I have been silent on this blog for some months in large part because I have been struggling with an internal conflict: Lofty Ideal vs Reality. My desire and belief that we, as advocates for people with developmental disabilities should be able to come together and, taking into account our differences, work out mutually agreeable systems for providing the best supports for all concerned vs the reality that some organizations, biased bureaucrats and elected officials are dedicated to closure of state-run campus communities for people with dd so that they are not available even to those who need and want them. Often they cite horrific conditions of such facilities in days long bygone, but usually they claim that too much money is spent on people in residential habilitation centers (RHCs) . What I hear, listening to them is that they don't think the people who need the services in the RHCs are as needful or deserving as those higher level functioning persons who live in general community settings. The subject of income for community providers is usually not discussed nor is the economy of scale value of the RHCs.
Because those people use their organizations and positions to push to have RHCs closed, I find myself in the position of defending RHCs. Finally, I have decided that it is important to use this blog as a resource to put out the facts and perspectives that I and others find salient to the discussion. So, here I am back, again inviting you to join in discussion, hoping that you will write, not just in response to what you see written, but also to initiate topics that are important to you. You can do that by sending your writing to me for publication: ddexchanges (at) gmail.com.
Saskia
Friday, January 7, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are encouraged. By sharing perspective, personal experience, both positive & negative, ideas, resources and support, readers can enhance each others&; understanding and we will all benefit.