This local agency services to more than 3,000 individuals. Contact staff here if you are researching stories related to persons with developmental disabilities or acquired brain injuries (ABI), or programs for persons with mental health issues.
ARC provides residential, vocational, rehabilitative, clinical, and other services to developmentally disabled individuals in Onondaga County. You can find recent ARC-exclusive news and events. Monarch is a business arm of ARC which contracts with local businesses to provide packaging and shipping done by developmentally disabled persons through three facilities in Syracuse. The media releasespage is helpful in finding local story ideas.
Arise is run by and for people with disabilities in Onondaga, Oswego and Madison Counties, with a goal to help them live independently. Arise explains: “core services include peer counseling, independent living skills training,information and referral, and individual and systems advocacy.” The organization also advocates with government and business for better public accommodation and accessibility. Its offices are in Syracuse (main), Oswego, Pulaski, Oneida, with a recreation farm in Chittenango.
The SU Center includes experts on disability issues who can be sources for stories or resources about issues related to diversity. The Center’s research could also be a story.
This national organization has more than 1.2 million members and has been organized since World War I. It represents the interests of disabled veterans, widows, and orphans before all levels of government. This organization offers services for veterans and information about pending legislation. Most helpful for reporters are the local offices and the News page.
This site is a service of the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. It provides information on the treatment, symptoms, and other issues related to personality disorders (mental disabilities), as well as links to a medical encyclopedia and journal articles. This is a good source to acquaint yourself with these disabilities and get general background knowledge.
This center, headquartered at the Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, is designed to help journalists understand and cover issues of disability. It offers resources, experts, and a helpful style guide. Te site also provides a list of other disability organizations.
This institute (NINDS) provides a comprehensive list of neurological disorders with links to information about each disorder, its prognosis, treatments, and research. You can follow research on its media releases page. Click this people finder for contacts.
This state agency coordinates services for New Yorkers with intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorders, and other disabilities. The sites says that the state agency provides only about 20% of services directly and works through some 700 nonprofits to provide most of the services. Read up on benefits available (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and more), the agency’s progress report or search for providers.
This federal agency investigates discrimination, including that of persons with disabilities. Here you will find an overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The site includes links to the law, an explanation of disability discrimination and employment rights. Find resources and overviews of various issues related to disability discrimination at the bottom of this page.