The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #114846   Message #2467178
Posted By: Azizi
16-Oct-08 - 09:00 AM
Thread Name: BS: The Debates: Members Only
Subject: RE: BS: The Debates: Members Only
Here's a link to an article about Sarah Palin and her disability funding and advocacy:

http://specialchildren.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=specialchildren&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.autismvox.com%2Fpalin

AutismVox
Palin and the Disability Community
by Kristina Chew, PhD on September 15th, 2008

**

Here's an excerpt from that article:

..."Some parents of children with disabilities are enthusiastic over Gov. Palin's pledge of support, but advocacy on behalf of the disability community has not been "a centerpiece of Ms. Palin's 20-months in office or any of her campaigns for office."

"I never heard Governor Palin say as governor, 'You have an advocate in Juneau,' " said Sonja Kerr, a lawyer specializing in disability law in Anchorage.

A spokeswoman for Palin would not elaborate on her decision to give disability issues prominent placement in her acceptance speech.

John McCain has voted against increasing federal special education funding, and also opposes legislation that would help states move people with disabilities from institutions into community living arrangements.

From a guest post by the directors of the Beach Center on Disability in Kansas:

When a young governor line-item vetoes six appropriations for community disability services or for accessibility modifications to public accommodations, that governor gives us reason to be skeptical about promises and prospective performance. When the appropriations totaled $749,000 in a state that has a huge budget surplus, and when the governor apparently knew at the time that her nephew has autism, that governor gives us special reason to doubt her commitment to people with special needs.

Yes, state funding for "intensive special needs children" in Alaska increased for Fiscal Year 2010. But it is not yet clear exactly who those children are, how many of them are the intended beneficiaries of the appropriation, and precisely what role the governor had in proposing the appropriation or influencing the legislature to appropriate the funds.

In a word, Gov. Palin's record on disability leaves us with our doubts about her promise.

It also prompts us to concentrate on the governor's dismissive mockery of community organizing and its portent for the disability community.

The truth is that community organizing benefits people with disabilities"...