From Government Executive magazine:

Christine Griffin, a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, says the federal government is doing a “terrible job” in employing people with disabilities. She said the ranks of disabled employees in fiscal 2007 amounted to only 0.9 percent of the federal workforce, down from a meager 1.2 percent in fiscal 1996.

It’s not only that few people with disabilities are getting in the door at federal agencies, Griffin said. They also are not rising through the ranks.

… “You can’t have anything that the rest of America has unless you have a job and you have money,” said Griffin, who uses a wheelchair. “They look at us and say, ‘Isn’t it great they get to go to a restaurant?’ But it hasn’t changed their views of what I’m capable of doing. . . . I see employment for people with disabilities as critical to changing society’s view of us as people, as human beings. . . . That’s where this revolution is going to take place.”

From the Tallahassee Democrat:

People with disabilities want to work but find lots of obstacles in their way, says Bryan Vaughan, executive director of the Florida Governor’s Commission on Disabilities. Even when employers have an opening and are willing to hire a person with a disability, prospective employees must then find accessible transportation and appropriate housing.

As a result, people with disabilities have very low employment rates. A recent report by Cornell university found that the employment rate for people with disabilities was just 37.7 percent nationwide, and 39.1 percent in Florida.

From a press release on Yahoo Business:

A national study by the Bobby Dodd Institute in Atlanta found an overwhelming majority of those surveyed feel that people with disabilities face barriers to hiring in the American workplace. The study also found that more than one-quarter (26 percent) of respondents say they are uncomfortable when interacting with people with disabilities or even avoid interaction.

The survey was conducted by 2008 Kelton Research, based on 1,000 nationwide online interviews among adults 18 years or older.

“The challenge that workers with disabilities are facing isn’t their disability,” said Wayne McMillan, president and CEO of BDI. “The challenge is dispelling myths and preconceptions about accommodations and competency. In reality, this population performs at a high level and can provide a tremendous value in the workplace.”

In an effort to combat stigma and communicate the advantages of hiring people with disabilities, the BDI website offers free disability awareness training.

See also:

• Presidential Proclamation for Disability Employment Awareness Month — White House press release
• Work helps Katie Bowman be a ‘totally different person’—Tallahassee Democrat
• Workers with disabilities contribute to many workplaces — By Jim DeBeaugrine in the Tallahassee Democrat

From the [Portland] Oregonian:

Oregon legislator Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, says families of people with disabilities struggle every day to keep their heads above water and hold their families together. “They deserve more than Sarah Palin’s empty words, and should not be exploited as pawns in the presidential election,” she says. An excerpt:

Being the parent of a child with Down syndrome does not ensure that Palin will be an effective advocate for people with disabilities, any more than Dick Cheney being the parent of a lesbian daughter has made him an effective advocate for equality. In fact, a McCain/Palin administration will likely set back the cause of people with disabilities to achieve dignity, independence, health and full employment.

… To families of kids with special needs, I have a message: Please look carefully at what candidates up and down the ticket will actually do for your children. Demand more than words and promises. Ask for plans, and see if they match your vision for your child’s future.

Grelser is the mother of a teenager with developmental disabilities.

Editors at the Baltimore Sun say families of children with disabilities have reason to be doubtful about Gov. Sarah Palin’s pledge to be their “friend and advocate.”

What they need, first and foremost, is for politicians to put money where their mouth is — starting with support services and related community-based programs. Advocates estimate there are about 600,000 people nationwide on waiting lists for such benefits as job coaching, vocational rehabilitation, personnel assistants and respite care for exhausted caregivers.

… The candidates’ views on these matters are reflected on their Web sites. Mr. Obama’s includes a nine-page treatise on his plans to help the disabled, including full funding for special education. Mr. McCain’s 14 core campaign issues include the Second Amendment and the space program but not the disabled.

Mr. McCain still has time to come around on these issues and offer specific remedies in the weeks ahead. Having a poster mom for families caring for a disabled child on the ticket is not enough — particularly for aging seniors who can no longer care for middle-aged children. Friendship is nice, but families need a government willing to invest more in the future of children who require a little help if they are to live full and productive lives.

Woman with Down syndrome inspires families in Washington state – KNDO/KNDU-TV, Yakima, Washington — Karen Gaffney (left) speaks out about her experiences earning a regular high school diploma and a degree from Portland Community College, swimming across Lake Tahoe, and participating in a relay team that swam the English Channel. Says Gaffney:

“I’ve changed all that data.  I’ve changed their doubts. I have improved and inspired so many lives, spread my messages of being fully included in a regular classroom setting.”

Link to video here; earlier video of Karen Gaffney on the NBC Today show here.

People with Down syndrome live fully — letter to the Sacramento Bee from Elaine Linn. An excerpt:

People with Down syndrome go to school, work, have meaningful relationships, make decisions about their lives and live independently. They become dedicated employees and loyal friends.

… There’s something terribly wrong with a society that purportedly values diversity yet places a distinct lack of value on people who aren’t “perfect.” I don’t know one perfect person and it’s hard to understand this willing acceptance of terminating pregnancies based on inaccurate information about potential “imperfections.” Yet it exists 90 percent of the time with Down syndrome.

Avoid Tropic Thunder, a cruel comedy — by Eric Johnson in the Grand Forks, ND, Herald

The fact is that even among the various species of hate speech, ridicule of those with retardation is unique in its brutishness. Unlike racial minorities, religious adherents or the physically disabled, those with developmental disabilities cannot well defend themselves with wit and well-crafted retorts. That’s why the arguments of Downey and Black — that everyone has the right to say whatever they want — are especially hollow.

New system for developmentally disabled is needed — Sheila Romano in the Springfield, IL, Journal Register (institutionalization, housing)

Taking the fear out of difference — Baltimore Sun (education, attitudes)

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From The Hill, WUSA.com, KOAM-TV:

Police arrested fifteen demonstrators at the request of Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) this week after protesters refused the congressman’s request that they leave his office and conduct their demonstration in a civil manner.

They were among 52 people from the disability advocacy group ADAPT who were detained by police during Washington area protests Tuesday over the lack of funding for housing vouchers that would allow people with disabilities to move out of nursing homes to more independent living situations.

Frank said he would not tolerate the tactics of the group, which he termed “undemocratic.” “When I heard that they had stormed into the office and occupied it, I went in and told them that was not an acceptable way of doing business and I told them to leave and if they didn’t leave, I would have the police remove them,”  said Frank, who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

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From the [Salt Lake City, Utah] Deseret News:

Some 500 people with disabilities have set up a tent city at a major government agency to protest what organizers say is federal underfunding of housing options for people with disabilities. They are occupying a spot outside the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development office building.

Event organizers from the advocacy group ADAPT said candidates are talking about young children with disabilities, but they should be talking about adults with disabilities who must try to survive on extremely low incomes.

Advocates said they planned to stay at the encampment until Thursday to lobby for the Community Choice Act, which would help people with disabilities live on their own instead of being forced by circumstances to live in nursing homes and care centers. Barack Obama has endorsed the measure, while John McCain has opposed it.

From the McClean, Virginia, Connection:

Ten people were arrested at the Arlington, Virginia, headquarters of Sen. John McCain this week after a group of ADAPT protesters entered the office and refused to leave. After a standoff that lasted several hours, police officers ejected them. They were charged with trespassing. “They can protest,” said one officer, “But they can’t protest on private property.”

See earlier posts here and here.

Editors at the Chicago Tribune say Illinois should shift its priorities toward community-based care for people with disabilities. The state has just announced the closing of the Howe Developmental Center, an institution for people with disabilities that lost federal funding after reports of substandard care and needless deaths.

Illinois has relied much too heavily on expensive, large-scale institutions to care for its developmentally disabled residents … more than most states. There is a place for such institutions. But most developmentally disabled residents flourish in smaller, community-based settings. Many people are able to integrate into the community and work outside the home.

The editorial notes that institutional care is much more expensive, costing the taxpayers about $140,000 a year for each person in an institution as compared with $50,000 a year for community care.

See earlier posts here and here.