MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Location: file:///C:/AB59C636/annualreport2006.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" AAG Disability Specialty Group, 2006 Report to Council

 

AAG Disability Special= ty Group (DSG) – July 2006

Annual Report to AAG Council

 

1)   Mission=  Statement - The purpose of DSG is to foster communication am= ong members of the specialty group and to encourage research, education, and service that addresses issues of disability and chronic illness. The group will provide support and advocate with disabled members of the Association while working closely with other specialty group= s to promote common interests and develop intra-disciplinary and inter-disciplin= ary projects.

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2)   Dues Information - Dues $4 (students $1).

 

3)   Specialty Group Officers.

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Nominated at business meeting in Chicago and approved over the GEOGABLE listserv:

 

Chair: Valorie Crooks

Secretary-treasurer: Mike Dorn

Board member: Maurizio Antoninetti

Board member: Rob Wilton

Board member (student): Todd Reyno= lds

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4)   a) Accomplishm= ents - At the 1997 AAG meeting in Ft. Wo= rth, Texas, a number of geograph= ers conducting research on disability issues decided to form DAGIN, the Disabil= ity and Geography International Network, and to move towards establishing a specialty group within the AAG. At the 1997 meeting of the Royal Geographic= al Society/Institute of British Geographers (RGS/IBG) in Exeter, England, a day-long session on Disability and Geography was held which has resulted in= the collection Mind and Body Spaces= (Routledge 1999) edited by Ruth Butler and Hester Parr= .  The Disability Specialty Group deb= uted with a slate of sessions at the Pittsburgh 2000 meeting of the AAG, and has sponsored plenary addresses by Simi Linton and Harlan Hahn and special paper sessions at the meetings in New York City 2001 and Los Angeles 2002. Since = that time, we have continued to sponsor sessions at AAG Annual Meetings and have inaugurated a student paper competition.

 

Information on the specialty group, current officers and the GEOGABLE discussion listserv on geography and disability can be found at http://isc.temple.edu/neighbor/service/disability/disability&geography.= html

 

Several sessions where organized for the Chicago meeting where disability was a dominant theme:

 

2273 Geographies of mental health, and mental health care

3506 Placing fat/bigness/corpulence = in geographical research I

3606 Placing fat/bigness/corpulence = in geographical research II

3417 The Geography of HIV/AIDS: Sess= ion I

3517 The Geography of HIV/AIDS: Session II<= /strong>

4219 Atmospheres: Perception and Pollution

5134 Scaling up for context I: exami= ning forces shaping gendered experiences in place

5148 Social-Urban Environments and Health<= o:p>

5429 Meeting Ne= eds: Health, Disability and Policy

 

b) Future Plans&n= bsp;and Directions - DSG hopes to sponsor or co-sponsor approximately 6-7 different sessio= ns at the San Francisco meeting.  Our efforts will foc= us a symposium on Disability, Culture and Environment, to be co-sponsored by the= Medical Geography Specialty Group.  Publicity will take place using GEOGABLE and other communication fora.  W= e hope to work with the AAG and other specialty groups to promote research this ar= ea through the symposium.

 
c) Business Meeting at the AAG Conference&nbs= p;in Chicago - DSG held a small but productive business meeting where we discussed nominations for our new officers and our plans for San Francisco.


d) Student Paper Award - Nancy Worth (University of Toron= to) was the winner of our student paper competition this year for her paper = 220;Current Discussions in Geographies of Disability.”

5)&n= bsp;  Membership and Participation= - As of March 2006 the Disability Specialty Group had 37 members.

6)   Financial Report –= DSG has $400 as of 7/24/06 (per Teri Martin - AAG manages the funds).

7)   Suggestions for Council R= 11; We encourage research to evaluate whether our conference sessions and online publications are presented in such a way that they are accessible to people with sensory disabilities.  We look forward to working with the Council and = the AAG staff to reach out to the disability community (geographic and otherwis= e) and serve their needs through our teaching, research and service=

 

At present, there is insufficient opportunity for those regist= ering by mail or online to record whether they require any accommodations in recognition of their disability or special needs.  The printed registration form coll= ects this information on only one line that reads "Do you have any disabili= ties or special needs?  Please expl= ain: _______”

We would prefer, at the very least, that this question be expa= nded to read "Accommodations for people with disabilities (eg. on-site mobility assistance, technological support, translation, or other, please specify):"

 

We would also like to suggest that the AAG office include a statement for the online registration form that would help everyone recogni= ze that accommodations may be available.