From the [Portland] Oregonian:

Angela Jarvis-Holland and Abigail Braithwaite say Sarah Palin has boosted the awareness of people with disabilities during this campaign, but bipartisan and community-based efforts are needed to bring about real improvements.

Inclusion is about diversity, and the acknowledgment that this world is made up of people of all abilities, each with unique strengths and interests. When the community takes as a given that people with disabilities are entitled to the same opportunities as every other citizen, then we will have the support we need to bolster the good policy that already exists, and to encourage the people in positions of power to become our friends, to take up the issues that matter to us and create more, better policy in Washington.

So what are we parents asking for? We are asking for everyone — from presidential candidates to our next-door neighbors — to ask yourselves what you are doing to be a friend to people with disabilities.

Jarvis-Holland and Braithwaite are members of the Northwest Down Syndrome Association.

Guest commentary:

What Kind of Advocacy Do Americans with Disabilities Really Need?

By Paul K. Longmore

Ever since Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech, the “needs” of children with disabilities have gotten a lot of press. Palin pledged to be a “friend and advocate” for those children. News stories have reported the excitement of parents and other people in the disability rights constituency that disability issues are finally getting some attention. Some of them have decided to support the election of Palin and John McCain. But do the Republican candidates offer the kind of advocacy Americans with disabilities really need? I don’t believe they do, and I want to explain why I am voting for Barack Obama and Joe Biden instead.

(more…)

From the Boston Globe:

In the window of a store in Plymouth, Massachusetts, is a t-shirt with a slogan that’s popular among hockey moms: “Trample the weak; hurdle the dead.” Writer Marianne Leone sees it and remembers her son, who died in 2005. He was nonverbal and quadriplegic; he wrote poetry on his computer. From her op-ed:

How will Sarah Palin, self-described hockey mom, reconcile this brutal ethos with her promise to “be an advocate for parents of children with special needs,” now that she’s a member of that club, too?

… In the warrior culture espoused by self-described “pit bull” Palin, there is no place for the weak. When I saw the T-shirt in the window of [the store], I thought of my son and how hard we had to fight to get him basic healthcare and to enroll him in public school.

Even though the laws are in place for inclusion of students with disabilities, many parents face an uphill battle to implement these laws. Palin supports vouchers, so that parents can “choose” schools for their children.

… In Palin’s perfect school universe, segregation would be the norm for kids with disabilities.

… She and McCain are more likely to continue the brutal and failed Bush policies of trampling the weak and hurdling the dead.

Cure me of deafness? No thanks — [UK] Telegraph

Well done to those scientists who have found they can trigger the growth of new hair cells in the inner ears of mice — a discovery that could eventually restore hearing in human beings. But I’m fine, thanks, and if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to switch you all off now.

Maryland prepares sports program for kids with disabilities — Baltimore Sun

91 percent of people with disabilities believe they don’t have a political voice — Marketwatch.com

Girl with Asperger’s builds confidence in beauty pageants — New Orleans Times-Picayune

Boy with autism a success story in regular classes — Modesto [CA] Bee

Two worlds collide: Wider knowledge of sign language needed — Irish Independent

Sports program helps kids with autism build skills — Newsday

Buffett’s sister supports respite home for people with intellectual disabilities — Boston Globe

Woman’s choice: Hearing or life – ABC Good Morning America

Britain’s Thatcher has dementia — New York Times (free registration required)

Aspen faces special ed crunch — Aspen Times

Renate Lindeman, writing in the [Halifax, Nova Scotia] Chronicle Herald, says women who undergo prenatal screening and testing for Down syndrome should first be provided with accurate information about the happy, healthy lives that are increasingly being led by people with an extra chromosome.

In Holland, Lindeman says, a government-sponsored program to provide balanced information about genetic conditions to healthcare providers and the general public has led about 50 percent of pregnant women there to decline prenatal screening. But such an effort in Canada would be unpopular with businesses seeking to capture a share of a multi-billion dollar market. An excerpt:

While medical biotechnology increasingly impacts our lives in legal, economic and moral ways, the Canadian government is doing little, if anything, to inform or engage the public in policy development. The lack of interest and funding to ensure proper counselling and real, balanced information about Down syndrome for women, before they are offered screening, raises some serious ethical questions.

When I look at my daughters, both living with Down’s, I don’t see the genetically flawed retards, with stunted growth, that prenatal screening is trying to eliminate. I see kind-hearted, happy children who are giants in loving and living, who enrich our human genetic diversity, and who teach me, every day, the most important lesson in life: to feel.

If we let profits be our only guidance in developing policies, will we end up with the Canada we want?

Renate Lindeman is co-founder of Nova Scotia Down Syndrome Society and spokesperson for Down Syndrome Belongs. See earlier post about their video, “Be.”

From the New York Times:

Three mothers of children with Down syndrome started a private school in New York City three years ago to promote diversity and acceptance while offering inclusive education in small classrooms.

The mothers say that they did not feel confident that their children could get the education they wanted in New York City. They started the Ideal School of Manhattan to combine the intimacy of private schools and the inclusion of public schools. Some 25 percent of the students in their school have disabilities.

The average class size consists of 16 students and two teachers, one with special education training and one with standard classroom training.

The founders have benefited from an increasingly competitive New York City school system where parents are willing to explore other options when the first choice is not available. The annual pricetag for tuition is $32,000 a year.

(New York Times photo)

Two reports from the [Nashville] Tenneseean: Special ed kids segregated, report finds; and  Special education overhaul is urged:

A task force of parents, educators, and advocates has concluded that students receiving special education services in the Metro Nashville school district are unnecessarily segregated, and need to be more fully included in typical classrooms. The study also concluded that teachers need more training and support.

Among the report’s findings: Almost a third of the school district’s special ed students spend less than half their time in a general education classroom. Some 75 percent of students with intellectual disabilities are limited to self-contained classrooms for at least half of each school day.

The report by the task force, appointed by Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, echoed many of the findings of an earlier state audit that called the district’s practices “horrifying.”

Mayor Dean has said that reforming special education services is one of his top priorities.