Advocacy Coronavirus

Disability advocates warn some states are preparing to ration ventilators, other scarce COVID-19 treatments

By PETER WEBER. THE WEEK Published March 27, 2020 When Italy’s COVID-19 crisis started in earnest, doctors described the difficult life-or-death decisions they were forced to make about which patients to try and save with scarce resources in terms of wartime triage. Now that the U.S. faces the real risk of a similar tsunami of […]

Karen Clay operates a medical ventilator to help her son Michael Phillips, 36, breathe. Michael has spinal muscular atrophy and is confined to his bed. He can breathe only with the aid of a machine. Here, they are photographed at their Tampa home July 19, 2017. ALESSANDRA DA PRA Tampa Bay Times
Advocacy Healthcare News Social Services

‘Medicaid is a lifeline, but the Medicaid waiver is life.’ People fear losing benefits.

By ELIZABETH KOH, HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU (Published September 24, 2019) For almost every waking hour of his day, 33-year-old Jason Hahr needs someone else to do what his own body cannot. Hahr has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, which means he needs a personal care assistant to physically help him perform the basic activities of daily […]

Advocacy Television

How a ‘Sesame Street’ Muppet became embroiled in a controversy over autism

Autistic self-advocates are changing discussions that, they say, have historically been “about us, without us.” (Published September 19, 2019) An autistic “Sesame Street” muppet is caught in a conflict between the most prominent autism organization in the United States advocating for early intervention, and autistic adults who see the condition as a difference, not a […]

Advocacy Americans With Disabilities Act

GOING DEEPER:The Disability Integration Act The act seeks to add community supports and services to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. The Disability Integration Act was reintroduced by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and a companion bill in the House was introduced by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) for the 2019-2020 Congress. To learn more […]