SENATE MEMORIAL 48

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Gerald Ortiz y Pino

A MEMORIAL

RECOGNIZING NEW MEXICO YOUNG DISABILITY LEADERS AND ENCOURAGING PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO SUPPORT DISABILITY HISTORY AND AWARENESS INSTRUCTION.

     WHEREAS, New Mexico young disability leaders is a collaborative project between the governor's commission on disability and the university of New Mexico's center for development and disability created in July 2010; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico young disability leaders is an advocacy group for people with disabilities, run by individuals ages eighteen to thirty-three with disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, members of New Mexico young disability leaders have presented at several conferences and conduct panel discussions, presentations and live-action skits to promote awareness and understanding of disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, members have also begun a peer mentoring program for youths in transition, and more than sixty peer mentors have been certified across New Mexico in the past year; and

     WHEREAS, members of New Mexico young disability leaders are passionate about public policy that affects people with disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, the establishment of disability history and awareness instruction in public schools is an important objective; and

     WHEREAS, the goals of disability history and awareness instruction include:

          A. instilling in students a sensitivity toward fellow students with disabilities and encouraging educational cultures that nurture safe and inclusive environments for students with disabilities in which bullying is discouraged and respect and appreciation for students with disabilities are encouraged;

          B. a discussion of disability as a natural part of the human experience, in which individuals are more alike than different;

          C. an acknowledgment that, regardless of disability, each individual is afforded the same rights and responsibilities as every other individual;

          D. the creation of a more inclusive school community, where students with disabilities are included in every aspect of society and every student is acknowledged for the student's unique gifts, talents and contributions; and

          E. a reaffirmation of the local, state and federal commitment to the full inclusion in society of and the equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that New Mexico young disability leaders be recognized for its contributions in providing awareness and understanding of disabilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that educators be encouraged to support the goals of disability history and awareness instruction; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the public education department be requested to encourage each school board to use an established disability curriculum that incorporates the goals for disability history and awareness instruction; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each school district and charter school be encouraged to exercise innovative means to accomplish the goals of disability history and awareness instruction; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that state higher education institutions be encouraged to conduct and to promote activities on each campus to provide education, understanding and awareness of individuals with disabilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of public education, the director of the vocational rehabilitation division of the public education department, the secretary of human services, the superintendent of the New Mexico school for the deaf, the superintendent of the New Mexico school for the blind and visually impaired, the superintendent of the New Mexico military institute and the executive director of the commission for the blind.

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