From the [Newark] Star-Ledger:

More than one-third of people with autism and other developmental disabilities may also have mental illness, said a report by a New Jersey task force.

It called on hospitals and community service agencies to improve care for these people, and urged cross-training professionals in mental health and developmental disabilities fields. The state’s human services commissioner said the report will help the state prevent disabled people from being wrongly institutionalized.

From the Des Moines Register, AP/Chicago Tribune:

A measure on the Iowa ballot next month will ask voters to remove the term “idiot” from the state constitution.

Using language that has been in place since 1857, the Iowa constitution says a person who is an “idiot or insane person”  is prohibited from voting. If the measure is approved, that portion will be changed to read “a person judged mentally incompetent.”

Rep. Betty Grundberg, a Republican from Des Moines who has a daughter with mental illness, has been pushing for the constitutional amendment since 1997. “I think what we have to do is recognize that people with disabilities are normal people except that they have a disability,” she said. “You don’t call people idiots.”

From the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times:

A homeless man died in Los Angeles after being doused with gasoline and set on fire. A police spokesman said the man, who had lived peacefully on the streets in the dense residential neighborhood for more than 20 years, was believed to have been mentally ill. An excerpt:

A man in his 20s was seen throwing gasoline on the man, chasing him, throwing more on him and running from the scene, said Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz. Scorch marks stained a wall Friday where the man was burned.

The burning horrified even officers who routinely witness violent crimes, Diaz said.

“To murder somebody who’s probably suffering from mental illness issues and not bothering anyone — just a poor wretch on the street — you’ve got to be a soulless nitwit to do something like this,” he said.

Related story from the Associated Press: Ten years after the murder of Matthew Shepard, there is no federal hate crime legislation extending to sexual orientation or disability. A bill that passed the U.S. House last year would have extended existing hate crime law to include sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability.

See also: Cruel end for LA homeless man — Los Angeles Times

(Danette Kuoch lights a candle at a makeshift shrine where the man was killed; Los Angeles Times photo)

Editors of the Minneapolis Star Tribune offer praise and caution over the mental health parity law passed last week. An excerpt:

The new law’s costs and impact need to be monitored carefully. Worrisome side effects to watch for: reduction in the number of employers offering insurance or narrowing by insurers of the range of products they offer, a regrettable outcome often accompanying state regulation. At the same time, the new law is a bold and pioneering step — one that will help end the discrimination and stigma faced far too long by families grappling with mental illness.

From the Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal:

Passed as part of the Wall Street bailout this week was a measure, hailed by mental health advocates as a “great civil rights victory,” that makes it illegal for health insurance companies to discriminate against patients with psychological or behavioral disorders.

The mental parity law, one of many amendments included in the legislation to broaden legislative support for the bailout package, requires health insurance companies to charge the same deductibles, copayments, and out-of-pocket expenses for mental health treatments as for all other illnesses.

… The nonprofit Mental Health America estimates that 67 percent of adults and 80 percent of children requiring mental health services do not receive help, in large part because of discriminatory insurance practices.

UPDATE: Bailout provides more mental health coverage — New York Times

From the St. Petersburg Times,  Tampa Tribune:

Three civil rights groups have filed a class action complaint with the Florida Department of Education alleging that students with disabilities in the Hillsborough schools were neglected and disciplined instead of being given counseling and support services required by federal law.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities and the NAACP joined forces to file the complaint over the Hillsborough school district’s treatment of students with emotional and behavioral disabilities.

The complaint asks the state to force Hillsborough to transform a “culture of neglect and overly harsh discipline” that puts students with disabilities on a path to jail and prison.

… Punishing students with disabilities instead of providing them with services that promote positive behavior “appears to occur more frequently with students of color,” according to the complaint.

Similar complaints have been filed against Palm Beach County, as well as in Louisiana and Mississippi.

“This problem is not limited to Palm Beach and Hillsborough,” said Brandi Davis, a lawyer from the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala. “This is a state and national problem.

From [UK] Times: (Editor’s note: Link no longer working as of 3 p.m. Eastern)

In the wake of a court decision that found a mother guilty of murdering her daughter with cerebral palsy, parents of children with disabilities say they face daily battles with schools and social services to be given the help they need. During the trial of Joanne Hill, the court heard testimony that Hill was motivated by shame over her daughter Naomi’s condition. (Photo above.)

Joanne Hill admitted to killing her daughter, but denied murder on the grounds of mental illness, including depression.

Parents of children with disabilities described losing social safety nets, including being abandoned by spouses, being ignored by social services, losing services when relocating, losing jobs, and becoming homeless.

… Hill’s is not an isolated case. While most parents love their disabled children unconditionally, they are also worn out by endless battles for the services they are entitled to.

The controversial debate of terminations in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill returns to Parliament in the coming weeks. Some parents say that if they had known how difficult life was to be with disabled children they might have reconsidered their choice.

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