Agenda disabilities

==== THE AGENDA * DISABILITIES ====
=== agenda THE AGENDA ===
agenda_civil_rights Civil Rights 
agenda_defense Defense 
agenda_disabilities Disabilities 
agenda_economy Economy 
agenda_education Education 
agenda_energy_and_environment Energy & Environment 
agenda_ethics Ethics 
agenda_family Family 
agenda_fiscal Fiscal 
agenda_foreign_policy Foreign Policy 
agenda_health_care Health Care 
agenda_homeland_security Homeland Security 
agenda_immigration Immigration 
agenda_iraq Iraq 
agenda_poverty Poverty 
agenda_rural Rural 
agenda_seniors_and_social_security Seniors & Social Security 
agenda_service Service 
agenda_taxes Taxes 
agenda_technology Technology 
agenda_urban_policy Urban Policy 
agenda_veterans Veterans 
agenda_women Women 
agenda_additional Additional Issues 
== DISABILITIES ==
"We must build a world free of unnecessary barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination.... policies must be developed, attitudes must be shaped, and buildings and organizations must be designed to ensure that everyone has a chance to get the education they need and live independently as full citizens in their communities."
 -- Barack Obama, April 11, 2008
Barack Obama and Joe Biden have a comprehensive agenda to empower individuals with disabilities in order to equalize opportunities for all Americans.
In addition to reclaiming America's global leadership on this issue by becoming a signatory to -- and having the Senate ratify -- the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the plan has four parts, designed to provide lifelong support and resources to Americans with disabilities. They are as follows:
First, provide Americans with disabilities with the educational opportunities they need to succeed by funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, supporting early intervention for children with disabilities and universal screening, improving college opportunities for high school graduates with disabilities, and making college more affordable. Obama and Biden will also authorize a comprehensive study of students with disabilities and issues relating to transition to work and higher education.
Second, end discrimination and promote equal opportunity by restoring the Americans with Disabilities Act, increasing funding for enforcement, supporting the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, ensuring affordable, accessible health care for all and improving mental health care.
Third, increase the employment rate of workers with disabilities by effectively implementing regulations that require the federal government and its contractors to employ people with disabilities, providing private-sector employers with resources to accommodate employees with disabilities, and encouraging those employers to use existing tax benefits to hire more workers with disabilities and supporting small businesses owned by people with disabilities.
And fourth, support independent, community-based living for Americans with disabilities by enforcing the Community Choice Act, which would allow Americans with significant disabilities the choice of living in their community rather than having to live in a nursing home or other institution, creating a voluntary, budget-neutral national insurance program to help adults who have or develop functional disabilities to remain independent and in their communities, and streamline the Social Security approval process .
==== Autism ====
President Obama and Vice President Biden are committed to supporting Americans with Autism Spectrum Disorders ("ASD"), their families, and their communities. There are a few key elements to their support, which are as follows:
* First, President Obama and Vice President Biden support increased funding for autism research, treatment, screenings, public awareness, and support services. There must be research of the treatments for, and the causes of, ASD.
* Second, President Obama and Vice President Biden support improving life-long services for people with ASD for treatments, interventions and services for both children and adults with ASD.
* Third, President Obama and Vice President Biden support funding the Combating Autism Act and working with Congress, parents and ASD experts to determine how to further improve federal and state programs for ASD.
* Fourth, President Obama and Vice President Biden support universal screening of all infants and re-screening for all two-year-olds, the age at which some conditions, including ASD, begin to appear. These screenings will be safe and secure, and available for every American that wants them. Screening is essential so that disabilities can be identified early enough for those children and families to get the supports and services they need.
 MD5: 50724a7879b49dbd6bf65ac6f2492f2d
 Original URL: http://whitehouse.gov/agenda/disabilities/