Oh but I disagree with you. Because of federal funds drying up and the
states not willing to spend money, children in my state are being forced to
leave special learning programs and more often than not, end up back where
they started, at an disadvantage. A case in point - a local boy who is
autistic and mentally retarded was doing very well in a special program at a
private school. The feds stopped paying for the program, the state doesn't
have the money, and now the boy will be forced to go to a state school that
is little more than an institution.
Do you call that aiding the disabled? I don't. And that's not the only case
- there are many more here and around the country. The Bush Administration
has not lived up to its promises. And he certainly hasn't done his part to
expand health care to every citizen - we have more and more people without
health insurance in this country. I certainly see no signs of the Bush
Administration doing anything about those who are not yet eligible for
Medicare or Medicaid.
And let's not forget the largest budget deficit in our history. Do you think
that doesn't affect social welfare programs? Of course it does.
Kat
On Wednesday 29 September 2004 06:06 am, [log in to unmask] wrote:
> I disagree that Bush opposes the disabled! Besides starting "No child left
> behind" which has been very beneficial to advocate for children to be in
> regular classrooms instead of with children displaying violent behaviors,
> he has also started Classroon Plus with provides money reimbursement for
> summer tutoring for these children which has also been beneficial for my
> son because the school district refuses to ever support summer tutoring
> programs for him. These have been necessary because he learns at a slower
> rate and it provides some reinforcement and hopefully catch-up.
> Cindy
>
>
>
>
>
>
> In a message dated 9/29/2004 4:11:50 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
> Title of Article:
> Halting Progress for the Disabled
>
> Submitted By: Catherine Alfieri
> 7 Summer Tree
> Pittsford, NY 14534
> 585-586-1682
> Founder:
> Monroe County Women's Disability Network
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.mcwdn.org
> VirtEd
> http://www.mcwdn.org/VirtEd2.html
> RochEd Online
> http://www.mcwdn.org/Roch/RochEd.html
> "See with your heart, Speak with your heart!"
>
> Written By:
> Albert R. Hunt
> Wall Street Journal
> Page A13
>
> Article:
> Even trite clich=E9s occasionally are on the mark; today, for 53 million
> disabled Americans the glass of life is both half-full and half-empty.
>
> A survey this summer by Harris Interactive of Americans with disabilities
> is disquieting: Only a little over one-third reported being employed, a
> muc= h
> higher percentage than non-disabled say they face inadequate health care or
> transportation or are less likely to eat out or attend religious services,
> and a majority express dissatisfaction with their lives. The political
> progress of the '90s seems to have slowed and some large corporations, such
> as Wal-Mart, have abysmal records.
>
> Yet accessibility to transportation, education and even employment has
> improved around the country. Advocates for the disabled say slow progress
> i= s
> being made with small businesses and some large corporations, such as
> Microsoft, which has worked assiduously to make its software accessible,
> an= d
> Verizon, get high marks.
>
> This dichotomy springs from the promise of the landmark 1990 Americans
> with Disabilities Act (ADA). It doesn't surprise Andy Imparato, head of the
> American Association of People with Disabilities. "It's useful to think of
> the ADA in two phases," he notes. "One is bricks and mortars;
> transportation, budget and telecommunications all are essentially more
> accessible. These are very tangible ways in which the ADA has enabled more
> disabled people to participate in society. But the rest is attitudinal; we
> still have a long way to go with how people think. We need much more
> dialogue, public education and positive experiences."
>
> This underscores the stakes in this year's presidential race. The ADA was
> pushed and signed into law by George Herbert Walker Bush in 1990 --
> overriding the objections of his chief of staff; he is a hero to many with
> disabilities. His son inexplicably has shown little interest in the issue
> and through executive actions and judicial appointments threatens to roll
> back much of his father's top domestic legacy.
>
> That would be tragic. The ADA has made America a much better place. Just
> look around and notice how differently those with disabilities are treated
> compared to a decade ago. (I have two sons, one of whom is disabled; the
> other was a CNN intern at last month's Democratic convention; two of his
> fellow interns were deaf.)
>
> Politically, the picture is mixed. In Congress, support for the disabled
> crosses party lines. There is no more important champion than Ted Kennedy,
> and there are Republican supporters like John McCain, not surprisingly, but
> also staunch conservatives such as Congressman Pete Sessions in the House
> and Orrin Hatch in the Senate. Yet the GOP-run House leadership recently
> blocked a bill to provide more health-care services for lower income
> families with disabled children because it wasn't financed with offsetting
> budget cuts, an issue it ignored when a big tax cut for special interests
> sailed through.
>
> Some of the most notable champions are on the local level, including
> America's most notable Democratic and Republican mayors -- Chicago's
> Richar= d
> Daley and New York's Michael Bloomberg. Mayor Daley has vowed to make
> Chicago "the most accessible city in the nation." His Disabilities office
> i= s
> cabinet rank and no politician has worked more effectively with a sometimes
> skeptical business community than Rich Daley. There are 149 Chicago schools
> that are accessible today up from almost none when Mayor Daley took office.
>
> In New York, advocates say, Michael Bloomberg was that city's first mayor
> to really reach out to those with disabilities. He has increased the number
> of accessible taxicabs, made numerous buildings and sidewalks more
> accessible and pushed career exploration and job-shadowing programs.
>
> But there are other state and local officials as bad as Messrs. Daley and
> Bloomberg are good. At the top of that list is the newly elected governor
> o= f
> Mississippi, Haley Barbour. Facing a budget squeeze, the former Republican
> Party chair, and tobacco lobbyist, rejected measures like increasing the
> state's small cigarette tax and instead is slashing Medicaid benefits for
> poorer Mississippians. For thousands of disabled, this means a reduction in
> prescription drug benefits and access to necessary medical care and a loss
> of transportation services to those who need it.
>
> These cuts will be devastating for people like Traci Alsup, a 36-year-old
> Jackson, Miss., quadriplegic. She's scheduled to lose her prescription drug
> coverage, amounting to about $800 a month or just about what she gets from
> disability payments; she'd face additional expenses from any
> hospitalizatio= n
> and for her wheelchair. This would necessitate giving up her inexpensive
> apartment and having to move back to a nursing home: "I am full of anxiety
> and I'm depressed. This isn't right."
>
> In the presidential race, John Kerry hasn't said much -- there was no
> mention in his Boston acceptance speech -- and George W. Bush has been a
> disaster. Cutbacks in health care and housing proposed by the White House
> disproportionately affect those with disabilities. Five years ago the
> government set a goal to dramatically increase the number of disabled
> federal employees; there are less today than when this president first took
> office. Tragically, he has choked off promising research with embryonic
> ste= m
> cells that eventually could profoundly affect many disabilities.
>
> Mr. Bush rarely uses the presidential bully pulpit for public dialogue or
> education. "This White House considers us a nuisance, too high
> maintenance,= "
> says one leading disabilities advocate.
>
> Bush judicial nominees, like Jeffrey Sutton and William Pryor, are openly
> hostile to the Americans with Disabilities Act, following the lead of
> Antonin Scalia; the Supreme Court justice, from the bench, refers to people
> with disabilities as "handicaps," and belittles the notion they have basic
> rights. The High Court has eroded some of the ADA and on 5-to-4 votes
> narrowly upheld other parts. Many legal analysts believe that with any
> vacancies filled by Scalia wannabes the court may well gut the act.
>
> If you're blind, deaf or in a wheelchair, the stakes on Nov. 2 are
> enormous.
> ****************************************************
> The Author's views reflect only their opinion and do not necessarily
> reflec= t
> that of The Disability Grapevine.
> ****************************************************
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