I am a person with a significant disability. I live in my own home because of community services I receive from the state of Illinois. I write because of the proposed closure to the Jacksonville Development Center, as I am also a disability rights advocate in favor of closure and a safe and smooth transition of the residents to the community.
Some say not everyone can live in the community independently or even with the most supports. Yet, that statement, which ignores people with disabilities living successfully in the community even now, blankets the entire disability population in a stereotyped generalization.
I could discuss how the state will save money by closing institutions, even though there must be an initial outlay of more funds for appropriate community services. Still, the main issue is not jobs, fear of the unknown, or concern for care. The issue is a person’s civil right to choose.
In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court found in the Olmstead decision that people with disabilities in various institutions can choose to live in the “least restrictive environment” available. However, in funding community services, including accessible and affordable housing and payments to providers, Illinois has done so insufficiently and, often, not at all.
Families, union members and advocates are not to blame. The state must meet its responsibility to fund community services that allow people to live independently. Closing institutions, which warehouse and segregate people with disabilities from the rest of society, is a starting point in meeting that responsibility.
Funding community services saves money and creates local jobs by eliminating millions of dollars in massive overhead in institutions. People who worked with residents in institutions can provide the same care in the community. Most importantly, residents will be able to act upon their basic civil right of choice.
— Tyler D. McHaley, co-leader, Springfield Area Disability Activists, Springfield
#Source: The State Journal-Register | Springfield, IL Oct 31, 2011
http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x1138513436/Letter-Right-to-choose-is-key
2 comments:
To the editor:
I'm writting in response to the letter written by Mr. Tyler D. McHaley. It is obvious by the grammatical way that Mr. McHaley's letter was written that he might be only physically disabled. A person with a PHYSICAL disability is totally different from somebody with a MENTAL disability. Many people that are so-called "disability rights advocates" are physically disabled due to congenital defects, illnesses/disorders, or accidents. Comparing physically disabled individualls to mentally/intellectually disabled individuals is like comparing apples to oranges. By assuming they are the same adds to the stereotype that every person in a wheelchair "isn't all there". Most disabled advocates strongly dislike that notion yet will speak out at hearings and write letters in papers speaking out "as the disabled" and further adding to the stereotype, even though their disabilities are clearly not the same.
I supervised a slideshow that was playing outside of the COGFA hearing Monday night. After the so-called "disability advocates" spoke out against JDC and wheeled themselves out into the hallway, they watched the slideshow for a few minutes. A person in a wheelchair pointed and laughed at how "funny" a resident with Down's Syndrome looked, while his friend mocked another resident's speech impediment on the video, he talked about how the resident sounded "retarded". I was appalled and enraged, it's horrible to have one "advocate" for somebody's best interests (because they can) and then have them stab them in the back. Due to the fact that I was representing JDC and had to maintain a degree of professionalism, I was forced to keep my opinion to myself.
An "institution" is defined as an established organization or corporation (banks, universities, hospitals, nursing homes). Jacksonville Developmental Center DOES NOT segregate people with disabilites from the rest of society. They go to work on business days with members of the community, they earn a paycheck, they go to church, they are registered voters, they patronize local businesses (we have all seen them at Walmart, McDonald's, the gas stations), they go to movies, plays, walks, and doctor's appointments (the same doctors the rest of us go to). Family members & friends can visit them as they please and can even take them on outings (with guardian approval). Does this sound like segregation to you? Mr. McHaley needs to do his homework.
It sounds as if Mr. McHaley is very pro-group home, just as I am. I am VERY pro-group home to those that are well-adjusted enough for the community. However, I am sure that IF Mr. McHaley lived in a group home, he would object to another resident that stays up all night singing loudly to her porcelain doll collection, or having a roomate that WILL destroy your belongings when they are having a bad day. I am sure that Mr. McHaley would object to another resident that exposes themselves or a resident that will pull a knife on you because something didn't go his way. These are just a few of the reasons WHY some of the residents at Jacksonville Developmental Center reside there, the group homes didn't work out and they were sent to JDC for structure, behavioral modification and rehabilitation.
Jacksonville Developmental Center is like an over-sized group home, THIS is the ideal place where those with DEVELOPMENTAL disabilities come to live and prepare for community placement. There have been success stories with adult victims of child abuse that never learned to walk, talk, feed themselves, or go to the bathroom become functional and independent enough to run, communicate with sign, help make their own breakfast, independently go to the restroom, and become productive members of society. Anybody that questions this, should come by to visit a resident and ask them for a tour, you (as well as Mr. McHaley) might be plesantly surprised. Mr. McHaley closes his letter in regards to residents being able to act upon their basic civil right of choice, yet he wants to take away one of their choices about where to live. It's ultimately up to the residents/guardians about where the residents live, this is not a prison, their testimony is public information located on the COGFA site.
Respectfully,
Michelle Fryer, RN
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