• TV’s split personality: Can Hollywood get mental illness portrayals right? - Newsweek
• Debate rages over treatment of autistic student - Connecticut Post
• Eight is enough - New York Times
• Mass. home care services face steep budget cuts-Cape Cod Times
• Vulnerable people are not getting the help they need — [UK] Guardian
• Customers speak up when clerk shortchanges blind person - ABC News
• Terror fears tougher on minorities, disabled - Washington Post
• ‘They’re amazingly funny, who doesn’t like midgets?’ - Newnan [GA] Times-Herald
• Cruises gaining in popularity with disabled travelers - Los Angeles Times
• Inside the mind of an autistic genius - [UK] Times
• She’s my sister: Local author describes adventures with Irene – [Salt Lake City] Deseret News

From Barack Obama’s remarks at the “We are One” concert at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday:

“… What gives me the greatest hope of all is not the stone and marble that surrounds us today, but what fills the spaces in between. It is you — Americans of every race and region and station who came here because you believe in what this country can be and because you want to help us get there.

It is the same thing that gave me hope from the day we began this campaign for the presidency nearly two years ago; a belief that if we could just recognize ourselves in one another and bring everyone together — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents; Latino, Asian, and Native American; black and white, gay and straight, disabled and not — then not only would we restore hope and opportunity in places that yearned for both, but maybe, just maybe, we might perfect our union in the process.

This is what I believed, but you made this belief real. You proved once more that people who love this country can change it.

Full text here.

See similar language in his acceptance speech at Grant Park in Chicago.

(New York Times photo)

From the blog of the American Association of People with Disabilities:

A group of eight disability advocacy organizations this week pressed the incoming Obama administration for a greater voice in decision-making for people with disabilities as well as high-level appointments.

In a letter sent this week, the groups maintained that the incoming administration had not reached out to disability advocacy organizations in seeking appointees to the new administration. They asked for the inclusion of a “qualified person with a disability, who is an expert in disability policy,” to serve on the president’s domestic policy staff.

The groups criticized the incoming administration’s appointments to date, saying they “do not reflect a concerted effort” to include qualified candidates with disabilities in senior positions in the new administration.

“The participation of qualified people with disabilities in shaping policy is critical to the success of the programs and services that enhance our lives,” they said.

Among the signatories were the American Association of People with Disabilities and the Special Olympics.

The full text of the letter follows.

(more…)

A year and a half and more than 2.5 million page views later, I’ve decided to do the unthinkable.

I’ll be on vacation for the next week, back December first.

With best wishes to all for a happy and fulfilling Thanksgiving.

Writing in the Toronto Star, Antonia Zerbisias quizzes her niece Cindy about Sarah Palin. Cindy, like Palin, has a child with Down syndrome.

Let’s just say Cindy was unimpressed by the Palin video. She fired back emails railing about her exposing Trig to who-knows-what, all the things to which Down syndrome babies with their fragile immune systems are especially vulnerable.

“I hate what they’re doing to this baby; I hate it,” snapped Cindy. “Why is it so great for Down syndrome? Why? Because she gave birth to a child with Down syndrome? What has she done? What has she given? What will change to help families with children with special needs?

“There are lots of hardships for families with Down’s children,” says Cindy. “Palin should talk about how governments can help. Talk about how business employs young adults with Down syndrome. Talk about how many children have gone on to high school. Talk about how they get married, build homes and make lives for themselves. Talk about what a happy real life story they can be.

“Palin’s isn’t a real-life story. This is a prop for a campaign to boast that she’s done something good for the world. If you want to promote that you have the child, you better be prepared to back that up with real-life support.”

• Maryland parents question special-needs testing mandate – AP/Baltimore Sun (special education, graduation)
• Court ruling restarts Fernald closure - Boston Globe (institutions)
• State parks probe abuse of disabled permits - Newsday
• Parents Urge Passage of Bill to Require Autism Coverage - Washington Post (autism)
• Canadian advocacy group not planning to protest ‘Blindness’ — Toronto Globe and Mail (blindness)
• Autism organization is giving voice to families in China - Boston Globe (autism)
• Classes Offer Special-Needs Children A Chance to Be Lord of the Dance - Washington Post (education, recreation)
• Billboard campaign against use of R-word begins - Copell [TX] Gazette (language)

Jewish community draws strength from children with disabilities – [Cleveland] Plain Dealer (Down syndrome)

Editorial: Bill unites two opposites – Hutchinson, KS, News (prenatal testing)

I am … an artist with autism - Hartford [CT] Courant (autism)

A young voice for autism, athletics - Boston Globe (autism)

Documentary stars Paralympic athletes – Vancouver Sun (athletics)

Helping kids break stereotypes – Christian Science Monitor (education)

Disabled vets forced to battle VA for benefits - [Portland] Oregonian (veterans)

Teen with Down syndrome voted homecoming king — Great Falls [Montana] Tribune (Down syndrome)

Police say Portland ‘caretakers’ abused developmentally-delayed pair – [Portland] Oregonian (intellectual disabilities)

Portland couple charged with abuse of elderly couple – AP/Seattle Times (intellectual disabilities)

Farm employs, feeds developmentally disabled – Olympian (Down syndrome, autism, Williams syndrome)

Seattle man pleads guilty to slaying his developmentally disabled roommate – Seattle Times (intellectual disabilities)

Event celebrates ‘miracle’ nature of people with Down syndrome – Modesto [CA] Bee (Down syndrome)

Couple launches business with help of mentors – Bakersfield Californian (intellectual disabilities)