The Arc Wisconsin

06/05/2026

Fact Check Friday:

Myth: People with I/DD can't work
Fact: When their access needs are met and they are supported in their roles, they can absolutely work.
Data from the American Community Survey (ACS) released by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that Wisconsin achieved a record high of 189,194 working-age individuals with disabilities employed in 2023.

06/04/2026

BPDD's Fellowship application program is now open for applications!
A past fellow recently became the Executive Director of the Board for People with Developmental Disabilities, and others have gone on to get jobs with the state departments.

Applications are now open for the WI Disability Policy Fellowship! The Fellowship Program is open to individuals with developmental disabilities and family members of people with developmental disabilities who are committed to disability rights advocacy. Individuals with experience with state or local advocacy, strong communication skills, and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team. The Fellowship will last one year starting in September 2026 until August 2027. Fellows will work full-time, 40 hours a week and will receive an annual stipend of $63,000. Each Fellow will be placed at either a state agency, legislative office, or advocacy organization.

Apply here: https://wi-bpdd.org/index.php/wi-disability-policy-leadership-program/

Application due June 24th, 2026 at 5pm

You can learn more about the Fellowship program by joining our listening session on June 8th from 12:00pm-1:00 pm. You can register for the information session here: https://www3.thedatabank.com/dpg/579/personal2.asp?formid=PolicyFellowWeb&c=20260603164033234707&ctz=America%2FChicago&ctzabv=6%2F3%2F2026&tzoffset=-300

06/03/2026

Upcoming Advocacy Event Spotlight:

June 12th Roundtable on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health put on by State Senator Mark Spreitzer and the following representatives: State Representative Clinton Anderson State Representative Brienne Brown, and State Representative Anne Roe.

Our Advocacy and Outreach Specialist Sydney is going to the event with the Executive Director of The Arc Wisconsin Dawn Scannell. Sydney will represent the voices of people with I/DD.

06/01/2026

Voices of Wisconsin- Abigail Tessman

Advocacy has become a major part of my life over the last 12 years. After graduating from the cutting-edge program at Edgewood College in 2014, I continued pursuing opportunities in education, transportation training, disability inclusion, and public speaking.

One area I am especially passionate about is helping people with disabilities build confidence and independence using public transportation. Through my business, Transit2GO, I help train individuals and groups on how to navigate city bus systems and explore their communities more independently.

I have also continued growing as a self-advocate by speaking with community members, educators, leadership teams, and policymakers about accessibility, inclusion, and the importance of creating welcoming spaces for people with disabilities.

Advocacy is not always about one big moment. Sometimes it is about the everyday conversations, trainings, and experiences that slowly help create change over time. I look forward to continuing that work in the years ahead.

06/01/2026

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐓! The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) is meeting on Tuesday, June 2, to decide whether the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) services should get the extra money it needs to begin helping people with disabilities who are on the DVR waitlist, want to work, and need help getting a job.

The state budget did not set aside enough money to cover the costs of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR). There are more than 7,000 people on the DVR waitlist, and it’s estimated that the list will grow to 15,000 by the end of the year without enough state funding.

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝟗 𝐀𝐌 𝐓𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟐: Contact the members of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance and your State Senator and State Assembly Representatives and tell them what it means when people with disabilities and families have to wait for help when they want to work.

LINKS FOR LEGISLATIVE CONTACT INFO:
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2025/committees/joint/2920
https://legis.wisconsin.gov/

06/01/2026

https://thearc.org/blog/the-truth-about-the-rword/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=awareness&utm_term=2026-0601
A good article, and great reminder about the R-Word!

The R-word is not just a word—it’s a slur that harms people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Read powerful firsthand stories of the pain this word causes.

05/29/2026

Check out this great webinar coming up!

ERI is excited to participate in Benefits Management, an upcoming webinar hosted by Disability:IN Wisconsin

This webinar will help employers, hiring managers, and workplace leaders better understand how employment impacts Social Security benefits, Medicaid, and Medicare for individuals with disabilities.

Participants will learn:
✅ How benefits and wages work together
✅ What work incentives can support employment success
✅ How employers can better support employees with disabilities
✅ Practical ways to strengthen inclusive hiring practices

Date: June 10, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM CT
Register Today ➡️ https://ow.ly/yg7C50Z5NtA

The webinar will be presented by Jolene Wanek, ERI Client Services Director, who has nearly 25 years of experience in employment services and benefits counseling.

We’re honored to be part of this important conversation around disability inclusion and employment.

05/29/2026

Tool of the Month!

What is it?
Wispr Flow AI is a next-generation voice dictation application designed for Mac and Windows. While traditional speech-to-text tools require you to speak like a robot or manually fix typos, Wispr Flow utilizes context-aware AI to automatically clean up your speech in real time. It removes filler words ("um," "uh"), fixes grammar, structures rambling sentences, and places proper punctuation effortlessly.

Why it Matters for Staff & Advocates:
Traditional writing and typing can create massive bottlenecks for advocacy workers and individuals with disabilities. This tool is a breakthrough in speech dictation technology.
For Neurodivergent Individuals: It addresses the "brain-to-page" block. You can speak out loud in a messy, unstructured stream of consciousness, and the tool instantly reformats it into a clean, cohesive email or document.
For Physical & Mobility Accommodations: It offers hands-free typing that is accurate enough for professional legal, medical, and administrative casework, drastically outperforming standard operating system dictation software.
For Rapid Self-Advocacy: Advocates can draft high-quality letters, policy responses, or client notes at triple the speed of typing, bypassing the exhaustion of heavy keyboard workloads.

How it works in practice: You can literally say: “Uh, write a note to John telling him that we need to submit that Wisconsin DHS Form by Friday... oh wait, make that Thursday afternoon because I'm out on Friday.”
Wispr Flow automatically types: "Hi John, please note that we need to submit the Wisconsin DHS Form by Thursday afternoon, as I will be out of the office on Friday."

05/24/2026

May is Mental Health Awareness Month:

A reminder that healing isn’t linear, but it is possible