INSTITUTE ON DISABILITY CULTURE 1999 ACTIVITIES

INSTITUTE ON DISABILITY CULTURE

2260 Sunrise Point Rd. 
Las Cruces, NM 88011, USA
505-522-5225 Voice/FAX/TDD 
http://www.dimenet.com/disculture/
eccentriclil@aol.com
SBrown8912@aol.com

Promoting pride in the history, activities, and cultural identity of
individuals with disabilities throughout the world.

A little HISTORY

     Steven E. Brown and Lillian Gonzales Brown, Institute on
Disability Culture Founders, have worked in the field of disability
rights for twenty years, first individually, then as a husband and wife
team.  Brief biographies follow.

     LILLIAN GONZALES BROWN has been on the cutting edge
of various aspects of the disability rights movement such as Peer
Support, Independent Living Skills, Sexuality, and Disability Culture.
     Gonzales Brown joined the Independent Living Movement
in the 1970's at the world's first IL center: the Center for
Independent Living (CIL) in Berkeley, California.  A member of the
team which designed and implemented the country's original
Independent Living Curriculum, she also worked with disabled
people in a variety of direct services areas, such as Peer Support,
Sexuality, Independent Living Skills Training, and goal planning.   
     A  complementary background in the field of  Sexuality and
Disability began with training as a  Disability Educator, then
becoming an associate staff member, at the Sex and Disability Unit,
University of California, San Francisco.  Work in the field included
community education, conference planning and presentations,
lecturing at colleges and universities, continuing education for
health professionals, and curriculum development for specific
groups in the disabled community.  Offering her services as a
private consultant, Gonzales Brown contributed to the early
development and implementation of sexuality curricula which
advocated for  rights to information, relationships and privacy for
people with mental retardation.  
     Continuing to add to her expertise, Gonzales Brown worked
as a Health Educator for Planned Parenthood, integrating a
disability focus into staff trainings and community education.  She
worked for ten years on a voluntary basis for suicide prevention
programs, doing crisis intervention and training of counselors.
     During her tenure at CIL in Berkeley, and later at the World
Institute on Disability, Gonzales Brown also developed 
individualized Peer Support and independent living skills training
programs for international students and visitors.  Having gained
international recognition for her expertise in Peer Support, for the
past decade she has been sought after to conduct trainings abroad
on different aspects of the disability movement .  She has taught
courses in Europe, Latin America, New Zealand, Japan, and
Scandinavia for various disability groups and newly forming
independent living centers. 

     STEVEN E. BROWN, Founder, Institute on Disability
Culture, earned a doctorate in history in 1981 at the University of
Oklahoma.  When discrimination detoured a career in history, he
expanded his activities with a local disability rights group, and set
the stage for his last two decades of work within the disability rights
movement.
     Brown's initial work in disability rights involved development
of peer support and skills training programs, community organizing
and public education at Progressive Independence, an Oklahoma
independent living center.  Subsequent positions as an advocate,
then as a disability specialist providing information and referral in a
statewide advocacy agency, led to a stint as executive director of
Progressive Independence (PI).  While at PI, Brown's unswerving
commitment to advocacy and empowerment issues with all
disability populations became widely known and respected .  
     Brown embraced the 1990s with a new role as Training
Director for the Research and Training Center on Public Policy in
Independent Living at the World Institute on Disability (WID) in
Oakland, California.  In this capacity, he facilitated planning of the
1991 international symposium, "Empowerment Strategies for the
Development of a National Personal Assistance Services System," 
supervised an internship program for disabled college students,
and was instrumental in including concepts of disability culture in
WID publications and activities.         
     Brown, and his wife and partner, Lillian Gonzales Brown,
realized their dream to establish the not-for-profit Institute on
Disability Culture (IDC) in early 1994, shortly after moving to
southern New Mexico.  
     Brown's publications include INDEPENDENT LIVING:
THEORY AND PRACTICE, which has been translated into several
languages; INVESTIGATING A CULTURE OF DISABILITY:  FINAL
REPORT, the result of a prestigious Switzer Fellowship from the
National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation and Research of the
Department of Education, the first funding of its type for research
into the field of Disability Culture; A CELEBRATION OF
DIVERSITY:  AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ABOUT
DISABILITY CULTURE; and two books of poetry, PAIN, PLAIN--
AND FANCY RAPPINGS:  POETRY FROM THE DISABILITY
CULTURE and VOYAGES:  LIFE JOURNEYS; and dozens of
articles.
     In recent years, Brown has begun work on a book about
disability rights pioneer Ed Roberts, begun an online newsletter, the
MANIFESTO, continued to publish articles about disability culture
and disability rights in a variety of publications, and conducted
trainings throughout the United States and Europe on a variety of
disability related subjects.   

                 INSTITUTE ON DISABILITY CULTURE

     In the 1980s, Steve and Lil perceived a need for knowledge
about the history, ideologies, and diverse expressions of people
with disabilities.  They left California for New Mexico in 1993 and
established the Institute on Disability Culture, a 501(c)(3)
not-for-profit organization. 
     The purpose of the organization is to promote the history,
activities and cultural identity of individuals with disabilities
throughout the world.  
     The Founders have accomplished these objectives through
presentations and  publications.  A 1999 Sampler of activities and a
typical workshop overview follow:

1999 TRAINING/CONSULTING

Facilitator:  Poetry Workshop, Very Special Arts New Mexico,
Albuquerque, NM, Dec. 1999.

Poet-in-Residence, Another Planet, Picacho Middle School, Las
Cruces, NM, Oct.-Nov. 1999.

Facilitator:   '"FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT:'  INDEPENDENT
LIVING HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY,"  National Teleconferences, 
ILRU/NCIL National Training and Technical Assistance Project,
Aug.-Sept. March 1999.

Peer Reviewer, Office of Special Education Programs, US
Department of Education, Washington, D.C.

Trainer, "What is Independent Living?" Southern New Mexico
Center for Independent Living, Las Cruces, NM, January 1999.

1999 PRESENTATIONS

Keynote Speaker, "Interdependence, 'Out of Isolation':  Many
Working Together as One," Region VI Independent Living
Conference, Albuquerque, NM, Dec. 1999.

Luncheon Keynoter, "Celebrating Disability:  Initiative 2000," Arts
for Life/Artes Para La Vida Training Institute and Conference, Very
Special Arts New Mexico, Las Cruces, NM, Sept. 1999.

Luncheon Speaker, "Access 2000," New Mexico Governor's
Committee on Concerns of the Handicapped Annual Meeting,
Roswell, NM, June 1999.

Presenter, "Disability Sensitivity Awareness,"  New Mexico Building
Codes 1999 Training on Chapter 11--Accessibility, Las Cruces, NM,
January 1999.

FOR BOOKING INFORMATION, CONTACT STEVEN E. BROWN
OR LILLIAN GONZALES BROWN AT INSTITUTE ON DISABILITY
CULTURE, 2260 SUNRISE POINT RD., LAS CRUCES, NM 88011,
(505) 522-5225 OR FOR STEVEN BROWN ALSO AT:

Speak Out, Speakers, Artists, Exhibits, Films, PO Box
99096, Emeryville, CA 94662 (510) 601-0182; (510) 601-
0183; E-mail:  speakout@igc.or; World Wide Web: 
www.vida.com/speakout

1999 PUBLICATIONS

Contributing Editor, DISABILITY STUDIES QUARTERLY.

"Cancers," "Holding Toes," and "One-Legged Woman," THE 
ENABLED WRITER:  AN ANTHOLOGY OF PROSE AND POETRY
BY NEW MEXICANS WITH DISABILITIES, Vol. 6, (Very Specials
Arts New Mexico:  PO Box 7784, Albuquerque, NM 87194, 1999),
4-6, 13-14, 27-28.

Advocacy-Oriented Peer Support--Part Two:  Moving From Talk to
Action," Readings in Independent Living, ILRU/NCIL National
Training and Technical Assistance Project, (March 1999).

"Communicating at the end of the Twentieth Century:  Innovative
Computer Programs," ILRU/NCIL National Training and Technical
Assistance Project, (Dec. 1999).

"The Curb Ramps of Kalamazoo:  Discovering Our Unrecorded
History,"  DISABILITY STUDIES QUARTERLY, 19 (3), (Summer
1999), 203-05.

"Freak Show," RAGGED EDGE:  THE DISABILITY EXPERIENCE
IN AMERICA, 20 (4), (July/Aug. 1999), 36.

Innovative Programs:  An Example of How CILs Can Put Their
Work in the Context of Disability Culture," Readings in Independent
Living, ILRU/NCIL National Training and Technical Assistance
Project, (July 1999).

"Peer Counseling:  Advocacy-Oriented Peer Support--Part One,"
Readings in Independent Living, ILRU/NCIL National Training and
Technical Assistance Project, (February 1999).

"Rethinking the Disability Agenda," THE CHEROTIC
(R)EVOLUTIONARY:  A ZINE OF ALL POSSIBILITIES, 1 (8)
(1999), 6-7.

"Some Ruminations on the SDS Retreat," DISABILITY STUDIES
QUARTERLY, 19 (2) (Spring 1999), 141-42.

"A Vision of Redemption:  Centers for Independent Living in the
New Millennium," RAGGED EDGE:  THE DISABILITY
EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA, 20 (2), (March/April 1999), 12-15, 30.

                 EXPLORING A DISABILITY CULTURE
                                
                      (A WORKSHOP OVERVIEW)

     We try to combine music, poetry, slides and any media that
fits to portray a history of oppression and resilience.  Despite social
devaluation throughout the centuries, we have survived,
persevered, and learned to celebrate our existence.  
     Many participants are exposed for the first time to
documentation of our history.  We want to celebrate our reasons for
pride as well as acknowledge the often difficult times in our history.  
     Audience interaction is crucial and we designate as much
time for it as possible.  Much of the fun and learning to be
accomplished during these workshops comes from give-and-take
with the audience. 
     People with disabilities create all of the art used in our
presentations.   This  reinforces the idea that we are ALL
co-creators of our history and culture, and share valuable
contributions in the journey from disability shame to disability pride.

     Here are some comments from participants of previous
presentations:


A wonderful, lively discussion full of sound & fury, signifying just
about everything this conference should represent...Mesmerizing
discussion.  Made the whole conference for me...Thanks!  I knew
you were good-but wow!  You did exactly what I wanted (shake up
people's thinking) and did it quite skillfully...Superbly
knowledgeable...Audience involvement good...Very open group 
participation and interaction... Made me more aware of the
Disability Culture in the USA... Historical perspective was
interesting, particularly the influence historical events and attitudes
have on our current social outlook... Learning that we do have to
"stand alone"...  It is "no crime" to be different...  A combination of
many things...Learn things everyday...It was fun!

                 FEES FOR SERVICES AND PRODUCTS

             ADDITIONAL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE