Presentation by The Honorable Steven J. Tingus, MS, CPhil

White House/VA Conference
Emerging Technologies in Support of the New Freedom Initiative:
Promoting Opportunities for People with Disabilities October 13-14, 2004

Insert Speakers Remarks or Address

Steven J. Tingus , MS , CPhil, has led the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) since 2001. Tingus also chairs the Interagency Committee on Disability Research, the federal committee that coordinates disability and rehabilitative research across government agencies. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Education, Tingus was director of resource development and public policy at the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers and the foundation’s nonprofit project, the Assistive Technology Network. He earned his MS. degree and is a doctoral candidate in physiology from the University of California, Davis, where he studied muscular dystrophy and the effect of anabolic steroids on skeletal muscle regeneration.

Good morning, everybody. I’m so honored to be here to speak before you all on the critical issue of how disability research impacts the New Freedom Initiative (NFI).

I want to first thank the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) for spearheading this wonderful conference that brings together federal leaders and stakeholders to talk about myriad issues related to the goals of the NFI.

My speech addresses some of the accomplishments that the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), through the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), has made in regard to the NFI.

The President unveiled his New Freedom Initiative in February 2001. President Bush, who is both personally and professionally committed to all people with disabilities, whether young or old, developed the NFI to set the blueprint for his disability agenda.

Basically, the goals that we have in the administration—shared by Dr. Margaret Giannini, Dr. Michael Weinrich, Dr. Mindy Aisen, and others—is to promote improved functionality and independence for all people with disabilities.

Roughly 54 million Americans are disabled. We at the Department of Education are just part of the team helping to further the goals of the President’s NFI.

Four tenets comprise the NFI. First, we seek to increase access through technology. In this room, we have leaders from the Department of Commerce—David Brantley, Ben Wu and others—all of whom are working with the Department of Education to further our opportunities for technology transfer.

Second, we want to improve educational opportunities for students and adults with disabilities.

Third, we need to expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities. We must increase the percentage of people with disabilities integrated into the workforce, whether it is through telework or through the traditional workplace.

Fourth, we seek to boost community participation and promote independent living options for all people with disabilities.

I am very interested in the NFI both as a consumer and as a former researcher on the development and promotion of assistive technologies for all people. I’m particularly interested in children and seniors. As a person who is ventilator-dependent at night and wheelchair-enabled during the day, I have a firm understanding of and devotion to helping improve the lives of my peers with disabilities.

I would like to give you some highlights of what we at the Department have achieved regarding these tenets.

Under the first tenet, increasing access through technology, we’ll stick to some of our recent accomplishments.

In fiscal year 2002, the Department, through the president’s budget, dedicated $37 million to the alternative financing program, which is part of both Title III of the Assistive Technology (AT) Act of 1998 and the AT Act of 2004. This enables individuals to acquire low-interest loans to purchase AT for their daily needs.

The Department allotted $20 million in 2002, $19 million in 2003, and $20 million, I’m proud to say, in 2004 to fund NIDRR’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs) to promote research on assistive and universally designed technologies.

In fiscal years 2002, 2003, and 2004, we received $5 million for the assistive technology development fund, otherwise known as the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, to assist small businesses in the development and transfer of new technologies.

Three million dollars was allocated in 2002, 2003, and 2004, as part of the President’s NFI, for the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR) to improve coordination and collaboration among other federal research agencies and departments, such as the National Center on Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) and the VA’s Rehabilitation Research Development Office (RRDO), and also to advance coordination of initiatives on assistive technology. We also work with the Office on Disability at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Peg Giannini’s leadership.

In addition, this year we have developed a new Subcommittee on the New Freedom Initiative and a Subcommittee on Employment.

The ICDR, as I said, collaborates with members, such as the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), on research for improving technology transfer opportunities. NIDRR is one of the leading federal agencies to support research and development (R&D) and increase access to information technologies and services for people with disabilities.

Examples of new 2004 awards to RERCs include Telecommunications Access at the Trace Center at the University of Wisconsin, one of NIDRR’s premier centers, which advances the accessibility and usability of emerging telecommunications products.

Second, I’d like to mention the RERC award for telerehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh, which develops systems and technologies that support remote delivery of rehab and home health services. Telerehabilitation is especially important for service men and women who have been injured in the line of duty.

Other examples of NIDRR projects include the first center on cognitive technologies for people with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) and Developmental Disabilities (DD) at the University of Colorado System’s Coleman Institute. The center will focus on developing technologies and approaches that will have a positive impact on the function of people with ID and DD in community living and the workplace.

Another project we have is Cyber Coach, an automated system to help integrate individuals with memory disabilities into the working world or independent living settings, which is funded under an SBIR grant at the Applied Human Factors Center in Helotes, Texas.

The next step for improving access to technology is in the President’s FY 2005 budget, where $20 million is proposed for RERCs, $15 million for Title III, $5 million for the AT development fund or SBIR program, and $3 million to continue our efforts through the ICDR.

We at NIDRR place a particular emphasis on the third tenet of the NFI, which centers on integrating Americans with disabilities into the workforce.

The NFI strives to bring more people with disabilities into the workplace, expand telework—which is spearheaded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)—implement the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (TWWIIA), and enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The NFI also seeks to promote the use of tax incentives, which I put into action since being at NIDRR, to enhance the workforce investment system, remove disincentives to work, and promote best practices in federal government as a model employer.

Already, many accomplishments have been made. First, under the president’s Access to Telework Fund and the Department of Education’s RSA, we have funded 20 projects to allow individuals with disabilities to work from home or other remote sites away from the office. This is particularly important for those of us who have recurring conditions.

Second, the Department of Labor (DOL), HHS, and the VA are conducting a two-year study to evaluate how various home-based telecommuting arrangements boost employment for people with disabilities. A final report will be completed in 2005.

In 2001, the Social Security Administration (SSA) and DOL established Ticket to Hire, a free national employer referral service to help those in the Ticket to Work program find work.

See: http://www.ssa.gov/work/Ticket/ticket_info.html

Other NIDRR accomplishments support research by expanding employment opportunities for youths and adults with disabilities. Some recent awards that the Department has made include the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) for workplace supports and job retention at Virginia Commonwealth University, the RRTC for improving employment services and outcomes at Hunter College of CUNY, the RRTC for employment policy and economic self-sufficiency at Cornell University, and finally, the RRTC for substance abuse and disability employment at Wright State University.

Currently, a memorandum of understanding has been formalized between the DOL’s Office of Disability Employment Policy and the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to develop an interagency research partnership across the spectrum of disability employment research, with the goal of increasing employment opportunities for adults and youth with disabilities.

We’re going to be looking specifically at current barriers, the demand side of employment, and how to make the case for businesses to hire people with disabilities. I believe that’s an area where we need to focus our attention.

The fourth tenet, promoting full access to community life, will realize the Olmstead Decision (the 1999 Supreme Court decision that interpreted Title II of the ADA and its implementing regulation, requiring States to administer their services, programs, and activities “in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs to qualified individuals with disabilities.”) and the president’s executive order in 2001 to improve community integration for people with disabilities, not only by changing existing practices, but also by providing affordable housing, transportation, and access to programs and services throughout the country so that people with all types of disabilities are able to participate in life to the fullest extent.

NIDRR’S accomplishments in regard to children and adults with disabilities include an RRTC awarded in 2004 for integrated systems of care for child and adolescent mental health care at the University of South Florida. Another RRTC was granted for strengthening family and youth participation in child and adolescent mental health services at Portland State University. An RRTC was granted to Boston University for recovery and recovery-oriented psychiatric rehab for people with long-term mental illness.

I am firmly committed to working with SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) to incorporate the recommendations of the President’s Commission Report on Mental Health into NIDRR’s new long-range plan.

I intend to do more in this area. With the support of the Department, we’ll look at new areas for improving self-determination and recovery options for people with mental health care needs.

Other examples of R&D centers include the RERC for wheelchair transportation safety at University of Pittsburgh, the RERC for accessible public transportation at Oregon State, the RERC for recreation technologies and exercise at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the RRTC for personal assistant services for individuals with disabilities at the University of California, San Francisco.

The direction of NIDRR in regard to community integration is clear. I believe that it’s important not only to focus on employment, but how to get to the job, and also to promote optimum health for people with disabilities.

Unfortunately, so many of us in the disabled community—like the late Christopher Reeve—can be quickly overcome by just a minor infection that turns systemic. We at NIDRR, and other agencies, must do more and will do more to improve health awareness, nutrition, exercise, and well-being for people with disabilities.

With that, I just want to say thank you again for the opportunity to address you. At the end of the forum, I welcome your questions. Thank you.

Main Page > Welcome Page > Mr. Bond's Address

	Steven J. Tingus , MS , CPhil, has led the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) since 2001. Tingus also chairs the Interagency Committee on Disability Research, the federal committee that coordinates disability and rehabilitative research across government agencies. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Education, Tingus was director of resource development and public policy at the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers and the foundation’s nonprofit project, the Assistive Technology Network. He earned his MS. degree and is a doctoral candidate in physiology from the University of California, Davis, where he studied muscular dystrophy and the effect of anabolic steroids on skeletal muscle regeneration.
Good morning, everybody. I’m so honored to be here to speak before you all on the critical issue of how disability research impacts the New Freedom Initiative (NFI).

I want to first thank the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) for spearheading this wonderful conference that brings together federal leaders and stakeholders to talk about myriad issues related to the goals of the NFI. My speech addresses some of the accomplishments that the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), through the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), has made in regard to the NFI. The President unveiled his New Freedom Initiative in February 2001. President Bush, who is both personally and professionally committed to all people with disabilities, whether young or old, developed the NFI to set the blueprint for his disability agenda.

Basically, the goals that we have in the administration—shared by Dr. Margaret Giannini, Dr. Michael Weinrich, Dr. Mindy Aisen, and others—is to promote improved functionality and independence for all people with disabilities. Roughly 54 million Americans are disabled. We at the Department of Education are just part of the team helping to further the goals of the President’s NFI. Four tenets comprise the NFI. First, we seek to increase access through technology. In this room, we have leaders from the Department of Commerce—David Brantley, Ben Wu and others—all of whom are working with the Department of Education to further our opportunities for technology transfer.

Second, we want to improve educational opportunities for students and adults with disabilities. Third, we need to expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities. We must increase the percentage of people with disabilities integrated into the workforce, whether it is through telework or through the traditional workplace. Fourth, we seek to boost community participation and promote independent living options for all people with disabilities. I am very interested in the NFI both as a consumer and as a former researcher on the development and promotion of assistive technologies for all people. I’m particularly interested in children and seniors. As a person who is ventilator-dependent at night and wheelchair-enabled during the day, I have a firm understanding of and devotion to helping improve the lives of my peers with disabilities. I would like to give you some highlights of what we at the Department have achieved regarding these tenets. Under the first tenet, increasing access through technology, we’ll stick to some of our recent accomplishments.

In fiscal year 2002, the Department, through the president’s budget, dedicated $37 million to the alternative financing program, which is part of both Title III of the Assistive Technology (AT) Act of 1998 and the AT Act of 2004. This enables individuals to acquire low-interest loans to purchase AT for their daily needs. The Department allotted $20 million in 2002, $19 million in 2003, and $20 million, I’m proud to say, in 2004 to fund NIDRR’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs) to promote research on assistive and universally designed technologies.

In fiscal years 2002, 2003, and 2004, we received $5 million for the assistive technology development fund, otherwise known as the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, to assist small businesses in the development and transfer of new technologies. Three million dollars was allocated in 2002, 2003, and 2004, as part of the President’s NFI, for the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR) to improve coordination and collaboration among other federal research agencies and departments, such as the National Center on Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) and the VA’s Rehabilitation Research Development Office (RRDO), and also to advance coordination of initiatives on assistive technology. We also work with the Office on Disability at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Peg Giannini’s leadership.

In addition, this year we have developed a new Subcommittee on the New Freedom Initiative and a Subcommittee on Employment. The ICDR, as I said, collaborates with members, such as the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), on research for improving technology transfer opportunities. NIDRR is one of the leading federal agencies to support research and development (R&D) and increase access to information technologies and services for people with disabilities.

Examples of new 2004 awards to RERCs include Telecommunications Access at the Trace Center at the University of Wisconsin, one of NIDRR’s premier centers, which advances the accessibility and usability of emerging telecommunications products. Second, I’d like to mention the RERC award for telerehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh, which develops systems and technologies that support remote delivery of rehab and home health services. Telerehabilitation is especially important for service men and women who have been injured in the line of duty.

Other examples of NIDRR projects include the first center on cognitive technologies for people with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) and Developmental Disabilities (DD) at the University of Colorado System’s Coleman Institute. The center will focus on developing technologies and approaches that will have a positive impact on the function of people with ID and DD in community living and the workplace. Another project we have is Cyber Coach, an automated system to help integrate individuals with memory disabilities into the working world or independent living settings, which is funded under an SBIR grant at the Applied Human Factors Center in Helotes, Texas.

The next step for improving access to technology is in the President’s FY 2005 budget, where $20 million is proposed for RERCs, $15 million for Title III, $5 million for the AT development fund or SBIR program, and $3 million to continue our efforts through the ICDR.

We at NIDRR place a particular emphasis on the third tenet of the NFI, which centers on integrating Americans with disabilities into the workforce. The NFI strives to bring more people with disabilities into the workplace, expand telework—which is spearheaded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)—implement the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (TWWIIA), and enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The NFI also seeks to promote the use of tax incentives, which I put into action since being at NIDRR, to enhance the workforce investment system, remove disincentives to work, and promote best practices in federal government as a model employer.

Already, many accomplishments have been made. First, under the president’s Access to Telework Fund and the Department of Education’s RSA, we have funded 20 projects to allow individuals with disabilities to work from home or other remote sites away from the office. This is particularly important for those of us who have recurring conditions. Second, the Department of Labor (DOL), HHS, and the VA are conducting a two-year study to evaluate how various home-based telecommuting arrangements boost employment for people with disabilities. A final report will be completed in 2005. In 2001, the Social Security Administration (SSA) and DOL established Ticket to Hire, a free national employer referral service to help those in the Ticket to Work program find work. See: http://www.ssa.gov/work/Ticket/ticket_info.html

Other NIDRR accomplishments support research by expanding employment opportunities for youths and adults with disabilities. Some recent awards that the Department has made include the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) for workplace supports and job retention at Virginia Commonwealth University, the RRTC for improving employment services and outcomes at Hunter College of CUNY, the RRTC for employment policy and economic self-sufficiency at Cornell University, and finally, the RRTC for substance abuse and disability employment at Wright State University.

Currently, a memorandum of understanding has been formalized between the DOL’s Office of Disability Employment Policy and the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to develop an interagency research partnership across the spectrum of disability employment research, with the goal of increasing employment opportunities for adults and youth with disabilities. We’re going to be looking specifically at current barriers, the demand side of employment, and how to make the case for businesses to hire people with disabilities. I believe that’s an area where we need to focus our attention.

The fourth tenet, promoting full access to community life, will realize the Olmstead Decision (the 1999 Supreme Court decision that interpreted Title II of the ADA and its implementing regulation, requiring States to administer their services, programs, and activities “in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs to qualified individuals with disabilities.”) and the president’s executive order in 2001 to improve community integration for people with disabilities, not only by changing existing practices, but also by providing affordable housing, transportation, and access to programs and services throughout the country so that people with all types of disabilities are able to participate in life to the fullest extent.

NIDRR’S accomplishments in regard to children and adults with disabilities include an RRTC awarded in 2004 for integrated systems of care for child and adolescent mental health care at the University of South Florida. Another RRTC was granted for strengthening family and youth participation in child and adolescent mental health services at Portland State University. An RRTC was granted to Boston University for recovery and recovery-oriented psychiatric rehab for people with long-term mental illness.

I am firmly committed to working with SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) to incorporate the recommendations of the President’s Commission Report on Mental Health into NIDRR’s new long-range plan. I intend to do more in this area. With the support of the Department, we’ll look at new areas for improving self-determination and recovery options for people with mental health care needs. Other examples of R&D centers include the RERC for wheelchair transportation safety at University of Pittsburgh, the RERC for accessible public transportation at Oregon State, the RERC for recreation technologies and exercise at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the RRTC for personal assistant services for individuals with disabilities at the University of California, San Francisco.

The direction of NIDRR in regard to community integration is clear. I believe that it’s important not only to focus on employment, but how to get to the job, and also to promote optimum health for people with disabilities. Unfortunately, so many of us in the disabled community—like the late Christopher Reeve—can be quickly overcome by just a minor infection that turns systemic. We at NIDRR, and other agencies, must do more and will do more to improve health awareness, nutrition, exercise, and well-being for people with disabilities. With that, I just want to say thank you again for the opportunity to address you. At the end of the forum, I welcome your questions. Thank you.

White House/VA Conference Emerging Technologies in Support of the New Freedom Initiative: Promoting Opportunities for People with Disabilities October 13-14, 2004

Insert Speakers Remarks or Address

White House/VA Conference
Emerging Technologies in Support of the New Freedom Initiative:
Promoting Opportunities for People with Disabilities October 13-14, 2004