t was the second day of the new school year in Puerto Rico, but 7-year-old Angel Torres wasn’t in class. He was at a physical therapy session,

struggling once again to stand on his own, when the boy’s therapist asked his mom how school was going.“Bad. Terrible,” Brenda López said, frustration spilling out. “The classroom isn’t suitable for him.”

A year after Hurricane Maria changed almost everything on the island, hundreds of parents like López were left struggling to find classrooms, teachers and therapists for their children with autism, Down syndrome or cerebral palsy. What had been a daunting task before the storm — finding a place where their special needs children could thrive — had become vastly harder afterward, as the government shuttered more than 250 schools and the education department scrambled to relocate students and staff. The Department of Education said in late August that it still needed to fill 132 vacancies for special education teachers. And that meant some kids like Angel, who has cerebral palsy and cannot walk on his own or talk, were left in limbo.

The day before, López had taken Angel to school — only to find a cramped space where the air conditioning barely worked, the bathroom was too small for Angel’s wheelchair to enter, and there was no diaper changing table.

There was also no teacher. The six students had been sent home at 11 a.m. on the first day and couldn’t go back until the school, Carmen Casasús Marti Elementary, found a special education teacher.

Surplus funds are now available to fully fund the state's developmental disability wait list.

Gov. Chris Sununu and Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeffrey Meyers will bring forward a proposal on Friday.

The plan is to transfer $1.3 million in surplus funds to the so-called "DD wait list,” which includes those disabled people waiting for additional state services due to budget constraints.

“I think we've managed the DD money this year very well,” Meyers said. “There's been an increase

Gov. Kim Reynolds, who dropped David Hudson as a Medicaid adviser this summer, stopped by his house Thursday to hear his concerns about how private Medicaid managers are treating his son and other severely disabled Iowans. 

Reynolds, a Republican, spent more than an hour at Hudson’s Windsor Heights home, after meeting with him in her office earlier this month. Reynolds’ Democratic challenger, businessman Fred Hubbell, visited Hudson's home twice in August.

Hudson drew statewide attention last month from a Des Moines Register story about Reynolds’ decision to drop him as co-chairman of a Medicaid advisory council.

Hudson, a Republican, had used the post to publicly complain about Medicaid management firms limiting payment for services to his son, Matthew, and other Iowans with severe disabilities. He questioned whether the 2016 shift to private management of Medicaid is saving taxpayers much money, as Reynolds’ administrators contend.

The candidates' visits to the Hudsons’ home

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services Development Disabilities Services is wanting to hear from families across the state.Officials say they will hold a series of listening sessions around the state in September and October on how DDS can improve services for Oklahomans with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“We want to hear from families who have loved ones with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are already receiving services as well as those who are waiting for services, about their needs and their concerns,” said Beth Scrutchins, Director of DDS. “We want to hear their ideas about how DDS can improve our current support system and the way families are served while they are waiting for home and community-based services. We have been working over the past couple of years to better understand the needs of families who are caring for loved ones with disabilities and how we can best meet those needs.”

See article below for informtion on the first Listening Session, held on September 18.

Families affected by disabilities got to voice their concerns to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services today.They were asked to share their thoughts on how Developmental Disabilities Services can improve programs and services for Oklahomans with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

"We've got to change the way we're supporting people with disabilities in our state," said Wanda Felty, parent and waiting list meeting coordinator.

As the mother of a child with disabilities, Felty knows just how tough it can be to find help. She says at one point, her daughter was among the

People with intellectual disabilities in Tasmania are dying from treatable conditions because some doctors make assumptions about their quality of life, an inquiry has heard.

Clinical Associate Professor Robyn Wallace is a Tasmanian physician specialising in healthcare for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

She was giving evidence at a Legislative Council Committee, which has resumed hearings into acute health services in Tasmania.

"I've got a pile that high of patients who have died this year in our hospitals, preventable deaths I believe," she told the committee.

Rosalie Doherty has been going to Mario Tricoci salons since her first haircut.

“I just love the way she comes out of the salon feeling good about herself and knowing how beautiful she looks,” Colleen Doherty, Rosalie’s mom, told me.

Rosalie, 12, was born with Down syndrome. She loves to swim. She has three brothers. She has beautiful chestnut hair that hangs just past her shoulders and bangs that frame her face.

“I just thought, ‘If she and I can do this, why shouldn’t the residents at Misericordia have the same experience?’” Colleen Doherty said. “It’s about dignity and humanity and self-esteem.”

Rosalie lives at home with her parents, but Colleen Doherty said she envisions her daughter spending her adult years at Misericordia. Her husband, City Club President Jay Doherty, sits on Misericordia’s advisory board.