Rep. Kline: Fund IDEA Now

Sorry for the delay in postings. Last week I was lying on a beach in Florida and largely took a break from the computer. It wasn't easy, but I highly recommend it.

One piece of news that happened while I was away was an amendment proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Back in 1975, Congress committed to provide 40 percent of the cost, with states and school districts making up the difference. But federal funding has typically been less than 20 percent.

"For far too long, our nation’s schools have been waiting patiently for Congress to fulfill its promise to fully fund special education," Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) said in introducing the amendment. "By fully funding special education, we would free up desperately needed funds schools across America could use to address their specific needs – whether it is state of the art classrooms, additional teachers, or new textbooks."

President Obama and Vice President Biden support fully funding IDEA early in the campaign. Toward the tale end of the campaign, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin also expressed support for IDEA. So I hope that Congress, the White House, and advocates on both political sides can pass this important legislation. What do you think -- is the economic mess an opportunity to make the case for this investment? Or will opponents use the economy as a reason to reject it?

Read more at Rep. Kline's blog. Or let him know what you think on his Facebook page.

Disability Coalition Objects to McCain-Palin Mocking of Disability Rights

"The National Coalition for Disability Rights pushed back today against the McCain-Palin campaign for ridiculing the legal rights of people with disabilities. News reports describe McCain-Palin campaign representative Senator Kit Bond (R-Mo), joining vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin at a rally in Missouri, mocking presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama for stating that he’s looking to nominate judges who empathize with 'the disabled.'"

Jim Ward, the founder and president of the coalition, said "It’s Halloween, and it seems that Sarah Palin’s mask of support for people with 'special needs' is slipping. Despite past pandering to people with disabilities, McCain-Palin are actually opposed to vital disability legislation like the Community Choice Act and they want to appoint judges who will further roll back the civil rights protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act."

Read "Disability Organizations Outraged by McCain-Palin Rally Attacks on the Disabled."

The Obama Campaign Responds

In response to Gov. Palin's speech on special needs, Kareem Dale from the Obama campaign circulated this letter from leaders in the disability community.

The letter links to this side-by-side comparison of McCain's and Obama's plans and records.

Palin Speech Fails to Impress

Fact checking Gov. Palin's speech on special needs, Igor Valsy at the Wonk Room says, "Palin is a confident and compelling spokesperson for special needs children. But what the campaign gains in charisma, it loses in credibility." For example, she talked about "reprioritizing" spending in order to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) -- ignoring the fact (or not knowing) that achieving that goal by redistributing the budget would require a 6.4 percent cut in ALL OTHER DOMESTIC PROGRAMS. That means Pell grants, Section 8 housing, low-income energy assistance, WIC, clean energy research, and "dozens and dozens of other programs." Not to mention the fact that McCain has opposed funding IDEA numerous times.

How did the speech go over with people who know about disability firsthand? Becky Blitch, who I've quoted here before and who lives with spinal muscular atrophy type II, says she was infuriated by Gov. Palin's speech. "By going off on impassioned tangents about earmarks and Obama's tax plan, Gov. Palin gave the impression that this speech was merely cover for stump-speech attacks, belittling the importance of the topic at hand....It's worth noting that absolutely no new territory regarding disability policy was covered in this speech....Let's face it: John McCain and Sarah Palin are losing this election. The governor could have used this moment to 'pull a Bullworth' and make some bold statements about where this country really needs to go in terms of disability policy. She didn't. She stuck to a couple politically safe proposals, she attacked Barack Obama, and she got misty-eyed over the special-ness of special needs kids. That, my friends, is called pandering. Nothing new about it."

In a post titled "The Fantasy of Palin's Plan for Special Needs Children," blogger "Writes Like She Talks" says Palin "either has no idea what she is talking about or is purposely presenting false impressions about what the federal government currently does for special needs kids, who is responsible for taking care of special needs kids, and what impact she, as VP, could possibly have on any of that....Either way, or both ways, nothing that she suggests as a promise for what she would do or be able to accomplish as VP is, in reality, achievable."

Over at Daily Kos, "Critical Dune" writes: "As a special needs parent and advocate, it's killing me to hear this garbage because she is fooling some of the people some of the time with this pander." His post includes a good link to a Wall Street Journal summary of what a special needs trust is.

Do Lies + Fear = Votes? Special Needs Trusts and Taxes

Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin today started a new misleading attack against Sen. Obama -- that his tax plan would somehow harm "special needs trusts," which are long-term savings accounts for people with disabilities. Let's check the facts:

- Obama's plan will not raise taxes on any family earning less than $250,000 per year.

- A special needs trust earns interest, just like a savings account does. So if a person had a special needs trust of $5 million, that account could produce annual income of $250,000 and may in fact lead to higher taxes under Obama's plan. Do you have a family member with special needs who has $5 million in a special needs trust? If not, the Obama tax plan would have no impact on that account.

- What economic impact will the McCain-Palin plan have on children and adults with disabilities? To answer that question, consider the impact of freezing, reducing, or eliminating every federally supported benefit they currently receive -- Social Security, housing, education, and other support. Consider the impact of a health plan that does not require providers to cover pre-existing conditions like autism and Down Syndrome. Some analysts have predicted that as many as 20 million Americans could LOSE their existing health coverage under the McCain-Palin plan.

You will be hearing more McCain-Palin lies over the next 11 days -- their campaign has officially announced a new strategy to try to win votes by scaring parents with special needs kids. Are you more likely to vote for presidential candidates who turn away from visions and plans in order to try to scare you into voting for them? Apparently they think families dealing with special needs are so (a) stupid or (b) vulnerable they can be manipulated into believing outright lies.

11 Days Before Election, Palin Endorses Obama's Call to Fully Fund IDEA

In Pittsburgh this morning, Gov. Palin gave a speech on special needs. A big focus of her speech was fully funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It took a long time, but I'm pleased that 11 days before the election, Palin has endorsed a position that Sen. Obama took more than a year ago, when he issued his policy position on disabilities. His first recommendation is to fund IDEA, a position he has advocated since he was first elected to Congress.

Here's what she didn't say:

In no part of her speech did Palin criticize the Obama-Biden plan for children and adults with special needs, or even draw contrasts between the positions.

She neglected to mention that the McCain-Palin health plan would tax employer-provided health benefits and allow people with special needs to be denied health coverage. Down Syndrome, autism, and other conditions would considered pre-existing conditions that insurers could refuse to provide coverage for.

She didn't explain why -- in all of her speeches and interviews about special needs, even when pressed for details -- she hasn't mentioned IDEA in the two months since she was nominated.

She chose not to mention the government-wide spending freeze she and McCain support, which will make it nearly impossible to fill the huge gap needed to fund IDEA. And she contradicted McCain's comment in the last debate, that no more funds are needed to meet the needs of families raising children with autism and special needs. McCain's solution was not funding, but "transparency, accountability, and reform" of government agencies.

Despite the fact that Palin has had a nephew with autism for 13 years, and claimed today that she and her sister Heather Bruce talk regularly about these issues, this Alaskan parent says, "The only 'special school' that received significant increases to its budget this year is the Alaska Youth Challenge Academy, which is a military youth academy for youth with behavioral challenges. There have been no significant increases to early intervention services (children have to wait for months to get therapy, clearly violating IDEA)."

The campaign has added a policy position to its website. As I promised the day I started this blog, now that they have created a position (11 days before the election), I will add it to my links.

Palin Talks About Autism. That's ALL She Does.

Gov. Palin's absurd, illogical, and contradictory statements about autism reached a new high (or low?) in an interview yesterday with Channel 4 KRNV in Nevada. News 4's web article says what we already knew -- "Palin Advocates for Children with Autism, No Plan Specifics." Watch the video and ask yourself if she has any understanding of the issues important to families dealing with special needs.

In an interview with News 4's Shelby Sheehan, Gov. Palin said she "can't wait" to start helping the 5,000 Nevada families affected by autism. "However, when pressed, she was unable to provide details on a plan to do that," News 4 reports. Palin said it's possible to implement the government-wide spending freeze Sen. McCain has proposed and also uncover buckets of new money for research. But "Palin did not name any specific expenditure she wanted to cut in favor of funding for autism research or services, nor did she name what specific programs she'd like to fund in order to help those families."

And yet -- get this -- she attacked Sens. Obama and Biden, saying that she and McCain "don't just talk the talk, we walk the walk." It gets better. To support this claim, she said, "And that's why in not just that first speech, but in every speech I give, I talk about being an advocate and a friend in the White House for our families who have members who have these special needs." Yes, she's talked. And talked. And talked. But when asked specific questions about this topic, she hasn't strayed from her talking points, and neither she nor McCain have outlined a plan, a vision, or a single policy that would help anybody with a disability.

On the other hand, as News 4 reports, "Obama has released a specific plan to help the families dealing with autism spectrum disorder. He has promised $1 billion annually in support and services by the end of his first term as president. He has also promised to appoint a federal autism spectrum disorder doordinator to oversee all federal efforts and fully fund the Combating Autism Act."

If you care about these issues, is there really any choice? Do you want four years of talking, posturing, and soundbites? Or do you want real plans, real programs, and real funding to provide the health care, education, and other services families need?

McCain Campaign: "We Do Not Have a Policy on Disabilities"

As I said in one of my earliest posts on this blog, it's hard to compare the candidates' policy positions on disabilities when only one candidate -- Sen. Obama -- has one. If you don't believe me, read on.

Kareem Dale, Obama's national disability vote director, recently appeared at a disability forum in Athens, Ohio. The idea was to discuss important issues with a member of Sen. McCain's staff. The only problem is, the McCain campaign sent an email message instead of a person. As hard as it is to believe, Donna M. Jones, the national coordinator of the (impressive-sounding) Americans with Disabilities for McCain Coalition, wrote this:

"The McCain campaign does not have a vetted disability policy to release at this time. I also do not have any further information on when we might be releasing a platform discussing the senator's stance on issues that relate to people with disabilities. I understand that in this contentious political season, the needs of people with disabilities must be addressed as part of the policy conversation. It is my hope that we will be able to release a vetted policy from Senator McCain in the near future. That being said, I will not be able to send a surrogate to discuss a policy Senator McCain has not approved."

In a blog post, Dale writes, "This statement by the McCain campaign reflects one important reason I support Senator Obama. Over a year ago in 2007, Senator Obama released his comprehensive Plan to Empower Americans with Disabilities. And, over a year later, Senator McCain still has not set forth any plan for Americans with disabilities. We are 23 days from electing the next President who will have a significant impact on Americans with disabilities in terms of health care, employment, education, independent living, and many other important supports and services. I want a President who took the time to care enough and recognized the importance of setting forth detailed policies for our community of steps the federal government should take to empower Americans with disabilities. I do not want a President who 23 days before the election still has not released a plan for the disability community."

"Sentimentality," "Rhetoric," But Little Else for McCain-Palin on Special Needs

From Newsweek: "Spotlight on Autism: The mother of an autistic son reacts to John McCain's recent pledge to help families like hers. Was it just rhetoric?" This is an interview with Kristina Chew,
an assistant professor of classics at Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, N.J., and the editor of the blog AutismVox. Commenting on McCain's remarks in the last debate, Chew says, "He's sentimentalizing the children, but not looking at how we can help them, how we can teach them, how we can make things better."

As the mother of an 11-year-old with autism, Chew worries about the impact of McCain's proposed spending freeze. "Every family with special-needs children feels like they need more support and services. They need another aide in their child's classroom, they need more therapy for early intervention, they need sick care, after-school care. I know my own son costs our school district a great deal more than a typical child. Any kind of spending freeze is either going to cancel out the creation of new services or make it harder for a school district to keep on providing the things it has been providing."

Two Different Views on Autism

Over at Suite101, Jeffrey Donaldson writes about "The Politics of Autism," comparing the candidates' records in an insightful way.

"To distinguish the two candidates on this issue is difficult. McCain’s language in his position indicates that he perceives autism as an epidemic like polio, a disease to be contained and cured. Obama’s emphasis is more on the life-long nature of the disorder and the lifestyle it implies; he underscores the importance of the educational treatment of autism as much as the medical treatment....

"Obama's perspective is more accommodating of the lifelong nature of the disorder; after a child is born, autism can be treated, but the child still needs an education....Research on autism indicates that children benefit from at least 40 hours a week of intensive early intervention (immediately after diagnosis, if possible) in a 1:1 ratio. The funding for this type of care has been sparse at best...

"While Obama states to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and increase the implementation of the Combating Autism Act, McCain’s promises to advance research do not indicate any intention to increase funding for research or treatment (his website’s autism page is called 'Combating Autism in America,' which may indicate he views the act as a 'Mission Accomplished')."

This clarifies why so many parents raising children with special needs are drawn to Obama's positions. He shows a deeper understanding of the true needs of families -- health care, education, housing, etc. Even if we discovered a way to prevent autism, there are still a lot of families that have real needs now. Obama gets that. McCain and Palin don't seem to.

Palin Seems to Have No Idea What IDEA Is -- And That's a Problem

I recently had an insightful conversation with Jennifer Laviano, an attorney in Connecticut who has devoted her career to representing children with disabilities. A note she wrote to her clients, friends, and colleagues has started making the rounds on the Internet, and I wanted to confirm the letter was really from her -- and to ask if I could post it more widely.

Jennifer initially intended to keep her political views to herself. She didn't want to offend anyone who may support McCain-Palin, but so many of her clients were asking her opinion that she wanted to provide some information. She decided to write the letter when Gov. Palin demonstrated a complete lack of knowledge about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the federal statute that governs special education. Here are some of her main points. I encourage you to read the entire letter.

"The IDEA is up for reauthorization by Congress in 2010, and it is crucial that it reflect the policies and funding structure necessary to protect and appropriately educate our children with disabilities. I needed to know what Gov. Palin thinks about the future of special education legislation in this country.

"I know where the other three on the tickets stand; Senators Obama and Biden have issued position statements on the IDEA to various parent groups, strongly supporting full funding for the IDEA and the rights of children with disabilities and their parents....Neither McCain nor Palin have provided those positions on the IDEA to parent advocacy groups....I was extremely disappointed in McCain's discussion on the Senate floor regarding the reauthorization of the IDEA 2004, in which he expressed his concerns that parents of children with disabilities who have to sue to secure appropriate services for their children under the statute and win against districts shouldn’t have their attorneys’ fees covered. This is not just a matter of self-interest for me -- it is the difference between families, especially poor families, being able to vindicate their civil rights or not. But I knew those things -- I did not know where Palin stood, and I wanted to find out.

"Having waited for some specifics from her on just how she is going to be an advocate for children with special needs in the White House, I finally got close. In her recent interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News, she was asked what her position is. While never mentioning the IDEA at all or what needs to be changed, kept, or fixed in it, she stated that the issue that needs to be addressed is 'equal access' for children with special needs. EQUAL ACCESS? Seriously? We HAVE equal access, that is what the original version of the statute fought for in the early '70s, when children with disabilities were literally prohibited from attending our public schools....Our problems are not that children with disabilities aren’t allowed into the buildings; our problem is what happens when they get there! ... We are decades from equal access being the key question, and apparently Gov. Palin is not aware of that fact.

"It is not terribly surprising to me that Gov. Palin’s views on this are so far outdated. I have traveled to Alaska to give a speech to parents and professionals on the subject of the rights of children with special needs, in particular children with autism spectrum disorders. I was stunned by how far behind the state was from the vast majority of the rest of the country on the education of children with disabilities....

"This issue should be front and center for any candidate for the White House, and I write to let you know that, at least as far as Gov. Palin is concerned, it has been an opportunity not only missed, but frighteningly misunderstood. It does not bode well for her, for us, or most importantly, for the children we love who need and deserve better in an 'advocate in the White House.'"

"People with Disabilities Need More Than a Campaign Promise"

Since Gov. Palin entered the campaign, many parents have said the focus on kids with special needs ignores the needs of those children when they grow up. Pamela Merritt, who is co-guardian for her 38-year-old brother with severe autism, understands these issues all too well. In this blog post, she compares the candidates' positions and worries that McCain-Palin talk about special needs but don't support the programs that people like her brother rely on. She says her brother is "dependent on government programs to fund everything from his residential program and supported employment to health care and food. But changes in federal policies between 2002 and 2005 have resulted in a severe financial crisis in Missouri that has in turn trickled down to impact my brother's life....While the debate over how to address the economic crisis rages on and the presidential campaign closes in on Election Day, families with disabled members are looking for more than a campaign promise without policy and a funding pledge to back it up."

McCain-Palin Losing Support among Disability Advocates

I'm hearing a lot more from parents raising children with special needs who WANTED to support McCain-Palin but who don't see any true plan, understanding, or commitment to the issues they care about. Norma Stanley, a marketing consultant who specializes in reaching the disability community, says she was initially impressed with Gov. Palin after her acceptance speech. But now she writes, "not only does Ms. Palin not exhibit too much interest in knowing how she can assist this community, she doesn't recognize the power and influence of the disability community could have on her campaign." According to a recent survey, 57 percent of the disability community "are still leaning toward Sen. Obama, because what we do know of both their positions, support, and plans for the community, it seems that Obama's are more substantial than Sen. McCain's."

It All Comes Down to This -- Read It and Pass It Along

Paul Langmore, director of the Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University, has written a brilliant analysis of the candidates in the Huffington Post. You can read my whole blog (which I encourage you to do), or you can read this one piece -- "Palin Talks About Special Needs Children, But Obama Has Substantive Plans for All People With Disabilities."

"Ever since Sarah Palin's acceptance speech," he says, "there has been a great deal of talk about 'special needs' children but little about the issues that concern the 54 million Americans with disabilities of all ages." So he looks at candidates' positions on some of the most important issues -- health insurance, Medicare, mental health, and community services.

Previously, I referenced Longmore's excellent essay, "What Kind of Advocacy Do Americans with Disabilities Really Need?"

Will McCain Put His Money Where Palin's Mouth Is?

Gov. Palin has embellished her stump speech with a nice reference to the late Gov. Robert Casey (the pro-life Democratic governor of Pennsylvania), who, she says, "was asked once how society should treat the most vulnerable among us, such as children with special needs. He said it's simple. He said, you put them first in line."

That's a pretty good applause line. But what does she mean? And has she talked to her running mate about what it would take to "put them first in line"? In Friday night's debate, Sen. McCain proposed a spending freeze on every federal program except defense and veterans. The National Education Association quickly reacted by saying such a freeze "would create a No Child Left Behind funding gap of $15 billion and put a crunch on millions of special education students, low-income students, children living in poverty, and the hiring of future teachers."

So we know McCain's not going to put his money where her mouth is. But what about Gov. Casey, apparently Gov. Palin's new role model? He didn't just talk -- he backed up his words with government programs that helped people. As governor from 1987 to 1994, Casey created school-based child-care programs that provided full-day services and before- and after-school care programs for infants and preschoolers, including poor children. That meant that teen parents could stay in school and poor adults could work knowing their children were safe. He was a strong advocate for universal health care. He invested money in breast cancer awareness and screening and required HMOs to cover annual mammograms. Harvard University pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton called Casey's multidimensional health care programs for women and children "a model for the rest of the country."

As a footnote, Gov. Casey's son, Bob Casey, Jr., is now a senator representing Pennsylvania. And way back in March, he endorsed Sen. Obama for president.

So Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin, parents with children with special needs are STILL wondering: What will you DO to support families like ours? We can read Sen. Obama's plan for Americans with disabilities. When will you share YOUR plan to back up your words and promises?