Diversity Rules Magazine

14 Diversity Rules Magazine October 2017 Belo Cipriani is a disability advocate, a freelance jour- nalist, the award- winning author of Blind: A Memoir and Midday Dreams, the spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind and the national spokesman for 100 Percent Wine — a premium winery that donates 100 percent of proceeds to nonprofits that help peo- ple with disabilities find work. Learn more at www. belocipriani.com. People with communication disabilities, such as ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), Down syndrome, apha- sia caused by a stroke, and some forms of cerebral palsy and autism, are the most vulnerable during and aer disasters like Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. In many cases, these individuals get separated from their helpers, lose access to their speech-generating devices and their low-tech tools, and get relocated to places where they are unable to receive the proper support. e United States Society for Augmentative and Al- ternative Communication (USSAAC), a 501©(3) non-profit established in the 1980s, has launched two websites through the San Francisco-based di- saster relief portal Recovers.org, to help people with disabilities and their families who have been affected by Harvey and Irma. "USSAAC's decision to launch its two Recovers sites," said Harvey Pressman, Co-chair of USSAAC's Hur- ricane Relief Committee, "came about through the confluence of two separate events: (1) Sarah Black- stone's earlier experiences managing an extensive and successful AAC recovery effort in Louisiana and Mississippi in the years following Hurricane Katrina and (2) her more recent experience in her own local area launching and managing a Recovers.org site in response to the most expensive wildfire in American history…." Dr. Sarah Blackstone, who is one of the founders of USSAAC, and has received recognition for her relief efforts in the Soberanes fire by the Red Cross, shared that for individuals who cannot use natural speech, and have been affected by Harvey, the situation is pretty grim. "One mom in Texas has two children and one, age 6, has autism, is non-verbal and lost an iPad and apps in Hurricane Harvey," said Blackstone. "is mother also takes care of her grandfather who had a laryn- gectomy and cannot speak and is so weak he can no longer use his electrolarynx. So, two people in her household have severe communication disorders and she's now living in a hotel." Pressman states that stories about people with com- munication disabilities in Florida are just starting to trickle in. "A single mom," said Pressman, "with a child with au- tism and two other children with special needs wakes up to find her bottom floor flooded, the speech-gen- erating device her autistic child uses to communicate under water, and the need to immediately evacuate." "A woman," continued Pressman, "whose elderly dad lives with her and depends on an electronic de- vice loses power." "A family with a child with cerebral palsy is evacu- ated and has to leave behind a $6,000 speech gener- ating device that has been destroyed in the storm," he added. e Recovers.org site works as a network that match- es both individuals and organizations to people who need help, as well as to people who can offer assis- tance. "You go on and say 'I need…' or 'I can do this…' or 'I can contribute these items…' or 'I want to donate…' and, voila, things begin to happen," said Pressman. USSAAC's Recovers.org sites have already received Seeing In The Dark Hurricane Resourse For Disabled By Belo Cipriani

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