By Adrienne Benjamin and Arlene Reith

We are two moms who met recently and although we are different in many ways — one a Republican and one a Democrat — we share a deep bond.

Our daughters, Sarah and Zoe, have never met but have a lot in common. They are 21-year-old women who have severe intellectual disabilities and autism. They just graduated from their school programs. But their graduation has not brought celebration.

The lack of a state budget is not an abstraction for our families. It means no funding for the daily program our girls urgently need. The Department of Developmental Services offers programs with structure, activities and goals to work toward. Our daughters are among the 330 new graduates who are waiting for the funding of these core services. They have waited more than two months so far. Continue reading →

By Cyrus Dos Santos – September 1, 2017

HARTFORD, CT — The capital city will no longer offer free metered parking for commuters with disabilities starting today.

But the head of the Hartford Parking Authority said it’s not about increasing revenues for a city flirting with bankruptcy.

“It’s too difficult to determine if a valid permit is used validly,” Hartford Parking Authority CEO Eric Boone said Wednesday. He also stated that current laws make enforcing violations extremely difficult.

According to a Hartford Parking Authority website, one in six vehicles at a meter displays an accessible parking permit. The website goes on to say this indicates that “there is a significant amount of permit abuse.” Continue reading →

To the UConn Community,

Last weekend, the world watched in horrified shock as scenes of brutality fueled by racist, hate-fueled ideologies played out in the town of Charlottesville, Va., home of one of our country’s greatest public universities. By the end of the day Saturday, three people were dead: two Virginia state troopers who had been monitoring the march from a helicopter, and a peaceful protester who had come to courageously bear witness against the noxious philosophy of white supremacy.

As our nation struggled to process these horrific events, we learned that groups motivated by the despicable ideologies of fascism and racism are planning more such rallies, particularly targeting public universities as symbols of all that they most despise: diversity, inclusion, and a relentless pursuit of the truth.

Let me be very clear: as a university, we are committed to fearless intellectual debate and to the free speech that makes it possible. Those commitments are essential to another elemental aspect of our identity, which is our determination to create an intellectual community composed of dignity, compassion, and respect, which constitute the foundation of a free society. Continue reading →

By Kyle Spencer – August 3, 2017

Half a dozen students, some in Syracuse University T-shirts, sat around a conference table joking about appropriate job interview outfits. No bathing suits, pajamas or Halloween costumes. Added their instructor, not joking: “No tank tops.”

Then Brianna Shults, leading the workshop with a kindhearted but no-nonsense approach, launched into the Q. and A. section. “So if I identify my interview outfit, should I wear it to bed the night before so I’m all dressed and ready?”

“No!” the group responded in unison.

“And before you put your clothes on, what’s the most important step?”

“Shower!” a few called out.

Ms. Shults, an internship and employment coordinator, closed the conversation with a sartorial tip that experience has taught her needs mentioning: “No dirty clothes!”

Why not? Meghan Muscatello piped in: “Because then you’d be smelly.” The room erupted in laughter. “And if you have a cat or a dog, make sure you leave it hanging so they don’t get it all hairy.” Continue reading →

By Dhruv Khullar – July 11, 2017

Growing up, my sister never let our family get a blue “handicapped” placard for the car.

Born three months prematurely with cerebral palsy, she uses forearm crutches to get around. But she’d rather walk half a mile across a mall’s parking lot than take the reserved spot next to the entrance. (I found this particularly exasperating during the holiday season when a ready parking spot is more precious than the presents inside.)

But the prospect of less stigma and greater support for people with disabilities was a central reason my family immigrated to the United States. My sister was born the same year the Americans with Disabilities Act (A.D.A.) was passed — a law that reaffirmed America’s moral and practical commitment to equality.

More than 20 percent of Americans — nearly 57 million people — live with a disability, including 8 percent of children and 10 percent of non-elderly adults. And while the medical profession is devoted to caring for the ill, often it doesn’t do enough to meet the needs of the disabled. Continue reading →

By Susan Campbell, Contact Reporter

Numbers can’t begin to tell the story of Zoe Benjamin, but here goes:

330 — Last month, Zoe, 21, of New Britain was among 330 Connecticut adults with intellectual disabilities who graduated from school. In addition to her intellectual challenges, she has autism, cerebral palsy and a seizure disorder, though a careful combination of diet and medication has kept the latter at bay for nearly seven years.

6 — On a scale used by the state Department of Developmental Services to determine a client’s level of need, Zoe ranks a 6. The scale goes to 8, the clients with the highest needs.

2,570 — Zoe is among some 2,570 state residents who rank a 6. She cannot be left alone. She has no sense of danger, and she has a high pain threshold. She is not verbal — that is, she makes noises, but she does not speak. She cannot play board games. She can’t sit still to have her mother read to her. She is not toilet trained, though her family is hopeful. She takes maybe 15 pills a day. Continue reading →

As lawmakers debate major changes to the federal health law, it is important to understand what’s at stake in Connecticut. The Connecticut Health Foundation commissioned the Urban Institute to model the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Connecticut, with a focus on state residents who might lack health care coverage without it.

“Our goal is for decisions to be made with good data and an understanding of the implications on people’s lives,” said Patricia Baker, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation. “We commissioned this analysis to document what is at stake as lawmakers consider significant changes to the health care system. We hope this measure of the current status of coverage in Connecticut provides a baseline on which to measure the impact of future reforms.” Continue reading →

The Affordable Care Act repeal bill unveiled Thursday by Senate Republicans has aptly drawn universal scorn from healthcare experts, hospital and physician groups and advocates for patients and the needy. That’s because the bill is a poorly-disguised massive tax cut for the wealthy, paid for by cutting Medicaid — which serves the middle class and the poor — to the bone.

Yet some of the measure’s most egregious, harshest provisions are well-disguised. They’re hidden deep in its underbrush or in the maze of legislative verbiage. We’ve ferreted out some of them and present them here in all their malevolent glory. In this effort we’ve built on ace detective work by Adrianna McIntyre, Nicholas Bagley of the University of Michigan, David Anderson of Duke University and balloon-juice.com, Andy Slavitt, the former head of Medicare and Medicaid in the Obama administration, and others. Continue reading →

When 12-year-old Alexander Knoll saw a man in a wheelchair struggling to open a door, he began thinking of how he could help. Now, he’s designed the ‘Ability App’ to help. Continue reading →

There’s something undeniably special in the way Meera Phillips looks at you when you speak. It’s as if your words are the only words that will ever matter, whether you’re talking about something silly or something serious.

The 15-year-old knows the value of hearing what people say. That’s because she’s used to not being heard.

Meera is nonverbal, living with a rare condition called schizencephaly that impacts her ability to speak. But with the help of her iPad and text-to-speech technology, she can make her thoughts and opinions known — and she sure does. From her love of Katy Perry to her passion for soccer, Meera will let you know exactly what’s on her mind. All it takes is a few taps of her tablet, and with a specialized app stringing letters into words, and words into phrases, her thoughts are played out loud. Continue reading →