Morningside Ride

The 2011 Morningside Road Challenge was fun!!!! This event is growing each year and this year we had more people come in costume.

Here is the winner of the “Best Dressed” costume award.

For the second year Alisha Blain and Stephanie Scott have worn coordinated outfits.  Note the matching accessories!

And best corporate “dressed” needs to go to First Citizens.

I hope everyone who participated had a great time. This year Lucas Doelman who is both a board member and a client gave a wonderful talk from his point of view of our staff who are dedicated, motivated and strive for success. He did a masterful job from his perspective on how these attributes are important in one’s life, how it related to him and how our staff exemplify this in their daily work supporting individuals with disabilities. I trust attendees at the ride took away how wonderful and dedicated our staff are.

So in the spirit of the Road Challenge 2011 – “How do you Ride?”  We hope well until our 2012 Road Challenge.  See you then.

I am blessed

I am thankful to God for many things but I believe, next to my family, I am most thankful for Morningside and being a part of an organization with solid values, clear vision and a social justice mission. By extension I am also thankful for our staff who are very focused on what we do, have a spirit of helping others and a drive to make sure individuals with disabilities have opportunity.

It is so fun to talk with staff who get excited when the perfect job match is found and the person we are supporting is happy for a job that they choose to do and fits their needs and desires. We don’t have easy jobs. First, it’s a challenge to get an employer to even talk with you. But then to have an employer say yes - well, it’s time to get ecstatic. What I enjoy also about my job is talking to employers who expound the virtues of hiring a person with severe disabilities. I love to hear about how the workplace has improved and changed as a result of hiring one of our clients.

It is also true that I get bummed out when something goes sour with a job. For instance I happened to find out by happenstance that a long time employee at Pizza _ _ _ was let go. I use this person as an example because this national company conducted a study extolling the virtues of hiring individuals with disabilities. The study found their turnover rate was 200 plus percent for non-disables workers at entry level jobs but a miniscule, in comparison, 30% for individuals with disabilities. This person whom we support has been an employee there for the past 9 years and rarely missed a day of work. She had been known to walk to work in the snow for fear the transit system wouldn’t be operating that day. She was the embodiment of the study they conducted nationwide. She was the living example of the positive return on investment of lowered turnover rates. She was let go because of economic reasons and no amount of discussion could change this manager’s mind. The manager has been the store manager for two years and he said that it was an economic decision and it sticks. I think it is penny wise and pound foolish. Boy are they losing out. Not only are they losing a good loyal employee they have lost a lot of goodwill in the process. I for one was a customer but I won’t be encouraging people to buy from them in the future.

The only saving grace in all of this is that I chatted with her the other day and she not bitter or resentful but looking ahead because as she puts it “I am a good worker. Someone will want me, huh Jim?”. She is so positive and encouraging to others, I am blessed to know her and a better person because of it.

ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) 21st Anniversary

Justin Dart speaks at the tenth anniversary of the ADA in Washington DC



July 26, 2011 marks the 21st anniversary of the signing of the historic Americans with Disabilities Act. As always I reflect on the words of Justin Whitlock Dart Jr, a profound leader, during his lifetime, in the disability rights movement, and can almost hear his richly cadenced voice calling for justice in our society:

“I adamantly protest the richest culture in the history of the world, a culture which has the obvious potential to create a golden age of science and democracy dedicated to maximizing the quality of life of every person, but which still squanders the majority of its human and physical capital on modern versions of primitive symbols of power and prestige.

I call for solidarity among all who love justice, all who love life, to create a revolution that will empower every single human being to govern his or her life, to govern the society and to be fully productive of life quality for self and for all.

I do so love all the patriots of this and every nation who have fought and sacrificed to bring us to the threshold of this beautiful human dream. I do so love America the beautiful and our wild, creative, beautiful people. I do so love you, my beautiful colleagues in the disability and civil rights movement."

In this forum I have questioned the advancement, or lack thereof, in our society in attitudes toward individuals with disabilities. I struggle with the dichotomy of seeing people with disabilities succeed in achieving their goals every single day and the continuing ignorance of some in our society. Sometimes the lesson comes right to my own doorstep. The night before last night my sister and my daughter, Megan, called to vent about an incident of blatant discrimination. Megan had recently traveled to Whidbey Island to look for a new puppy. After the visit the breeder called Megan to tell let her know she could not have the puppy because she was too disabled to have a dog! The woman went on to say that due to Megan’s condition she couldn’t take care of a dog adequately. After all the woman had once broken her leg and had a hard time taking care of her dogs. Not only did the woman say this to Megan but she also stated she had emailed other kennels breeding the same type of dog to warn them of Megan’s interest and notify them that they shouldn’t sell to her because of her disability.

I haven’t discussed my daughter or her disability in this forum. Suffice to say Megan is a wonderful person and a very accomplished individual. She received her high school diploma and AA degree at the same time. She was one of only 2 students to accomplish this feat attending River Ridge HS that year. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Washington, School of Medicine and has passed her licensing board examination. In high school she played on the River Ridge Tennis Team in doubles and played in the school marching band. I think she can manage being a dog owner! But all this woman could see was a young woman with a disability. Besides the fact that Megan is accomplished and she certainly can handle a dog, hasn’t this woman heard about service dogs? Apparently this breed isn’t cut out for the task.

In conversations with my friends with disabilities I know this happens all the time. I ask myself, will it ever change?

Then I think of Mr. Dart and his call for fighting injustice to ensure everyone has the right to govern their own life and participate in our society as equals. Mr. Dart gives us much to ponder.

Funding Following Policy

Last month in my blog titled “Not Again” I mentioned a movement to repurpose state budget money designated for employment programs for use in day activity programs.

The troubling issue is a shift in policy that is counter to normalized services and integration for adults with disabilities. We have worked years to get away from large segregated group programs and I am concerned we will shift policy by shifting funds. The adage is true - follow the dollars and you’ll know the priorities.

The Working Age Adult Policy makes work a priority and isn’t that what our society values? Don’t we gain great intrinsic, not to mention monetary, value in working? I mentioned in the Not Again Blog that when we were contemplating closing the sheltered workshop we employed the services of an outside consultant to ask the clients what they wanted. 80% of our clients said they wanted to work in the community! They wanted to have the same opportunity as all citizens because that is what America is all about – working and being productive in our society.

Does pet therapy or music therapy sound good? Sure, but most of us need to work in order to survive. If, in fact, the policy in this state is to prioritize work then the money should follow. If, in fact, we want an ancillary program centered around singing or making a dog’s tail wag then fund that - but not by taking the funding from employment programs. I say fund the program that best represents what is happening in the community. I don’t see our friends and neighbors sitting around during the work day petting cats as a large group activity! If, in fact, this alternative program is funded then in my opinion it should be integrated with other programs. Volunteer at the local humane shelter or sing in a community or church choir. The problem once again is that people take a paternalistic stance leading to a situation where we decide what is best for individuals with intellectual disabilities without really considering what they want.

I have talked about when I worked in Ellensburg, Washington many years ago. We had a segregated recreation program – best in the state in my opinion in large part due to the fact that we had a great Director and students from CWU’s recreation program working for us. When clients came to me and asked to change the service because they wanted to have more normalized activities I had to convince the staff that it was a good idea to move away from large group activity to more individualized services. Funding always came up as a stumbling block. It is hard to fund individualized services on a large group funding model. But should Pet the Kitty be 5 days a week several hours a day? Even I get tired of singing in my church choir after an hour of practice.

So I propose that funding for employment remain the same, that the Working Age Adult Policy stand and that funding is established for “recreation” programs based on an integrated model. And finally if respite care is the real root issue then funding should be established for an appropriate very short term, short duration respite model not adult day care.

Annual Report Available

Our 2010 Annual Report is available both on line and in printed form.

Our report is informative and riveting. Everyone loves it even Aiden (seen below) thinks it’s cool.

Please let me know if you would like a hard copy.

Some Thoughts on Social Justice

I was about 12 years old when the first Freedom Riders traveled to the south to demand full civil rights for African Americans. I asked my dad what it was all about. While he was explaining it I remember being somewhat baffled by the whole notion of inequality. I was raised Christian and taught we have an obligation to take care of each other - all of us. My dad was disturbed by the fact that people who were demanding social justice were attacked by law enforcement. I was incensed we could treat other people differently because they didn’t look like us - that some in our country thought people of color were less somehow. It didn’t really hit me then that some prejudice looms in each of us.

About the same time my dad told me of an Asian couple that wanted to move into our neighborhood and the association voted against it. I couldn’t believe my ears as my father’s explanation for discrimination was based not on ethnic bias but on property values. I couldn’t reconcile it and hoped that deep down he couldn’t either. Later I experienced firsthand racial discrimination, right here in the Pacific Northwest. I had an African American roommate and we were denied entrance into a restaurant. I wanted to make an issue of it because the restaurant owner said there was no room but I saw plenty of open tables but my roommate said “Let’s just move on, it’s not worth the hassle”.

Following the signing of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, the civil rights law guaranteeing equal opportunity for people with disabilities, the federal bureaucracy failed to create the regulations to implement the Act. As a result there was a nationwide sit-in of government buildings operated by HEW (Department of Health, Education and Welfare) in 1977. I watched the demonstrators with chained wheelchairs refusing to leave the offices in San Francisco and thought they didn’t have a chance of forcing the government into action. It didn’t seem possible because the group was small and no Freedom Riders were coming over the horizon to their aid. I was wrong. The protesters prevailed. They got noticed and the regulations were issued. I think that was the first time I was impressed with the determination and issues surrounding individuals with disabilities. You can read more on the history of the disability rights movement at: http://www.museumofdisability.org/home.asp

By time the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) came before Congress I was personally involved with the issues relating to the civil rights of individuals with disabilities. With 16 years in the rehabilitation field and firsthand experience with the challenges of individuals with disability in the areas of accessibility, I worked to encourage Congress to pass this significant legislation. It is sometimes difficult for an able-bodied person to understand the importance of access. The able-bodied person has not experienced the challenges of a non-ambulatory person negotiating moving from point A to point B until you have actually helped someone in a wheelchair access the entryway of a museum or hotel room or other public area. I vividly remember my experience in 1978 or 1979 of traveling with a person in a wheelchair to a conference. This was long before laws were changed to require curb cuts and accessible hotel rooms and restaurants. What I thought were simple steps turned out to be monumental barriers for this person in a wheelchair.

I learned through many years working on behalf of individuals with disabilities the challenges and, by extension, the indifference to disability. The prejudice they experience – name calling, teasing, lack of access were all done in my presence as if an able-bodied person had the right to look down upon another human. It reminds me of Selma, Alabama in 1961. The blatant discrimination of not being allowed entry or being asked to leave a restaurant because the people I was with were “too grotesque”. It reminds me of the “Whites Only” signs at public facilities in some parts of this country until the mid-60’s. On July 26, 1990 the ADA was signed into law and what a glorious day it was! I had been at Morningside a year and was elated at the signing. With this law the self-determination movement began, centering on the right of people with disabilities to make choices about their own lives, have the same rights and responsibilities as everyone else, and speak and advocate for themselves. It made so much sense – their time had arrived. Or had it? Has it changed monumentally in the last 20 years?

This last week I was listening to board members of a sheltered workshop defend paying sub-minimum wage and sheltered employment. I was outraged at the thought and expression that people with disabilities were “less than”. I thought of how embarrassed I would be if my friends with disabilities were in the room listening to people talk about people with disabilities as not really being productive, that no business would pay the going wage for them. Finally, I couldn’t contain myself and spoke out (really on behalf of them) saying that as a matter of justice we should do everything in our power to make sure people with disabilities have the same rights, same access, same wage and same opportunity as all other citizens. I wish I could have been as powerful and eloquent as Justin Dart, the tireless supporter of access for people with disabilities. I can just hear his message “I call for solidarity among all who love justice, all who love life, to create a revolution that will empower every single human being to govern his or her life, to govern the society and to be fully productive of life quality for self and for all.” He concluded with a call for “Justice for All”.

Fighting for people’s rights is a challenge. It isn’t easy. It can be painful. But it sure feels good to know you are supporting what is right, what is true and what is just.

Not Again

I think by now you know I am old. I don’t feel old but when I tell people I started in this business in 1973, well it’s been a long time – over 38 years. I remember my uncle telling me that in this business over time the pendulum swings back and forth around programs, required documentation or philosophies. Never would I believe that we would swing from individualized, integrated services back to congregate segregates services but that is what the legislature wants to do in the House version of the operating state budget for 2011-2013. Luckily the Senate changed their position to maintain integrated community based employment as the primary service. Now we need to get it passed and enacted.

I am not clear on the impetus behind the House budget but I surmise that it is parents who want something “nice” for their son or daughter to do. I’ve talked with many parents of children with disabilities in the K-12 Special Education system and often times find they often don’t even consider work when discussing their son or daughter’s future. They apparently can’t conceptualize their son or daughter working. When I mention we have worked with individuals with multiple or profound disabilities or challenges they either don’t think it applies with their child or are totally shocked and want to probe the issue in greater detail. I am thrilled when a parent says “Wow, that’s fantastic, I want my child to experience the same thing!”

The problem is that people take a paternalistic stance leading to a position of we decide what is best for individuals with intellectual disabilities without really asking them what they would like to with their time and life, even into adulthood.

When I worked in Ellensburg, Washington many years ago we were having a staffing for Danny, one of the persons coming out of a children’s group home. I was representing adult employment services. There sat this large group determining what was best for Danny who was soon to graduate from the special education program. Danny didn’t fit everyone’s paradigm. He didn’t need the services of an adult group home yet no tenant support services existed at the time. The discussion was quite intense. I was lucky enough to be seated next to Danny. As I was taking it all in and, trying to get to know this person, I noticed a look of bewilderment on his face. I suggested it was time we heard from Danny. To that point in the conversation Danny was in the circle but he wasn’t even being noticed. The debate raged around him. I asked Danny a series of questions and in the end it was clear what he wanted. He wanted to live in an apartment and work at a job he had held while in work study. It was our job to make it happen. So we put together a program. It required many people filling in the holes or pieces where needed but it ended by making Danny’s dream a reality - not our dream for him but his dream. I tell this story because everyone at that meeting knew exactly what Danny needed even though no one had ever asked him.

When we were contemplating closing the sheltered workshop we employed the services of an outside consultant to ask the clients what they wanted. 80% said they wanted to work in the community. I am glad we asked rather than assume the segregated, sheltered employment was the best option. As a result of their leadership look where we are today. We support over 200 people working in jobs in the community! We need the legislature to continue to support people leading inclusive, self-determined lives