THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, March 20, 1995                 TAG: 9503200030
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   50 lines

CONFERENCE SEEKS TO GO ``BEYOND ADVOCACY'' SOCIAL CHANGE IS KEY TO AID PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, ORGANIZERS SAY.

Advocates for people with disabilities will try developing new strategies for social change this week when they convene for a regional conference in Virginia Beach.

``Beyond Advocacy'' will be the theme of the third annual mid-Atlantic conference organized by the Hope House Foundation, a Norfolk-based program for people with disabilities.

The conference will be Thursday and Friday at the Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach.

``People with disabilities have been losing ground from the standpoint of funding and support nationally, and specifically in this state. And the advocacy movements, in my opinion, have been ineffective,'' said C. Lynne Seagle, Hope House executive director.

The conference, she said, will gather advocates not only in the disability fields but also from various political and social movements.

``We hope to learn about the strategies of the politics of change. How do you build change?'' Seagle said. ``And we want to explore whether there is common ground or ways to build collaborative efforts.''

Keynote speakers will be Eldridge Cleaver of Califorinia, a former Black Panther activist and now the father of a child with disabilities, and David Hingsburger of Canada, an expert on sexual issues faced by people with disabilities.

``We want to bring different perspectives into one forum concerning advocacy,'' Seagle said.

Other speakers include: Kate Gainer, disability affairs coordinator for Atlanta; Lucy Gwin, editor of ``Mouth: The Voice of Disability Rights''; Cyndi Pitonyak, an inclusion specialist for schools in Montgomery County, Md., and Lt. j.g. Richard ``Dirk'' Selland of Virginia Beach, one of the few openly gay officers in the Navy.

Also speaking will be Marianne Stanley, former women's basketball coach at Old Dominion University and the University of Southern California; Hans Wahl, membership program director of Amnesty International; and Richard DiPeppe of the Endependence Center of Norfolk. ILLUSTRATION: FOR DETAILS

Call 625-6161.

by CNB