From tampabay.com (St. Petersburg Times):

Seven nursing home residents backed by the AARP Foundation have filed a class-action lawsuit against the state of Florida under the Americans with Disabilities Act. They say the state’s Medicaid program is biased toward institutional placements, and want the right to determine where they live.

Florida spends 87 cents of its Medicaid dollar on nursing homes when caring for the frail and disabled. Only nine other states commit a smaller portion to home-based care. [The Florida practice] “perpetuates the segregation of persons with disabilities,” the suit says.

Here’s a fascinating internet collection of public documents and video that documents the nation’s changing perception of intellectual disability in the postwar era: Parallels in Time II. Central to its story are the efforts of the administration of President John F. Kennedy in promoting public awareness and launching new programs for people with intellectual disabilities.

Assembled by the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, the collection reminds viewers that as recently as the 1960s people with intellectual disabilities were routinely locked away, warehoused and abused in institutions. Photographs from the era show inmates who were physically restrained, malnourished, and lacked clothing.

Worth thinking about as you peruse the exhibit: President Kennedy’s sister Rosemary had an intellectual disability that was described as mild in childhood, but became completely incapacitated after being lobotomized in 1941 by Dr. Walter J. Freeman at the direction of their father, Joseph P. Kennedy. Rosemary spent the last 56 years of her life in an institution.

In a videotaped interview included with the exhibit, Elizabeth Boggs, a member of the President’s Panel on Mental Retardation, says the Kennedy family didn’t want Rosemary’s condition mentioned.

A partial chronology of exhibits:

1962 — Video of President John Kennedy explaining his legislative proposals to “help fight mental illness and mental retardation.”

(more…)

A lawsuit against a Wisconsin school for children with disabilities points up the complexities faced by special educators as they strive to comply with federal law.

Lakeland School in Walworth County is being sued for allegedly violating a federal law requiring that students be educated in the least restrict environment. But some parents say that the separate school setting actually allows their children to function more independently.

Author Dale DiLeo spoke of a lack of inclusion of the disabled during his keynote speech at the 10th annual Kansas Disability Caucus this week. DiLeo’s recent book “Raymond’s Room” is sharply critical of what the author calls the “disability industrial complex,” arguing that publicly funded agencies routinely segregate people with disabilities away from the life of their communities. Coverage of the speech from the Topeka Capital-Journal. The book is here.