Are there individuals with disabilities involved in the planning process? If so, do their perspectives represent the broader views of the disability community?
Note: Not only is it important that many types of disabilities are represented (i.e., vision, mobility, cognitive, developmental, and hearing), but the ideas presented should encompass the views and needs of many individuals within a particular disability category. Example: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) utilizes the Incident Command System (ICS) to enable the Special Needs Advisor to evaluate all emergency preparedness activities. This individual provides input on all emergency plans for personnel and visitor movement (evacuation and shelter-in-place), communication systems (purchases and upgrades), as well as training programs and schedules. The Special Needs Advisor also studies the potential impact of policies under consideration by the USDA ICS. If a suggested program or system negatively impacts one of the four-major disability categories (vision, mobility, cognitive and hearing), then changes are made to ensure all have access to the information or program. Often, acc
