Scott Moore, a national speaker for Americans with Disabilities Act, will speak about fair housing as well as section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which guarantees certain rights for persons with disabilities and also liberates persons with disabilities from discrimination in purchasing Government-subsidized housing.
The event will feature Moore as a speaker, and will be followed by Discover Day, an event put on by the Student Empowerment Network (SEN) that promotes awareness among students as well as creating positive change for those with disabilities. According to Deb Daley, Director of Public Relations at Creighton University, this event is a chance to put students in the shoes of people with disabilities.
“I think people need to be educated on the issues in the world,” Daley said. “And sometimes that takes action too.”
In the past, the SEN conducts activities such as placing headphones over people’s ears, putting sunglasses on them so they can’t see and a variety of other things. This is all in an effort to physically put people in the shoes of those with disabilities.
Every year, the ADA Committee, which, according to their website, is a committee that “works to facilitate improved access on our campus and to educate the campus community both about access issues on our campus and the larger community,” tries to have a different focus.
Daley says that last year they focused on Asperger’s Syndrome, which is a condition on the Autism Spectrum. This theme was because of the movie Temple Grandin, which is about a doctor living with Asperger’s Syndrome that had just come out and had been in the news frequently. This year, Daley says the committee is focusing on the changes to the ADA act, in particular how they affect persons with disabilities and whether this change is good or bad, because the committee felt it would be more timely.
According to Baird Holm’s website, Moore is a well-informed expert on matters of ADA and particularly section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
“Mr. Moore provides fair housing, ADA and Section 504 training across the country to housing providers and national organizations (and) provides training and preventative representation of the affordable housing industry.”
According to Daley, this day is meant to raise awareness of Americans with disabilities and educate the Creighton body in hopes to allow them to understand persons who have disabilities.
“I think we all get caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life,” Daley said. “This day gives us a chance to focus on an issue that we need to remember, especially being a Jesuit institution and being for and with others.”