About the Presenters 

Sally Conway has been a valuable speaker from the US Department of Justice, agreeing to work with this and other DBTACs to provide insight and updates from the USDOJ. She has lectured extensively on role of an ADA coordinator, and on her pioneering work on the ADA mediation program within the DOJ. For her work in establishing the mediation prograqm, Ms. Conway is the recipient of the Maceo Hubbard Award. This award is named after an extraordinary civil servant who spent 40 years with the Department and is given to an individual who has furthered the cause of civil rights through a significant, innovative accomplishment. Moreover, we are pleased to announce Ms. Conway as a speaker because she has proven a very popular speaker known for both her depth of knowledge, entertaining delivery, and her excellent humor.

Ed Eames, PhD and Toni Eames, MS are a unique and powerful couple who are advocates for disabled people. Both are established writers and authors of several articles that have been published in Dog World Magazine and Cats Magazine. Their article “A Gentle Goodbye” was recently published in Chicken Soup for Cat and Dog Lover’s Soul. Recently they were in Kansas to attend the Conference for Cat and Dog Writers being held in Kansas City.

The couple took time out of their busy schedule to visit the KSU College of Veterinary Medicine on November 16. Sponsored by an educational grant from Bayer Animal Health, the couple travels to veterinary colleges and conferences throughout the U.S., Caribbean, and eventually, Canada. They primarily speak about the special needs of disabled clients and their assistance dogs.

Toni has been blind since birth from a condition known as macular degeneration. Toni contributes her independence to her mother who stressed the importance of techniques upon her daughter. Toni knew she would not live with her mother forever so she attended the Jewish Guild for the Blind for six months.

Ed became blind in his early forties due to retenitist pigmentosa. He says the visions from his sighted years have blurred over time. Dr. and Ms. Eames met in New York City in 1984 when Ed consulted frequently with Toni on the book he was to publish about guide dogs. They married in 1987 and relocated to California where they both are currently Adjunct Professors of Sociology at California State University at Fresno. [Ed has since, retired]

Although the Eameses were already writers, they began their mission to educate the public on assistance dogs by making personal appearances in 1992. Their new careers began from an experience they had at another veterinary hospital. Their guide dog was treated with a steroid that induced a constant thirst, and subsequently, a frequent need to urinate. This is not a good thing for a guide dog. From this terrible experience, they decided to educate the general public on what a guide dog or assistance dog’s job is and how disabled persons need to be treated in society.

This information on the Eamses was taken from the Kansas State University, College of Veterinary Medicine web site.

Aaron McCullough is a legal specialist for the Disability Law Resource Project (DLRP). He produces materials on disability law issues, provides training on all aspects of the ADA, and fields technical assistance calls on the DLRP hotline.

Aaron earned his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center in December of 2000, and became a member of the State Bar of Texas in the spring of 2001. He is currently enrolled in the MSW program at the University of Houston.

Aaron entered law school after working as a social worker for Central Plains MHMR in Plainview, Texas. Previously, he worked at Burrell Mental Healthcare Services, and Lakes Country Rehabilitation Center; both in Springfield, Missouri.

Aaron's recent research interests include: accessibility of the polling place and process, and architectural liability under the ADA and FHA.