Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

U.S. Wins Record $240 Million Discrimination Verdict in Iowa

Excerpt from: Bloomberg Business (click for full article)

 

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said an Iowa jury awarded $240 million in damages, a record for the agency, in a trial accusing a Texas-based turkey processing company of severe abuse and discrimination against workers with intellectual disabilities.

The jury in federal court in Davenport, Iowa, found that Hill Country Farms Inc., doing business as Henry’s Turkey Service, subjected 32 men to verbal and physical harassment, harsh living conditions and other abuses from 2007 to 2009, after 20 years of similar mistreatment, the EEOC said today in a statement.

The Goldthwaite, Texas-based company employed the men in Iowa, where they worked eviscerating turkeys. The EEOC presented evidence that the company exploited the workers because their intellectual disabilities made them vulnerable and unaware of their rights, the agency said.

Neonatal ICU treatments linked to intellectual disabilities in newborns

Excerpt from: The Saratogian (click for full article)

 

Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) interventions for babies born very small and early have drastically reduced infant deaths in the United States, but in doing so they've contributed to more intellectual disabilities, according to a new study.

Past research has shown such disabilities have been reduced in recent years through vaccines and newborn screening, for example.

But disability rates may also be rising due to procedures that save the lives of children who go on to have limitations in social and practical skills, according to researchers led by Dr. Jeffrey Brosco.

"We actually through medical interventions, in some sense, cause a fair amount of intellectual disability as well (as preventing it)," said Brosco, from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Judge closes book on lawsuit involving nursing home residents with intellectual, developmental disabilities

Excerpt from: McKnight's (click for full article)

 

A U.S. District Court judge has brought a definitive end to a large, long-running class action case involving nursing home residents with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

Lead plaintiff Loretta Rolland, now 71, and four other plaintiffs brought the case against the state of Massachusetts in 1998. They contested the state system of placing people with intellectual or developmental disabilities in nursing homes, saying that these residents were not being given “active treatment” in these facilities, and that many were capable of living in other settings. The class of plaintiffs eventually exceeded 1,800 people as the case stretched on for 15 years.

The plaintiffs sought other care options, such as specialized group homes, for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They also wanted nursing homes to provide more active, comprehensive care plans for those who could not move into different settings. Opponents included the families of some of the nursing home residents, who felt their loved one required care in the skilled setting and feared forced removals.

Province erases wait list for persons with intellectual disabilities

Excerpt from: Leader-Post (click for full article)

 

For Rosemary Fenrich, the expansion of resources for people with intellectual disabilities has had a personal impact on her 19-year-old son.

“Basically, it’s given my son a life,” said Fenrich, who was at the legislative building on Monday to hear the province announced the completion of its Community Living Waitlist Initiative.

Since the program was launched in 2008, the province has spent $62.5 million that resulted in 75 new group homes, expanded or enhanced services in 41 communities and funding for nearly 500 new staff positions to help support people with intellectual disabilities.

Supported by the Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centres, Saskatchewan Approved Private Service Homes, Saskatchewan Housing Corporation and several community based organizations, the program was started to deal with a wait list of 440 people trying to access specialized, residential and day programs. In addition, the province also helped another 215 clients.

Your View: Not the right model

Excerpt from: The Joplin Globe (click for full article)

 

Maintaining quality services for Kansans with intellectual and developmental disabilities is important to me. I am concerned that the state will include long-term care services for people with developmental disabilities in its managed care plan for Kansas beginning Jan. 1, 2014.  

Managed care models were designed to help contain costs associated with acute medical needs. Long-term care for people with significant intellectual or developmental disabilities is neither acute nor medical. It is a spectrum of lifelong, person-focused supports that enable a person to live as independently as possible in the community of their choosing.  

The fact that they are a bad fit for managed care can be seen in the vast majority of states that have chosen to specifically exclude, or “carve out,” these services for this population from their managed care plans. Only four states in the union have even attempted applying managed care to long-term care services for the intellectually and developmentally disabled. None of those four states chose a model even remotely like KanCare for managing those services.

Adults With Disabilities To Open Café In Lincoln Square

Excerpt from: Huffington Post (click for full article)

 

For more than 20 years, people with intellectual disabilities have been creating delicious meals and treats at Gateway to Learning on Lincoln Avenue. And soon, the rest of Lincoln Square will be able to sample their fares.

In April, GTL—a private day training program for adults with disabilities—plans to open its first member-run café.

Dorothy’s Can-Do Café will have cookies, chocolates and other baked goods. Workers will also be serving Aspire CoffeeWorks, a nonprofit partner of Metropolis Coffee that benefits people with disabilities.

The Arc Michigan's Conference is June 20-21 in Battle Creek

Download The ARC event

Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month noted

Excerpt from: Sedalia News Journal (click for full article)

 

In observance of DD Awareness Month, everyone is encouraged to celebrate the strengths and achievements of Americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). After decades of progress, today people with I/DD are living and working in the community, pursuing higher education, growing their faith and making their voices heard.

“During Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, we encourage people to learn more about the many people in our community who have developmental disabilities and to recognize that all of us have talents and abilities that we can offer to make this a better place to live.

Dementia resource

Excerpt from: Supporting Peoeple with Intellectual Disabilities (click for full article)

 

Visit this website Learning (Intellectual) Disability and Dementia. The site offers a comprehensive range of news, resources, events and training. The site is managed by Karen Watchman. Follow Karen on twitter. 

(I have already!)

People with intellectual disabilities gets push

Excerpt from: NECN.com (click for full article)

 

Like a typical girl, she grew up pretending to pose like her model mother and dreamed of designing clothes.

The dream, though, seemed out of reach for the Snellville teen, who has intellectual disabilities and cerebral palsy.

She watched her brothers go off the college, but mother Patricia knew that her daughter's dream may never be fulfilled.

Today, though, Brielyn lives in a dorm and attends classes at Kennesaw State University, as part of the state's only post-secondary program open to people with intellectual disabilities.

"It is a reality for her, and at one point, I didn't think it could be," Patricia Hubbert said talking about her daughter's job at the campus bookstore and a possibility of an internship with Tyler Perry Studios. "I think it's essential. Just because you have different challenges doesn't mean you shouldn't have access."