From Dana Milbank in the Washington Post;  Politico.com, CBS News:

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attempted to address a progressive conference in Washington Tuesday, her speech was disrupted by the raucous and sustained shouts of angry protesters.

Among the loudest were disability rights advocates fighting for passage of the Community Choice Act. The measure would allow eligible people to receive care in their own homes rather than in nursing homes.

The protesters, many wearing orange shirts and using wheelchairs, chanted “our homes, not nursing homes,” repeatedly as Pelosi struggled to be heard over the din. They said they were affiliated with the advocacy group ADAPT. Excerpts:

Pelosi said she supports the hecklers’ legislation, a long-languishing proposal to increase access to community services for the disabled, who say it would allow more of them to live at home. But the protest wasn’t about reason; it was about rage. Pelosi finally finished her speech to a mixture of cheers and boos.

… Demonstrators from ADAPT have followed Pelosi to other speaking engagements in recent weeks, organizers said. But Robert L. Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future and one of the conference organizers, said it is an unusual tactic to protest Pelosi because she is one of the group’s few lawmakers on Capitol Hill to support their position.

“The bizarre thing is the speaker is their ally,” Borosage said. “She just needs a coalition.”

(Image from Washington Post video)

Writing in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ruby Moore and Eric Jacobson call on Georgia to end seclusion and restraint in the state’s schools and turn instead to the use of positive behavioral supports (PBS).

Moore and Jacobson urge the state’s board of education to strengthen a proposed new rule by adding requirements for oversight, data collection and analysis, which they say are necessary to prevent the tragic deaths of more Georgia schoolchildren.

An excerpt:

Georgia can be at the forefront of states that are ending the practices of seclusion and restraints. We hope others will attend tomorrow’s board of education meeting to urge the adoption of a stronger rule that includes accountability.

Then we can create schools that are safe for children and teachers, provide effect oversight and support and, ultimately, protect our children. We should no longer send our children to school fearing that we may never see them return.

Congressional investigators last year found widespread evidence of the use of restraints and seclusion of students by school staff around the country, most of it involving students with disabilities. Some of the cases ended in death.

Ruby Moore is executive director of Georgia Advocacy Office. Eric Jacobson is executive director of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities.

Earlier posts here.

Letter writers to the Los Angeles Times take issue with LA school superintendent Ramon C. Cortines’ assertion that special ed funding takes services away from “regular kids.” The comment came in an article about the district’s plans to cut 200 special ed classes.

Said one writer:

Perhaps Cortines would prefer we revert to the not-so-distant past and pull resources entirely that allow children with special needs to be productive members of society and reach their potential. Then we can channel even more funding to those “regular” kids.

Maybe I’m naive, but in my world we measure our humanity by how willing we are to support those who struggle the most. I prefer my world to that of Cortines.

Poet Jennifer Bartlett writes in the New York Times City Room blog about her experiences with rude people who feel free to comment on her disability. Bartlett has cerebral palsy. An excerpt:

Bus riders have referred to me as mentally backward (while I was reading James Joyce), and waitresses routinely ask my companion what I want to order. In a club, once, an older man asked me to dance. Upon hearing my voice, he commented to his friend, “She’s some kind of retard,” and walked off.

… The problem isn’t exactly that people have these reactions. The problem is that they have no tact. It’s as though they have some kind of disconnect and think I don’t hear, or can’t process, their comments. Sometimes I feel like screaming: “Hello! There’s a human being in here. And she’s registering your stupidity.”

Bartlett’s first collection of poetry is “Derivative of the Moving Image,” University of New Mexico Press.

Says she lied to investors about prenatal DS test

From a Los Angeles Times blog,  San Diego Union-Tribune, Business Week, Motley Fool:

The former head of research and development at Sequenom Corp. has pleaded guilty to lying to investors and analysts about a company effort to develop a noninvasive prenatal screening test for Down syndrome.

As part of a plea bargain, Elizabeth Dragon admitted she was part of a conspiracy to inflate the company’s stock price, and agreed to help prosecutors in related cases. She admitted to making false claims to investors and analysts about the effectiveness of the test, and said she and others manipulated data to make the test appear more accurate than it was. Dragon’s sentencing is set for August 30.

“Elizabeth Dragon knew the truth about Sequenom’s Down syndrome test, yet she told the public it was a near-perfect success,” said Rosalind Tyson, who heads the Los Angeles office of the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Her actions misled investors with exaggerated information about a significant new product that never materialized.”

Advocates worry that budget woes are turning back the clock for kids with disabilities

From the Los Angeles Times:

Faced with a multi-million dollar deficit, the Los Angeles Unified School District has announced plans for massive cuts in spending on services for students with disabilities. Some 200 special education classrooms will be closed, as well as a specialized campus. Among schools targeted for cutbacks is Hollywood’s Frances Blend School for students with multiple disabilities.

“Blend has one adult to every three kids,” said L.A. schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines. “Some of those are very, very severe cases, but you have to look at it in perspective. When you fund some of the special ed things, you’re taking from regular kids.” (emphasis added.)

Critics say the cuts reveal a pervasive focus on saving money by limiting services to individual children.

… Serving the disabled costs more than the state and federal governments pay for. The overrun for this year is $628 million from the general fund, which is intended for the district’s regular program.

… About 13% of students in the nation’s second-largest district have a recognized disability. And their education has long been a sensitive subject.

The federal government requires a “free and appropriate” individual program for disabled students but pays only about 17% of the added cost.

… The closing of 200 classrooms will likely force thousands of children into longer commutes to other schools, where average class sizes could grow substantially. At the same time, the district is reducing busing for disabled children to save as much as $7.4 million.

Earlier post here.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

A Pennsylvania school district has agreed to pay a $5 million settlement in response to a federal civil rights suit filed by parents who said their children with autism had been tied to chairs with bungee cords and duct tape. Defendants in the lawsuit, which included the Scranton-area school district as well as the teacher and other officials, did not admit wrongdoing.

Parents of seven children in the Abington Heights School District alleged that teacher Susan Comerford Wzorek slapped children, pulled them by the hair, stepped on their feet and, in one case, pulled a child across the room by the cast on his broken arm. After the allegations were lodged in 2006, Wzorek entered a no-contest plea to a criminal charge of recklessly endangering the welfare of children and served a 30-day jail term for a probation violation. She is now retired.

Plaintiffs attorneys said the settlement appeared to be the largest ever in Pennsylvania involving abuse of children in a special education classroom.

See also: Autistic children abused in Pa. classroom to get $5 million to settle federal lawsuit — AP/Los Angeles Times

Wzorek’s criminal attorney has said she never intentionally harmed any student and alleged that she was not provided with adequate training, guidance or support.