Obama, Palin, and Children with Special Needs

I would highly recommend that anyone concerned about disability issues in the upcoming election read this editorial by the inimitable Paul Longmore. Longmore's piece discusses the differences in the McCain and Obama plans for disability related issues and highlights the issues that should be addressed to woo the disability vote. As Longmore points out there are many who are placing their hope in Palin putting a high priority on disability issues because she has a child with Down's Syndrome, but the fact of the matter is that Palin isn't even a year into her experience with Trig and hasn't even begun to encounter the tremendously frustrating disability service system. Only a person that has attended twice-a-year IEP meetings, just to see the IEP go unimplemented can understand the deeply dysfunctional special education system. Only a person that has tried to qualify for Medicaid waiver services or SSDI by wading through months of paperwork, tests, and evaluations, can understand what it might take to move the disability service system in a more progressive direction.

Palin says she supports special needs children but, as Ann and Rud Turnbull point out in a guest editorial on Patricia Bauer's blog:

"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."

As Longmore explains in his editorial, only the Obama campaign website provides concrete disability policy proposals, whereas the McCain campaign website doesn't even address disability issues. If you don't believe me go check for yourself. Similarly, Obama has co-sponsored many disability related policies in his short time as a U.S. Senator, one of the most important being the Paul Wellstone Meant Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007 and the SCHIP expansion. Whereas the McCain/Palin campaign really can't point to anything solid with regards to proposals or history of supporting disability rights.

Thus I think the disability community needs to approach with upcoming election with "Caveat Emptor" first and foremost in their minds...make sure you're not being sold a fraudulent bill of goods by a campaign that sees no importance in protecting the rights of the largest minority in this coutry. As many from the trenches can attest: just because you have a child or family member with a disability, it doesn't mean you are an advocate or even a friend of the disability rights community.