Fundamental Rights

Last week I was shopping at the 99 Cent (yes I know it more accurately should be called the Dollar Store as everything is now 99.99 cents so it rings up as $1) Store and couldn't help noticing that a group of fellow shoppers were individuals with developmental disabilities who were accompanied by staff from an organized program. If I wasn't tipped off when they all emerged from an unmarked white 12 passenger van, I would have noticed when a staffer (the staff members were wearing unmarked blue shirts) told the group as I entered the store to "line up." The group was milling around unsure of where to go & unintentionally blocking the store entry. Before I could stop myself I informed the staffer that my fellow shoppers weren't children. While pushing my cart down the aisles I overheard a staffer (again, if their blue shirts didn't already give them away their behavior & words certainly would) tell another staffer that "He has the right to buy whatever he wants." I confess that I'm not sure exactly why it became necessary to wrap an individual's ability make purchases at the 99 Cent Store in the protection of the US Constitution. After checking out I again encountered members of this group of fellow shoppers milling about waiting for other members of their group to finish checking out and unintentionally blocking the exit. One of them told another to move out of the way. I, again not able to keep my mouth shut, told him that it was ok. I would have just said excuse me, the guy would have moved and I would have said thank you like I do countless times with other fellow shoppers who are preoccupied. Instead both of us were deprived of a typical social encounter that further segregated rather than integrated both of us.

This isn't the first time I've noticed adults with developmental disabilities being set apart and treated like children by paid staff while out in the community. Unfortunately I know it won't be the last. Don't get me wrong. I do understand that we as a society have come far regarding community integration and acceptance for everyone especially people with developmental disabilities. We no longer lock those who are "different" away in institutions. However, we still have far to go.

The US Supreme Court decision on the right to community integration for people with disabilities in Olmstead v. L.C. (http://www.ada.gov/olmstead/index.htm) is yet to be fully implemented. A few weeks ago the Justice Department filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the city of San Jacinto, CA for violating the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. It seems that San Jacinto officials decided to ban group homes for individuals with developmental disabilities from locating in their city and are systematically using their regulatory power to shut them down. Luckily not all cities are San Jacinto. One of my son's 19 year old school mates just moved into a group home and is living with two other young adult men with autism in a suburban gated community complete with a community swimming pool (important to him because according to his mother he would live in a swimming pool if given the opportunity). His parents don't have the needed resources in their home to provide him with the intense care he needs. Luckily they were able to find a group home that does and are pleased with the fit of neighborhood, house (both are of similar enough quality to their neighborhood and home), his housemates and the staff for their son. It is never easy for parents when their grown children leave home, but it was time. Just as it was time a few years ago for his older brother to move into the college dorm. When I spoke with his mother a few weeks ago I was happy to hear how well the new living arrangement is working out for everyone in the family.

For at least the past decade there has been a slow, quiet revolution placing people with developmental disabilities in integrated jobs within the community that is poised to go viral. Now all we need is a change in community attitude that should begin with the currently employed friends and family members of people with developmental disabilities thinking outside the box and figuring out how individuals with developmental disabilities with the right supports can become productive coworkers in their work places. My Catholic religion teaches that work is a duty and a right that stems both from necessity and the fact that work affirms the dignity of each of us. The Supreme Court's Olmstead decision guarantees that each of us is entitled by the US Constitution and laws to the fundamental right to work along with live and be educated in the least restrictive community integrated environment possible.

We have a decade to make this a reality for my 11 year old son. His school recently began building a formal vocational skills training program for its students. I look forward to helping them build their program. We already have a fledgling informal consortium of agencies sharing information about building integrated employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities that we hope will encourage future partnerships among agencies. Currently I email like minded acquaintances from my network when I come across helpful info I think will be valuable to them. We now are talking about meeting regularly so we can better learn from one another. This is how it begins; changing attitudes and outlooks one person at a time until before we know it community integration for all becomes the new normal. Now to just get the staff at my son's school to internalize that toddlers go potty while students use the bathroom...