Americans With Disabilities and the Role of Government

[Swan]

There is another thread going started by a mom whose child has a disability. The availability of education for her child as well as a general discussion of the protection of that child’s civil rights is included in that thread. Now I know a lot of folks here have a real negative opinion of government regulations and government fundind (gov. funds most special ed programs), though I don’t remember this particiular issue being discussed before. How do folks feel about the Americans with disabilities Act? What about funding public school education for kids with special needs?

 

[dakotamidnight]

Well I’m disabled myself - so the act is critical to me.

I find that it is rarely enforced. I often get to an appt or event, only to find I can’t get into the building or to the spot. When I had to go to a local food bank recently they had a lift, but you had to send someone inside to tell them that someone needed the lift. Not very helpful.

I think it needs to be enforced more and altered/updated to include parents with disabilities. No one ever thinks about the kids with disabilities growing up and having to live in the regular world and have families.

I can take a wonderful paratrans bus directly to/from appts, but because I have a daughter I have to bring and install her carseat myself. Which doesn’t work either since with my disability I’m not capable of installing it myself. So I have to make do with the regular bus system which is hit or miss on wheelchair use.

 

[Julianna]

My son was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome at age 14. He attended Catholic school from K-4. At that time we were told he had ADD. When we moved to NC we had him tested again. He is now 25 yrs old, a high school graduate. Excels in math and science. He has AAS degree in Mech Eng Tech. He is going for his BS in Engineering and is working for Uncle Sam part time while going to school. He DID NOT tell Uncle Sam about his disAbility. He wanted to get the job based on merit. So the ADA did not come into play. When he was in high school he was mainstreamed. He is high functioning, so he did not need an assistant. He was told the school would “give him” a laptop computer, but he refused. He said his writing may be poor, but it will do. He did not want any special treatment. He VocRehab counselor told him at age 18, he could receive 1,000.00 a month in disabilty payments. He said, “I don’t want that, I can work for a living.” So we ended the relationship with the very state/fed agency that was supposed to help him find a job, instead, she wanted him to stay home and have the taxpayers pay his way. It was not “logical” in his mind to receive money without “earning” it.

If it wasn’t for the special ed classes (they are not called that anymore) and the attention of his teachers, the cooperation of the school principal and mine and my DH persistance, I do not believe he would be in college today, nor would he have a post secondary degree under his belt.

I guess this country has a choice, support special ed, or we go back to the days of the institution. As a Catholic Christian, the latter would be the downfall of this country.

A mother of a child with DS is stressed that the Catholic schools cannot give her a Catholic school education. Sad indeed. You would think our faith who encourages life would be at the forefront of educating as much as possible children with disAbilities. My son received first communion.

My son drives, has his own car and pays his way with the part time salary he receives. He did not qualify for FASFA because his dad and I work for Uncle Sam. It is a myth that civil servants are rich. He pays for his own classes. It may take longer for him to graduate, but he will graduate.

Parents with children with disAbilities need to be pro-active and stay active in their childs education process. This is key. The government alone only does so much…the parents have to get involved, stay involved.

I am grateful for the blessing of my son. He brings me down to earth, and teaches me that problems can be solved without "so much EMOTION.

 

[SoCalRC]

FWIW, when it comes to educating children with disabilities, the primary law involved is the Federal IDEA law.

It is hard to imagine why people would really object to it. Community based care and service delivery is dramatically cheaper for society as a whole, generally provides a significantly better quality of life for the disabled, and significantly reduces other societal social problems for that segment of the population (unplanned pregancy, crime, unemployment, etc.)

The GOP sought to fully fund IDEA during the Clinton administration and the DEMs sought to fully fund IDEA during the Biush administration, so it certainly doesn’t seem to trouble most ideologs from either side of the coin.

There is a strong Norquist Conservatism presence on this board, but I don’t think ADA needs must justification beyond the wards at our VA hospitals. Anyone who thinks we don’t owe that disabled segment of the population reasonable access , dignity, and quality of life should probably spend a lot less time listening to nutcase talk radio and a lot more time pondering the Gospels…

 

[Annn]

FWIW, when it comes to educating children with disabilities, the primary law involved is the Federal IDEA law.

It is hard to imagine why people would really object to it. Community based care and service delivery is dramatically cheaper for society as a whole, generally provides a significantly better quality of life for the disabled, and significantly reduces other societal social problems for that segment of the population (unplanned pregancy, crime, unemployment, etc.)

The GOP sought to fully fund IDEA during the Clinton administration and the DEMs sought to fully fund IDEA during the Biush administration, so it certainly doesn’t seem to trouble most ideologs from either side of the coin.

There is a strong Norquist Conservatism presence on this board, but I don’t think ADA needs must justification beyond the wards at our VA hospitals. Anyone who thinks we don’t owe that disabled segment of the population reasonable access , dignity, and quality of life should probably spend a lot less time listening to nutcase talk radio and a lot more time pondering the Gospels…

 

[Swan]

Well I’m disabled myself - so the act is critical to me.

I find that it is rarely enforced. I often get to an appt or event, only to find I can’t get into the building or to the spot. When I had to go to a local food bank recently they had a lift, but you had to send someone inside to tell them that someone needed the lift. Not very helpful.

I think it needs to be enforced more and altered/updated to include parents with disabilities. No one ever thinks about the kids with disabilities growing up and having to live in the regular world and have families.

I can take a wonderful paratrans bus directly to/from appts, but because I have a daughter I have to bring and install her carseat myself. Which doesn’t work either since with my disability I’m not capable of installing it myself. So I have to make do with the regular bus system which is hit or miss on wheelchair use.

I totally agree. I have rhumatoid arthritis and it is very possible that I might one day be unable to stand and walk as I do now. It is something I think about often as I get older and the pain gets worse, especially in my knees and hips. I’ve found myself noticing what is and isn’t accessible - even looking at curbs as I go down the street. People who don’t need these things take so much for granted, but any one of us could find ourselves in a wheelchair at any time -

I’ve heard some small business owners complain about having to build handicap restrooms and ramps. Last year there was a story in the Los Angeles Times travel section about a tourist town near hear. A few weeks after the piece appeared a letter to the editor was printed. The letter was from a woman whose husband was in a wheelchair. They’d read the story and thought “hey, sounds like a cool place, let’s go”. Unfortunatly, they were terribly disappointed. Almost none of the stores had ramps, stores were too crowed to allow the wheelchair to manuver, no restrooms, etc. As the woman pointed out, the business owner’s were only hurting themselves as they just lost customers.

There was also a big issue about this guy who was filing lawsuits on behalf of disabled folks against public places/stores that did not have access. Big brouhaha about the gov’t forcing businesses to be accessible. I remeber thinking “you wouldn’t be making such a fuss if you were the one who needed access”.

 

[goofyjim]

The American with Disabilities Act was totally necessary and still is. Until that point someone could be fired from a job just for having a disability most of which are hereditary like eye color and skin color. If it is wrong to fire for those reasons it is wrong to fire for a disability.