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The Connecting Point
Volume: 4 Issue: 5 Date: September 21, 2006
The Connecting Point is an email update service from the CORE (Choices,
Options, and Resources, Education) Project of Washington PAVE (Parents are
Vital in Education). The Connecting Point provides information, resources
and updates to help transitioning students and adults with disabilities,
their families, schools, and other organizations and agencies understand
services and options available for adults needing additional supports.
In This ISSUE:
1) New Medicare Guidelines to further Limit Coverage of Power Mobility Devices
2) The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Announces its Long-Term Goals
3) Schools not communicating with Parents about Special Education Legal Rights
4) Many Adults Need Help Understanding Basic Medical Instructions, as Most Are Written at Above-Average Level
5) Disability Awareness Training – Do it Right!
6) Postsecondary Education Options for Students with Intellectual Disabilities
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1) New Mediare Guidelines to further Limit Coverage of Power Mobility Devices. – Two weeks ago Medicare published final local coverage determinations (LCDs) for power mobility devices (PMDs) that will
severely restrict access to appropriate PMDs for individuals with
mobility impairments. This new policy will force many individuals
into low functioning, "junk" wheelchairs that are not meant for
individuals who require mobility devices to participate in
activities of daily living.
This policy would implement a new and even more restrictive
interpretation of Medicare's "in the home" requirement as it will
prevent many individuals from receiving devices that could be
used outside of the home and may even prevent many beneficiaries
from traveling from one room of their home to another. Medicare
has once again failed to recognize the importance of access to
assistive technology for people with disabilities.
The policy is scheduled to go into effect on October 1, 2006.
A summary of the new LCD policy is posted at
http://www.aapd.com/News/health/060914item.htm.
2) The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Announces its Long-Term Goals – John H. Hager, the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), U.S. Department of Education, announced OSERS’ new long-term goals. The five goals address academic excellence for children and youth with disabilities, meaningful and competitive employment for people with disabilities, successful transition, and the use and reuse of assistive technology, among other topics. www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/goals.html
3) Schools not communicating with Parents about Special Education Legal Rights – from the Advocacy Institute- If parents and schools are to be partners in the education of children with disabilities, clear communication is essential. Although the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires schools to tell parents about their rights under the law referred to as “procedural safeguards notice” in “understandable language,” most are falling short of this requirement, says a study reported in the research journal Exceptional Children. Read this special report about the study and find out how your state's Procedural Safeguards Notice scored.
http://www.advocacyinstitute.org/advocacyinaction/Procedural_safeguards_Notice_Study.shtml
4) Many Adults Need Help Understanding Basic Medical Instructions, as Most Are Written at Above-Average Level, Study Says – Most adults can determine at what age their children should get vaccinated or discern from a label when to take medicines, but they still need help understanding many basic health instructions.
AP/San Francisco Chronicle - http://www.kaisernetwork.org/fe.cfm?id=3515
· Browse the Executive Summary of this document.
· Download, view and print the entire report as a pdf file. (1220KB)
· Download, view and print the report without appendices as a pdf file. (816KB)
· Download, view and print the appendices as a pdf file. (589KB)
5) Disability Awareness Training – Do it Right! – It's fall, it's back-to-school time, and that means it's also time for groups to start planning "disability awareness days." "Schools, government agencies, and sometimes, deplorably, gimp groups, are still offering the public 'try on a disability' programs -- exercises in which nondisabled people are blindfolded, put into wheelchairs or given earplugs to 'simulate' having a disability," wrote Illinois disability activist Valerie Brew-Parrish on the Ragged Edge website. Brew-Parrish, like many activists, considers disability simulations an atrocity. This week Ragged Edge Online "spotlights" this and other awareness day issues at http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/departments/spotlight/002843.html
The Avocado Press has a new book out! DISABILITY AWARENESS -- DO IT RIGHT! shows you how to stage a good Disability Awareness Day. More information and an order form at the end of this email e-letter. Or go to
http://www.advocadopress.org/dadir.html
Order the book online today from http://www.lulu.com/content/400392
6) Postsecondary Education Options for Students with Intellectual Disabilities – Exiting high school is an exciting and tense time. But when students with intellectual disabilities and their families think about what will happen next, they don't always consider college.
This brief gives a rundown of current program options, barriers, and solutions for students with intellectual disabilities who want to go to college. An extensive bibliography is included.
Postsecondary Education Options -- http://www.communityinclusion.org/article.php?article_id=178
Contact the Institute for Community Inclusion - Email: ici@umb.edu - Phone: 617/287-4300 voice, 617/287-4350 TTY Website: http://www.communityinclusion.org/
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