NY Launches Anti-Stigma Campaign ‘Look Beyond My Developmental Disability’
New York’s Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) has launched a public awareness campaign called “Look Beyond My Developmental Disability” to combat the stigma that people with developmental disabilities face in their daily lives.
“The campaign message confirms what should be obvious — that people with developmental disabilities are more than their disabilities,” OPWDD Commissioner Kerri E. Neifeld wrote in a statement. “Like all of us, they are many things – friends, neighbors, family members, students, and customers.”
The year-long effort will use public forums, social media, radio, and print advertising to educate the public about developmental disabilities and highlight the positive ways people with developmental disabilities contribute to their state and their communities.
The campaign was spurred by legislation Governor Hochul signed in 2022 directing OPWDD to develop and implement a public awareness campaign that combats discrimination, stigma and stereotyping of people with developmental disabilities.
Photo: Nathan Anderson, Unsplash.com
Dept. of Ed Issues Guidance to Boost Compliance with IDEA
New guidance from the U.S. Department of Education has been announced to rein in states that don’t fully comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA ensures students with a disability are provided with a free and appropriate public education tailored to their individual needs.
K12dive.com has a solid overview that includes a summary of the directives states need to follow, such as:
Addressing credible allegations of noncompliance made outside formal monitoring programs;
consistent monitoring of each district and early intervention services program;
issuing timely findings of noncompliance (generally within three months);
correcting each individual case of noncompliance.
Parents who want additional support in understanding IDEA’s monitoring, technical assistance (TA), and enforcement provisions, or the rights afforded to children with disabilities, can contact the Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) in their area.
Image: Freepik
More News to Know for Week Ending July 29, 2023
A new monument to commemorate a disability rights protest, the DOT requires news planes to have accessible bathrooms, Washington, D.C.’s National Gallery of Art was not kind to a disabled visitor, and more news for the week ending July 29, 2023.
Georgia: How Georgia is retaining new special ed leaders The state’s Special Education Leadership Development Academy offers continuous training resources and coaching for new administrators. (k12dive.com)
CVS Rolls Out Collection Of Accessible Products The drugstore’s Universal Tools collection includes six items that the company said were all created in collaboration with members of the disability community. (Disabilityscoop.com)
How to Make Your Home Accessible Tap into the resources available from states, nonprofits, developers and housing groups to make spaces work for families of all abilities. (nytimes.com)
CORRECTION: The Boost Friday newsletter incorrectly identified the visitor as “he.”
Federal News
Autism Society’s Capitol Connection’s July summary Includes Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA) reintroducting the IDEA Full Funding Act in the Senate and House; and the Senate Special Committee on Aging hosting a hearing on adequate housing, stability, and home modifications for supporting people with disabilities in order for them to remain in their homes. (autismsociety.org)
Bedford, NY, Task Force, Looks to Make Town Neurodivergent Friendly
An important change is in the works in Bedford, N.Y., where a task force is making the Westchester County town more inclusive for people who are neurodiverse.
The group, called the Bedford Neurodivergent Task Force, was created by the Town Board in March 2023. Its inclusive mission encompasses people with may think or behave in ways that diverge from dominant social norms including, but not limited to, individuals on the autism spectrum and those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).
Committee members are in the throes of collecting feedback from families (see more about the critical survey it created below); identifying the appropriate training programs for people such as store owners and first responders; and working on an online guide for families listing support services, sharing accessibility information, and more.
“When my son was young, I used to take him to the public playground, but nobody would play with him. It broke my heart,” says Millie Hernandez-Beckford, a resident whose son, now 24, is autistic. “We need this initiative, not just for them but for the benefit of the community. People need to see and understand that these people are here.”
Bedford, made up of three unincorporated hamlets, is a rarity, one of a small but growing number of towns and cities nationwide that actively want to change how this population is perceived and treated. And for good reason: One in 36 8-year-old children were identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in 2020, according to the CDC, up from 1 in 68 in 2012, and 1 in 150 in 2000. Overall, nearly 1 in 11 kids were diagnosed with autism, intellectual disability, or developmental delay between 2019 and 2021.
And here’s some local data: Documented cases of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the New York-New Jersey metro region increased by as much as 500% between 2000 and 2016, according to a Rutgers study. Additionally, New York has the third-most number of adults (over 350,000) living with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the country.
The Bedford plan “started in a room of about 25 people, and we all sort of shared our stories,” says Wendy Belzberg, chairperson of the task force whose daughter, 24, has I/DD. “It was a real cross-section — first responders, parents, members of the school board who brought a lot to the table.”
The task force is comprised of persons with and family members of persons with neurodivergent disabilities; representatives of business and community organizations; a member of the Town Board; a member of a School Board; and other interested stakeholders. It plans to spend 6-12 months identifying ways to help and start to make Bedford an accessible and inclusive town.
“I’d like to build a community where my daughter can live comfortably and feel welcome and included,” says Belzberg. “And the whole success of this initiative rests on everybody joining hands and problem solving together.”
In the New York area, Bedford follows on the heels of a similar initiative in Rhinebeck in Duchess County, which that town calls the first “Autism Supportive Community” in the region. As part of the initiative, volunteers, businesses, and community leaders are being trained to help make the community more welcoming.
Court Rules Florida Must Stop Putting Disabled Children in Nursing Homes
A Justice Department lawsuit against Florida for institutionalizing children with complex medical conditions in nursing homes has been settled, with the state found to have violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The court found that children in nursing facilities are capable of living in the community. Additionally, it said, parents and guardians of institutionalized children overwhelmingly want their children to live at home but have not been given meaningful options other than institutional placement.
The court’s decision, coming after nearly a decade of litigation, marks a major turning point in the treatment of children with disabilities in Florida and vindicates their right to community integration, according to a press release on the Department of Justice‘s website.
Approximately 140 children with disabilities are currently housed in three pediatric nursing facilities across Florida, and many more are at risk of entering these institutions due to a shortfall of services, including home nursing care, the department notes.
Photo: Creative Commons
Federal Judge Orders NYC to Fix Special Ed Quagmire
A directive has been given by a Manhattan federal judge: The nation’s largest school system has to move faster to “provide crucial services to public school students with disabilities.” The order followed two decades of litigation.
The city is now required to put into place dozens of recommendations from a special monitor. You can find the recommendations on the Advocates for Children‘s website.
The order is the outgrowth of a lawsuit the department settled in 2007. In that lawsuit, advocates and parents of kids with disabilities sued the department because they were forced to wait months to obtain services or payments even after being awarded them in hearings. They won the lawsuit, but the delays kept growing.
Takeaways from the Special Education Legislative Summit 2023
The annual Special Education Legislative Summit (SELS), held this year July 9-12 in Washington, D.C., is an opportunity for educators nationwide to advocate for change with Members of Congress.
K-12 Dive has a good look at the event, attended by some 300 special education directors, professors, graduate students, consultants and other stakeholders.
Legislative priorities were discussed, including special ed teacher shortages; school psychologists, social workers and counselors shortages; and the need to increase investment in Part B state grants for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Part B, or special education and related services, makes up approximately 95% of total IDEA appropriations).
A New York special ed teacher charged with enticing a student into sexual activity, Virginia looks at having caregivers for children with disabilities to be paid by the state, subminimum wage employment numbers continue to drop and more news for the week ending July 22, 2023.
Spotlight
Former Yonkers special ed teacher charged with sexual acts with student, child porn A former high school teacher at Biondi High School, which focuses on special education, was charged with enticing a 16-year-old student to send sexually explicit videos to her and leading the student to believe they were in a relationship, according to indictment paperwork. (lohud.com)
Virginia: New proposal aims to permanently allow caregiver option for Va. disability program The state released revised guidelines for state Medicaid disability waiver programs which would allow certain family members who provide caregiving services for their child or spouse with disabilities to be paid directly by the state. (virginiamercury.com)
Illinois: Problems With Abuse, Neglect and Cover-Ups at Developmental Centers in Illinois People with developmental disabilities living in Illinois’ publicly run institutions have been punched, slapped, hosed down, thrown about and dragged across rooms; in other cases, staff failures contributed to patient harm and death, state police and internal investigative records show. (ProPublica.org)
From Adapted Riding to Hippotherapy, Your Guide to Equine-Assisted Services
Welcome to The Boost’s first-ever list of Equine-Assisted Services! Its focus: the New York City area and Lower Hudson Valley.
Horses have proven psychosocial effects on children and adults with a range of disabilities. Interactions with horses can improve self-esteem, self-confidence and feelings of freedom, and have multiple therapeutic effects as well.
“A lot of times we see people really coming alive when they’re on a horse,” Sarah Uzelac, a psychologist and executive director of the Topfield Center equine center in Cold Spring, N.Y., tells The Boost.
“We find for example that our riders often talk to their horses — a horse is always going to listen and is never going to walk away. The work also requires hand-eye coordination, for you to think about what you’re going to do next, which helps with executive functioning, and to communicate a plan to your horse in a way the horse can interpret. Riders learn quickly because it’s so immediately rewarding.”
In addition, horses provide broad body-to-body contact, which can help people strengthen their core and work on balance and weight distribution. Riding can also decrease muscle spasticity and hypertonicity due to a horse’s warmer body temperature; gently stretches hips and legs; and “provides vector forces similar to walking, thus improving motor function and core strength.”
Terminology
Broadly speaking, Equine-Assisted Services can be broken down this way:
Ground Programs: Conducted off the horse (unmounted), they’re where people generally learn how to groom, feed and water horses, and how to handle themselves around a horse’s behaviors, which, in turn, can help regulate their own behaviors. They’re also encouraged to build a relationship with the horses.
Adaptive, or Therapeutic, Riding: These are riding lessons, on a saddled horse, adapted to each person’s special needs. All the Adapted Riding programs listed minus one use instructors certified by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl.). Certification is voluntary.
Hippotherapy, or Equine-Assisted Therapy: These are therapeutic riding sessions that focus on maximum contact with the horse’s movements and far less on riding skills. Therapy is provided by either a licensed occupational, physical, or speech therapist who help clients reach functional goals. (Learn more at the American Hippotherapy Association.)
Keep in Mind
Please check first with the experts who know your loved one’s needs and capabilities. They can help determine if Equine-Assisted Services is the right path for you.
Reimbursement: Adaptive Riding and Grounds Programs can usually be submitted for Self-Direction reimbursement. Hippotherapy is covered (depending on your plan) through health insurance plans.
I’m not personally familiar with these programs and can not speak to their safety or legitimacy.
Equine-Assisted Programs
This list is designed to grow. Know of one? Contact me here.
Address: 223 Store Hill Rd., Old Westbury, NY 11568
What it offers:
Hippotherapy
Adaptive Riding
G.O.A.L.S Development Program: For ages 18+ only, it’s customized to each individual and utilizes the farm environment and horses to develop life skills, improve self-esteem and more.
Pricing: $55 to $75/session
Financial Aid: All participants are on a 50% scholarship, and sliding-scale pricing is offered
Walmart’s Back-to-School Strategy Includes Sensory-Friendly Hours
In bad news, Walmart wants you to start thinking about back-to-school supplies. (The company is pretty excited that 80% of customers are expected to spend more on supplies this year.)
In good news, its strategy includes a quieter shopping environment for customers with sensory disabilities.
The sensory-friendly hours, which have already started, take place Saturdays in July and August from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. in most stores. For areas that start school after Labor Day, sensory-friendly hours will begin July 22. Check with your local store to see if it’s part of the program.
DisabilityScoop reports that during the designated hours stores are lowering heir overhead lights, turning off radios and replacing moving pictures with static ones on televisions.