Fourth-Generation Viewpoint: The Candidates' Disability Policies
Freeing my mind from rehashing the inane ABC debate, I went on a policy search tonight. My targets: special education and, indirectly, policy principles regarding people that experience disabilities. My grandfather, my older brother, my daughter, and I all have multiple disabilities: kind of a four-generation tradition. Given that tradition, this policy-focused research seemed like a good place to shake off the non-issue mass media barrage of the last few weeks.
After searching each candidate’s website for disability-oriented content, principles, experience, and policy, in my opinion, Senator Obama wins, hands-down. Here are my overviews by candidate:
“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
If you want a fantastic counterargument to those that still argue “vague on policy” or “lacks experience,” browse on over to Obama's disability topic page. It includes a:
Disability Plan - policy principles and legislative specifics across a range of issues including special education, employment, human rights, community inclusion, and health care.
Transcript from a Disabilities Policy Committee conference call. The Committee appears to be an outreach and policy development group Obama’s team is spearheading around disability topics.
If you are a more visual person, take a look at Obama’s introductory video on his disability positions (subtitled for universal accessibility, of course).
Overall, Obama highlights a substantive set of disability policy positions, personal and professional experience, and an inclusive approach to soliciting and synthesizing feedback from the greater community. I would add and tweak a few positions (like emphasizing the “least restrictive environment” requirements in education), but I eagerly endorse many of his well-thought and well-laid-out positions.
Hillary Clinton
“The United States will only reach its economic potential if it ensures that people with disabilities have the full opportunity to reach their potential. Americans with disabilities have half the employment rate and double the poverty rate of individuals who do not have disabilities. - Hillary Clinton"
Hillary Clinton also lays out policy positions on her website: several in great detail. Her disability-specific positions were difficult for me to find initially, though. I had to choose a main topic like “Supporting Parents and Caring for Children”, then navigate to a sub-topic list in the right margin (a tip I got, by the way, from Obama's Disabilities Policy Committee conference call facilitator). Here are several that I located:
Some of Clinton’s policy recommendations are similar to Obama’s, but the set I found are not nearly as comprehensive. For example, under the topic “Improving Our Schools,” Clinton mentions some prior experience in disability advocacy and policy development, but only addresses fully funding IDEA in her main bullet points on the page. I expected to find more detailed policy ideas under the sub-topic “Giving Every Child a Chance,” but found none there.
Good content (when I could find it), but Barack Obama’s site organized it all under one major “Disability” topic, explored issues more thoroughly, and just did a better job of winning me over on multiple positions.
John McCain
Unfortunately, John McCain’s site was the easiest to review. I found no content searching on “disability”, “special needs” (my least favorite expression, BTW), and “special education.” Might be there, but I couldn’t locate it.
Interesting considering that Cindy McCain received her Master’s in Special Education according to USA Today.
***
In the end, given my family’s experience with disabilities and my own advocacy, Barack Obama earns my vote on this issue. He had a consolidated disability section to explore, and his site was full of many disability policy positions I would find it easy to support.
-- Dad
Note: I originally posted this at Daily Kos: my first post there as a "diary." For those that know us here from our kintropy family stories, I thought the links would also be useful. You all know our family was previously split on which candidate to support (Gabriel & I were Obama-supporters; Mom and Hannah, Hillary), but I think we've moved Mom to Obama; Hannah, I'm not sure. Given what I found above about disability policy, I think we might be able to sway Hannah, too, now ;-)
