Re: Gathering in DC on Thursday, November 15th

[Guest guest]

Hello folks,

Below is additional information, including the specifics about the time and

location, which I just received to pass along. Thank you and I hope to see

some of you there!

-Ari

*Join Us on November 15th to*

*Support the Restoration of the Americans with Disabilities Act*

*and Welcome Back the Road To Freedom Bus

**Yearlong, 50-State Disability Rights Bus Tour and Traveling Exhibit

Returns to Washington, DC***

*(Washington, DC)* The Road To Freedom: *Keeping the Promise of the

Americans with Disabilities Act* (ADA) is a yearlong, cross-country bus tour

and traveling exhibit promoting the civil rights of people with disabilities

and advocating for passage of the *ADA Restoration Act of 2007*. This

legislation will restore the vital civil rights protections under the ADA

that have been weakened in the courts in recent years. A U.S. Senate hearing

on the ADA Restoration Act of 2007 has been scheduled to coincide with the

return of the Road To Freedom bus to Washington, DC on November 15, 2007.

With Yoshiko Dart, widow of the late disability rights leader Dart

onboard for the first leg of the journey, the Road To Freedom bus tour

launched from Washington on November 15th of 2006 and has traveled to all 50

states, driving more than 25,000 miles to more than 100 bus stop events.

Road To Freedom events have included disability leaders and U.S. Senators,

Members of Congress, Governors and other policymakers at sites such as

the *National

Civil Rights Museum*, *Brown v. Board of Education Historic Site*, *Clinton

Presidential Library*, *Mount Rushmore*, as well as statehouses, city halls,

museums, churches, colleges, and schools throughout the country.

Join us to welcome the Road To Freedom Bus back to Washington, show your

support for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and attend the Senate

Hearing on the ADA Restoration Act of 2007.

*What: *

Support the ADA at the Road To Freedom Bus Stop at the U.S. Capitol and

attend the Senate hearing on the ADA Restoration Act

*When: *

November 15, 2007

11:00 AM – 1:00 PM: Bus and Exhibit of Disability Rights History, Speakers

including *Senator Tom Harkin*, NCIL's * Lancaster*, AAPD's *Cheryl

Sensenbrenner*, AARP's *Brewster Thackeray*, NSCIA's *Marcie Roth*, ADA

Watch's *Jim Ward* and more.

2:00 PM: Senate Hearing on the ADA Restoration Act of 2007 in Room 430,

Dirksen Senate Office Building

*Where:*

U.S. Capitol and National Mall at 3rd Street, NW

The Road To Freedom is a project of *ADA Watch and the National Coalition

for Disability Rights (NCDR)*, an alliance of hundreds of national, state

and local disability, civil rights, and social justice organizations united

to defend and promote the civil rights of children and adults with physical,

mental, cognitive, sensory and developmental disabilities.

For more information go to: www.roadtofreedom.org and for tour photos, go

to: http://adawatch.smugmug.com/gallery/2925333

> Hello all,

>

> This Thursday, November 15th, there is going to be a gathering in

> Washington, DC with historic implications for the disability rights movement

> as a whole. Last year, on November 15th, 2006, the Road to Freedom

tour<http://www.roadtofreedom.org/cs/home>embarked from Washington, DC on a

nation-wide tour to rally support for the Americans

> with Disabilities Act Restoration

Act<http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-3195>, designed to

restore protections of the Americans with Disabilites Act that

> have been eroded by judicial decisions. The tour made over one hundred stops

> throughout the nation and will be returning to Washington this Thursday.

>

> Recent judicial decisions narrowing the definition of disability have

> removed many people with disabilities from the protection the ADA provides.

> This legislation will address that. It is unacceptable that we can face

> discrimination because of our disability yet not be considered " disabled

> enough " to qualify for legal protection. That will be the message we'll be

> sending to Congress as they hold hearings on the ADA Restoration Act this

> Thursday.

>

> I will be joining a number of disability rights leaders from across the

> nation in speaking in support of the ADA Restoration Act, in my capacity as

> President of ASAN and as Policy Workgroup Leader for the Youth Advisory

> Council to the National Council on Disability. It would be wonderful to see

> self-advocates on the spectrum and our supporters in the audience,

> particularly given the fact that the ADA Restoration Act is particularly

> important to those of us with " invisible " disabilities. It ensures that we

> will continue to be covered by the ADA. I'd like to encourage any of you who

> can to join us in Washington, DC at the corner of 3rd Avenue and the

> National Mall. If you have any difficulty finding us, please feel free to

> call me on my cell at .

>

> Remember: nothing about us, without us!

>

> Best,

> Ari Ne'eman

> The Autistic Self Advocacy Network, President

> http://www.autisticadvocacy.org

> info@...

>

>