Mary Kay Cowen and her husband Mark helped evacuate the group homes operated by Crossroads Louisiana during Hurricane Ida. Mary Kay’s brother Tommy lives in one of those homes, They are returning to their homes today, having gotten word that power and clean, potable water are up and running in all of the homes. They have been staying at Camp Hopewell in Oxford, MS, six hours away.

By TaRhonda Thomas and 6abc Digital Staff, 6ABC News, September 6, 2021

Across the street from the Downingtown train station, there is a large parking lot for all of the commuters.

But, right now, there's no room for cars because the parking lot is full of debris. The items are what was destroyed in homes throughout the borough after Ida brought historic flooding to the Brandywine Creek.

One local organization took a huge hit in the flood. The school Preparing Adolescents and Adults for Life (PAAL) has been closed since last week when floodwaters overtook the building. The school focuses on teaching children and young adults life skills that can give them some level of independence.

"Numb, sad, nauseous. It just gets worse," said PAAL founder and executive director Gloria Satriale.

The closure means that special needs students who rely on the school won't have the services immediately available. Insurance isn't covering any of the damage for PAAL since the nonprofit didn't have flood insurance on the building.

"The Brandywine Creek hasn't flooded in 100 years," said Satriale.

Hoping to rebuild and reopen, PAAL created a GoFundMe page. Parents like Caprice Shortell, whose 18-year-old son Ryan attends the program hopes PAAL's resources will return to help her son.

"It's heartbreaking," she said, "Because it's the first school my son has ever felt at home."

On behalf of the many service providers in Utah Valley and across the state, families and people with disabilities, I wanted to identify and thank all direct support professionals.

I chose this time because Sept. 12 marks the beginning of National Direct Support Professional Recognition Week. The idea and creation of this recognition week started in 2008 and was influenced by John F. Kennedy Jr. The Kennedy family has a history of advocating on behalf of people with disabilities beginning with their sister Rosemary. Many laws protecting this population, Special Olympics, Best Buddies and other advocacy groups began with different members of the family.

John Jr., son of President John F. Kennedy, was no exception to this legacy and turned his focus to the many individuals who were providing supports and services to people with special needs. “The NADSP, National Association of Direct Support Professional, was created by a small group of committed professionals that included John F. Kennedy, Jr. when he was the President of Reaching Up and involved with the New York State Consortium for the Study of Disabilities at the City University of New York. Since those early days, the NADSP has promoted the development of a highly competent and ethical direct support workforce that supports people with disabilities in achieving their life goals.” John F. Kennedy Jr. wrote, “Quality is defined at the point of interaction between the staff member and the individual with a disability.”

The skills required by a DSP to ensure the quality referred to by Kennedy are skills that most of us have but not all of us share as easily. Those skills include compassion, understanding, patience, attentiveness and patience. They aren’t taught in a classroom or learned from a book but they can be developed and increased through service.

By Robert Preidt, US News and World Report, September 8, 2021

Adults with autism, intellectual disabilities or mental health disorders are at increased risk for COVID-19 and severe illness, researchers report.

Being aware of the heightened risk is important in prioritizing COVID-19 prevention measures, such as vaccination, testing, masking and distancing for these groups, the researchers said.

"These high-risk populations should be recognized by clinicians, and these groups should be prioritized for vaccine outreach and education," study co-author Whitney Schott, a research scientist at Drexel University's Autism Institute, said in a school news release.

The researchers analyzed Medicaid data to assess COVID-19 risk factors among adults ages 20-64 with autism, intellectual disabilities and mental health disorders, as well as a control group of adults without those conditions.

Certain factors elevated their risk. For example, autistic adults and those intellectual disabilities or mental health disorders were more likely to live in a residential facility, receive in-home services from outside caregivers, have an avoidable hospitalization and have a high-risk health condition, compared to adults in the control group.

If they did develop COVID, these individuals were more likely to develop severe illness, the researchers found.

The study was recently published in the journal Autism.

"Care providers, policymakers and advocates should be aware of the higher rates -- among autistic adults, adults with intellectual disability and adults with mental health diagnoses -- of risk factors for contracting COVID-19 and more severe illness if infected," said study co-author Lindsay Shea, an associate professor at the Autism Institute.

By Yolande Loftus, BA, LLB, Autism Parenting Magazine, September 9, 2021

H.R.4761 - A bill to amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to ensure workplace choice and opportunity for young adults with disabilities.

H.R.4762 - A Bill to amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to clarify the definition of competitive integrated employment.

VOR OPPOSES:

H.R.4131 & S.2210 - The Better Care Better Jobs Act - We don't oppose this bill. We object to the fact that it excludes the most vulnerable members of the I/DD population.

H.R. 603 & S. 53 - The Raise the Wage Act - These bills are aimed at raising the minimum wage, but they also have provisions to phase out and ultimately eliminate vocational centers and 14 (c) wage certificates over the next six years and to immediately stop the issuing of any new certificates. VOR believes the issue of employment options for individuals with intellectual disabilities should not be buried in a bill for raising the federal minimum wage. Both issues deserve clean, stand-alone bills.

H.R.1880 - To amend the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 to make permanent the Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration.

H.R. 2383 - The Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act - this bill purports to assist employers providing employment under special certificates issued under section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 in transforming their business and program models to models that support individuals with disabilities through competitive integrated employment, to phase out the use of these special certificates. We feel that, if enacted, tens of thousands of people with I/DD and autism will still be forced out of opportunities they currently, needlessly, and left without viable alternatives to occupy their time or address their needs and their abilities.

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