60 Minutes Video: Presidential Adviser David Axelrod Speaks Out About Epilepsy

In late October, White House senior adviser David Axelrod and his wife Susan appeared on "60 Minutes" to discuss their personal experience with their daughter Laruen. Lauren, now 28, had her first seizure when she was an infant. By the time she was 18, she had tried 23 different medications and had undergone an unsuccessful brain surgery.

Susan started the Chicago-based advocacy group Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) to raise awareness and fund research. Epilepsy affects as many people as breast cancer -- 200,000 new cases each year, with a total of 3 million Amercans affected -- yet it trails in research funding. Funding for epilepsy is about $35 a patient, compared with $129 for Alzheimer's and $280 for multiple sclerosis.

Here's the full "60 Minutes" story.


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Who is WH Senior Advisor's Hero? (Hint: It's Not Obama)

In this article about White House senior advisor David Axelrod, he speaks about his 27-year-old daughter Lauren, who lives in a Chicago facility for children and adults with developmental disabilities. After he gave a speech at the facility recently, Lauren presented him with a painting of the White House that incorporates the Chicago skyline.

"Lauren is my hero," he said at the event. "Because of her epilepsy, she has had many challenges in life, physical and emotional challenges, that most of us have never imagined. Mom and I are so lucky to have you. And I just want to say I love you and we'll see each other often, so don't worry about this moving thing. I'm coming home for every home visit."

Another Pick Who Gets Disability Issues

I'm looking out for signs that President-elect Obama is taking disabilities seriously in his very first steps. In addition to appointing David Axelrod and Michael Strautmanis to senior positions, he's put Seth Harris, his campaign's co-chair for disability policy, on the working group that will help set budget and personnel decisions for labor, education, and transportation agencies.

The Washington Post reports: "Seth Harris...is a professor and the Director of Labor & Employment Law Programs at New York Law School. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Life Without Limits Project of the United Cerebral Palsy Association and a member of the National Advisory Commission on Workplace Flexibility. He served as the Chair of Obama for America's Labor, Employment, and Workplace Policy Committee and a Co-Chair of its Disability Policy Committee. During the Clinton Administration, he served as counselor to the Secretary of Labor and Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy, among other policy-advising positions."

Harris's writing includes "The Misdirected Debate Over the Economics of Disabilities Accommodations," an essay that cites the inadequacy of employer-provided health insurance and discrimination in the workplace.

Another One to Watch

I was happy to see that Michael Strautmanis was appointed to a key position in the presidential transition office -- as the director of public liaison and intergovernmental affairs. Strautmanis, 39, was the chief counsel and deputy chief of staff in Obama’s Senate office and has known Michelle and Barack Obama since 1991. Also, as I've mentioned before, one of his three children has autism. If Strautmanis takes a leadership position in the White House, we'll have at least two fathers (him and David Axelrod) who have firsthand experience with special needs.

Here's a good profile of Strautmanis.

Watch this Man

One of the superstars of the Obama campaign is his senior strategist, David Axelrod. As a political consultant based in Chicago, a former Chicago Tribune reporter, and a passionate Bulls fan, Axelrod has resisted previous offers to relocate to Washington, but people are starting to speculate about what role he may play in the Obama Administration. Here's an article from Chicago Business News.

Whatever he does, in Chicago or Washington, Axelrod will likely have an influence in the administration's policy related to disabilities. His daughter, in her 20s, has developmental disabilities, and Axelrod's wife Susan co-founded Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Alexrod has accepted the position of senior advisor in the White House.