Advocacy Events and Alerts
Ongoing Events and Alerts:
- Informational Workshop: Latest Updates on Children’s Long-Term Support Waiver
Presenters: William Murray and Alice Thorson, WI Department of Health Services
Place: Midvale Community Lutheran Church, 4329 Tokay Blvd., Madison (Midvale at Tokay)
Date: Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Time: 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.This workshop is FREE and open to all, but PLEASE let us know you are planning to attend so we can have enough handouts. RSVP by email to autismmadison@gmail.com or by phone: (608) 213-8519
- Disability Advocacy Day will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 in Madison. This event is sponsored by the Survival Coalition of Wisconsin Disability Organizations (our Autism Society chapter is a member.) The day will begin one block from the Capitol at the Concourse Hotel and will include:
- Briefings on issues important to the disability community
- Invited disability advocates and legislative leaders
- March to the Capitol
- Rally outside the Capitol (12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.)
- Meetings with your Assembly and Senate representatives
- Time to debrief your visits (2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.)
Register by March 13, either online or by printing and mailing a form. Check out the event flyer for more information.
- The Autism Society of South Central Wisconsin sent a letter dated January 14 (.pdf), outlining our state policy priorities, to the state legislators representing our ten-county region. The letter addressed the following issues:
- Supporting robust funding for the CLTS waiver
- Maintaining autism insurance reform as the Affordable Care Act is implemented
- Supporting an increase in special education categorical aid funding
- Opposition to the special needs vouchers as introduced last session
- Support for ending wait lists for community-based long-term care by expanding Family Care
- Support for integrated employment at competitive wages as a priority goal and presumed outcome for working-age adults with disabilities
- The national Autism Society was invited to testify at a November 29 hearing of the House Committee on Government Oversight on the U.S. government’s response to autism. Autism Society President Scott Badesch spoke on the need to examine how to make the federal government response more coordinated, effective and outcome-based so that services enhance the quality of people’s lives. He also proposed that we examine ways to improve the navigation of the federal response system for individuals living with autism and their families, as well as encouraging a better balance in government funding, with a greater proportion for services as opposed to the vast majority that now goes to research. His testimony is available online. Eight organizations were invited to testify, including two self-advocacy organizations: the Global and Regional Asperger’s Syndrome Partnership (GRASP) and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN).
- From the national Autism Society: “We must continue to advocate and educate after the election… Now that the elections are over, the difficult work will begin. During the next few months, decisions will be made that will affect individuals with autism and their families. As a community of autism advocates, it is our jobs to ensure our representatives understand the impact certain decisions will have on our families.” Read more from Scott Badesch, Autism Society President.
- The Survival Coalition of Wisconsin Disability Organizations — our chapter is a member — testified Sept. 20 in a hearing on implementing the Affordable Care Act in Wisconsin. Included in the testimony was the following: “With bipartisan support, Wisconsin has enacted coverage requirements (e.g. mental health services, cochlear implants, hearing aids, autism treatment) which are very important to people with disabilities. We urge that these coverage requirements be included in the exchanges to ensure continued access to these important services.” Read the full testimony here.
- Disability advocates had much to celebrate in Wisconsin at the end of the 2012 legislative session! Three important bills passed the legislature and were signed by Governor Walker:
- Lifting the caps on enrollment to the Family Care, IRIS, PACE, and Partnership programs. The bills that passed included an amendment that gave the Joint Finance Committee more oversight about expanding the programs to counties that don’t yet have them. Only Representatives Vos, Kooyenga, Kapenga, Severson and Craig in the Assembly voted against lifting the caps. The bill numbers are AB 477 and SB 380.
- Replacing the “R”-word (“mental retardation”) with “intellectual disabilities” in Wisconsin state statutes. The bill numbers are AB 471 and SB 377.
- Restricting the use of seclusion and restraint on students in schools. The bill numbers are AB 455 and SB 353.
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