Indiana University East

With the holidays coming up I wanted to put a plug in for the Independent Living Center of Eastern Indiana (www.ilcein.org) and ask all of you to keep online shopping in mind during this time of great need.
I thought it might be a great reminder to everyone to be sure to use the GoodSearch website when searching for information online. Each time you begin your online purchase at GoodShop.com -clickon your preferred store- like ICLEIN, and a percentage of each purchase comes back to the organization.
This is a great way to give two gifts for the price of one!
I do so love a twofer!!!!!

SENATOR MIKULSKI INTRODUCES BILL TO STRIKE TERMS “MENTAL RETARDATION” AND “MENTALLY RETARDED” FROM FEDERAL LAWBOOKS

“Rosa’s Law” honors young girl whose brother said, “… what you call people is how you treat them.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski today introduced “Rosa’s Law,” a bill that will eliminate the terms “mental retardation” and “mentally retarded” from the federal law books. U.S. Senator Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, is the Republican sponsor of the bill.

Under Rosa’s Law, those terms would be replaced with “intellectual disability” and “individual with an intellectual disability” in federal education, health and labor law. The bill does not expand or diminish services, rights or educational opportunities. It simply makes the federal law language consistent with that used by the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and the President of the United States, through his Committee on Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities.

Rosa’s Law replicates a law recently adopted in Maryland. Senator Mikulski first heard about the state law from Rosa’s mother during a roundtable discussion about special education held in Edgewater, Maryland. Due to requirements in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), each student who receives special education services at public schools has an individualized education program (IEP) that describes the student’s disability and the special education and services that child will receive.
Rosa has an intellectual disability – Downs Syndrome – and so was designated as a student with “mental retardation” in her IEP, giving way to people at the school referring to Rosa as retarded. Senator Mikulski promised Rosa’s mother that if the bill became law in Maryland, she would take it to the floor of the United States Senate.

“This bill is driven by a passion for social justice and compassion for the human condition,” said Senator Mikulski, a senior member of the HELP Committee. “We’ve done a lot to come out of the dark ages of institutionalization and exclusion when it comes to people with intellectual disabilities. I urge my colleagues to join me to take a step further. The disability community deserves it. Rosa deserves it.” “Mental retardation”
and “mentally retarded” are terms commonly used in federal laws, including the Individual With Disabilities Education Act, the Higher Education Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as No Child Left Behind, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

“We know now that words have meaning, sometimes far beyond what we intend,”
added Senator Enzi. “Therefore, we must be very careful about the way we describe the people we see every day, including those with disabilities, or those who are undergoing treatment for a variety of health issues.
Unfortunately, the federal government has not dropped this term from our laws and it still appears in the regulations and statutes that come before our legislative bodies and our courts. I am pleased to have this opportunity to join my colleague from Maryland, Senator Mikulski, in introducing Rosa’s law. I would like to thank her for her leadership and her commitment on this issue. Simply put, this legislation will make an important change in the words we use to refer to those with intellectual disabilities. It is a much needed change in the law that is fully deserving of our support.”

When Rosa’s Law was being considered by the Maryland General Assembly, Rosa’s 13-year-old brother, Nick, successfully testified on her behalf for a substitution of mentally retarded with intellectual disability. He explained, “Some people say they are just words, and it’s not going to make a difference if we just change the words. Some say we shouldn’t worry about the words, just the way we treat people. But when you think about it, what you call people is how you treat them! If we change the words, maybe it’ll be the start of a new attitude towards people with intellectual disabilities. They deserve it.”

“Senator Mikulski’s bill is a most welcome and necessary step in ending the pervasive discrimination against the 7 million people living with intellectual disabilities in this country,” stated Peter V. Berns, the Chief Executive Officer of The Arc of the U.S. “With federal adoption of the term ‘intellectual disability’ perhaps our society and others will begin to understand the legitimacy of the condition and treat those living with it in a more respectful fashion.”

The Arc is the world’s largest community based organization of and for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It provides an array of services and support for families and individuals and includes over 140,000 members affiliated through more than 780 state and local chapters across the nation. The Arc is devoted to promoting and improving supports and services for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Rosa’s Law has garnered support from six additional cosponsors from both sides of the aisle, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Senator Benjamin L.
Cardin (D-Md.), Senator Lamar Alexander (R- Tenn.), Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), and Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), as well as more than 30 national organizations to date:
http://mikulski.senate.gov/_pdfs/Press/Organizations.pdf.

A copy of the Dear Colleague letter circulated by Senators Mikulski and Enzi is available here:
http://mikulski.senate.gov/_pdfs/Press/RosasLawDearColleageLetter.pdf.

Senator Mikulski’s full floor statement is here:
http://mikulski.senate.gov/Newsroom/PressReleases/record.cfm?id=319975.

the following statistics were released by The Capital Insider: a policy brief of information about disabilities in Washington:

Victimization Data

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics recently relased a report based on data from the 2007 National Crime Victimization Survey. The report found that people with disabilities experienced violent crime at a rate one and one-half times greater than people without disabilities. For females with disabilities, the rate was twice as high as women without disabilities. People with intellectual disabilities were most at risk. One in five people with disabilities who experienced violent crimes felt that they had become victims because of their disability. The report can be found at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/capd07.htm

so,

ok,

I felt pretty good about me moral philosophizing in the last post on being a victim

and still think there is much to be learned about what happens when we compare ourselves to others

but

its not the whole story

I mean

what do we do with the empirical data that shows how many people with disabilites are victims of major crimes!

why is this?

When we imagine ourselves as victims, emotion is aroused, and that emotion may increase our compassion for other victims, or it may create hatred for oppressors, or both. Sometimes, in our horror of victimhood, we are comforted by the fact that we are not the actual victims; the actual victims are not as smart, not as innocent, not as blessed as we are. And when we look at the perpetrator, we are again comforted because we are not, could not be, that monster. But when we look at a scene of suffering and see both possibilities for ourselves, then a new horror is aroused, and that horror provides a starting point for real moral growth.

Nel Noddings

I saw Nel Noddings speak last week at the national celebration of John Dewey’s birthday and conference in Chapel Hill North Carolina. She is an amazing speaker and advocate of children everywhere.

What has always facinated me about “ethics of care” research- studies that are largely influenced by Nell’s writing about her work in schools- is how caring can be so miscontrued. I think that is the base of Nell’s thought in the above quote. What I get out of her insight is how important it is to look under our thoughts and ask why do we think in such a way? From the victims point of view, Nell says we often take comfort by seeing ourselves as morally superior to our persecuters- a comparision we are bound to win which gives us a nice social justice pillow on which to rest our weary heads.

But she goes on to say that there is still more work to be done, that we must rise up and off the comfort of feeling morally superior to understand how any comparison of one thing ( my pain compared to the persecuter’s moral demise) brings forth the other ( It is possible that my feeling of moral superiority is the same feeling my persecuter has when he/she looks at me…which makes us more alike than different.)

So, I”m thinking about all the times lately when I have felt victimized and how easy it is to say “yeah, what you are doing makes me suffer somehow, but my suffering has limits and you are going to suffer for eternity”

http://www.creaturediscomforts.org/

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK- I LOVE THIS!

Wow, didn’t mean for the blog site to be down so long! I had a full hip replacement on July 8th- so I’m at 8 weeks recovery time this week! Very very good outcomes and am now a full-fledged member of the Cyborg Club! I have a full titanium top of the line Zimmer hip and am zimming along at an amazing rate!  Just think, 9 weeks ago I could not lift my left foot more than 1/2 inch off the ground and today I’m climbing stairs and checking out the belly dancing lessons on cable!

There’s lots to write about this journey where I learn to walk again and I’ll get some stories uploaded very soon. For the most part I’m without any pain and feel pretty good. Getting into the swing of this fall semester has been a chore but I’m not so sure that its “hip” related… it has felt more like being caught in a maze with odd twists and turns- no cheese in sight!

Before going into too many personal, although amazingly interesting stories, there are several “disability” related news items to bring to your attention. Look for more updates on Cyborg Teaching and Reflections in the near future. For now take a look under the “News” category

The Capital Insider           Volume 14, Issue 18
Seclusion and Restraint

May 11, 2009

[I don't know what to say to my preservice teachers when they tell me child abuse only happens in poor families, or in a violent home, a drug user's home,  in the city, or the backwoods, somewhere, anywhere else....

…at the risk of “crying wolf” too early

I think it best to place my “worry” in a context and then I’ll tell you why it popped into my head today.

The first contextual item is a term description.  “Social Darwanism” is a philosophic view of human rights that is over a hundred years old.  It has led to the development of social theories and applications in many countries, in many forms.  Like most all philosophy, the tenets are open to debate which leaves advocates and critics alike struggling with contested definitions, purposes, and outcomes.

I’ll cut my rabid hatred of this philosophy short and simply state that I oppose the following rather stable tenet of social darwanism: the powerful have the right to determine [ whether said determination is explicit, implied, or unconscious] the social worth and credibility of other, less powerful, human beings.

The second contextual item is the setting. My life’s work is in public education. That may, by default, make me an idealist and I’m okay with this description. I believe in the power of public education to build a democratic society. It is the greatest gift to the common man and therefore to the evolution of human conciousness. Public schooling brought the principles of democracy within the reach of everyone and regardless of its many many many flaws, public schooling continues to carry the hope for a free society.

until recently.

When the privatization of public schools became a political agenda.

Then I began to worry about who would be allowed to go to school and what kind of education children would receive.

Which brings me this news article from Disability Scoop: May 1, 2009

Justice Dept. Sues Private School Network For Excluding Students With Disabilities

By Michelle Diament

The Justice Department is suing a network of private schools for allegedly excluding children with disabilities.

In the suit, the government cites incidents of children with disabilities who were denied admission or removed from schools run by Nobel Learning Communities Inc. Such actions are a violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Nobel is a network of private preschools, elementary and middle schools with over 180 locations in 15 states. Schools operate under unique names such as Bethesda Country Day School and Merryhill Schools.

“All parents want their child to have the opportunity to reach his or her full potential,” said Loretta King, acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department. “The Justice Department will vigorously enforce Title III of the ADA to ensure that children with disabilities have a full and equal opportunity to participate in academic and non-academic activities.”

Meanwhile, Nobel put out a statement saying the company “vigorously denies the allegations,” but will work with federal investigators to reach a settlement in the interest of avoiding the costs of going to court.

“The alleged violations are the result of decisions we made to act in the best interests of the children in question and the schools as a whole,” Nobel Learning CEO George Bernstein said in the statement. “Moreover, they involve only a tiny fraction of the approximately 50,000 students we have served since DOJ began its investigation in 2005. That number includes nearly 1,400 students currently enrolled in Nobel Learning schools with a wide range of disabilities such as autism, Asperger’s, Down syndrome, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, asthma, seizure disorders, depression, blood disorders, bipolar disorder, ADD, hearing and vision impairments, heart conditions, severe allergies, and behavioral disorders.”

please note

that I’m grateful for the federal ADA and 504 policies that tie education money to a Free and Appropriate Public Education and that I believe this kind of judicial stance is critical to the advancement of our society

but

what about all those children who, somehow, in someway, don’t fit whatever philosophy being used for acceptance into a private school

and

who are not protected by federal disabilty policy?  I am really worried.

ADA-Indiana invites you to attend its April Audio Conference: Understanding Mental Illness: What does an employer need to know?

The Audio Conference is held in Whitewater Hall room 119

Tuesday April 21st

2:00- 3:30

The ADA is a legal obligation which HR managers, employers and covered entities must adhere to. Many educational sessions focus on the “how to accommodate” or “what an employer can and can’t do under the ADA”.  Few programs provide employers with the information they need to understand the types of disabilities they may encounter with their applicants and employees. Mental illness is one of the most prevalent disabilities in society, yet it is also among the most misunderstood.

In this session, guest speaker, Dawn Zak, Director, Way of the Willow, will discuss the impact mental illness can have on the lives of your employees. Enhance your understanding of the impact that mental health issues can have on the individual and in turn the workplace and strategies for creating a workplace environment that is supportive of all employees.

Employers, human resource personnel, local government officials, advocates, people with disabilities, and other interested community members are encouraged to attend.

CRC credits will be available.

If you would like additional information, or would like to request an accommodation, contact Pamela Whitt by phone at (765) 973-8308, or email pbwhitt@indiana.edu.

The audio conference series is co-sponsored by ADA-Indiana, the Governor’s Planning Council for People with Disabilities, and the DBTAC: Great Lakes ADA Center.

For more information about this or any other ADA training event, please visit the ADA-Indiana website at www.adaindiana.org.

Last Tuesday [April 7] the local newspaper printed a story about Indiana’s human services agency and changes to the system that just went into effect. The changes are part of an Indiana state contract  with  IBM to create a”modernized” welfare intake process.

I’m trying to be fair. I’m trying to understand. I’m trying to stay in my rational social scientist mind here as I read about these changes. The final outcome of the $1.16 billion dollar contract to streamline services is the removal of “personal interaction” between client and service provider. That’s the stance  State Legislator and Republican Suzanne Crouch of Evansville has taken. In her words: “These enhancements address one small part of the modernization problem but do not address the lack of personal interaction.”

Hmm, the IBM streamlining has shorten the paper application for welfare and related services from a hopping 16 pages to 4 and you don’t need to pay a real person to do the interview.

But you have to be computer literate,

and have access to a computer

and an internet connection

if you need welfare services.

Hmm. the great digital divide widens yet again….

What’s the Indiana human services agency purpose? Oh yea, to use our tax dollars to help support people who are so poor they cannot pay bills and buy food and keep a roof over their heads.

Sounds like “Modernizing” the welfare intake process is another act of efficiency that falls short of being effective.  My list of ethical, moral and practical questions about the amount of money it is taking to create an online welfare applciation system is only slightly shorter than the list of social justice issues this online system will create.

 At the very top of my social justice list, I have to ask: “How many people with disabilities will this change in support services affect and what will they ultimately haver to do to make ends meet?”