Want to see your donation dollars in action? Check out some of the sport wheelchairs Variety of Illinois has presented over the last couple years in this WTTW segment on wheelchair basketball:

Jay Shefsky introduces us to a basketball team you won’t forget on Chicago Tonight at 7:00 pm. View a photo gallery of the Skyhawks basketball team during practice.

The National Federation of the Blind  is now accepting applications to our national scholarship program from freshmen beginning college this fall on up through graduate students. The 30 scholarships range in value from $3,000 up to $12,000, and include a trip to Orlando this July for the world’s largest convention for the blind.  Applications must be received by March 31, 2013. To learn more and to apply, please visit www.nfb.org/scholarships.

Please pass it on to eligible students, counselors, teachers, parents, college disability offices, libraries for the blind, your group’s listserv, offices for assessing equipment for the blind or visually impaired, radio reading services, the state announcement section of NFB-NEWSLINE®, and any other outlet you think of that will help blind students discover this program.

Email: scholarships@nfb.org

Website: www.nfb.org/scholarships

Dear Colleague,

I am pleased to announce that with the vital support of the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, USICD is launching our first internship program, and I write to ask for your assistance in disseminating this announcement to potential applicants for this exciting program.

The Youth in Development program (YiD) will bring a small group of talented college students, graduate students, and recent graduates with disabilities to Washington, DC this summer for immersion in the international affairs and development field. Interns will serve for nine weeks in nongovernmental organizations that work within the field, participate in core training and networking activities provided by USICD, and have a unique opportunity to hone their experience and career trajectory.

Participating interns will be matched to a host organization and receive a stipend, travel expenses, and fully-accessible housing for the summer of 2013.

The program follows from a vision, core to USICD’s mission, to increase disability inclusion in U.S. foreign affairs by supporting future professionals to invest their skills and talents in this field. A successful candidate will have shared in their application their preparation for a career in international development and foreign affairs, their vision of their future, and how a Washington, DC internship will aid their career development.

To learn more about YiD and how to apply, please visit USICD’s Youth in Development Initiative page: http://usicd.org/template/page.cfm?id=257
Please note: the application deadline for the 2013 summer program is February 18, 2013.

Please disseminate this announcement to your students and relevant network lists. Thank you,

David Morrissey

International Network for Disabled Youth, known as “INDYspace” (www.indyspace.org), an online network dedicated to connecting young disabled people aged 16-30 from around the world, has been officially launched. The website, funded by Oxfam Australia through their Oxfam International Youth Partnerships (OIYP) programme, is the first of its kind in bringing young disabled people together on a global level. It enables users to sign up and share their experiences through the posting of blogs, pictures and videos, as well as providing information on a range of relevant topics including disability rights, independent living, travel and transport, and inclusion and accessibility, acting as both a network and an information base to which users can contribute. It is hoped that in the long-term, the site can provide informative, user-run webinars and interactive online video conferences. There is a strong dedication to making the site both ascetic and accessible to its users, with recommendations given by a web accessibility consultant currently being implemented.

The founders of the website, Erin Gough from New Zealand and Zara Todd from the United Kingdom, who first met at an Oxfam international youth conference two years ago, embody the site mission of enabling young disabled people to work together across borders, constructing the site from opposite sides of the globe. When asked why the pair created the website, Zara Todd commented “We saw that there was a gap, online and literally within the international sector for young disabled people to connect to one another. We wanted a way for young disabled people to all become stronger, to enable them to find solutions together to the barriers that they face as young disabled people, regardless of what country they’re in.” Erin Gough added that the site was “made by young disabled people, for young disabled people” and that she hoped users would take the opportunity to both use and share the site, as “the more of a global force we are, the more global change will be created”. For more information on INDYspace, visit http://www.indyspace.org/, “like” www.facebook.com/indyspace or email info@indypsace.org

The AAPD has announced its 2013 internship program, which is open to people with disabilities that are undergraduate or graduate students, as well as recent graduates. The program is a paid, 10-week internship that offers both public and private sector opportunities. The internship offers paid travel to Washington DC as well as housing.

Internships are invaluable professional development tools and can open doors that education alone cannot. In the best programs, interns receive hands-on work experience and mentoring, which prepare them to succeed in the workforce. In Washington, DC, internships have become a standard part of any resume, introducing motivated students and recent graduates to professional networks upon which they build their careers.
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