Announcements

For the last few decades, the Taubman Health Sciences Library has collected used eyeglasses, sunglasses, and hearing aids for the Ann Arbor Host Lions Club. Over the years, these materials have helped many people throughout the world to see and hear better.

More than 10,000 eyeglasses are collected each year in the Ann Arbor area. They are cleaned, adjusted and sorted according to prescription by members of the Lions Club. Then, they are disseminated by volunteers to individuals in other countries who would otherwise go without these much needed items. Through the program, eyeglasses and hearing aids are distributed in a total of 87 countries to individuals who need them.

U-M’s Dr. Robert Hyzy has distributed 500 pairs of donated glasses to residents of the Peruvian Amazon Basin during three different trips to the region.

During the last Taubman Health Sciences Library drop-off to the Ann Arbor Lions Club, Dr. Hyzy and his team volunteers pick up the glasses and distribute them to inhabitants of Peruvian communities in collaboration with Amazon Promise—a U.S.-based non-profit organization founded to provide desperately-needed medical and dental care to remote populations living in the Upper Amazon Basin of Northeastern Peru.

The success of this project would not have been possible without the collaborative efforts of UMHS employees, the Taubman Health Sciences Library, the Lions Club, Dr. Hyzy, and other individuals who have selflessly contributed to this worthy cause through travel, volunteer time and donations.

U-M employees who have contributed to the project include Alice Chao, whose assistance has been invaluable to this charitable endeavor under the guidance of Informationist Anna Ercoli Schnitzer, who initiated, organizes and coordinates this U-M activity with the Lions Club.

But most of all, this project would not be possible without those at the U-M Health System who continue to kindly and generously contribute their used glasses, sunglasses and hearing aids to help others. With everyone’s support, the Taubman Health Sciences Libraries can continue to help those in need.

Please bring your cast-off glasses to the Information Desk at Taubman Health Sciences Library (1135 E. Catherine St. at street level), or wrap and send them in campus mail to Schnitzer c/o Taubman Health Sciences Library, 48109-2038.

For questions, please contact [email protected] or 936-1402.

Our wonderful colleague and owner of ScreenLine L.L.C., CART services provider Sue Deer Dembowski, will retire at the end of December, 2019. Sue has supported the accessibility of this University for years, providing CART transcriptions of excellent quality at countless UM events, including so many of our own Council meetings! 

Having started her career as a court reporter in 1975, Sue quickly realized her true calling would be CART services, the field she transitioned to in 1990, which fortuitously coincided with the passage of the American's with Disabilities Act (ADA). Since then, she has dedicated her professional career and that of her company, the CART provider ScreenLine L.L.C., to providing high quality and accessible transcriptions. To accomplish this, Sue and the other member-providers at ScreenLine regularly engaged in continuing education trainings that focused on both advancements in CART transcription technologies as well as cultural knowledge among the Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Hard-of-Hearing communities. In Sue's words: "it's been an amazing, meaningful and transformative career". 

Though she could never be replaced, her CART transcription services will be taken over by Leticia "Letty" Fox in the new year. Letty shares Sue's vision for the L.L.C., which will owned and operated by her under the name ScreenLine Captioning L.L.C. starting January, 2020. 

Japanese artist Mari Katayama spoke about her art, the creative process, and her experience living with a disability at the Michigan Theater as part of the Penny Stamps Speaker Series. Mari was born with a developmental condition and had both her legs amputated at the age of 9, a reality that fuels her artwork. Click the following link for the Michigan Daily's full coverage of Katayama's work and participation in the panel.

The University of Michigan's Human Resources department, Michigan Medicine and University Health Service hosted a panel discussion titled “Unintended Consequences: Panel on the Impact of ‘Opioid Crisis’ Messaging on Those with Chronic Pain.” The panelist included Shanna Kattari, Clarissa Love, and Emma Garrett. Much of the conversation from the panelists focused on the level of pain each has encountered and negative experiences they’ve had with doctors who dismissed their medical conditions and believed they were addicted to medication. Although the event was successful, the event also addressed accessibility within the university as one of the panelists was not able to find parking and ultimately did not attend the event. 

Click the following link for the full Michigan Daily coverage of the event.

Council members Anna Ercoli Schnitzer and Bonnie A. Dede have co-authored the first history of the University of Michigan Council for Disability Concerns, Diversity Includes Disability: Perspectives on the U-M Council for Disability Concerns. This new publication from Michigan Publishing’s Maize Books is available as an open-access online publication and as a paperback available for purchase.

The Michigan Medicine (dis)Ability Committee, co-coordinated by Clarissa Love of the Office of Health Equity and InclusionI and Michelle Meade, faculty member of U-M's Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R), was established to provide accessibility and accommodations for disabilities, whenever needed, to both the staff and patients at U-M's Michigan Medicine complex. Founding members of the Committee are attached to both the Library and the Hospital; however, the membership is open to anyone interested, including local community members. The group meets on the second Wednesday of each month, at noon, usually in a room of the Taubman Health Sciences Building. Remote access through BlueJeans conferencing is also available. Email them at [email protected].