Former Division Administrator Mike O’Brien to Serve as Disability Agency Director
The
Commission for Rehabilitation Services has selected Dr. Michael O’Brien,
a university professor and rehabilitation services consultant from Las
Vegas, New Mexico, as the next director of the Oklahoma Department of
Rehabilitation Services (DRS). He will replace DRS's current director, Linda
S. Parker, when she retires in. Dec. 2008 after 35 years of state service.
O’Brien was previously employed by DRS from 1997 to 2001 as administrator of
the Vocational Rehabilitation division.
18TH ADA Anniversary Celebrated by Disability Advocates Determined to Strengthen Landmark Civil Rights Legislation
July 26 is the 18th anniversary of the signing of the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This landmark civil rights legislation
prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in employment,
public services, public accommodations, transportation and telecommunications.
In Oklahoma, 635,170 people ages five and over have disabilities that may
qualify for ADA protection, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s “American
Community Survey 2006.” This figure doesn’t include 31,214 individuals living in
nursing homes and institutions for the chronically ill.
OLBPH Gets Heart Starting Knowledge
How
much is the price of a heart beat? For most it is priceless, but in
certain circumstances it is $1,569. That's how much it cost to buy an
Automated External Defibulator (AED).
Thanks to the Oklahomans for Special Library Services (OSLS), the
Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped now owns their
very own AED.
Seniors of the Oklahoma School for the Blind and Oklahoma School for the Deaf Graduate
The Oklahoma
School for the Blind (OSB) proudly announces that the graduating class
of 2008 will celebrate commencement on May 21st, at noon in OSB auditorium,
3300 Gibson Street, Muskogee, Okla.
Making this year's class special are Grant Thomas Lewis Breslin, Daniel Ryan Flanagan, Stanley Kyle
Hodge, Dayna Michelle Malaer, Alex Christopher Myers, Johnathan Josiah
Bartlett Selfridge and Ashley Renee Williams.
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The Oklahoma School for the Deaf (OSD) also proudly announces
that the
graduating class of 2008 will celebrate commencement on May 23, at 10 a.m.
in OSD campus auditorium, 1100 East Oklahoma Street, Sulphur, Okla.
The OSD Senior class includes Madison Paige Dazley, Samuel Warren Fewel,
William Wesley Moore, Wendi Elizabeth O'Connor, Matthew Tyler Payne, Carol
Ann Seward, and Chelsie Lynn Stallings.
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