Banner
    Peter Bell's Appointment To The President's Council For People With Intellectual Disabilities
    By Kim Wombles | January 13th 2012 01:34 PM | 4 comments | Print | E-mail | Track Comments
    More Articles
    All Articles
    About Kim

    Instructor of English and psychology and mother to three on the autism spectrum.

    Writer of the site countering.us (where most of these

    ...

    View Kim's Profile
    On January 10, 2012, President Obama announced appointments to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. One of the individuals he would like to appoint is Peter Bell, the current "Executive Vice President for Programs&Services at Autism Speaks." In addition to his role at Autism Speaks, Peter Bell is the "Co-Founder and President of Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism and chair of the Community Advisory Committee for the International Society for Autism Research."  




    Peter Bell is the father of a young man with autism, and as his son has reached adulthood, he has shifted his focus to adult services. I was privileged to hear Bell speak in person in July 2011 and meet him briefly. He is keenly concerned with making sure that housing and employment needs for adults with autism are met. His new organization, Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism, is working with Autism Speaks and several other organizations to help create better support systems for autistic adults. The organization presented a Congressional briefing on its National Public Policy Agenda, which calls for, among other things, "federal policy makers to:

    Amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to include life skills/social skills training as part of individualized education program (IEPs).
    -
    Enact the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act to design and develop new residential models.
    -
    Expand the capacity of Community Development Financial Institutions.
    -
    Expand the implementation and enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Olmstead decisions to ensure least restrictive and most appropriate housing for adults with autism.
    -
    Expand the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (DD Act) to encourage public/private collaborations that create meaningful and diverse vocational opportunities for adults with autism.
    -
    Expand Medicaid to include ongoing residential, vocational and community living supports.
    -
    Create/expand federal incentives to encourage investment in housing options for adults with autism.
    -
    Establish a new priority within the DD Act to provide appropriate and ongoing vocational supports for adults with autism.


    Before individuals in the autism community sign petitions asking for Obama to reconsider his appointment, I urge them to examine AFAA and new changes being implemented at Autism Speaks. I encourage them to listen to Bell speak, rather than rely on second-hand, unsubstantiated claims regarding his beliefs and his work.





    Comments

    Halliday

    Kim:

    Much of what you quote from the Congressional briefing looks, prima facia, reasonable, save one:

    Expand Medicaid to include ongoing residential, vocational and community living supports.

    This just doesn't seem to fit within the purview of the Medicaid program.  No, this would almost certainly fit far better under the Social Security system.  Social Security Disability benefits already work along somewhat similar lines.

    David

    David Halliday | 01/17/12 | 16:18 PM
    kwombles
    Actually it is medicaid that funds the day programs and residential settings, not SSI. It can certainly be argued that it would be better if it came out of the SSI, but it should be remembered that individuals who get SSI get medicaid. Social Security Disability (for those who have paid into the system) starts out with medicaid initially but then switches over to medicare.
    —
    “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” --MLK, Jr.
    Kim Wombles | 01/17/12 | 16:53 PM
    Halliday

    Kim:

    I don't know why you brought in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) into this issue.  However, if Medicaid does, indeed, already fund "day programs and residential setting" then why is it expressed as "Expand Medicaid to include ongoing residential, vocational and community living supports"?

    As far as "Social Security Disability (for those who have paid into the system) starts out with medicaid initially but then switches over to medicare."  It has been our experience (with my wife being disabled) that the switch between Medicaid and Medicare is based more upon income, since we have had it switch back from Medicare to Medicaid when my income dropped below a certain level (when we also received SSI).  (Fortunately, it's back to being Medicare.)

    David

    David Halliday | 01/17/12 | 19:33 PM
    kwombles
    Because my son is autistic adult who receives SSI and has medicaid because he has SSI. If he were to go into a group home or a sheltered workshop, it is the medicaid that would pay for it, not the SSI. 
    My brother has medicare and social security disability.

    There are inadequate supports currently and not all current programs are funded by Medicaid.
    —
    “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” --MLK, Jr.
    Kim Wombles | 01/17/12 | 20:20 PM