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You're listening to the Disability Law Lowdown Podcast, show number 55.

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Beth Case: Hello, and welcome to the Disability Law Lowdown podcast. I'm Beth Case, you may remember me as the producer of this show. And we are back after a bit of a hiatus. I have some exciting news. We have a new host. Jacquie Brennan, who was the former host, has moved on to do some other things and we have had an intensive nationwide search to come up with the best host for this show. And I am really thrilled! I think we have a fantastic new host and lucky enough to have him on the phone with me today. Our new host is Mr. Lex Frieden and I'll let him tell you more about himself. Lex, thanks so much for being with me.

Lex Frieden: Oh, Beth, thank you very much for taking the time and going to the effort of introducing to the folks today. The role that I have to play, filling the shoes of Jacquie Brennan is not an easy role because Jacquie knows so much and she has so many good contacts and she's such a good conversationalist, drawing out the important aspects of people's lives, the things they know and so on. But I'll try to do my best in this job. I noticed that you said we have had a nationwide search. If that's the case, we didn't leave far from home! As you and others who are no doubt listening know, I am director of the ILRU, Independent Living Research Utilization program at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital here in Houston, and also professor of biomedical informatics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. In addition, I'm a professor of rehabilitation both at UT Houston and at Baylor College of Medicine. But most of the time , I spend working on issues pertaining to community based services for people with disabilities, independent living, and adaptive technology for people with disabilities. I was last year appointed by the Chancellor of the University of Texas system as being the Health Fellow on disability for the system and in that capacity I've had the opportunity to make a number of trips to university campuses around the state. Also to NASA, to some military installations and I'll be doing more of that through the year. That's one of the things that I hope to be reporting on and having some guests to visit about on the podcast going forward.

Beth: Oh my goodness! I think we're lucky to have you, given everything that you've got on your plate right now, that you're finding time to take over this podcast. It sounds like you have a lot of great contacts yourself and will be able to bring some really great stuff to the show.

Lex: Beth, one of the benefits of working on the podcast is the opportunity to spend some quality time with some people whom I really have a lot of respect for. And these are the kinds of folks that we intend to have on the podcast, to be interviewing and to hear some of the things that they're doing and be able to share that with you all.

Beth: That sounds exciting. Now, you have quite a long and impressive history in disabilities. And for anyone in our audience who doesn't know who you are, and is not familiar with some of the things that you have done, you know, it's always a little uncomfortable, perhaps, to brag upon yourself, but go ahead! Tell us some of the things you've been involved with.

Lex: Well, you said I have a long history, and that's true! Beth, I just celebrated my sixty-second birthday this week.

Beth: Well, happy birthday!

Lex: Thanks very much. I have been disabled since I was eighteen years old so I have a lot of experience as an individual with a disability and I've been engaged in independent living practice throughout that time. So I guess I'm a consumer in one sense of the word. In that role, I've tried to learn as much as I can about how our society does and does not work for the benefit of people with disabilities, and to promote opportunity, both independent living opportunities and employment opportunities. I think that our society is set up to reward those who are able to work and I see no reason why people with disabilities, regardless of the extent or toward type of disability they have, I see no reason why anyone can't work, given the opportunities for adaptation that we have in technology, as well as in the environment.

Since the Americans with Disabilities Act passed and was signed by President Bush in 1990, we've had a transformation in the way our society relates to people with disabilities and I was pleased to have had a part in the ADA by serving as Executive Director of the National Council on Disability in the mid 1980s when we framed and outlined the legislation and had the opportunity to be engaged in the hearing process prior to passage of the law and work with the Bush White House both before and subsequent to passage of the law to ensure that the regulations got out and to ensure that the regulations were the coincident with the intent of Congress and the will of the population, mostly people with disabilities advocates, family members and others. And I think we did a rather good job of that. So that's part of the experience that I have to bring to this effort.

I also got curious early on after I was disabled about the grass on the other side of the fence, so to speak. And spent a lot of time traveling around the world, trying to see how people with disabilities in other countries manage. So with that experience, having experienced independent living here in the United States, and then living for several months on several occasions abroad, I can sort of get a sense of some of the things we could do better in the United States and some of the things that we've done reasonably well.

Beth: Well, Lex, I am so excited about the future of this podcast with you taking over at as host and to be conducting some interviews with people who are influential or very active in the field of disabilities. Can you give us a little sneak peek, anything you can share about what you've got in the works?

Lex: Well, one of the things that we want to do that is related to that which I've just described and that is look at some of the international aspects of disability and disability rights. The Global Disability Rights Library is a new resource that's online and then we'll be adding material to it over the next few years. It's intended to provide a database of information for people on disability rights around the world and it basically sponsors, it's intended, basically, to support the United Nations actions as they relate to the UN action for people with disabilities. So we'll be looking at the Global Disability Rights Library and related activities there. We'll be looking at some of the new regulations that the Department of Justice has published, as well as some of the new access rules that have been vetted and are coming out in the near term basis here. So, transportation is another area that we've seen some improvements in, but we want to see what's left to do and there are some new regulations that we'll talk about that apply to transportation, as well.

Altogether, Beth, I think there's a world of knowledge out there that we need to tap. Some great guests that we'll be having on the podcast and I'm looking forward to every one of those endeavors.

Beth: Well, you know, there's always a bit of a transition when you change hosts on a show and I'm sure that the show will be somewhat different from what it was when Jackie held the reins but I'm sure that it will be justice as fabulous and I am so excited to be working with you on this podcast. So thanks again for taking the time to talk with me in and fill in the audience about what's coming up. I'm sure that they're as excited as I am about seeing what's to come.

Lex: Beth, it's a pleasure to join you here and to meet all of those folks out there who are checking in on the podcast. I look forward to visiting with all of you, by one means or another. And please don't hesitate to contact me via the ILRU website or by my e-mail, which you can find on the ILRU website. I look forward to hearing from all of you. Thanks.

Beth: Thank you!

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The Disability Law Lowdown is brought to you by the Disability Business Technical Assistance Centers, which are a network of ADA centers that provide training, technical assistance and materials on the ADA and other disability-related laws. Funding for the centers is provided by a grant from NIDRR, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Visit our website, DisabilityLawLowdown.com to listen to past shows or read the transcript of this and past shows. You can also subscribe to the Disability Law Lowdown at our web site or on iTunes.



The Southwest and Rocky Mountain ADA Centers are part of a program of Independent Living Research Utilization at TIRR - Memorial Hermann in Houston, Texas, and is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. If you have questions about disability law or would like to request materials or training, please call 1-800-949-4232. This podcast is protected by the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivative-Works 2.5 License. For more information and transcripts, visit www.ada-podcast.com.