Topics that were addressed during the half-day session included: differences and commonalities among patients with and without disabilities; disability etiquette tips for health care professionals; ADA Title III obligations for medical providers; and an overview and practice of effective service techniques to use when providing care to patients with visible and hidden disabilities.

In addition to delivering this training, Bruckner Consultants LLC developed a 30 page handbook for participants to use as a reference.

“Great presentation. Good handouts. Easy to follow.” NCMA training participant

Glendale training audience

In April 2011, we provided training to Glendale staff and managers on the Americans with Disabilities Act and serving city customers with disabilities.

Topics that were addressed during each of the four interactive training sessions included: definitions and demographics of disability; the requirements of the ADA; basic disability etiquette; and techniques for effectively providing services to city customers with vision, speech, hearing, learning, mental health, and mobility disabilities.

In addition to delivering the training, Bruckner Consultants LLC developed a 25 page handbook, provided as a reference tool for all participants.

Glendale presentation

During March 2011, we conducted three disability awareness training sessions for San Francisco Human Services Agency staff. Each session included presentations by the consultants, question and answer periods, and an activity in which participants applied the training concepts to work situations. In addition, all of the attendees were provided with a disability awareness handbook developed by Bruckner Consultants LLC. Jennifer Walsh of COMAAT and her communication assistant, Alva, joined us for these sessions.

Victoria and William Bruckner interview in Switzerland, part 1

Bruckner interview in Switzerland, part 2

Teaching peer counseling

During autumn 2010 we conducted an exciting training and consulting tour, working with non-profit organizations in Europe over ten weeks.

We provided seminars on organizational development in Switzerland and Germany. At centers for self-determined living in Kassel and Stuttgart, we focused on important team building issues, staff roles, and board development.

Organizational development in Kassel

In Zurich we led two seminars at a Catholic social service organization we have worked with since 2004.

Linz peer counseling role play

We taught advanced workshops in peer counseling techniques for staff at IL centers in Innsbruck and Linz, Austria. Peer counseling is a powerful tool for peer support that has been used by people with disabilities all over the world. We provided supervision and coaching for experienced peer counselors, using person-to-person role plays.

Role play in Erlangen

In Erlangen, Germany we conducted a peer support seminar for people who use personal assistance in order to live independently.

In several cities we were also invited to lecture on, and discuss with our audiences, the effects that twenty years of the Americans with Disabilities Act has had on the quality of life of people with disabilities in the United States.

Linz audience for our ADA lecture

We compared the much greater availability of personal assistance and other support services in Northern Europe with the increased social equality and markedly greater accessibility of buildings, sidewalks, transportation and print materials in the U.S.A.

We responded to many enthusiastic, detailed questions and learned a great deal about the social, political, and economic lives of the people with disabilities whom we met. It was a very rewarding trip, and we brought back many new insights to use in our work here at home.

Bruckners in OMCA's Art Gallery

Bruckner Consultants LLC has assisted OMCA to become state-of-the-art with regard to disability customer service and the accessibility of exhibits in OMCA’s Art Gallery and History Gallery.

In June 2009 we provided training to OMCA staff, docents and volunteers on serving museum patrons with disabilities in situations ranging from the gift shop and cafe to galleries, exhibit tours, and even the parking garage.

In April 2010, just prior to the re-opening of the museum, we provided a follow-up training session for staff, volunteers, and museum guides.

We also conducted a walk-through of exhibits in the history and art galleries. We advised History Department and Art Department staff on such questions as the height and visibility of exhibits, the accessibility of many interactive features, the provision of portable labels, and captioning of video displays for Deaf and hard of hearing museum patrons.

We look forward to future collaborative efforts with the Oakland Museum of California as it implements these and other recommendations, and further builds its accessibility to the entire community.

SVILC provides support services and advocacy for people with disabilities throughout Santa Clara County. From its beginnings in 1976, SVILC has grown to become an organization with a staff of over twenty and an annual budget of more than $1 million.

Beginning in April 2009, Bruckner Consultants LLC, together with Michael J. Wong Consulting, started working with SVILC to create its five-year strategic plan.

We first reviewed agency background documents and convened a strategic planning committee, composed of key staff and board members. Then we developed a detailed online survey for the staff and board to complete. We created all of our documents and surveys in alternate formats for accessibility.

Next, we designed an external issues and trends assessment process, and an external issues survey. The survey was used by the strategic planning committee to interview key community stakeholders about their views of the organization, its potential community collaborators, and the possible obstacles and demographic trends that might affect its work.

We then facilitated a community forum at which agency consumers, SVILC’s most important stakeholders, shared their views about SVILC’s programs and services, and its future.

We analyzed all of these findings, and used them as a basis for facilitating three half-day retreat sessions for the staff and board, at which SVILC’s mission and vision, its strengths and weaknesses, and the external opportunities and threats it faced were all closely examined and evaluated.

We prepared a summary of all of the retreat data and met with the strategic planning committee to facilitate their drafting a set of strategic issues and desired outcomes that would form the core of the SVILC strategic plan.

The retreat process had proved so energizing for the organization that the executive director also formed a smaller committee to re-draft SVILC’s mission, vision and value statements. We incorporated these new statements together with the chosen strategic issues and outcomes, and used them to develop a complete strategic plan for the agency.

The plan includes our recommendations for implementation, and a full set of worksheets to guide SVILC through its annual and five-year planning processes.

We felt a tremendous sense of pride and enthusiasm from board members as we presented the full plan for adoption by the SVILC Board of Directors at its March 31, 2010 meeting.

Stay tuned for more news about our work with the Oakland Museum of California!