From the White House:
Submit Questions for White House Virtual Town Hall Meeting
On Thursday, July 14th from 1:00 - 2:00 PM Eastern, Disability.gov will air a live "Virtual" Town Hall meeting to introduce the White House's top advisors on disability policy.
Do you have a question for President Obama's top disability policy advisors? Disability.gov is offering the chance to have it answered!
Participants during the virtual town hall who will be able to answer your questions include Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy and Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement; Jeffrey Crowley, M.P.H., Senior Advisor on Disability Policy and Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy at the White House; and Rebecca Cokley, Director of Priority Placement for Public Engagement, White House Presidential Personnel Office.
If you have a question that you would like to have answered during the Town Hall meeting, complete the form below by Wednesday, July 13th at 6:00 PM Eastern. Please understand that due to time constraints, not all questions that are submitted can be answered during the event...
>>> For More or to Submit Questions
From the White House (7.5.11):
President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts
Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:
• Matan Koch, Member, National Council on Disability
• Stephanie Orlando, Member, National Council on Disability...
Matan Koch, Nominee for Member, National Council on Disability Matan Koch is an Associate at Kramer, Levin, Naftalis, & Frankel LLP, where he focuses on Commercial Litigation and Advertising matters. He was born with Cerebral Palsy and has been actively involved in the disability community for many years. From 2001 until 2002, Mr. Koch served as the Vice Chairman of the New Haven Commission on Disabilities where he also chaired the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Subcommittee. In addition, he has served as a member of the Union for Reform Judaism-Department of Jewish Family Concerns' Disability Task Force and currently serves on the union's Special Needs Camping Committee. While working in the Legal Division of Procter & Gamble, Mr. Koch was a member of the company's People with Disabilities Network. Mr. Koch also served on the board of Jewish Vocational Services of Cincinnati. He has a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. cum laude from Yale University where he served as the President of the student disability community.
Stephanie Orlando, Nominee for Member, National Council on Disability Stephanie Orlando is the Director of YOUTH POWER! of Families Together in New York State, a statewide advocacy network comprised of young people who have disabilities and experience in state child-serving systems. After receiving children’s mental health, special education and residential services herself, Ms. Orlando has become a strong advocate for youth with disabilities on county, state and national levels. Beginning in 2006, she served a term as Chairperson of the Youth Advisory Committee to the National Council on Disability. Ms. Orlando serves on the New York State Commissioners’ Committee on Cross-Systems Services for Children & Youth, the New York State Commissioner’s Advisory Panel for Special Education Services, the New York Mental Health Services Planning Council, and the Board of Directors of the Children’s Mental Health Coalition of Western New York. She received the Diana Vietz Award in 2008 from the National Council on Independent Living, the mpower Award in 2006 from Mental Health America (formerly National Mental Health Association) and the 2004 Erie County Executive Award for Disability Employment Awareness Month. Ms. Orlando earned her Bachelor of Arts in 2005 from the State University of New York at Buffalo...
As a disabled person, I realized that despite laws that prohibit discrimination based on disability, all of us continue to have limited opportunities to participate in many aspects of community life, employment not excluded. No doubt, our society has made significant progress since the passage of the Americans with Disability Act and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; however, many people are still segregated in their homes, are limited or discriminated against in their place of work and restricted in their daily activities and social roles without the necessary support.
Of course, one way to fill this big gap is to provide opportunities that will enhance mutual understanding and generate possibilities for changes in social and employment practices, as well as public policies that will better support participation in community life for disabled people.
With the aforementioned, I would like to summarize some of my thoughts and to give you some suggestions and ideas from my perspective as a disabled individual facing problems and issues on a daily basis, as well as one who is professionally active. Even so, I hold the highest educational degree and title, and even visually and hearing impaired with an altered balance I can still think critically and objectively and am always ready to help others and ready for action leading to improvement.
- There is a noticeable lack of cultural competence towards peoples with disabilities among health care, education, rehabilitation professionals. Undoubtedly, this is the reason preventing most people with disabilities from receiving appropriate and effective healthcare, education and rehabilitation.
- The ADA has had a limited impact on how health care, education and rehabilitation is delivered for disabled people. There is an urgent need for professional training in this area for healthcare professionals.
- People with disabilities experience significant health disparities and barriers to health care, education and rehabilitation. There will be more and more disabled people as the U.S. population ages, and we will have an increased number of the elderly. Also, diabetes is on the rise, which is something to take into account.
- How many cases in the Department of Justice have involved the subject of disability discrimination in healthcare, education and rehabilitation? A relatively small number, perhaps. However, without robust enforcement, the disability rights laws are ineffective tools for challenging discriminatory conduct or care.
- Rehabilitation Service Departments run by states are disorganized, ineffective, slow, and lack the passion in delivering services for disabled people. I realize that some providers do not proceed with rehabilitation training properly, a significant waste of money from the State budget for rehabilitation services (i.e., rehabilitation training for the blind) and does not cater to the clients.
- There is an urgent need for more rehabilitation counselors to serve disabled people at a district level. It is impossible to successfully deal with 200 plus cases distributed per one rehabilitation counselor. It causes a significant delay in service and results in unsuccessfully closed cases. Still we have problems with ego-driven, egocentric and ignorant rehabilitation services at the state level.
- Why do we have disability affairs officers (so called ADA coordinators) sitting in Parish Departments who do not communicate properly and effectively with disabled people (again lack of cultural competence)? I do not feel that there are any activities conducted effectively by these offices. A lack of communication skills is widely presented, as well as a lack of special skills and critical thinking and problem solving skills. This results in producing a discouraging mood in disabled people. The answer for every question cannot simple be, “They are doing their best.” I have even had the opportunity to hear statements such as, “I will retire in this position.” There is a lack of intent for improving the currently available resources and services for disabled people. What is the purpose of this statement when the coordinators lack the passion or fire to truly make a difference?
- As a scholar, much of the federal research efforts remain focused on disability and disease prevention rather than on improving access to and quality of health care and other services and resources for people with disabilities; reducing their incidence of secondary health problems; and promoting healthy living for disabled people. Recently, I organized a health fair for the blind and deaf-blind people in my community with the goal to improve access to quality pharmaceutical care and healthcare for blind and severely visually impaired people. One of the major problems in the community of blind and deaf-blind people is medication safety.
- There is a general lack of effective communication among resources and services that serve disabled people at the Parish level, and the state level. We have absolutely everything available in the U.S., including excellent resources and services, where as certain other societies can only dream of such splendor. Although not a perfect system, we at least have the ADA in existence, rehabilitation services in each state, paratransit resources, and services for disabled people in major cities. The problem is caused by the “Parish line/political line” due to bureaucracy and a lack of communication.
- Unfortunately, disabled people still have problems with the complimentary ADA paratransit. There is a lack of general and clearly explained procedures on how to file complaints for certain paratransit services, where as there are still ADA violations regarding scheduling for next day rides. Some paratransit services still require scheduling 7 days in advance, which represents a violation to the ADA. We can clearly see that supervisory teams and vendors (drivers) are not trained in disability cultural competence. One example is such that drivers honk to deaf-blind people to get their attention.
In summary, I would like to address once again the importance of cultural competence, or disability competency issues at all levels, including healthcare, transportation, rehabilitation services, as well as a lack of communication between resources and services who serve disabled peoples. These are problems that require urgent action. We need to focus on preserving our currently available resources and services available for disabled people. One to preserve and improve upon then is to establish a better line of communication between resources and improve disability cultural competence, and improve critical thinking and problem solving skills. It is very difficult for me to watch and experience unproductive services and unsuccessfully organized resources without any intention of improving their services. It seems like there is a minority interested in improvement and solving the issues and preserving the resources and services from the ignorant majority who have no interest in the betterment of their services. Unfortunately, it is the people who can do little, the people with the disabilities who suffer; they are underserved without orientation and a bright future.
Let’s fix these issues first and then we can talk about inclusion and employment.
"Washington" needs to get in contact with disabled people as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
MS
Posted by: Dr. Miroslav Sarac | July 21, 2011 at 04:11 PM