[Blindtlk] Remembering "Disability Champion" Jay Stiteley

[David Andrews]

>FYI:

Some people may be interested in this:



>
>Remembering "Disability Champion" Jay Stiteley
>Date Posted: 08/25/2016
>
>While many friends and colleagues at the recent 
>International Conference of the Association for 
>Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually
>Impaired (AER) were recording audio greetings 
>and well wishes for Jay H. Stiteley, who was 
>fighting an aggressive form of cancer, Mr. Stiteley died during
>the conference, on July 23, 2016. Described as a 
>"disability champion," Mr. Stiteley was most 
>recently working as the manager of the Mayor's Office for
>People with Disabilities (MOPD), Department of 
>Neighborhoods, City of Houston, Texas, a position he had held since 2014.
>
>As manager of MOPD, Mr. Stiteley served as the 
>primary advocate for the disability community of 
>Houston, and he worked closely with city officials, the
>Houston Commission on Disabilities, and partner 
>agencies to ensure the delivery of essential 
>services, including legal clinics, financial empowerment workshops,
>tax-preparation assistance, and job and health 
>fairs. He introduced "disability etiquette" 
>workshops for local professionals, partnered with the Houston
>Center for Independent Living on a 
>voter-registration drive, and most recently 
>collaborated with community partners to present employment and workforce
>training workshops and a job fair for veterans 
>and people with disabilities in the spring of 2016.
>
>Born September 15, 1954, in Plainfield, 
>Illinois, Mr. Stiteley had more than 30 years of 
>professional experience in the field of visual impairment. He
>began his higher education at Rockford College 
>(now Rockford University) in Rockford, Illinois, 
>where he earned a bachelor's degree in history. He went
>on to earn a master's degree in rehabilitation 
>teaching for visually impaired adults from 
>Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, was certified to teach
>visually impaired children, and he continued his 
>education with a second master's degree in 
>management from Thomas Edison State College (now Thomas Edison
>State University) in Trenton, New Jersey. Over 
>the course of his career, Mr. Stiteley worked 
>for five years as a rehabilitation teacher in both residential
>and itinerant programs, he worked with children 
>and adults as an assistive technology specialist 
>for 13 years. His experience in management includes work
>as director of the former Chicago, 
>Illinois–based National Technology Program of 
>the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB; now AFB Tech, based in Huntington,
>West Virginia), dean of students for the 
>Tennessee School for the Blind in Nashville, and 
>director of Rehabilitation Services for World Services for the
>Blind in Little Rock, Arkansas. In addition, he 
>held several positions over the course of many 
>years at The Seeing Eye, a dog guide school in Morristown,
>New Jersey, including as its associate manager. 
>A dog guide user himself, at the time of his 
>death, he was handling his seventh dog guide, Nelson, with
>whom he trained at The Seeing Eye. A man of many 
>talents, a little-known fact about Mr. Stiteley 
>is that he participated in the 1980 games of the Olympics
>for the Disabled (now called Paralympics) in 
>Arnhem, Holland, as a member of the U.S. swimming and track team.
>
>A passionate advocate for assistive technology, 
>Mr. Stiteley established two computer-training 
>programs for visually impaired people at the Western Blind
>Rehabilitation Center, VA Palo Alto Health Care 
>System, in California, and at the Criss Cole 
>Rehabilitation Center, Texas Commission for the Blind and
>Visually Impaired, in Austin, Texas. His 
>consumer-advocacy work included service on the 
>Federal Communications Commission Consumer Advisory Committee and
>on the advisory boards for the 
>telecommunications company Verizon, which is 
>based in New York, and the Atlanta, Georgia–based airline Delta Air Lines.
>He also served on the Board of Directors for AER 
>and as president and chair of the Board of 
>Directors for the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation
>and Education Professionals (ACVREP).
>
>Under Mr. Stiteley's leadership, in 2014, ACREP 
>established a five-year exam scholarship fund, 
>to which $2,000 had been added annually, a process that
>was planned to continue through 2019. The ACVREP 
>Board of Directors recently voted to rename the 
>scholarship fund The Jay H. Stiteley Memorial Scholarship
>Fund and to make it a permanent offering. Until 
>the time of his death, Mr. Stiteley served as 
>the founding chair of the Certified Assistive Technology
>Instructional Specialist for People with Visual 
>Impairments (CATIS) Subject Matter Expert Committee for ACVREP.
>
>Since his death, Mr. Stiteley has been hailed by 
>friends and colleagues. The current chair of the 
>ACVREP Board, Mickey Damelio, Florida State University,
>stated,
>
>block quote
>Jay was a lion of a man and professional in our 
>field. If you had the privilege to work with 
>him, you quickly learned to respect his wisdom, gentle leadership
>style, and genuine nature. He was passionate 
>about people with vision loss achieving their 
>full potential, accessing independence and employment, and having
>the appropriate education and tools to do so. . 
>. . ACVREP mourns his passing and will miss him 
>tremendously, I'll miss him as a mentor and dear friend.
>block quote end
>
>Mr. Stiteley was described in his obituary as, 
>"Always shining as an example of a successful, 
>independent blind person, [he] touched the lives of everyone
>he met. . . . Though many will mourn his 
>passing, he will be especially missed by his 
>dog-guide, Nelson." Mr. Stiteley's survivors include his wife of
>20 years, Karen Stiteley, who is also a 
>professional in the field of visual impairment. 
>His funeral was held July 29, 2016, at St. Anne's Catholic Church
>in Houston, and a further celebration of his 
>life is planned for Friday, September 16th, 
>2016, with friends and colleagues joining in a national celebration
>from various locations around the United States, 
>including at The Seeing Eye and the Texas School 
>for the Blind and Visually Impaired. For more information,
>contact: The Seeing Eye, P.O. Box 375, 
>Morristown, NJ 07963; phone: 973-539-4425; e-mail:
>info at seeingeye.org
>; website:
>www.seeingeye.org.
>