Disability Awareness Day features speaker and expo

Carol Westlake, the founding executive director of the Tennessee Disability Coalition, will be the featured speaker at a free Disability Awareness Day at Pellissippi State Oct. 12. The day is part of the college’s monthlong celebration of cultures during October.

Through the Coalition, Westlake works to organize and unite the disability community to affect public policy and service delivery for people with disabilities. She has been employed in the Tennessee not-for-profit disability sector since 1985. Her background and training are in special education and public policy.

Westlake serves on the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities’ Policy and Planning Council and the state Election Commission’s Help America Vote Act Advisory Committee. Previous government service appointments include service on the TennCare Steering Committee, the Title 33 Law Revision Commission, Long Term Care Advisory Council and the community-based Services Planning Commission.

Westlake has helped to establish a number of advocacy programs in Tennessee, including STEP (Support and Training for Exceptional Parents), Inc.; the Center for Independent Living of Middle Tennessee; and the Tennessee Respite Coalition. She also sits on numerous boards of directors and assists both agencies and individuals in advocacy efforts.

Everyone is invited to hear Westlake speak at 1:45 p.m. in the Goins Auditorium.

Services for Students With Disabilities, the sponsor of the day’s activities, also invites everyone to visit the free expo that will be held as part of Disability Awareness Day. Representatives from local agencies that provide services for people with disabilities will provide information about their agencies 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Student Lounge. Accessible vehicles will be on display as well. Door prizes will be given.

For more information on Disability Awareness Day, contact Cynthia Andresen at crandresen@pstcc.edu or 539-7249 or 694-6751 (TDD).