End Waiting Lists for Services for People with Developmental Disabilities

A petition to the President to end waiting lists for services people with developmental disabilities has been posted on the Change.org site. Please sign the petition and pass it on:
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/fully_fund_medicaid_waivers_for_the_developmentally_disabled

If you are inclined to help get the thousands of signatures we are trying to get, please post the petition on your blog, Myspace, and Facebook. Also, join Twitter and tweet daily about the petition. Find others to connect with on Twitter who can retweet the message as well. Twitter is easy to use.

Let's all help to get the word out on this extremely important cause.

Missing Person Update

I am sad to say that the missing person case of Jason Holley has been solved in the most terrifying way imaginable. Jason's body has been found. He was murdered by two young men for his Xbox. The young men have been arrested.

Go to www.findjasonholley.com to learn what you can do for his family.

New Conferences & Medical Research Added

Today, we have added many new conferences, workshops, and news about medical research to our message boards. You can view them by clicking on the message board lists to the right.

"Special" vs. Equal

My 26 year old son counts his life achievements thus far in a way that most people do; his greatest achievements are the days when he felt the warm glow of recognition for a job well done. On his list are the day he walked at two years old, the award he received in fifth grade for his essay in the D.A.R.E. program, when he walked with his high school class at graduation at age 19, the day he received his full diploma at 21, the first time he voted in the Presidential Election, and his medals in track and field and a gold medal in bowling from Special Olympics.

President Obama’s faux pas on the Jay Leno show concerning Special Olympics belies an underlying attitude of society that “special” in this case means “less than” rather than equal. The apology to the Special Olympics organization is appreciated by those of us who support and participate in the organization. The fact that he realized his comment would humiliate the athletes of Special Olympics is true. Unfortunately, his comment is not unusual in this country, where Special Olympics is right now launching a campaign to eliminate the “R” word from our vocabulary. That they must even conduct the campaign to stop people from using a term that has become an extremely common adjective to substitute for “stupid,” tells us all that our society has a long way to go to realize that “special” is not considered equal.

This attitude impacts public policy to a very large extent. In America today there are hundreds of thousands of people with developmental disabilities on waiting lists for services that will provide them with equal footing to live free lives included in our communities. While bailouts abound for financial institutions, and there was a call for the administration to fully fund Medicaid waivers as part of the bailout, action was not taken to do so. States are slashing more funding to these programs because of the lack of revenue. During the last election, Colorado’s Amendment 51, which would have created a small tax to end Colorado’s decades-long waiting lists, failed to pass. Voters weighed in through newspaper commentary saying that this was a “special interest” group, and that charities should be providing these “special” services. Some go as far as to say these services are “welfare.” Sarah Palin even weighed in against Amendment 51 to help the public feel better about their decision.

It is true, Special Olympic basketball players are not allowed in the NBA or even allowed to play high school basketball. Special Olympics exists to fill a huge void in a society that still does not consider people with disabilities as equals. But it is time for America, starting with our President, to realize that the day we consider the accomplishments of a person with a disability, who might have a lower score in a game, to be equal to someone with a full range of physical and intellectual abilities who scores higher, is the day when “special” no longer means “less than.” My hope is that President Obama, who had my son’s vote, will hear these words and act now.

End the "R" Word

Recently, as I walked through downtown Denver enjoying an evening out with my husband, we were surrounded by people having fun. They were all kinds of groups, young and older, just chatting away. During the period of about an hour, I heard the word "retard" at least three times.

Everyone uses it, you say? It's just a word, right? A word that used to mean one thing, and now means something else? You don't mean anything by it, right? "I was just kidding!"

Do you have any idea how many times people with developmental disabilities are called the "R" word - in a way that is meant to be derogatory? And now, this word has become an adjective used as much as any other negative word to describe a person.

Face it - the "R" word is the equivalent of the "N" word. While it may have been somehow "acceptable" ions ago, it is now a slur. And the use of the word in any sentence is wrong - by anyone - any time.

That is why, when Dick Morris said the "R" word on the O'Reilly Factor on February 9, people with intellectual disabilities and the actor John C. McGinley from Scrubs, developed a video and a campaign to end the "R" word. They are seeking our help to end the use of the "R" word by spreading the word.

Watch the videos which I have posted here on the blog (right column). Send messages to all of your friends. Tweet a message with a link to the video. Add this same information to your blog. Put links to the videos on your Facebook and Myspace pages. And by all means, the next time you hear the "R" word, please tell the person who said it that the word is not acceptable.

This is an excellent article from the LA Times about this subject:
The 'R-word' is no joke

For the intellectually disabled and their families, it's just as bad as the "N"-word.

You can now also take a pledge to stop using the word. I've added a link to that page on the right.