Ongoing Events and Alerts:
- Survival Coalition is hosting Disability Advocacy Day on Tuesday, March 6, at the Capitol in Madison. Disability Advocacy Day connects you with your legislators so you can share your story and tell them what issues are important to you. This is a wonderful chance to make your voice heard about disability issues! Survival will set up your visit with your legislators. Before your visit, you will have an opportunity to attend a briefing about current disability issues in Wisconsin. You can choose a briefing time of 9 a.m., 11 a.m., or 1 p.m. Participants are asked to arrive at the Capitol 30 minutes prior to the start of their briefing. You can register for this event online or by submitting a completed registration form. The deadline to register is Monday, Feb. 27.
- The Survival Coalition opposes a Wisconsin bill that creates private-school vouchers for students with disabilities (AB110/SB486). Among the many concerns with the bill: students who use the vouchers would lose the federal rights currently available to students with disabilities through their IEPs. Schools that accept vouchers would not be required to have special educators, related service providers, or other staff with disability expertise available; and the voucher amount does not cover the full cost of educating students with more significant disabilities. See the “Special Needs Voucher Alert” at Disability Rights Wisconsin for more information.
- From the DAWN News Service:
“Two critical bills passed the State Senate on Tuesday with the support of every Senator! Senate Bill (SB) 380 lifts the caps on enrollment in Family Care and IRIS and expands the programs statewide. SB 377 eliminates the R-word from the state statutes. Passage of the bills is a great victory, but we are only half-way to the finish line.The State Assembly still has to act on both bills. Assembly Bill (AB) 477, the bill to lift the caps and expand the Family Care and IRIS programs statewide, has had a hearing before the Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee but still needs votes from the committee and full Assembly. AB 471, the bill to eliminate the R-word, has passed the Health Committee but still needs to be voted upon by the full Assembly.Disability advocates are close to total victory for both bills, but it will only happen with more advocacy. If you want these bills to become law, contact your Assembly representative and ask him or her to work to get these bills passed! You can use a toll-free number from AARP to call your representative. The number is 1-800-844-2847.” - The national Autism Society and the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) have issued a joint statement on the proposed new definition of autism in the DSM-5.
- On January 24, Wisconsin’s Senate voted to approve SB 353, a bill limiting the use of seclusion and restraint in Wisconsin’s public schools; the bill now moves to the Assembly. The bill would prohibit seclusion and restraint of students in public schools unless the student’s behavior poses a clear, present, and immediate risk to the physical safety of the student or others and it is the least restrictive intervention available. See the Dec. 19 press release from Disability Rights Wisconsin for more information.
- Update on Medicaid cuts: ASGM has signed on as an organization to a letter to Governor Walker and the members of the Joint Finance Committee, copied to DHS Secretary Dennis Smith. The letter notes that Wisconsin’s projected Medicaid deficit has been recently reduced, and urges the administration to use that funding to avoid making harmful proposed cuts to BadgerCare. If you would like to add your voice in support, you can sign a petition with the same letter at http://www.change.org/petitions/save-badgercare-2
- The Wisconsin legislature cut $1.6 billion from the 2011-13 public education budget. Parents of children with disabilities have important information to share about how cuts may be impacting their children in their classrooms. If you have one or more children with disabilities attending public school in Wisconsin, you can participate in a short survey to collect this information: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/educationbudgetcuts.
The survey is sponsored by the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities, Disability Rights Wisconsin, and Wisconsin FACETS. It asks for basic information about your child’s experience in school this year compared to last year. You will also be able to tell your child’s story in your own words. You can choose to respond anonymously, or include your child’s first name and even a photo. Survey results will be published widely with the general public, Governor and legislators. - On Tuesday Nov. 15, the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act of 2011 was reintroduced in Congress, with bi-partisan co-authorship. The ABLE Act would let people with disabilities and their families create tax-exempt “529″ savings accounts that could be used to pay for such expenses as education, housing and transportation — without hurting eligibility for other benefits. Learn more at the Autism Society of America news page.
- The Autism Society of America is taking action to promote the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 — learn more at the ASA’s Current Legislative Issues web site.
- ASGM has signed on as an organization to a letter from the Save BadgerCare Coalition to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, which requests that the federal government NOT approve the Medicaid cuts that passed the Joint Finance Committee earlier this month. Individuals may sign a petition at: http://www.change.org/petitions/save-badgercare. The measures are projected to cause nearly 65,000 people to leave or be turned away from BadgerCare Plus and other Medicaid health programs for the poor. (Note: The CLTS waiver that provides for autism treatment services for children is NOT involved in these changes.)
– Read coverage from the Wisconsin State Journal (11/10/11): Budget panel OKs cuts, expected to force 64,000 off Medicaid
– Read a summary from the DAWN News Service regarding particular concerns in the proposal for people with disabilities.
– Read an October 31 press release from the Save BadgerCare Coalition regarding the proposal and process.
– Read a November 3 analysis of the proposal from the Wisconsin Council for Children & Families (Analyzing the Effects of the Proposed BadgerCare Changes: How Will the DHS Proposals Affect Health Care for Children?) - The US Senate passed the Combating Autism Authorization Act (CARA) on September 26, and it was signed into law by President Obama on September 30. Thanks to all who’ve been working to pass this three-year funding extension for autism research, training, services and treatment!
- Thank you to all who submitted comments to the WI Dept. of Health Services on proposed revisions to intensive autism treatment within the Children’s Long Term Support waiver. The revisions will be submitted to the U.S. government this fall, and are intended to go into effect in 2012.
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