JFActivist

ADA: Small Business Administration Issues Barrier Removal Costs Report

On November 29, the Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration, submitted a report entitled "Evaluation of Barrier Removal Costs Associated with the 2004 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines" to the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division.

Read a full copy of this report.

Read the research summary.

Questions about the agency's position on this issue should be directed to Janis Reyes at 202-205-6533.

Speech Disability Group Commends FCC for Raising Speech Relay Rate

Speech Communication Assistance By Telephone, Inc., a nationwide membership organization of persons with speech disabilities, lauds the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for its recent action to improve the lives of over a million persons with speech disabilities. In a November 19, 2007 Order, the FCC significantly raised the per minute reimbursement rate to the telephone companies
that provide the nation's telecommunications relay service for people with speech disabilities, or Speech-to-Speech (STS) relay. The FCC mandated an increase in the reimbursement rate for STS from $1.40/minute to $2.723/minute.

It is widely believed that less than 10 percent of potential STS users appear to know that STS exists, and part of the reimbursement increase will specifically target consumers with speech disabilities who can benefit from this form of relay service as well as those people who want to make phone calls to persons with speech disabilities.

The Speech Communication Assistance by Telephone group is also a member of the nation's fastest growing coalition of disability organizations that works to improve communications access for all persons with disabilities, the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT).

Information on the Speech-To-Speech (STS) form of relay service is on the FCC website.

Study Finds 35% of Entrepreneurs Are Dyslexic

A MSNBC business blog post highlighted some of the findings of a recent Cass Business School of London study regarding entrepreneurship and learning disabilities.

Findings included the following traits that dyslexics are more likely to possess than their non-dyslexic counterparts:

1) own more than one business
2) start their businesses rights after school
3) manage more staff

...Read the entire article.

National Youth Leadership Network Looking for New Youth Leaders

PRESS RELEASE
The National Youth Leadership Network (NYLN) is looking for new leaders!  And we want you to apply to serve on our Governing Board!  NYLN is a non-profit organization run by young people with disabilities.  We empower all young people to reach their maximum potential.

Applicants to the Governing Board must:
   • Be between 15 and 28 years old;
   • Have a disability;
   • Have leadership and advocacy skills.

“We are excited to open the door to new leaders,” said Betsy Valnes, NYLN executive director.  “Young people have a lot to offer.  We look forward to setting goals that make them fully empowered.”

The Governing Board Application is below.  It can also be found at http://www.nyln.org/.

Download NYLN Governing Board Application (doc)

Send completed applications to:
National Youth Leadership Network
Attn: Betsy Valnes
     221 S. Central Ave.
     Pierre, SD  57501

For more information, call 1-866-480-6565 or e-mail bvalnes@tie.net.

Segways Allowed or Not Allowed?

From the Arizona Republic (November 26):

"Segways Aid Disabled, But Businesses Fear Backlash"

by Carrie Watters

Eric Payne has a heart condition that doctors told him should have killed him, yet the 48-year-old can move at the speed of a marathon runner.

The Glendale man gets around on a Segway Personal Transporter, a two-wheeled innovation that moves at a top speed of 12.5 mph but can be scaled back when indoors.

The self-balancing battery-powered device gives Payne an opportunity for a "real life," with freedom to take himself to doctors' appointments, to run daily errands and even to grab a Frappucino. advertisement 

That's exactly what Payne was doing this fall when he glided into a cafe at a Barnes & Noble bookstore. Payne was asked to park his Segway outside...

...Read the rest of the article.

People with Developmental Disabilities in Nursing Homes

From Steve Gold:

More on MR/DD and Nursing Facilities. 
Information Bulletin # 229 (11/07)

In July 2007, we wrote "Isn't Twenty Years Enough Time - MR/DD and Nursing Facilities?" [See Information Bulletin #219].  We pointed out that in 2007 there were about 33,000 people with a MR/DD diagnosis who resided in nursing facilities. We reviewed Congress' mandates in the 1987 Medicaid Nursing Home Reform Act, including the requirements to identify and provide specialized services for these 33,000 people.

We also broke down the 33,000 and provided by State the number of persons who have a MR/DD diagnosis, but were nevertheless in a nursing facility.

When "Twenty Years" was written, we were not aware that the Office of Inspector General, in the United States Department of Health and Human Services had recently issued a report entitled "Preadmission Screening and Resident Review for Younger Nursing Facility Residents with Mental Retardation." [#OEI-07-05-00230]

The OIG noted that Congress in 1987 had "mandated preadmission screening for individuals suspected of having ... mental retardation to ensure that: (1) nursing facilities admit only individuals needing nursing facility care, (2) these individuals' needs for specialized services are determined, and (3) these individuals obtain the services identified though the preadmission screening. The PASSRR is the primary mechanism used to meet these objectives."

The "intent of the PASRR is to ensure that individuals with mental retardation are appropriately screened, thoroughly evaluated, and placed in nursing facilities when appropriate, and that they receive all necessary services" for their Mental Retardation.

The OIG's findings are devastating.

First, even though everyone who applies to a Medicaid nursing facility is supposed to receive a "Level I PASRR screen to identify suspected mental retardation," far from everyone received a Level I screen and, of those people who did receive a screen, "one fourth were not completed ... prior to or on the date of admission."  Of those done late, on average they were completed 40 days after the resident was admitted.

So much for diverting people with MR/DD from inappropriate institutionalization!

Second, more than half the persons "suspected" of having mental retardation did not have either a Level II evaluation or Level II determination.  It's at the Level II evaluation stage that suspected MR/DD is confirmed and a determination made whether the applicant requires specialized services and requires nursing facility services.

One state had no Level II evaluations.  Of the half where a Level II was completed, many were not completed prior to or on the date of admission.

So much for States "determining whether an individual with mental retardation requires a nursing facility level of services and whether specialized services are needed."

Third, despite the OIG's recognition that the Supreme Court in Olmstead held that "the treatment, services and habilitation for a person with developmental disabilities ... should be provided in the setting that is least restrictive of the person's personal liberty'," nearly a quarter of the Level II evaluations contained no "evidence that the evaluator assessed whether the individual's total needs could be met in a community setting."

So much for the Olmstead decision providing protections for unnecessary institutionalization.

If the Level II evaluations had been done correctly, OIG noted that Medicaid's waiver program services should have been considered as appropriate placement!!!!

Since every State has a MR/DD Medicaid waiver program, which serves the mirror image of the 33,000 people with MR/DD in nursing facilities, why are these people still inappropriately in nursing facilities?

OIG stated that "If an individual's needs can be met in the community, then nursing facility services are not needed"!!!!!  While that is not rocket science and something disability advocates have been stating for the last nine years, at least, it's still great that OIG stated it.

Is there any State where disability advocates think that their folks' (with MR/DD in a nursing facility)  needs cannot be met in the community? That nursing facilities are needed for them?

Fourth, OIG stated there was at most limited oversight of preadmission screening processes at both the Federal and State levels. Only one of the States which OIG evaluated "reported specific oversight practices aimed at ensuring compliance with PASRR."

So the States are not in compliance with federal regulations for having a tracking system. But it's not just the States.  CMS, the federal funding agency, also does not conduct reviews of the States' PASRR compliance.

So obviously the States know they can get away with violating Olmstead, the Medicaid Nursing Home Reform Act, and mandatory federal regulations.  No consequences. Great scam!  Only people with disabilities get injured.

Most of the OIG's recommendations were quite lite, e.g., "CMS hold State Medicaid agencies accountable for ensuring compliance with Federal requirements."

Wow, that's a novel suggestion.

However, there was one OIG recommendation that disability advocates should use in your State.  OIG recommended that "CMS hold States accountable for considering community placements during the Level II PASRR process."  If that were really done, we would not have 33,000 people with MR/DD in nursing facilities.

Let's try to give some teeth to this last OIG recommendation. Disability advocates could file administrative complaints against both your State and CMS for violating Section 504 and the ADA, if they do not appropriately consider community placements.  You could file litigation because the people in your State in nursing facilities could and should be in the
community.

We all know that nursing facilities do not and cannot provide "habilitation" services that persons with MR/DD need.  It's really an outrage that there is anyone with a MR/DD diagnosis still in a nursing facility.  They should all be in a waiver program in the community!

--Steve Gold, The Disability Odyssey continues

Parents of Disabled Students Don't Want Mainstreaming

From the Wall Street Journal (November 27):

"Parents of Disabled Students Push for Separate Classes"
by Robert Tomsho

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- Last fall, groups who favor placing disabled students in regular classrooms faced opposition from an unlikely quarter: parents like Norette Travis, whose daughter Valerie has autism.

Valerie had already tried the mainstreaming approach that the disability-advocacy groups were supporting. After attending a preschool program for special-needs students, she was assigned to a regular kindergarten class. But there, her mother says, she disrupted class, ran through the hallways and lashed out at others -- at one point giving a teacher a black eye.

"She did not learn anything that year," Ms. Travis recalls. "She regressed."

As policy makers push to include more special-education students into general classrooms, factions are increasingly divided...

...Read the rest of the article.

20,000 Vets' Brain Injuries Not Counted in Pentagon Tally

From USA Today (November 22):

"20,000 vets' brain injuries not listed in Pentagon tally"
By Gregg Zoroya

At least 20,000 U.S. troops who were not classified as wounded during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have been found with signs of brain injuries, according to military and veterans records compiled by USA TODAY.

The data, provided by the Army, Navy and Department of Veterans Affairs, show that about five times as many troops sustained brain trauma as the 4,471 officially listed by the Pentagon through Sept. 30. These cases also are not reflected in the Pentagon's official tally of wounded, which stands at 30,327...

... Read the rest of the article.

Online Communication Aids Mentoring

From the Boston Globe:

"Strengthening Their Bonds"
Online communication enhances relationships for those with disabilities

By Dan Aucoin

WELLESLEY, MA - Gregory Walsh and Austin Lam sit facing each other in their wheelchairs, saying nothing.

Outwardly, that is. But on a level beyond speech, the 28-year-old Walsh and the 13-year-old Austin are communicating plenty.

The two have a special relationship: Walsh, who lives in Braintree, is Austin's mentor and role model. Through his own example, he teaches the Wellesley boy how to live day-to-day with the challenges posed by their shared disability: cerebral palsy.

Soon, though, the two will be able to communicate even more fully. Austin's parents plan to soon acquire a specially equipped computer device that will enable him to access the Internet. That means he and Walsh will join the growing ranks of disabled mentors and their younger proteges who communicate online under a program run by Partners for Youth with Disabilities, a nonprofit organization based in Boston...

...Read the rest of the article.

Should the Non-Disabled Depict People with Disabilities?

The advertisement, above, appeared in the Herald News as a part of an "awareness-raising" campaign of the Accessible Cities Alliance (ACA)* of Joliet, Illinois. The ad depicts four community leaders using various disability devices - a white cane, a wheelchair, a walker, and a TTY - yet none of these men have disabilities like the ones they are portrying.

The intent of the ad campaign - the promotion of full access - is clearly laudible... But are these kind of depictions (not only in ads, but also in movies, television, etc.) okay? What's your opinion?

Description of the ad: The ad asks, "got access? We do. You should, too." Below these words are four older white men. From left, Russ Slinkard, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Joliet, with a white cane; Larry Walsh, Will County Executive, sitting in a wheelchair; Jim Roolf of First Midwest Bank, using a walker; and Jim Shapard, Deputy City Manager of the City of Joliet, using a TTY.

*From the ACA website:
"The Accessible Cities Alliance (ACA) is a cooperative, broad-based partnership between the Will-Grundy Center for Independent Living, disability advocates and persons with disabilities, local municipalities like the City of Joliet, businesses, the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry, professional trade organizations, media representatives and civic leaders."