A band of warriors will ascend Tennessee's Capitol Hill Wednesday. Some would say they are wounded warriors. Many are weary. And, I am one of them. It's annual DisAbility Day on the Hill. Nashville's major daily, The Tennessean, has nobly championed our cause–that of families and individuals living with intellectual disAbilities that the state continues to ignore while our numbers, our needs and our age span increases.
Approximately 7,000 individuals with intellectual disAbilities are being served with state funds. And approximately that many more linger on the waiting list to be served. We are among them. For 10 years now. Predictions are that by the time parents like me turn 75, our sons and daughters will receive services in Tennessee. Maybe. Now those who join the individuals being served are considered "Crisis" category, meaning a parent has died or the family is about to become homeless or the individual poses harm or imminent danger to his or himself and those around him/her. And even that category has a waiting list Shame. Meanwhile those waiting on the list, because of the lack on services and interventions, frequently grow into the Crisis category.
The reality is that nearly all families who have family members with developmental disAbilities need assistance from our state. The same state that happened to have the funds for the pretty and pretty pricey road signs to designate river basins alongside our highways. I'm serious: they are beautiful signs. I'm not against pretty signage. But how many individuals with intellectual and developmental disAbilities might have been served by those funds? Just one way that again and again our legislature finds other priorities than it's developmental disAbility population.
As funds are currently designated, only those who have an intellectual disAbility can be served. An individual might have spina bifida, for instance, and require the use of a wheel chair, diapering and yet hold a college degree. Well, umm, sorry, such folks do not qualify because they lack an intellectual disAbility.
Thankfully, the band of weary warriors were able to take one thing off their overflowing to-do lists. With the governor's requested cuts across all state departments, it looks as if what few families did receive small, annual Family Support Funds, were at risk, once again, to lose those. The governor got smart or compassionate, maybe just a little, on that one and ordered the funding to remain in place.
Here's two examples of The Tennessean's excellent coverage of the state's serious neglect:
Aging caregivers fear for future of Tennesseans with intellectual disabilities
