Everything you ever wanted to know about “representative payee”
Do you receive monthly Social Security Administration (SSA) benefits? Do you need help in managing your monthly benefits? If so, you are not alone. While nearly 68 million Americans receive some type of monthly benefit, almost 9 million need help in managing their...
College bound? Here’s what you need to know to prepare for the transition
High school students with disabilities may have questions about their rights as they transition from high school to college. While the Individuals with Disabilities Act (“IDEA”) ensures that children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education, its...
Monitoring: A responsibility to protect
Disability Rights Arkansas is the Protection and Advocacy agency, or P&A, for the state of Arkansas. The “Protection” part of that designation comes through most strongly in our monitoring activities. Since their creation by the United States Congress, Protection...
Looking to get or keep a job? Here are some resources that can help.
If an individual with a disability wants to obtain, retain, regain, or advance in employment, there are resources to help. Our state receives a significant amount of funding from the Rehabilitation Services Administration within the federal government. That money is...
DRA Executive Director to serve as board president of National Disability Rights Network
At the Annual Business meeting for National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) this month, Disability Rights Arkansas Executive Director Tom Masseau was elected as President of the NDRN Board of Directors for a two-year term. In this role, Masseau will be...
Restraint and seclusion in schools: What you need to know
Disability Rights Arkansas (DRA) has long held that students, especially those with disabilities, need legal protections regarding the use of restraints and seclusion in school settings. Updated national data continues to indicate that students with disabilities are...
FIRST PERSON: My name is Mollie…and I am blind. Ask me anything!
In case you haven’t heard, October is "Meet the Blind" Month. Although I’m not crazy about the name, I like the idea. So, here goes! My name is Mollie, and I am blind. Many people are not aware that...
Dignity. Respect. Advocacy. It’s our “why”.
Please allow us to (re)introduce ourselves: who we are – and what we’re about. These days, we’re sporting a new look! You may notice on our website and in social media, we’ve got a fresh, modern new logo. But this is far from a superficial glow-up. We wanted our new...
FIRST PERSON: Down Syndrome: What it is…and WHO it is
October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. And because I love someone with Down syndrome, I'd like to share a little bit about it. Down syndrome (DS), also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome...
Web accessibility case could have a “Domino” effect for people with disabilities
As we await a Supreme Court decision that will determine whether the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to websites as well as to physical locations, it’s worth revisiting why accessibility of online content is so critically important for people with...