Slumgullion #31

From the Army Times: Army holding down disability ratings

The National Council on Disability on the Winkleman Scotus case on the rights of parents to represent themselves in IDEA cases:

At stake is the extent of access to IDEA rights and protections for seven million children and youth with disabilities. NCD affirms that in the nearly three decades that NCD has monitored IDEA, it is clearly established that parents are a main enforcement vehicle for ensuring compliance with IDEA. The statutory scheme of IDEA makes parental involvement and access to legal services integral to the protection of a child's rights under IDEA. In conducting its series of evaluative studies on education, NCD has consistently received reports from parents about their inability to find or afford lawyers to assist them with receiving the full benefits of IDEA for their children. NCD also has found through its research that families with children with disabilities are overrepresented among poor populations. NCD notes that there is a severe shortage in Ohio of attorneys with expertise in IDEA, and that the Ohio Legal Rights Service accepts a small percentage of requests by families for legal representation. Thus, it is critical to maintain the ability of parents like the Winklemans to pursue on their own legal recourse if they disagree with administrative decisions regarding the education of their child and cannot find or afford an attorney. NCD also appreciates the position of the U.S. Solicitor on the matter, who has submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that the Sixth Circuit holding is "inconsistent with the plain language, structure, and purposes of IDEA."

From Inside Bay Area: Computer glitch denies thousands of seniors and disabled Californians their Medicare benefits

Consent decree will ensure disabled people receive power wheelchairs:

The named plaintiffs, who all live in Medicaid-funded nursing homes, filed the original complaint for themselves and other nursing home residents who were denied or not provided medically necessary motorized wheelchairs. Without power wheelchairs, they were not able to get around independently or access the services they would need to leave the nursing home and live in the community. Unable to use public transportation, go to a movie, or visit friends and family, these residents spent many days confined to their beds.

Roel Villareal, one of the original plaintiffs, who, since the complaint was filed in 2004, has been approved for a power wheelchair, said, "Everyone who needs a wheelchair should have one. Without a wheelchair, I spent most of my days in bed, unable to do anything on my own. The motorized wheelchair gives me the choice to visit family and friends as I please and live more independently." Mr. Villareal's situation is similar to thousands of other nursing home residents in Illinois.

From the Air Force Times: Democrats reject health care fees for vets

From the Janesville, Wisconsin Gazette: Despite ADA, accessibility still lacking:

Steve Pribbenow, a handicapped accessibility consultant who is himself disabled, hears it all the time.

The Americans With Disabilities Act means nothing to people until it means everything.

Matthew Hathaway of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Stop lights, signal posts may block wheelchair users (In other news, sky is blue.)

From the LA Times: Disabled woman is able ally for parents -- Despite the headline this is a good article about a disabled lawyer and mother who defends disabled parents from losing their children:

[Carrie Ann Lucas] is one of a handful of attorneys in the country whose specialty is representing disabled parents like herself. Her mission: making sure they get the same chance as everyone else to be moms and dads.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 15% of all parents with children in the household have some disability. These parents are far more likely to have the government try to take their children away. Even Lucas lives in fear that social services may seize her children. She knows the sorrow of losing a child — a 7-year-old girl whom she wanted to adopt was taken from her after a difficult court fight.

From Kestrell at Blind Bookworm -- North Carolina bill proposes paying sterilization victims $50,000:

Rep. Earl Jones (DGreensboro) and Rep. Larry Womble (D-Winston-Salem) are primary cosponsors of a bill in North Carolina that would authorize the state to pay $50,000 to victims of state-sponsored, involuntary sterilizations targeting those with disabilities from between 1929 and 1974.

Approximately 7,600 individuals were sterilized under North Carolina's eugenics program from 1929 until 1975 when the practice was stopped. North Carolina is one of over 30 states that had such programs.

From the Baltimore Sun: Visually impaired student fights for legislation to help get texts for college courses

From The Washington Post: Bus firm prohibited guide dog, suit says

From the BBC News: Colorado woman astonishes doctors by waking from six-year coma

From the NYT: Veterans face vast inequities over disability:

Staff Sgt. Gregory L. Wilson, from the Texas National Guard, waited nearly two years for his veterans’ disability check after he was injured in Iraq. If he had been an active-duty soldier, he would have gotten more help in cutting through the red tape.

Allen Curry of Chicago has fallen behind on his mortgage while waiting nearly two years for his disability check. If he had filed his claim in a state deploying fewer troops than Illinois, Mr. Curry, who was injured by a bomb blast when he was a staff sergeant in the Army Reserve in Iraq, would most likely have been paid sooner and gotten more in benefits.

Veterans face serious inequities in compensation for disabilities depending on where they live and whether they were on active duty or were members of the National Guard or the Reserve, an analysis by The New York Times has found.

Also from the NYT: I'm not your "girl," Gramps -- Not really dis-friendly but this is about home health care aides, a job falling disproportionately to women of color:

Theirs is the fastest-growing occupation in America, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, though still unlikely to keep pace with the demands of an expanding 85-and-over population, and the hordes of baby boomers not far behind. It is, arguably, the occupation that most directly affects the day-to-day quality of life of the nation’s frail elderly.

Yet the women who spoon-feed someone’s mother or diaper someone’s father are largely invisible and often disrespected. The workshop — no supervisors welcome — was an opportunity for this silent work force to be heard and to enjoy the camaraderie that isn’t part of their normal, isolated work day.

A webcast of Stephen Hawking lecturing at UC Berkeley