Disability Rights Activists Protest at White House

[KamaAina]

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/disability-rights-activists-protest-white-house-38309857

The U.S. Park Police issued 49 citations Monday to disability rights activists who were protesting at the White House and urging President Barack Obama to support legislation to help disabled people stay in their homes when they require long-term support.

About a hundred activists in wheelchairs lined up along bike racks that form a secondary perimeter around the White House fence. They chanted "our homes, not nursing homes" and "disability rights are human rights."

No arrests were made and the citations were issued for blocking the sidewalk, said Sgt. Anna Rose, a spokeswoman for the Park Police. Police issued warnings in advance of issuing the citations, giving the protesters an opportunity to leave.

The activists are supporting the Disability Integration Act. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced the bill last year, but it has yet to gain traction. The legislation promotes the ability for people with disabilities to live in their communities.

[northernsouthern]

1. I like their style!

I am sure if someone told the cops you need to arrest the guys in wheel chairs, they would just back off and say, "I'll pass".Imagine the negative press with the scene of the cops dragging off 40 some people with out their chairs. Well played. How much did they get charged?

[KamaAina]

2. Not sure.

And it's better than that! A similar protest in Sacramento confounded the po-po's, who had no accessible paddy wagons. It took them 45 minutes to figure out how to get the chair users out of the street! Chicago and other places have had to commandeer paratransit vehicles to transport protesters to the hoosegow.

[Kittycat]

3. I can think of one big reason why this isn't gaining traction.

Not enough money in it for the for profit businesses.

[KamaAina]

4. And another. People with disabilities are invisible.

Because becoming disabled is among normates' (the rest of you ) worst fears.

[Kittycat]

5. This is my son's future

And one that is always on the forefront of my mind. He's almost 12.5yo, and he's getting closer to that age where he will want to go to college, to be an adult. His options here, should he get puns funding and manage through the wait list, is a group home of 18 or more. I could never do that to him. Never. But being home keeps me as his unfunded, primary caregiver. We don't have everything he needs now covered, I worry about that every single day - what about when.

BTW - I should put up a link to our school board meeting last night, where one of our board members actually had the nerve to say that maybe we don't have the funds for integrated classrooms. And another tried to say we could just forgo IDEA because it cost too much. But you know, we have to keep football. Really, it's hard to believe this happens in 2016. Disabilities will be the last rights fight. Who speaks for them, when people don't want to even include them?

[KamaAina]

6. Group home? Bah! Humbug!

The 1999 SCOTUS decision in Olmstead v. L.C., a rare moment of lucidity from the Rehnquist Court, guarantees the civil right of people with disabilities to live in the community. Your local independent living center should be able to help; youth transition has just been made one of our core services.

http://www.ilru.org/projects/cil-net/cil-center-and-association-directory

[Kittycat]

7. This is the conversation we had.

There are so few, and without PUNS support, he wouldn't get in. He would need to be in a home where he had access to 24 hour nursing care. So more likely a shared home. I'm not approaching it as doom and gloom, and I've been a strong advocate for my son/partnering and seeking out resources. He's currently out placed for school, and bused an hour from home because he wasn't getting the support he needed in district. Our state is just not in a good place. In all the years we've been on the puns list, they've never actually called up a non-critical care care case for support. That means many families here go completely without support for respite, nursing help, anything. I'm fortunate my husband doesn't travel, I don't know how some families or single families do it - because it can be challenging.

[KamaAina]

8. A quick search for PUNS nursing support points to Illinois.

Which did not have a very good reputation in this area even before Rauner came along and wrecked everything.

Access Living in Chicago, however, is among the finest independent living centers in the land. Your mileage in the 'burbs or downstate may vary.

[Kittycat]

9. We're 90+min out, depending on where in the city.

I did reach out to my County AIM/CIL office in the interim. She also said that without PUNS, we're looking at nursing home or stay at home care. Thank you for the link though. I will keep it with my files.

[KamaAina]

10. Doesn't sound like a very good center, then.

[liberal_at_heart]

11. K&R