New York State's Autism Spectrum Advisory Board was established by law in 2016. I'm encouraging families and individuals to share their concerns with the Board. They need to hear about what works and doesn't work in New York state from the people who live with experience autism every day. You can download the October 2017 report from the Board at the link above or from this post. My own comments to the board are here.
1 Comment
The following are written comments submitted to the New York state Autism Spectrum Disorder Advisory Board on February 13, 2018 as part of a public forum.
The public has been asked to comment on the following questions.
Representation of autistic voices and experiences are imperative for the advisory board to make informed decisions about the lives of autistic people and their families. The distinction that is often drawn between “low functioning” and “high functioning” individuals on the spectrum is a distinction without meaning when it comes to insuring appropriate systems of support are in place for families and individuals. The self-direct program has the potential to be a game changer in the lives of people with disabilities. For some it has been. In my experience it saddles families and individuals with an unpaid part time job filling out paperwork and resolving mistakes made by various agencies with little to show for all that effort. Time delays in processing paperwork by agencies, inconsistent policies, and little to no oversight by OPWDD make the program almost unusable. Families and individuals need consistent guidelines for agencies involved in self-direct as well as a clear grievance process with state regulators when a problem with an agency needs to be addressed. State Department of Education regulations often function as an impediment to the education of students with IEPs and 504 plans. Families and educators need clear guidelines, free of ambiguities, that comply with IDEA. We need regulations and guidelines with flexibility to facilitate a student’s academic success rather than function as gatekeepers and roadblocks frustrating student progress. Families need a clear path to accountability for school districts that routinely fail to comply with IEPs and 504 plans. In CNY alone, several districts are notorious for forcing students and/or refusing to comply with IEPs and 504 plans. Ask the families and self-advocates in the region for the details. On the school funding front urban and small rural school districts need adequate funding to meet the educational needs of all students. Our students’ success is continuously hamstrung by needy schools held hostage by the state budgeting process that consistently fails to consider what it actually costs to educate a student. This isn’t a call to bemoan how much it costs to educate our students. This is a call to do it right and stop scratching our heads about why our students keep failing. Accountability, transparency, and accessibility are integral parts of service delivery for families and individuals living with autism. Meaningful oversight of agencies offering services is lacking leaving people at the mercy of a bureaucratic behemoth. We need consistent policies that don’t change midstride with zero input from the people who live with the impact of those changes. The must be recognition that there are real people with hopes and dreams impacted by policy changes. We need legislators and heads of agencies like OPWDD and OMH to listen to our needs rather than tell us what our needs are and how they are going to meet them. Families and individuals need ground floor access to the decision-making process. Nothing about us without us. Several parents and professionals spoke today about the need for better mental health services for families and individuals on the autism spectrum. As part of a CNY advocacy group about this issue I’ve prepared information to share with legislators about the state of mental health services and the needs in CNY. That information is included with these comments. Decades of advocacy have produced growing numbers of autistic people who are speaking up for themselves. Whether they speak with a voice from their mouths, with the assistance of technology, or with behavior. Listen to them. Sincerely, Samantha JC Pierce NeuroDiversity Consulting Sanchia A Callender Foundation |
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