Center for Disabilities Studies

College faculty and students with certain disabilities such as autism and hearing loss are concerned that campus mandatory mask policies will cause them difficulties in the classroom, at meetings and at social events. UD Assistant Professor Jaipreet Virdi, who is deaf, said that she chose to teach her courses online and had to turn down invitations to in-person events because she relied on lip-reading to communicate. Virdi also warned that people with disabilities may face discipline or discrimination for going maskless, even for legitimate reasons.

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Civil Rights (OCR) resolved a disability discrimination complaint against Tennessee after state officials revised guidelines for triaging medical care. Disability advocates say the agreement includes “key precedent-setting changes” relevant for medical professionals across the country. Tennessee is the fourth state to face OCR scrutiny during the coronavirus pandemic, following Alabama, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

The White House Coronavirus Task Force encouraged schools to resume in-person instruction based on local coronavirus conditions, a day after President Trump threatened to withhold funding to schools that did not reopen in the fall. The federal government contribution to public schools’ total funding – which is set by Congress, not the president – averages less than 10 percent and mainly supports students with disabilities and those from other minority groups.

More than 53,000 absentee ballots were cast in Delaware’s 2020 presidential primary, approximately 10 times as many as were cast in the 2016 primary. Legislation signed into law by Gov. Carney’s will provide Delawareans the option to vote by mail in the general election this November, without having to request an absentee ballot. State Election Commissioner Anthony Albence estimates mail-in ballots could account for half of all votes cast in future elections.

The Paycheck Protection Program, part of the federal effort to stabilize the economy during the coronavirus pandemic, helped two companies serving Delawareans with disabilities retain about 870 employees, according to information released by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Community Systems, Inc. and Easterseals of Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore both received federal loans between $2 million and $5 million to cover staff paychecks during the early days of the pandemic.