>"`Freedom Machines' is required viewing for teachers, service
>providers, policy makers, and anyone who works with disabled
>children, adults, or seniors."
>  -Andy Imparato, President & CEO, American Association of People
> with Disabilities
>
>Contact: Sally Rubin, Associate Producer, 415-821-3791,
>www.freedommachines.com
>
>The nationally renowned documentary, "FREEDOM MACHINES," has been
>re-released as a bilingual (English-Spanish), fully accessible, DVD
>Education Package. One of the first of its type in the world, this
>DVD is bringing the film and its message into the nations spotlight.
>
>"Freedom Machines," which aired nationally on PBS in the fall of
>2004, focuses on the urgent and critical importance of providing
>assistive technology to those who need it most. Jeanne Argoff, PhD,
>Executive Director of the Disability Funders Network, said:
>"`Freedom Machines is a powerful film and a powerful call to action."
>
>The "Freedom Machines" DVD Education Package has been touted as a
>powerful new resource for political advocates and public policy
>makers, staff and professional development, and government and
>community agencies. The film has been praised for its intimate and
>powerful stories of adults and children ages 8-93, revealing the
>human and social benefits of providing access to life-enhancing
>tools to people with disabilities.
>
>Executive Producer Janet Cole, whose credits include the
>Oscar-nominated "Regret to Inform" and "Promises" said, "Fifteen
>years after the ADA, `Freedom Machines' reflects on our nations
>commitment to our largest minority group, people with disabilities.
>Today, physical or mental impairments need not be impediments if
>people have access to necessary technologies, services, and
>accommodations. Human ingenuity and technology have evolved
>exponentially. Now the real challenge is mobilizing the social will
>to dismantle outmoded stereotypes and nurture the talents of 20% of
>our citizens."
>
>Along with captions, video description, and Talking Menus, this DVD
>comes equipped with a Discussion Guide, a Lesson Plan, a Resource
>List, and four new segments on types of assistive technology, legal
>rights and advocacy, strategies to secure technology, and Universal Design.
>
>"`Freedom Machines' is a remarkable film that will change forever
>the way you look at disability.  It shows the transformative power
>of technology when placed in the hands of people with disabilities
>and challenges your ideas about what is achievable today," say Ginny
>and Dick Thornburgh. (Ginny Thornburgh founded and directs the
>Religion and Disability Program for the National Organization on
>Disability. Dick Thornburgh was Attorney General of the U.S. from 1988 -1991.)
>
>For more information: www.freedommachines.com
>