Access Press’ 2006 in Review
Excerpts from Access Press articles from
2006
History happens in small steps.
Sometimes we need to take stock of these changes so that we appreciate
how far we’ve come—and how far we still need to
go.
January
Federal Cuts to Medicaid
Benefits
On December 21, 2005, the United
States Senate passed an agreement with the United States House
of Representatives in relation to the Deficit Reduction Act of
2005. The Act could have significant negative implications for
individuals with a disability. The agreement succeeded by a very
slim margin: 50 Senators voting “Yes,” 50 voting “No,” and
the Vice President casting the deciding “Yes” vote.
Most agree that the
Deficit Reduction Act proposal contains several valuable items,
including the Family Opportunity Act and the Money Follows the
Person Rebalancing Demonstration. However, opponents assert that
the benefits of the widely agreed upon portions do not outweigh
the cuts to programs depended upon by families and individuals
in need. Supporters of the budget agreement stress the immediate
need to slow government spending in order to control our nation’s
deficit. Nearly all opponents agree federal spending must be controlled,
and they support reducing the deficit, but feel spending cuts should
not cause harm, or abandon those in need. Furthermore, opponents
cite their belief that tax cuts benefiting wealthy families, individuals
and corporations will be proposed this spring. ![]()
Look
back to January 2006 >
February
The Death with Dignity Act
First, a little background on the
Oregon Death with Dignity Act (ODDA) is in order. The ODDA enables
terminally-ill individuals, defined in statute as individuals with
a permanent and irreversible condition that is expected to result
in death in six months or less, to request a lethal dose of medication
for the purposes of ending his or her life in a “humane and
dignified manner.”
The statute contains safeguards to
ensure that only qualified individuals can receive lethal doses
of medication. A second physician must confirm the individual’s
terminal diagnosis. If either physician suspects that the individual
is suffering from depression or another psychiatric illness, the
physician must refer the individual to appropriate counseling.
No physician can actually administer the lethal dose of medication.
According to a 2004 annual report
from the Oregon Dept of Human Services, approximately 208 individuals
have committed physician-assisted suicide since the ODDA’s
enactment in 1997.
The issue of physician-assisted
suicide is fraught with questions that force us to explore our own
beliefs on life and death. The disability community is a diverse
one with a range of opinions on the matter, despite the proclamations
of some activists. My exploration of the implications of physician-assisted
suicide led to a reexamination of my views, but each one of us must
grapple with the subject according to the dictates of our own conscience. ![]()
Look
back to February 2006 >
March
Screen Reader Advocates
Zero In
In February a grassroots group of blind people filed a class action
lawsuit against the Target Corporation. The lawsuit is about alleged
problems blind people have with a Web site that is not totally compatible
with screen reading programs.
The NFB charges “that Target’s Web site, www.target.com,
is inaccessible to the blind, violating the California Unruh Civil
Rights Act and the California Disabled Persons Act.” (NFB Web
site – Target Corporation Sued for Discrimination Against the
Blind, February 7, 2006). But according to the Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer (CEO), Bob Ulrich, “Target has always been
committed to respecting diversity. Our definition is broad, inclusive
and focused on recognizing and appreciating the individuality of
every team member, guest and community member. As one of our core
values, our commitment to diversity is not something we simply talk
about; it is something—we act on…”
The NFB “sued
Target Corp. in Alameda County Superior Court claiming that the
giant retail chain discriminates because its Web site is inaccessible
to blind customers… Target thus excludes
the blind from full and equal participation in the growing Internet
economy that is increasingly a fundamental part of daily life….” ![]()
Look back to March 2006 >
April
Disability Community Protests
On Thursday, March 23, 2006, members and allies of the disability
community gathered in front of the Ted Mann Concert Hall to protest
philosopher Peter Singer. It was the first disability-related protest
on campus in over ten years.
Although the focus of Singer’s
lecture was on factory farming and vegetarianism, he has been challenged
by people with disabilities for his controversial views advocating
the right to euthanize babies with severe disabilities and in some
cases adults, grounding his work in an understanding of disability
as negative and deserving of pity. We protesters did not intend to
discourage people from listening to Singer’s lecture; rather,
our goal was to show attendees that they cannot glorify Singer’s
views on animal ethics, as many in attendance of his talk shows clearly
do, without recognizing that this support is for a scholar who is
extremely discriminatory against people with disabilities. With over
fifty people present, persevering in the cold weather while holding
signs with slogans such as “Your Attitude Is Our Only Handicap,” “Everyone
Belongs,” and “Disabled Lives Have Value Too,” our
message to Peter Singer was clear: his presence in our community
is not welcome. ![]()
Look
back to April 2006 >
May
New Hurdles
for PCA Approval
In an effort to make the state and federally funded Personal Care
Assistant (PCA) program more accountable, the Minnesota Department
of Human Services (DHS) has implemented a new registration process
to track PCAs and home health aides who perform services in the community.
As of April 30th, 2006,
approximately 21,000 PCAs will have been assigned a new identification
number. As a part of this process, DHS has found over 230
people unfit to be providing services. The reason individuals are
denied a PCA identification number is either that they haven’t
passed the criminal background check or they have outstanding debts
to the government, such as unpaid student loans or back taxes. The
Department of Human Services believes that as such people have
been removed from the work pool, the integrity of the PCA service
program is enhanced. ![]()
Look
back to May 2006 >
June
Local Leader Receives Award
On May 11th, Barb Smith of the Minnesota
Work Incentives Connection received the Skip Kruse Memorial Return-to-Work
Award for “tireless
energy, compassion and vision, demonstrated in promoting the use
of Social Security Administration (SSA) employment support programs
for people with disabilities.” Barb is only the second non-SSA
staff member to receive such an award.
Smith noted, “Skip Kruse possessed
the qualities of a great advocate. To be put in the same category
with him is a tremendous honor. A driving motivation for me is
the experience I have had with people with disabilities in both
my personal and professional lives. I am inspired by the many people
with disabilities who have triumphed over significant barriers
to employment. To accomplish what they have takes courage, persistence,
optimism and likely a good sense of humor.”
The Kruse award is a well-deserved
recognition of Smith’s
local, regional and national leadership on work incentives issues.
In 1993, Smith initiated the Minnesota Work Incentives Coalition,
which sponsored training on a variety of Social Security, Medical
Assistance and other work incentive topics. Smith was also the Coalition’s
liaison to the Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities.
She served on the Consortium’s Work Incentives Committee, which
promoted legislative changes leading to the creation of Minnesota’s
Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities (MA-EPD)
program. ![]()
Look
back to June 2006 >
July
Voting Machine Gets High
Marks
The buzz in the disability
community for the upcoming elections is the debut of the AutoMARK
voting machine. People with disabilities all over the state are
extremely excited to have this ballot marking machine available
to enable disabled voters to finally have the opportunity to vote
independently and privately. As a ballot marking machine, the AutoMARK
performs as sort of an “electronic pen.” The
ballot is inserted into the machine, and the voter can choose the
candidates by either touching the screen of the machine or using
the keypad.
The machine has audio
instructions to guide the voter through each race. After voting
is completed, the AutoMARK will verify the votes that have been
made on the ballot with the voter. After verification, the voter
can instruct the AutoMARK to “mark” the ballot
by printing it. The ballot is ejected and can then be taken to the
ballot counter.
“This is an exciting
breakthrough for blind Minnesotans and for other people with disabilities.
For the first time, blind people will be able to vote without any
assistance from another human being,” said
Steve Jacobson, a member of the National Federation of the Blind
of Minnesota. ![]()
Look
back to July 2006 >
August
Record Walk for Justice
Planned
The social justice movement
in Minnesota will get its annual shot in the arm next month, as
the Headwaters Walk for Justice takes to the streets for a day
of fun and fundraising. In the last decade, the Walk has grown
into the largest gathering of progressive organizations in the
state. Last year, about 1,500 individuals representing 110 organizations
collectively raised more than $212,000. But with registrations
already exceeding the 2006 goal of 130 groups, this year’s
Walk promises to be the largest yet.
Unlike many fundraising walks that steer pledges toward one organization
or a single goal, each group that participates in the Headwaters
event benefits from the money they raise. The event targets grassroots
nonprofits and small community groups, but organizations of any size
working for social justice are invited to participate.
“The walk provides a
unique opportunity for the progressive community to come together
to celebrate its work, to increase visibility and to raise money
for critical issues in our community and state,” says
Headwaters Executive Director Steve Newcom. “With the midterm
elections this fall, it is particularly important that the grassroots
community be visible, vocal and supported.” ![]()
Look
back to August 2006 >
September
Access Denied at
U of Houston
Disputes over accommodations for students with disabilities have
become commonplace. Institutions, students and lawyers fight over
whether students are in fact eligible, what changes they are entitled
to and plenty more.
But a lawsuit filed recently against the University of Houston involves
a student with an undisputed disability who says he was turned down
by a professor, without explanation, for his requests for accommodations.
Not only is the suit challenging the treatment of the student, but
the litigation is demanding that the university abandon a policy
in which professors have wide leeway to decide whether to comply
with requests from students with disabilities.
“This policy allows
professors complete discretion, and that’s
illegal,” said Ernest Saadiq Morris, a lawyer for the Texas
Civil Rights Project who is handling the case. It’s as if,
Morris said, a public university announced that it was going to let
individual professors decide whether to follow laws that bar discrimination
on the basis of race or gender. ![]()
Look
back at September 2006 >
October
Medicaid . . . Meetings
Tap Chord
After a whirlwind tour of Minnesota to educate people with disabilities
and their families on state and federal health care policy changes,
leading disability advocates are excited by the results they achieved.
The August 2006 meetings, one held in each congressional district,
also featured personal stories of the effects of Medicaid, and skills
training on how to effectively work with state legislators.
“We reached hundreds
of families, particularly in rural Minnesota,” said
Joel Ulland, cochair of the Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with
Disabilities (MN-CCD), the coalition of more than 50 statewide disability
provider and advocacy organizations that sponsored the Medicaid Town
Hall meetings. “People are hungry for this kind of information
and eager to know how they can get involved to preserve these critical
health services.”
The meetings are part of a
broad coalition strategy that is attempting to leverage the strength
of the grass-roots efforts of many disability organizations. “The
2007 legislative session will set the state budget for the next two
years,” said
Ulland. “We need
all the help we can get from as many people as possible.” ![]()
Look
back at October 2006 >
November
Coalition Seeks Lost
Cemetery
How well do you know
the city of Rochester? If you used to live there and have some
knowledge of the way things used to be, Remembering With Dignity
would like to talk with you. You see, the Rosemont Cemetery, where
the earliest residents of the Rochester State Hospital are buried,
is completely missing. A plat map exists, showing the location
of graves and names of each of the 75 people buried in Rosemont
Cemetery. “How
could a cemetery be lost?” you ask. We don’t have the
answer, but it speaks to the disregard for people with disabilities
and neglect of state hospital cemeteries.
Over 12,500 people were buried without a named marker in Minnesota
state hospital cemeteries in the last century. Remembering With Dignity
(RWD), a coalition of Minnesota disability groups, has so far facilitated
the marking of over 2500 of these with proper, named headstones.
In May of this year, RWD received a grant from the State of Minnesota
to continue their work at state cemeteries in Hastings, Rochester
and St. Peter. By August 2007, approximately 1500 more named grave
markers will be installed, along with other physical cemetery improvements,
such as signage, fencing and landscaping.
A second cemetery connected
to the Rochester State Hospital came to life October 1st, when close
to 200 people gathered there for a ceremony, organized by the Rochester
State Hospital Cemetery Recognition Group and RWD, to recognize the
2019 people buried in numbered graves. ![]()
Look
back to November 2006 >
December
. . . Driver’s
Ed Settlement
Heather Breitbach, Amelia
Boos, Ashley Antonelli, Craig Roering and Charles Schumacher are
all high school students in St. Cloud who are at the age when they
want to start driving a car. They are also deaf. When they called
private driver’s education schools
in the St. Cloud area to sign up for classroom instruction and behind-the-wheel
training, they asked the schools to provide a sign language interpreter
so that they could fully participate in classes. All of the schools
refused to do this. The students and their parents promptly contacted
the Minnesota Disability Law Center (MDLC) for help, which turned
out to be the best step they could have taken.
Attorneys from MDLC
told the students and parents that the schools were clearly violating
the Minnesota Human Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities
Act by refusing to provide an interpreter for classes. Both laws
require private businesses to provide interpreters when necessary
to make their programs fully available to deaf customers. MDLC
filed a lawsuit against the schools on behalf of the students;
the schools then agreed to settle the case and to provide interpreters
for these particular students and for other deaf students who will
take driver’s education in the future. The schools will not
only provide qualified interpreters for classroom and behind-the-wheel
training without charge to the students, but will also notify all
customers in promotional brochures and notices posted in schools
that interpreters are available. ![]()
Look
back to December 2006 >
