Disabilities and standardized tests

A friend posted this article from the Washington Post on his Facebook page. I've known that there have been issues with students with disabilities taking standardized tests, but in class we have also been learning that special considerations must be allowed for students that need them. Despite this, I was shocked to read how stringent Florida's law is regarding standardized tests, and dismayed to hear the plight of these parents and teachers to save their children from the suffering and indignity the tests cause them.

I have been against standardized tests since their implementation, and what started as a gut reaction is building momentum as I find anecdotal evidence such as this article as well as looking for peer-reviewed research on the matter. The sheer ignorance of the politics driving the problem is baffling...except when corporate profit is factored into the equation.

I recognize that this article represents a minority of cases in which appropriate accommodations are not made for students with significant disabilities, but it reminds me that more can and should be done to ensure that students are being adequately educated, not used as pawns for one agenda or another. I appreciate wanting to have a good sense of the overall student demographic of a region or district, but the cost to our educational system--and to the students themselves--is too high. A child with significant disabilities should be expected to learn appropriate life and independent living skills. There is no need or value in dragging them through the stress of standardized testing.

Personnel Plus and the Employment First movement

In another article from the Athens News' special section this week, I learned about a national movement called Employment First. The concept, supported by the US Dept of Labor, prioritizes giving people with disabilities jobs that incorporate full inclusion in the community and workplace.

This arrangement seems to have the dual benefit of being better for the individuals--as they get more time observing and interacting with typical peers and community members--and also apparently being considerably cheaper (1/3 the cost) than sheltered employment programs. We discussed in class some of the issues surrounding employment of people with disabilities, including low wages. This particular article did not get into the grittier aspects of these services, such as: could a person lose their Medicaid benefits or subsidized income if they make too much money at their job? Would their job be required to provide insurance for these employees as it would for typical employees?

One thing that seemed quite positive was the continued support the employees receive from Personnel Plus. These supports help maximize the benefits of working in the community and also help the employee with job retention by working on the interpersonal and professional skills necessary to maintain a job.

Athens On Demand Transit (AODT)

In the Athens News special section this week, I found two articles dealing with transportation for folks with developmental disabilities in Athens County. The first article reported on a pilot program called Athens On Demand Transit (AODT) that is designed to help people with DD and the elderly to get to appointments and other events not related to services already supplied by the ACBDD.

I am impressed and encouraged that such services exist in Athens County. I am vaguely aware that there is a network of support for people with disabilities in Athens County, but--with the region being so poor--I am surprised to learn just how strong and supportive that network is. According to the article, three different agencies (ACBDD, DD Council, HAPCAP) partnered cooperatively to make this program a reality. That's incredible! I was also impressed that the program is available to seniors, who are often a forgotten group. The second, shorter article discussed briefly the existing transportation available in Athens County for people headed to existing ACBDD programming. Again, the resources (several buses, vans, and cars) dedicated to helping people with disabilities is impressive. I'm sure there are still issues related to using the services, but I find the fact that such a poor county has such thorough and thoughtful support to be encouraging.

Federal Probe of Group Homes

I stumbled upon this article today about a senator in Connecticut calling for a federal probe into the conditions of privately-run group homes. According to the article, there have been an alarming number of deaths in recent years in his state from abuse, neglect, or medical errors, and he wants to instigate a national investigation into the issue.

Having just talked in class recently about the condition of large institutions in the last century, I was not expecting to see an article like this pop up in my current news feed. The sense I had was that such widespread abuses were largely a thing of the past, though of course abuses still occur.

I cannot tell if this is evidence that privitization of services with public funds leads to valuing profits and "the bottom line" over quality of care, or if the good news is that the public funding is what seems to be prompting the investigation into abuses in the group homes. I can say that the debate over public or private funding of services for the disabled is disheartening. Without proper free support, how is a person with a disability supposed to engage in modern culture in such a way that allows them to not be poor? And if they are poor, how can they avoid abuse and neglect in the name of profit? We haven't been able to work out solutions for non-disabled people in poverty, so why should I expect that those in need of special services would get the care and recognition they deserve?

Down's Syndrome births drop despite ADA passage

This article on the Huffington Post website outlined some troubling information regarding the birth rate of children with Down's Syndrome and also presents an interesting perspective on the cultural dynamics that might be affecting it. The article notes that--though it seems counter-intuitive--the rate of children born with Down's Syndrome has dropped by 25% since the passage of the ADA by President Bush. One might assume that the protections afforded by the ADA would influence parents to bring babies with disabilities to term more often, but the data suggests this is not so. The authors then cite several news reports and media depictions, the likes of which probably create a cultural bias that continues to skew parents against carrying a fetus with Down's Syndrome to term.

As a new parent, I am particularly sensitive to this issue. It disappoints me to read that people are presumably understanding the "responsible" choice to be termination of pregnancy rather than bringing a child with a disability into the world. I can understand why they might choose this if they learned their unborn child had Down's; as soon as the public movement against using the word "retard" found success, the word "Down's" became the new substitute. I've heard it used by kids on the internet and kids in public to describe their friends and enemies. I fear we have a long way to go before our society is so enlightened that we stop taking advantage of the disadvantaged.

Honda: Powered Walking Assistance

I recently learned of two products developed by Honda that are currently in the prototype and testing phase, designed to help people with limited use of their legs to regain mobility. I have been wondering for years why we don't see more of these types of devices in actual use, and was excited to learn more.

The Stride Management Assist is a hip and thigh harness that offers motorized assistance to the user's legs, increasing their stride length and allowing them to walk longer distances. I could easily see this being used by the elderly and people with limited use of their leg muscles, perhaps the result of degenerative or congenital conditions. I have known people who have had hip replacements, for example, who had limited use of their new hip because they didn't have quite the full range of motion they had pre-surgery. This device would help them open their stride and potentially gain flexibility and range-of-motion faster.

The second product in development by Honda is the Bodyweight Support System, which adds motorized support primarily to the knees, thereby reducing the burden of the leg muscles to carry the body. While still in testing, I could see this being used by many of the same people as might use the first device. In watching the provided videos, I'm wondering what benefit these devices would have for people with arthritis or other joint and ligament disability.

This sort of technology feels overdue, but I am very encouraged to see it in development. As batteries become lighter and motors get smaller and stronger, I would hope assistive technologies such as these would rise to the challenge of being practical and beneficial for restoring the activity levels of people with any number of lower-body disabilities. Maintenance of activity levels is a primary predictor for long-term happiness and health, and none of us are getting any younger!