In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the federal role in the issue.
I have an article at The Forum: "Disability Policy in the Contemporary Congress." Abstract:
The politics of disability policy in the contemporary Congress confirms the observation by James Curry and Frances Lee that lawmaking largely remains a process of bipartisan accommodation. Most major disability legislation since the 1970s has passed with bipartisan sponsorship and support. One reason is that the issue affects so many Americans, including members of Congress. There have been some exceptions to this bipartisan pattern, particularly when disability policy intersects with more contentious issues. And bipartisanship does not guarantee outcomes that are satisfactory to people with disabilities.Trump's nephew recently quoted him as saying that people with severe disabilities should "just die."
Trump is an outlier among presidents.
President John F. Kennedy, with the support of his sister Eunice Shriver, awakened the nation to the plight of people with mental health and intellectual disabilities. He created a special council, then known as the President’s Council on Mental Retardation, and then the Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act of 1963, demonstrating the government’s investment in helping people with such challenges, and providing a precedent for more programs as understanding of needs improved.
Successive presidents built upon this legacy. President Lyndon Johnson enacted both Medicare and Medicaid to fund federal and state partnerships. Not specifically directed at the ID/A community, it made practical the nation’s commitment to the health of the most vulnerable and created the primary source for state and community disability programs.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon issued an Executive Order to encourage the establishment of community-based programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In 1975 President Gerald Ford signed the nation’s first education law requiring states and local school districts to provide educational services to children with disabilities.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter responded to nationwide protests by issuing federal regulations to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which ensured that individuals with disabilities are not excluded from or discriminated against in federally funded programs.
Through a bipartisan effort, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law, ensuring that the promises of America extended to all its citizens, opening up employment, housing, and opportunities for people with disabilities, including people with intellectual disabilities and autism.
If Fred Trump III's account of Donald Trump's words that day in the Oval Office are true, it should be a wakeup call.
We must never accept such ignorance and cruelty from a candidate for president or anyone else in public life — or from relatives or friends. That attitude betrays the values that define us as a nation — one that should lift up its most vulnerable citizens, not give up on them and certainly not wish them dead.
