Senate Debates Disability Portions of Stimulus Bill

I am so frustrated right now I could scream. The economic stimulus bill is before the Senate as we speak. It's being picked apart and the things being cut out of it are the things that would make it possible for the 54.4 million people with disabilities in this country to be part of the engine for recovery, now and into the future.

Item #1: Vocational Rehab $$$. There is 50-70% unemployment in the disability population. ANY percentage of this population that goes to work can only help the country.

Item #2: Medicaid $$ and SSI $$. This pays for the services and the healthcare that adults with disabilities, veterans and elders need to live. Many of the people who get the care they need can then get jobs and contribute (see item #1.) And this money, of course, employs entire industries.

Item #3: IDEA funding. This is so important on so many fronts and it looks like it has been cut already. First of all, it is the tendency of school districts to see the educating of kids with disabilities as a nice thing they do when times are good. This attitude has led to sporadic compliance with education laws around the country with obvious consequences (see item #1.) In the immediate, IDEA funding employs educators and gives SOME incentive for schools to continue to support kids with disabilities in this lean time. And of course, what happens in the schools this year will determine the ability of people with disabilities to contribute to our economy when our children grow up. We can educate our kids now or our (non-disabled) kids can support them when they grow up...

I have been on the phones for the past 2 days. I got through to Sen. Gillibrand's office, but have not been able to reach Sen. Shumer's. I hope people are paying attention to their own senators' behaviors. If you do not like what you see your disability groups should make that very clear to them over the next months.

President Obama has given the disability community the opportunity of visibility, mentioning disability in his speeches on election night, at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, and in weekly addresses, and more.

It is up to us to turn that visibility into a presence with credence and influence. Try to get through to your senators today (1-800-473-6711) and make appointments at their local offices next week to share yours and your groups' thoughts about disability policy.

Some helpful references:

http://www.cbpp.org/1-22-09bud.pdf

http://www.aucd.org/docs/policy/20090126_stimulus_senate_summary.pdf

http://www.aucd.org/docs/policy/20090126_stimulus_senate_summary.pdf

http://www.cbpp.org/1-22-09bud-fmap-sen.pd


Picture from here.

Stuff for Activists

First, please go and vote for the Medicaid Waiver/Waiting List on change.org. There are 2 more days left to vote and we are about 2000 votes away from being in the top 10 which will give exposure to disability issues in new ways. There are 2 days left...

Next,head on over to JFA to see what the AAPD has brought to the Obama Transition team and to see about country-wide celebrations of the inauguration (that WILL be accessible!)

Then head over to Disability Studies and see the other stuff Penny has pulled together.

Obama and Accessibility: A Disturbing Trend

While the Obama campaign was the first to articulate a disability platform (Obama had one from April, the McCain campaign added theirs in October) when it comes to accessibility, the welcome mat for the disability community has not been out...

The Obama campaign stated to Bad Cripple way back in the spring that "they were doing the best they could on accessibility." Sadly, this did not mean they were ensuring that campaign sites were accessible--it meant that sites might or might not be accessible, and that was ok with the campaign.

With that attitude it is little wonder that my friend Roving Activist had this experience back on December 30. An Obama Transition Team meeting on Healthcare Reform that is NOT accessible??? How can this be? Now the building should certainly be compliant with the ADA (and apparently has changes underway to rectify that), but checking to see that venues are accessible should also be the responsibility of Obama's people...

And now Planet of the Blind shares that ABC in VA is reporting that people with disabilities are actively being discouraged from attending the innauguration.

What if this were happening to any other minority?? Of course, it has in the past, but I mean now, in 2009?

I understand that they feel that this is a safety issue, but this is a safety issue because they have a lack-of-planning issue.

And they feel it is fine that they haven't planned proactively to for the inclusion of people with disabilities. After all, they aren't turning people away because they don't LIKE them... Some of their best friends have disabilities, I'm sure....

Psssst,note to Obama and team: Failing to plan is planning to fail--and when you're not including, you're excluding. (And don't tell me it's too hard, we KNOW you can overcome obstacles!)

Wheelie Catholic also has some things to say about this issue.

I sincerely hope that this is not what we can expect for the next 4 years.

Picture from here.

Sarah Palin's Speech about "Special Needs"

Forgive me folks I am so far behind--there is an actual traffic jam of posts waiting to be written in my head... I am starting with this one because I commented a few times about the McCain-Palin Campaign's lack of a disability policy and now they have one.

A week ago Friday Sarah Palin spoke in Pittsburgh and outlined some actions that they will take regarding disability if elected. I heard that they also put their disability platform on their website, but haven't been able to find it.

I was very glad to hear Gov. Palin's remarks because to me it means that people with disabilities are being recognized as the viable minority they are. And I have been beside myself watching a national platform saying "special needs" every 3 words yet offering nothing... (I might have mentioned this before.)

Gov. Palin states they will support school vouchers/choice for children with disabilities and special education money will follow the child in states where state funds are portable. They will fully fund IDEA by re-prioritizing earmarks, strengthen the NIH for long term cures and to get better information out to parents and for early diagnosis. For teens and young adults they will extend the support of IDEA and rehab act extending to schools and colleges. Requiring results from education--freedom to work and live independently. They also want a welcoming culture.

She spoke about Special Needs Trusts and worries that Obama's tax increase will tax them. And advocated for more private-public partnerships.

Well, all that is left is whether you agree or disagree with these things. I have my concerns.

I don't agree with vouchers--private schools show very little inclination to accept kids with disabilities--the kids left in public schools will be the kids with disabilities and other needs,reversing all the benefits that inclusive education has wrought.

I worry about fully funding IDEA as an exception to their campaign's non-funding principles. In Obama's campaign disability issues are covered in the principle that everyone gets what they need. In McCain's it appears that "special needs children" will be given what other people need--this does not create a welcoming situation, it creates a scapegoat.

Further than this, if the Obama campaign intends to tax people making more than $200,000 how does this affect Special Needs Trusts at all? I don't know ANY folks who have so much in their trust that they are making >$200,000/year. None. But if they are, I say tax them!

And I know others love the phrase, but I hate the term "special needs." My husband needs a working car, 2 cell phones, a pretty impressive computer and strong coffee to be successful in what he does. My neighbor needs an electric wheelchair. Why are some things just needs and some things "special" needs???? Don't get it, don't like it. The principle exception does not work for me--it creates another "not us." Which to my way of thinking is ALWAYS dangerous.

But that's just me--go vote!

Warning: I am Getting Political

Well, my original plan was to beg Sarah Palin to cut it out. She was driving me crazy by mentioning "special needs children" over and over again as an area of priority for her campaign.

It seemed to me that invoking "special needs children" without mentioning any substantive measures she supports to make lives better for people with disabilities was going after the "AWWWWW!!!" reaction.

Equivalent to saying "I love kittens." (AWWWW!!!)

I thought people with disabilities deserved more--they are not children long and they need actual support that will allow them to move beyond living in their needs so they can contribute--to our communities and to our economy.

Education leads to work. Healthcare leads to health. Employment leads to economic gain.... You get the picture.

I wanted to implore, mom-to-mom that she think bigger--our communities need it, people with disabilities need it, our economy needs it. I figured that when Trig was older she would feel she'd been superficial and regret it.

Then someone sent me this:



(The part that caught my attention starts around 2:30ish)

My plans for this post changed drastically. Call me gobsmacked.

First John McCain just gushed about "relieving the burden" of disability. I would be raging at the insult to the largest minority group in the country if I weren't gagging at the sentimentality of it all.

(FYI, Candidates: The biggest burdens people with disabilities experience are the barriers created by a society that discriminates against them.)

THEN Sen. McCain said that Sarah Palin is "uniquely qualified" to FIND A CURE FOR AUTISM!!!

Now, I have a Bachelors degree (though I only went to one university) and I have had a child with Down syndrome for nearly 15 years yet...

I have not cured autism--or anything else, actually.

Clearly I am not living up to my potential.

I had toyed with the idea that autism is just a different way of being human, that research could teach us more about autism's causes and treatments, that funding streams and media coverage was increasing awareness of autism....

Nope, turns out I'm just a slacker.

Sorry everybody.

Picture from here.

Pendulum Politics

As a disability advocate it has been an ironic twist listening to republicans everywhere react to November's election results. One conservative tele-evangelist stated on the radio that he felt his concerns transcend politics and that his organization was going to have to find new ways to get that point across. Others lament that the Republican party "squandered opportunities" during their years in office. Still others decry the fact that many of the changes made over the last several years will not last in the current climate.

Interestingly, these are the same remarks that have been heard on the other side of the aisle for the past 12 years.

And there is a lesson to be learned:

For several years the party in power has been proclaiming the news that they were in office because of an "electoral mandate." They spun the story that their rise to power was "meant to be," even "deigned by God."

The urge to create a story like this is nearly irresistible--the mistake was that they believed it.

Acting on this belief those in power spent their tenure flexing their muscles and bulldozing their opponents.

Proposals that were made from outside of their power circle were met with derision, efforts that involved processes like cooperative solution-building were shut down, suggestions for compromise--or even discourse--were ridiculed. Politicians, businesspeople and talkshow hosts embraced arrogance and dispensed with even the most rudimentary courtesies. Why? Because they could.

And today the tide has turned--which it will again, and again, and again.

Today there are people in office who traditionally are more receptive to the needs and rights of people with disabilities. If we are to maximize our opportunity in this climate we cannot just jump into the seat of the political bulldozer and start crashing into things. If we are to have lasting impact and create sustained improvements for people with disabilities we must do better.

First we must maintain perspective. We must remember that when asked most people will tell you that they vote for the "lesser of two evils." There is no mandate and no excuse for hubris!

Then, with humility intact, and respect for self and others, we must expend the effort it takes to BUILD relationships, BUILD solutions and thus BUILD a legacy that lasts.

The rights, needs and lives of people with disabilities must not be sacrificed yet again to the whims of pendulum politics.