From the Wall Street Journal:

A growing number of financial service companies are springing up to help parents provide for the future care of their children with disabilities. They help navigate the maze of federal and state programs, and assist parents in setting up trusts, coordinating estate plans, and educating future caregivers.

These tasks have become increasingly vital as people with disabilities are living longer than ever before, frequently outliving the parents who support them.

Miami lawyer Barry Nelson (far left) set up a special-needs trust for his fourteen-year-old son Jesse, who has autism. The trust will be funded by life insurance when Nelson dies, and can be used to pay for expenses beyond what Medicaid or SSI would pay for.

Nelson says a special-needs trust “gives me — and it gives every parent — peace of mind.”

A sidebar provides a list of financial planning resources.

(Wall Street Journal photo)

From the Tampa Tribune:

Florida citizens who suffer from developmental disabilities are enduring heartbreaking cuts in services that will force many into group homes and institutional care settings. It is a heartless situation that state lawmakers cannot allow to stand.

Because the Legislature has failed to own up to the real cost of providing care for the developmentally disabled, thousands of Florida families are losing services that have allowed them to keep their relatives at home.

As a result, the lives of many disabled people will be uprooted. And Florida taxpayers will have to pay more money, not less, for their care.

… Gov. Charlie Crist should lend his voice to their cause. With no monied lobbyists in Tallahassee, the developmentally disabled need the governor to speak for them.

Blind aide raises bar of expectations — The Hill (blindness)

Disabled parking placard use is on the rise — LA Daily News (law)

Report: Disabled voters face difficulty in RI — Boston Globe (voting)

Op-ed: Those with developmental disabilities need help now — Denver Post (law, politics, intellectual disabilities)

Film of Norfolk man’s life added to Library of Congress — The [Norfolk] Virginian-Pilot (Down syndrome)

Aging parents plan for future of children who still need help — Ottawa Citizen (caretakers)

Extreme Makeover: Emotional buildup – New York Times (disabilities, media, chronic illness, entertainment, television)

He’s immobile, but his story has the power to move — Today Show (muscular dystrophy, media, parents, personal stories)

Op-ed: New ADA rules overturn common sense — Miami Herald (ADA)

Disabled band scores film first — BBC News (entertainment)

Man accused of harassing autistic boy faces hate-crime charge — The Seattle Times (autism, hate crime)

Book review: ‘Deaf Sentence’ — New York Times (deafness)

Redskins ordered to provide hearing-impaired fans ‘aural content’ in stadium — ESPN (deaf/hard of hearing, law)

Redskins ordered to continue captions — Washington Post (deaf/hard of hearing, law)

… Obama has substantive plans for all people with disabilities

Writing in huffingtonpost.com, Paul K. Longmore says presidential campaign coverage has included a lot of talk about “special needs” children, thanks to Sarah Palin, but little about the issues that concern the 54 million Americans with disabilities of all ages.

Longmore compares the stances of the McCain-Palin ticket and the Obama-Biden ticket on healthcare, health insurance and social services for people with disabilities. An excerpt:

Even though 90 percent of the 54 million Americans with disabilities are adults, Palin, John McCain, and the news media have talked almost exclusively about children. And that talk has been mostly about “compassion” not “issues.” The McCain-Palin campaign website has a single page on “Americans with Disabilities for McCain,” but it says nothing about policy positions. Other pages mention autism and disabled veterans but no other issues.

In contrast, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have said little on the campaign trail about disability issues but their campaign website provides detailed policy proposals in a comprehensive “Plan to Empower Americans with Disabilities.”

Paul K. Longmore is a professor of history and director, Institute on Disability, at San Francisco State University. His “Open letter to the disability rights constituency” appeared exclusively on this site last month.

From CNN:

Nineteen-year-old Zach Wincent of St. Charles, Illinois, has a satisfying life. He was prom king in high school, now attends community college and works at Target. Zach’s life demonstrates the improved circumstances of people with Down syndrome in the United States, thanks to advances in education and medical care.

An excerpt:

Life with Down syndrome has changed dramatically in the past century. In 1929, the average life expectancy for a person with the condition was 9 years, but today, it is 58 to 60, said Nicole Schupf, associate professor of clinical epidemiology at Columbia University Medical Center.

(more…)

From the Omaha World-Herald:

This month, Nebraska families dropped off 15 children, some as old as 17, at hospitals and a police station in search of help taking care of them. Some of the children have mental and behavioral problems.

Unlike laws in other states, Nebraska’s new safe haven law does not set an age limit for families that wish to drop off children to be cared for by the state. Other states set a maximum age of one year old.

Families and advocates say the cases expose the difficulties and lack of resources that families face. Officials at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services say the cases raise no concerns about problems within the system.

“The parents simply decided they did not want to continue on this journey with their kids,” said Todd Landry, children and family services director.

See also:

Father leaves 9 children at Nebraska hospital — Chicago Tribune

Children left at Nebraska hospitals — Chicago Tribune

Nebraska ’safe haven’ law for kids has unintended results - USA Today

From the Jackson, TN, Sun:

Residents of North Madison County in Tennessee have organized in opposition to a proposal to build group homes there for people with developmental disabilities, arguing that the homes would drive down property values and bring undesirable people into their neighborhoods.

The homes are planned to replace an aging, institutional-style facility that is being closed in the wake of a federal lawsuit over the treatment of people with disabilities in the state.

Related op-ed: Developmentally disabled have rights, just like everybody else — By Peter Watson. An excerpt:

To me, the issue is, do these people have a right to live in a decent home in a decent neighborhood? To me, the answer is yes.

(more…)