AAPD Honors Disability Activists, Leaders

Four disability rights activists and leaders were honored at the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) sixth annual AAPD Leadership Gala March 7 at the Capital Hilton in Washington DC.

This year's Henry B. Betts Award recipient is Mark Johnson, a nationally recognized activist and community organizer and director of advocacy at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia. After sustaining a spinal cord injury when he was 20 years old, Johnson dedicated himself to creating an identifiable sense of community among people with disabilities. In North Carolina, he was a counselor at the Charlotte Rehabilitation Hospital and helped establish the Metrolina Chapter of the National Paraplegia Foundation and one of the first Title VII Independent Living Centers in the United States.

At Holistic Approaches to Independent Living (HAIL) in Denver, Colorado, Johnson ran the Transitional Living Program and was then its Director of Advocacy; he was Colorado's first statewide independence living coordinator. Johnson helped to create Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT) in 1984, a grassroots-driven organization that has been an effective force for change in the national disability rights movement, according to the AAPD. He joined the Shepherd Center, recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top rehabilitation hospitals in the United States in 1987. His vision and planning resulted in the Spirit of the ADA Torch Relay, a tenth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) celebration hosted in 24 locations around the country in 2000.

This award is named in honor of Henry B. Betts, MD, a pioneer in the field of rehabilitation medicine who has devoted himself to improving the quality of lifefor people with disabilities. The award annually honors, acknowledges, and supports the work of an individual who, during the course of his or her career, has made extraordinary contributions to the quality of lifeof people with disabilities.

Paul G. Hearne/AAPD Leadership Awards were presented to two emerging leaders of the disability rights movement. John Register, a Gulf War veteran and silver medalist in the Paralympic Games, is a strong disability rights advocate who believes that participation in sports can enrich the lives of people with disabilities and change public attitudes toward the disability community. Register is associate director of Development and Outreach for the U.S. Paralympics. He also conceived of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) Paralympic Military Program, which shows military personnel the powerful role that sports could play in rehabilitation.

TyKiah Wright is a strong disability rights advocate. She grew up with a hereditary neurological disorder that affects the lower leg and arm muscles, and uses her personal experience and entrepreneurial skills to help high school and college graduates with disabilities. She established WrightChoice Inc. in Ohio to help the graduates to strengthen their career development skills and successfully find jobs and internships.

This awards program was established in 1999 to recognize and carry on the work of Paul G. Hearne, a renowned leader in the national disability community and AAPD's founder; it seeks to cultivate emerging and future leaders to carry on the disability movement.

This year's Linda Chavez-Thompson Award will be presented to Terry R. Stapleton, secretary-treasurer of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU). He also serves as the liaison for the APWU Deaf Hard of Hearing Task Force. This award annually recognizes an individual from within the labor movement who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in including people with disabilities and their families as part of the labor movement and the U.S. workforce.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson and a host of Congressional leadership also participated in the program as award presenters. Noted journalist Judy Woodruff served as mistress of ceremonies.

For more information, visit www.aapd-dc.org

AAPD Honors Disability Activists, Leaders

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Certified Prosthetist/Orthotist (CPO)

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