi, has been a 
practicing attorney since 1947.  He served 36 years as a member 
of the Mississippi legislature, one term in the House of 
Representatives, and eight terms in the Mississippi Senate.  He 
also chaired the Senate Finance Committee from 1961 until 1983.

     Mr. Bodron, who is blind, is associated with several civic 
organizations, including the Vicksburg Lions Club, Vicksburg 
Chamber of Commerce, and the University of Mississippi Alumni 
Association.  In addition, he is a member of the Advisory Board 
of Directors, Deposit Guaranty National Bank.

     Mr. Bodron has also been a member of the Agriculture and 
Industrial Board, which preceded the Board of Economic 
Development, and the Committee of Budget and Accounting and the 
Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Public Employees Retirement 
System.  He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of 
Law Degree from the University of Mississippi.  He is married 
with two children.

Larry Brown, Jr.

     Since 1981, Larry Brown of Potomac, Maryland, has been the 
Xerox business and community relations manager for the 
Mid-Atlantic Region, Coastal Operations, Custom Systems Division.  
In 1991, he became government and community relations manager 
with Integrated Systems Operations.

     Mr. Brown was a running back for the Washington Redskins for 
eight years.  During that time, he received many awards, 
including Most Valuable Player in the National Football League 
for 1972.  He was inducted into the Washington, D.C., Touchdown 
Club Hall of Fame in 1991.

     After retiring from football in 1977, he worked at E.F. 
Hutton as a personal financial management adviser.  He has been 
special assistant to the director, Office of Minority Business 
Enterprise, Department of Commerce.  He is involved with youth, 
people with disabilities, and senior citizens.  Mr. Brown has 
spoken at schools, colleges, and universities on topics such as 
motivation, discipline, and camaraderie.  He works with many 
organizations, including the Friends of the National Institute on 
Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, the Deafness Research 
Foundation, and the Vincent Lombardi Foundation.

Mary Ann Mobley Collins

     A former Miss America who lives in Beverly Hills, 
California, Mary Ann Mobley Collins has a career in film, 
television, and on Broadway.  She has co-hosted National March of 
Dimes telethons with her husband, Emmy-award-winning actor Gary 
Collins; she is a member of the National Board of the March of 
Dimes Foundation and is national chair of the Mother's March 
Against Birth Defects.  She is a member of SHARE, a Los 
Angeles-based women's organization that has raised more than $6 
million for the Exceptional Children's Foundation for the 
Mentally Retarded.  She serves on the National Board of the 
Crohns and Colitis Foundation.

     Mrs. Collins helped raise funds for the Willowood Foundation 
in her native Mississippi, which provides homes for young adults 
with mental and physical disabilities.  She has received many 
awards and honors, including the 1990 International Humanitarian 
Award from the Institute for Human Understanding, Woman of 
Distinction 1990 from the National Foundation for Ileitis and 
Colitis, and the HELP Humanitarian Award of 1985 from HELP for 
Handicapped Children.  She has filmed documentaries in Cambodia, 
Ethiopia, Mozambique, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, and Bolivia on the 
plight of starving children and people with disabilities.

Anthony H. Flack

     Anthony Flack of Norwalk, Connecticut, is president of 
Anthony H. Flack & Associates.  He has been a member of the board 
of Families and Children's Aid of Greater Norwalk and has worked 
with the Child Guidance Center of Greater Bridgeport, the Youth 
Shelter in Greenwich, Hall Neighborhood House in Bridgeport, and 
the Urban League of Greater Bridgeport.  Mr. Flack is a member of 
the Allocations and Admissions Committee, United Way of Norwalk, 
and received the Bell Award for outstanding service in the field 
of mental health at the Bridgeport Chapter, Connecticut 
Association of Mental Health.

Robert S. Muller

     Robert Muller of Grandville, Michigan, began his career with 
Steelcase, Inc., in 1966 and is now an administrator in human 
resources.  He is an adjunct professor in the Department of 
Psychology at Aquinas College and in the Department of Education 
at Calvin College in Grand Rapids.  He serves on the Board of 
Trustees for Hope Network and Foundation in Grand Rapids, which 
serves 1,700 adults with disabilities.  In April 1981, he 
received an honorary degree in educational psychology from the 
Free University in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

     Mr. Muller holds a B.S. in business administration from 
Aquinas College and in 1978 was voted Outstanding Alumnus of the 
Year.  He has lectured at colleges and universities nationally 
and internationally.  He is a board member for several national, 
state, and local organizations.

     In May 1987, Mr. Muller and his wife Carol hosted a 
first-time event at the White House with the Vice President.  The 
Celebration of Disabled Americans at Work was cosponsored by 
several major corporations.  Mr. Muller now serves as president 
of the National Roundtable on Corporate Development for Americans 
with Disabilities.  In 1985, he received the Liberty Bell Award 
from the Grand Rapids Bar Association. In 1988, he was national 
co-chair of the Disabled Americans for President Bush Campaign 
and in 1992 was an honorary national member of the Bush/Quayle 
Disability Coalition Campaign.  In November 1992, Mr. Muller was 
appointed to the Governor's Commission on Handicapped Concerns 
for Michigan.

George H. Oberle, PED

     Dr. George Oberle of Stillwater, Oklahoma, has more than 40 
years' experience in the field of health, physical education, and 
recreation.  He began his career as a high school teacher and 
coach and has been a professor and director of the School of 
Health, Physical Education, and Leisure at Oklahoma State 
University since 1974.  Dr. Oberle is a consultant to many 
organizations in the areas of administration and adaptive 
physical education.  In 1988, he worked with the Kennedy 
Foundation to organize and direct a new program of Unified Sports 
for the Special Olympics.

     Dr. Oberle chaired the College and University Administrators 
Council (1980-82); was president of the Association for Research, 
Administration, Professional Councils and Societies (1984-87); 
and served as a board member of the American Alliance of Health, 
Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (1985-89).  His awards 
include the 1985 Centennial Award from the American Association 
of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance; and 
meritorious service awards from Indiana and Oklahoma.

     He was selected for Men of Achievement in 1975 and 
recognized in Who's Who of the Southwest in 1977.  Dr. Oberle 
received his doctorate from Indiana University in administration 
and adapted physical education.  He lectures extensively about 
wellness promotion, adapted physical activity, and sports and 
recreation for people with disabilities.

Sandra Swift Parrino

     As a member and former chairperson of the National Council, 
Sandra Swift Parrino has played an active role in key issues 
affecting the lives of people with disabilities.  Nominated by 
President Reagan in 1982, appointed chairperson by the President 
in 1983, and reappointed by President Bush, Sandra Swift Parrino 
has supported the rights of people with disabilities before 
Congress, in the media, and before groups nationwide.  Under her 
leadership, the National Council has been a driving force to 
create public policies that affect the nation's people with 
disabilities.

     During her tenure as chairperson, the National Council 
worked for the creation and enactment of legislation for people 
with disabilities; issued policy statements such as National 
Policy for Persons With Disabilities; convened hearings 
nationwide to solicit comments and recommendations from people 
with disabilities about how to eliminate discrimination; issued a 
major report, Toward Independence, that outlines key components 
of a comprehensive civil rights law protecting people with 
disabilities; initiated the first national survey of attitudes 
and experiences of Americans with disabilities, in conjunction 
with Louis Harris and Associates, Inc.; issued On the Threshold 
of Independence, a report outlining specifics of the Americans 
with Disabilities Act; created and developed the Americans with 
Disabilities Act; participated with President Bush at the signing 
of the Americans with Disabilities Act; conducted the first 
National Conference on the Prevention of Primary and Secondary 
Disabilities; issued reports on minorities with disabilities and 
personal assistance services; and planned reports on health 
insurance, financing assistive technology, and educating students 
with disabilities.

     Before becoming National Council chairperson, Sandra Parrino 
founded and directed the Office for the Disabled in Ossining and 
in Briarcliff Manor, New York, where she created a regional 
program for public and private organizations that focused on 
programs for people with disabilities and compliance with Section 
504.  She has more than 25 years' experience on boards, councils, 
commissions, committees, and task forces at the federal, state, 
regional, and local levels and as an expert witness, community 
leader, organizer, and activist.

     Mrs. Parrino has represented the U.S. government on 
disability issues in many countries.  She has been invited by the 
Department of State to represent the United States at the 
Meetings of Experts in Finland and China, and represented the 
United States at the United Nations Center for Social Development 
in Vienna several times.  In 1990, 1991, and 1992 she was a 
delegate at the Third Committee on Social Development of the 
United Nations.  In 1991, she was invited by the People's 
Republic of China to assist them in their efforts to help people 
with disabilities.  At the request of the government of 
Czechoslovakia, she and the National Council were invited to 
conduct the Eastern European Conference on Disabilities for 
participants from Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary.

     Mrs. Parrino graduated from Briarcliff College with a B.A. 
in history and completed courses at Bennett College, GuildHall 
School of Drama in London, and the Yale School of Languages.  In 
1992, Mrs. Parrino received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane 
Letters from St. John's University in New York.  Her husband 
Richard is a rheumatologist.  They have three children, two of 
whom have disabilities.  Sandra Parrino was born in New Haven, 
Connecticut, and lives in Briarcliff Manor, New York.

Mary Matthews Raether

     Mary Matthews Raether of McLean, Virginia, is associated 
with St. John's Child Development Center, a nonprofit 
organization providing instruction, employment training, and 
independent and group home living skills for people with severe 
mental disabilities, especially autism.  Mrs. Raether has been an 
officer and trustee of St. John's since 1985, has chaired the
public relations committee, and participated on the executive, 
nominating, investment, and development committees.

     Mrs. Raether has been active in civic, educational, and 
religious organizations in the Washington metropolitan area.  
While community vice president of the Junior League of 
Washington, she developed emergency grant procedures and 
fund-raising information services for small and emerging 
nonprofit organizations.  Mrs. Raether has 10 years' experience 
as legislative assistant to Representatives George Bush and 
Barber Conable.  She specialized in tax, Social Security, 
Medicare/Medicaid, and trade issues.  She considers her efforts 
in clarifying the tax status of lobbying by nonprofit 
organizations an outstanding career accomplishment.  She received 
a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1962.  She is 
married and has two children.

Shirley W. Ryan

     Shirley W. Ryan, of Kenilworth, Illinois, is president and 
co-founder of the Pathways Center for Children, an outpatient, 
individualized neurodevelopmental therapy center for children 
with delayed gross or fine motor activity and/or motor-based 
eating problems.  In a related activity, Mrs. Ryan is president 
and co-founder of Pathways Awareness Foundation, a public health 
care awareness organization that focuses on issues that include 
child development problems and procedures for early infant 
assessment of children with special needs.

     As part of her outreach commitment to the community, Mrs. 
Ryan serves as a trustee for the Ronald McDonald's Children's 
Charities and also is director of the United Cerebral Palsy 
Association of Chicago.  She also participates as an Executive 
Committee member for the Chicago Community Trust, a public 
foundation that makes awards in the areas of health, social 
services, education, civic affairs, and arts and humanities.

     Her other activities include service as vice chairman, Board 
of Directors, Chicago Council on Foreign Relations; founder, 
Northwestern University graduate school invitational course; 
founding member, Northwestern University Women's Board; and 
director, Chicago Foundation on Education.

     Mrs. Ryan's mission continues to focus on helping children 
with movement difficulties and their families.  Thanks to her 
vision and perseverance, hundreds of thousands of Americans have 
learned what signs in a baby's physical development may signal 
delayed development and the need for assistance.  Mrs. Ryan is 
married and has three children.

Anne Crellin Seggerman

     Anne Crellin Seggerman of Fairfield, Connecticut, is the 
founder of Fourth World Foundation, Inc., a company engaged in 
the development of interfaith media.

     A member of the Bridgeport Urban Gardens and Youth at Risk/ 
Breakthrough Foundation, Mrs. Seggerman founded and serves as the 
chairman of the board of the Fairfield County Chapter of Huxley 
Institute for Biosocial Research.  She previously was a member of 
the President's Committee on Mental Retardation.

     Mrs. Seggerman is listed in Who's Who of American Women and 
has received numerous honors including an Honorary Doctor of 
Humane Letters award from Sacred Heart University.  She is a 
member of the Association of Knights and Ladies of the Holy 
Sepulchre, and the American Association of the Order of Malta.  
She was previously appointed to serve on the Housing of 
Handicapped Families Committee of the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development.

     Mrs. Seggerman is experienced in providing care, treatment, 
and rehabilitation to people with schizophrenia and has extensive 
experience with people with alcoholism and children with learning 
disabilities.  She is married and has six adult children.

Michael B. Unhjem

     Michael Unhjem of Fargo, North Dakota, is president of Blue 
Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota.  He is the youngest person 
ever elected to the North Dakota House of Representatives, a 
member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform 
State Laws, and served in 1988 as president of the National 
Mental Health Association.

     Mr. Unhjem has been involved in local and national 
organizations, including the Advisory Mental Health Council of 
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; the Governor's 
Commission on Mental Health Services; the National Alliance for 
Research on Schizophrenia and Depression; and the National Mental 
Health Leadership Forum.  Awards include the 1989 Special 
Presidential Commendation from the American Psychiatric 
Association, the 1988 Distinguished Leadership Award from the 
North Dakota Psychological Association, and the National 
Excellence in Leadership Award from North Dakota.

     He has been recognized by Who's Who in American Politics, 
Who's Who in North Dakota, Who's Who in the Midwest, 
Personalities of America, and Men of Achievement.  Mr. Unhjem 
graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in history and political 
science from Jamestown College in North Dakota in 1975.  In 1978, 
he earned a J.D. with distinction from the University of North 
Dakota School of Law in Grand Forks. He is married and has two 
children.

Helen Wilshire Walsh

     Helen Walsh of Greenwich, Connecticut, is a board member of 
the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, one of the largest 
rehabilitation facilities in the world.  She has been involved in 
disability advocacy for many years and has been associated with 
the Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at the New York Medical 
Center, where she served as associate trustee.  She has served as 
vice president, president, and chairman of the Board of 
Rehabilitation International, USA.

     Ms. Walsh has been a member of the President's Committee on 
Employment of People With Disabilities, and was appointed by the 
president to serve as a Member of the National Advisory Council 
of Vocational Rehabilitation.  In 1976, Ms. Walsh received the 
Henry J. Kessler Award for outstanding service in the 
rehabilitation field. She has received the Rehabilitation 
International Award for Women and the Anwar Sadat Award for 
outstanding work in the field of rehabilitation.


                      National Council Staff

Andrew I. Batavia

     Andrew I. Batavia is executive director of the National 
Council on Disability.  He formerly served as research director 
for disability and rehabilitation policy at Abt Associates.  
Prior to joining Abt, he was associate director of the White 
House Domestic Policy Council, where he was responsible for 
coordinating federal policy on health care, disability, housing, 
education, and veterans affairs.  He received his bachelor's 
degree in economics and sociology from the University of 
California, his master's degree in health services research from 
Stanford Medical School, and his jurisdoctorate degree from 
Harvard Law School.

     After law school, Mr. Batavia served for two years as an 
attorney for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  
He left that position in 1986 when he was awarded the Mary E. 
Switzer Distinguished Research Fellowship in Medical 
Rehabilitation Finance from the National Institute on Disability 
and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) of the U.S. Department of 
Education.  He then served for four years as associate director 
for health services research at the National Rehabilitation 
Hospital Research Center in Washington, D.C.  In that capacity, 
he wrote two books and more than 20 other publications on issues 
of disability and health care policy.

     In 1987, Mr. Batavia was made a fellow of the Washington 
Academy of Sciences.  In 1988, he was awarded the Distinguished 
Disabled American Award from the President's Committee on 
Employment of People With Disabilities.  In 1989, he received an 
international fellowship from the International Disability 
Exchanges and Studies (IDEAS) Program of NIDRR and conducted 
research on how the Dutch health care system affects people with 
disabilities.  In 1990, he was appointed a White House Fellow by 
the President and served as special assistant to Attorney General 
Richard Thornburgh at the U.S. Department of Justice.

     Mr. Batavia is the founding associate editor of the Journal 
of Disability Policy Studies and a cofounding board member of 
Independent Living Assistance, Inc.  He is an adjunct assistant 
professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine and a 
member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Bar of the 
District of Columbia, the State Bar of California, and 
Georgetown's Kennedy Institute of Ethics.

Edward P. Burke

     Edward P. Burke currently serves as executive assistant to 
the chairperson and chief of government liaison of the National 
Council on Disability.  Prior to assuming this position, Mr. 
Burke served as special assistant to the commissioner at the U.S. 
Administration on Developmental Disabilities, where he worked 
closely with the commissioner and senior staff in the management 
of an annual budget in excess of $105 million supporting a 
nationwide network of more than 160 programs (Developmental 
Disabilities Councils, Protection and Advocacy Systems, 
University Affiliated Programs, and Projects of National 
Significance).

     Mr. Burke has also served as the executive director of the 
New Hampshire Developmental Disabilities Council and executive
director of Autism Services Association in Massachusetts.  He has 
extensive experience in direct work with people with severe 
disabilities and their family members, particularly concerning 
issues such as family support, individual support and advocacy, 
special education in mainstream neighborhood schools, responsible 
deinstitutionalization programming, and expert court opinion.

     Mr. Burke holds several degrees and certifications in the 
areas of special and regular education and was awarded one of two 
Winston Churchill Fellowships granted to U.S. citizens in 1979.  
He has considerable experience in serving as a consultant and 
trainer to major government and private sector agencies in this 
country and abroad around the planning, implementation, and 
evaluation of programs designed to increase the independence and 
community integration of people with disabilities, and he has 
published and edited numerous articles and papers on both the 
clinical and policy aspects of serving people with disabilities.

Billie Jean Hill

     Billie Jean Hill joined the staff of the National Council on 
Disability as program specialist in March 1992.  Previously, Ms. 
Hill was director of communications and editor for the Blinded 
Veterans Association and earlier served as founding director of a 
statewide broadcast service for persons with reading disabilities 
with Mississippi Educational Television in her home state.  She 
was appointed to work on a governor's commission in Mississippi 
to report on the needs of children and youth in rural Mississippi 
who are disabled.  Ms. Hill studied journalism and education at 
Mississippi University for Women and at the University of London 
in England.  She serves as chairperson of the Board of 
Publications for the American Council of the Blind.

Mark S. Quigley

     Mark Quigley joined the staff as a public affairs specialist 
in May 1990.  He previously served as a consultant to the U.S. 
National Commission on Drug-Free Schools.  He is a former program 
coordinator at the U.S. Interagency Council on the Homeless and 
former director of communications at the White House Conference 
on Small Business.  Mr. Quigley graduated magna cum laude in 1979 
from Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia, 
with an A.A. in general studies.  He received a B.A. in 
government and politics in 1983, and an M.P.A. in public 
administration in 1990 from George Mason University in Fairfax, 
Virginia.

Brenda Bratton

     Brenda Bratton, executive secretary for the National 
Council, was formerly employed as a secretary at the National 
Transportation Safety Board.  Ms. Bratton graduated from 
Farmville Central High School and the Washington School for 
Secretaries.

Stacey S. Brown

     Stacey Brown is staff assistant to the chairperson and has 
been employed by the National Council since 1986.  Prior 
experience includes employment as a receptionist and clerk with 
the Board for International Broadcasting and with the Compliance 
and Enforcement Unit of the Architectural and Transportation 
Barriers
Compliance Board, where he was a student assistant.  Mr. Brown is 
a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he 
earned a B.A. in political science in 1987.

Janice Mack

     Janice Mack, who serves as the administrative officer for 
the National Council, was formerly employed with the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  Ms. Mack graduated from 
Calvin Coolidge High School.

Lorraine Williams

     Lorraine Williams is office automation clerk for the 
National Council.  She graduated from Valdosta High School in 
Valdosta, Georgia, and attends Strayer College, where she is 
majoring in computer information systems science.