Thought you'd like to see this...
Although both parties (Democrats and Republicans) promised ADAPT we
would be invited to address their conventions, only the Democrats
lived up to that commitment. Kyle Glozier spoke this evening, and
thanks to late schedules he spoke close to prime time. Here is what he
said:
Hello I am Kyle Glozier, a 14 year old freshman at West Greene High
School in Greene County, Pennsylvania. I've advocated for disability
rights with ADAPT since I was 8 years old. ADAPT is a national
grassroots disability rights organization that wants to change the
institutional bias in the long term care system so no person, young or
old, is forced into a nursing home or other institution. ADAPT is
working to create a national attendant care program called the
Medicaid Community Attendant Services and Supports Act or MiCASSA.
Introduced by Senators Tom Harkin, Democrat from Iowa, and Arlen
Specter, Republican from Pennsylvania, MiCASSA, or S 1935, gives
Americans with disabilities a real choice of where we live and receive
services. Right now Medicaid guarantees care in a nursing home or
other institution, but gives no guarantee in the community. This is
wrong! They say "America the land of the free", but really we are not
free when the walls of institutions and nursing homes keep children,
young adults, and older people locked up, because of a failed 35 year
old policy. MiCASSA will reform the system and let the money and
services follow the person! You need to support this goal.
In a speech to West Berlin in June 1963, John F. Kennedy said:
"Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we
have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them
from leaving us. While the wall is the most obvious and vivid
demonstration of the failures of the Communist system, for all the
world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for it is, as your Mayor
has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against
humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and
brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined
together. Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all
are not free."
Putting people in Nursing Homes or other institutions without giving
them any other choices, is an offense against history and an offense
against humanity. The Berlin wall was torn down and now is the time to
Tear down the Walls of the Nursing homes and other Institutions that
separate families, divide husbands and wives, brothers and sisters,
and people who wish to be in the community. It is time for the
Democratic Party to reform the long term care system, pass MiCASSA and
FREE OUR PEOPLE!
The Supreme Court ruled last year in the Olmstead case that people
should be in the most integrated setting if that was their choice, and
that unnecessary institutionalization is discrimination. In October
another case will be heard that questions the constitutionality of the
ADA. If the States get the right to implement the ADA any way they
choose, the civil rights of people with disabilities will be
abolished, and all our hard work of the past 10 years will have to
begin all over! The States are not allowed to rule the civil rights of
other minority groups in America and it's not fair to let them rule
the civil rights of people with disabilities.
IDEA has allowed me to be taught in the "Most integrated setting."
Regular education with supports, gives me the same education as my
non-disabled peers. IDEA still has a long way to go; kids are still
segregated in "special ed" classrooms where they learn about 10% of
what they need to know to live. IDEA needs to take the Special out of
Education and teach ALL kids! Because of the ADA and Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 people with disabilities can exercise
our civil rights and can contribute to society, by living, learning
and working in the community. But again, there is still a lot of work
to be done. Inaccessible buildings are still being built. Movie stars,
like Clint Eastwood testify to Congress because they are sued for
breaking the law. Businesses discriminate against disabled
employees. Too often people like myself are at a much greater risk of
institutionalization because of the higher level of care we need to
remain independent.
I'm lucky because my parents learned about federal laws to help me.
They learned early that professionals didn't have high expectations
for me, and decided that high expectations were the only way I would
get anywhere in this world. They made sure, after a doctor recommended
that I live in a crippled children's hospital, that I get the same
opportunities that my brothers, Jason and Nigel. Thank you mom and
dad!
I'm not safe though. When I turn 18 and my parents aren't there I will
be at a much greater risk of going into a nursing home or other
institution. And I am just one of thousands of Americans caught in
this "offense against humanity". I dream of going to college to be a
writer and lawyer, and eventually becoming the first United States
President with Cerebral Palsy! Who knows, in the year 2024, I may be
up here again giving my acceptance speech for your nomination. Without
a guarantee of services in the community, my dreams will not be
realized, they will be my nightmare. What are the Democrats going to
do for my future? What will you do to reform the long term care
system? I challenge the Democratic Party to work with people with
disabilities, and future leaders like myself to reform the long term
care system, pass MiCASSA, Tear down the walls and FREE OUR PEOPLE.
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