From the Roanoke Times:

Parents around Virginia are turning out at public hearings to oppose proposed rule changes that would allow school systems to transfer students out of special education without parental consent.

Parents said they feared that school systems would use the rule changes to trim the number of special education students, even when students still needed services.

“I am not aware of any parents who frivolously seek to burden their children with the continued stigma of a disability just because,” said one mother. “However I have heard of examples of a school seeking to terminate services to a child just because they could.”

On Youtube.com:

You’ll have to watch this to see just how adorable a video press release can be. Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) announces the launch of a Congressional caucus on Down syndrome while her son, one-year-old Cole Rodgers, steals the limelight. McMorris Rodgers says the caucus will focus on raising awareness and educating parents about resources that can help all children reach their full potential. Cole has Down syndrome.

See earlier post here.

In this month’s Northwest Woman magazine: Cathy McMorris Rodgers: Touched by Down syndrome

From the Wall Street Journal:

Members of Congress are expressing concern and scheduling hearings about a Medicare plan to use competitive bidding for products such as wheelchairs and walkers, in a sign that lobbying by medical-equipment companies is gaining traction.

Currently, companies receive a government-set fee to distribute such equipment for patients’ home use. Under the competitive system, companies bid on how low a fee they would be willing to accept. Medicare then limits distribution rights for a particular geographic area to several low bidders.

… Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services say competition could ultimately save $1 billion a year … Critics in Congress and elsewhere say service for the elderly will suffer if the bidding system drives some operators out of business. “We are very concerned about a decrease in quality and access and choice of provider,” says Peter W. Thomas of the Consortium for Citizens With Disabilities.

From Catholic Online:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Local Catholic leaders and advocates for the disabled praised Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, for fully embracing the arrival of their fifth child, who was born with Down syndrome April 18.

In a statement, the Palin family said they knew, through early testing, that Trig Paxon Van Palin “would face special challenges.”

Despite Trig’s disability, the Palins said they felt “privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives.”

(more…)

From CNETNews.com:

Congressman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is advocating for changes that would require Internet phone and video products to be made accessible to people with disabilities. Markey, who chairs the House telecommunications and Internet panel, is drafting a bill that would require Internet-based devices to be able to decode closed captioning and deliver oral narration.

“The wizardry of the wires and the sophistication of the software programs do little for those who cannot affordably access or effectively use them,” Markey said at a subcommittee hearing this week.

Among those supporting Markey’s efforts was actor Russell Harvard, who starred with Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. Harvard urged Congress to take closed captioning law “to its next level.”

“I and others who cannot hear are left out of this whirlwind of technological change (because) hardly any of these smaller devices display closed captions,” said Harvard, who is deaf.

From the Miami Herald, Associated Press:

Families who have children with autism may be able to get insurers to cover most costs for diagnosis and treatment of the disease under the last bill the Florida legislature passed before adjourning its session Friday.

An emotional House wrestled with whether to pass the bill because it only did a small part of what House leaders wanted. They had hoped to pass a much broader plan to try to get insurance coverage guarantees for children with many other disabilities, including spina bifida and Down syndrome.

Ultimately, the House agreed to send Gov. Charlie Crist a bill already passed by the Senate that would just cover autism. Several lawmakers, however, lamented it would only help less than 15 percent of children with developmental disabilities.

… The House bill was sponsored by Rep. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, the father of a child with Down syndrome.

“How fair is it to say to the disability community, that if you have autism we’re going to mandate coverage for you but if God has blessed you with a child with a different disability, we’re not?” Gardiner asked as the House debated the merits of the two proposals.

Further reporting on Washington protests

From Roll Call (registration required):

Hundreds of protesters from the disability advocacy group ADAPT, many in wheelchairs, cut off access to the office of GOP presidential candidate John McCain and the Republican National Committee headquarters for most of the afternoon on Tuesday. At least 21 arrests were made.

ADAPT national coordinator Mike Oxford, who took part in the protest outside the RNC, said the group came to Capitol Hill to urge McCain to support the Community Choice Act, sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.).

… The protest is one in a series ADAPT has sponsored over the years in support of legislation that would shift federal money to community-based disability assistance and away from nursing homes and other institutions. The group held a similar protest at the Department of Health and Human Services on Monday.

Medicaid currently pays for long-term care in nursing homes and other institutions but does not pay for the same services provided at an individual’s home. (more…)