Press Release

The 2002 TASH Conference is a showcase of innovative "how-to" strategies, research, and empowering stories. Each of the over 350 breakout sessions include cutting-edge, practical information about changing images, attitudes and systems to empower individuals with disabilities and their families. Check out all the exciting experiences that await you!!! Click here to find out more about the 2002 TASH conference.

Keynote Speakers
Thursday December 12

Jamie Burke

Jamie Burke is a 16 year-old sophomore at Westhill High School in Syracuse, New York. He is fully included in a Regents Academic track program. Jamie has used facilitated communication since age five and has progressed from supported typing to independent typing, and typing with two hands. He is now able to read both his typing and unfamiliar text out loud. Jamie has recently written and narrated a documentary video entitled "Inside the Edge: A Journey to Using Speech Through Typing," produced by Syracuse University. The video tells of his experience with facilitated communication, developing speech, and inclusive schooling. Jamie is a frequent speaker at conferences and enjoys reading, bowling, the Syracuse Symphony, and is a member of the Young Actors Workshop of Syracuse Stage.

Robert Hayman, Jr.

Robert L. Hayman, Jr. is Professor of Law at Widener University of Law, Delaware campus. Mr. Hayman teaches and writes in the areas of Constitutional Law, Civil Rights, Equal Protection Law, and Jurisprudence. In his recent book The Smart Culture: Society, Intelligence, and Law, Hayman uses the powerful art of storytelling to attack pervasive American cultural assumptions of natural inequality. Interweaving engaging narratives with dramatic case studies, Hayman has written a history of intelligence that will forever change the way we think about who is smart and who is not. Hayman contends that the promise of a genuine equality can be realized only when the mythology of "intelligence" is dismantled, that is, when we recognize the decisive role of culture in defining intelligence and creating intelligence differences. He will speak to this issue, particularly around the recent Supreme Court Decision on the Garrett Case, and compare its understanding of disability with 19th century understandings of race and equality, and the frightening parallels.

The Patrick O'Hearn School

TASH is pleased to welcome back students from the Patrick O'Hearn School, a fully inclusive elementary school in Boston, to present a colorful and inspiring performance.