Upcoming! IDRAC 2018

Virtual Ability, Inc.® will present the 7th annual International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference (IDRAC), on October 5-6, 2018. This is an annual professional conference held online, that is free and open to the public. The conference will take place in Second Life® at The Sojourner Auditorium on Virtual Ability island.
This year's theme is "Taking Care of Us" This theme is broad and open to interpretation by the presenters we invited to this year's event. If past conferences are any indication, we look forward to lively discussions and information sharing among presenters and our very interested and interactive audience.
Below is an at-a-glance schedule of the presenters who will share their observations of the progress, benefits and challenges in disability rights in different parts of the world as applied to the current theme. We will provide more information about the speakers and their presentations as it becomes available. Note: All times are listed in US Pacific Daylight Time.

Friday October 5

7:00am Lusha Huang, a graduate student at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, will present "Enhancing Visually Impaired People’s Traveling Experience through Mobile Applications"

8:30am Coomara Pyaneandee, the Vice-Chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, will talk about the CRPD

10:00am Debbie Engelen-Eigles, who teaches Sociology and Gender Studies at Century College, will discuss "Learning from Korean Women with Disabilities: Lessons from the Field"

11:30am Emmy winner Jason DaSilva will discuss "Documenting Disability & Looking Towards the Future"

1:00pm Lauren Bruno (Post-doctoral researcher, University of Iowa) and Cassandra Willis (Graduate student, Virginia Commonwealth University), will present "A Survey of Alternative and Traditional Special Education Teachers’ Perception of Preparedness"

Saturday October 6

8:00am Patrick McKearney, University of Cambridge, presents "Care and Visibility: Modes of Agency in L’Arche"

9:30am TBA

11:00am An Interview with Peter Catapano

12:30pm Rev. Olutayo Shodipo, a Baptist minister from Nigeria, will discuss "Spirituality, Disability and Coping Strategy – Its Implication for Faith Communities"

2:00pm Amra Mohammed, from the University of Jeddah, will talk about creating policies to support twice-exceptional students in Saudi Arabia

More session confirmations expected shortly. Please stay tuned!