Connecticut Set to Address Wait List

HARTFORD – The governor's budget chief said officials over the next year will find ways to unfreeze a stalled list of more than 2,000 people with intellectual disabilities waiting for services, which advocates have identified as a crisis.
While Ben Barnes stopped short of saying the state will allocate money, he said the Department of Developmental Services will "develop strategies to address and fund" the waiting list – a queue that never moves unless a person's parents or care givers become incapacitated or die.
Barnes' assertion immediately struck a chord with advocates.

Ted Kennedy Jr. Marks NDEAM; Criticizes Connecticut Budget Cuts

BLOOMFIELD, Conn. – State Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr. visited Cigna headquarters Thursday to celebrate the company's commitment to hiring people with disabilities.The Democrat from Branford also denounced the recent round of emergency cuts to the state budget ordered by Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy — including services that help people with disabilities stay in the workforce."These are the very programs that people with disabilities rely on to get training so they can seek active employment," Kennedy said. "To me, this is a misguided type of way to balance the state budget.''

Advocates Attack Malloy Budget Cuts

HARTFORD — Groups advocating on behalf of Connecticut's developmentally disabled adults and children took to the Capitol to criticize Gov. Dannel Malloy's rescissions from more than ten days ago. One Democrat in the Connecticut House even took the governor's administration to task and backed GOP calls for a Special Session to address funding deficiencies.More than $7 million of the cuts were aimed at the Department of Developmental Services that handles adult home and day services for adults living with mental struggles.

Editorial: Connecticut Budget Hits 'Weakest Members' of Society

If, as Gandhi once said, “a nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members,” then the part of this nation that’s called Connecticut isn’t doing so great.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy recently announced another round of budget cuts, and the Department of Developmental Services is taking the biggest hit — $8.4 million, on top of the cuts it suffered in 2012 and 2014. The colleges and the courts were also asked to tighten their belts, and that’s certainly a problem; both of those institutions have already had to make cuts.

Connecticut Medical Homes Improving Medicaid Care Coordination

The use of nationally certified medical homes to coordinate the care of Connecticut's Medicaid patients has led to improved quality, a 2 percent cut in per person costs, and a 32 percent increase in the number of participating providers during an 18-month period.
The news comes as the state moves forward with plans to jumpstart the medical home movement in Connecticut with an expanded "Glide Path" program that would assist all practices – not just those that accept Medicaid patients – working to become medical homes. The program, still under development, would require practices to meet national standards.

Speculation Over the Shooter's Disorder

Adam Lanza as a middle school
student.

I hesitate to post this, because it is still hearsay that Adam Lanza had any form of autism. There have been reports of mental illness and it just seems to early to speculate. There have been so many errors in the media's coverage of this tragic story. So perhaps that's why I am so reluctant to even address this issue. Please share your thoughts on this.

 

Among the details to emerge in the aftermath of the Connecticut elementary school massacre was the possibility that the gunman had some form of autism.

Adam Lanza, 20, had a personality disorder or autism, his brother reportedly told police. Former classmates described him as socially awkward, friendless and painfully shy.

While those are all traits of autism, a propensity for premeditated violence is not. Several experts said that at most, autism would have played a tangential role in the mass shooting -- if Lanza had it at all.

Connecticut Families Endure Long Wait for Care

Connecticut is fast running out of money for a residential program that many families with intellectually disabled children have relied on for years.  Families are concerned about where their children will live and who will take care of them as they grow older.

Parents to Sue Connecticut School in Autism Case

CHESHIRE, Conn. -- The parents of an autistic child are planning to sue the town, its school system and several of its employees, charging that district officials during each of the last two years caused their son’s condition to regress.
Norwalk attorney Anne Treimanis filed notice with the town on July 26 that a town family is planning to file suit.
Treimanis’ letter claims that several incidents at Highland Elementary School in Cheshire over the past two school years “caused significant injuries and damages” to the boy, who is now 9 years old.

Families Face Loss of Respite Centers

Every few months, Jim Schmitt and his wife take their 14-year-old twin sons to a state-run respite center in Putnam for the weekend. He calls it a saving grace: It's the only time he and his wife spend together without their boys, who have autism and do not speak.
"You love your kids to death, but you wait for those weekends to be able to get away," Schmitt said.
Schmitt's sons were scheduled to go to the respite center Sept. 8, and he and his wife were thinking about taking a trip to Maine. But officials are planning to shut down the state's 10 respite centers by Sept. 5, part of a plan to cut $1.6 billion from the state budget. Closing the respite centers, which serve 1,100 families a year, is projected to save the state just under $8 million over two years.

Privatization Could Challenge Nonprofits

HARTFORD, Conn. -- As the Malloy administration prepares to cut spending in social service agencies -- part of the plan the governor released Tuesday and wants the legislature to approve -- the nonprofits that provide many safety net services for low-income and disabled residents are wondering what the changes could mean for them and their clients.
People who work with nonprofits say they could take over some state services, particularly group homes and local mental health authorities, which provide theraputic and crisis intervention programs. Private providers already operate some of both.
But some cautioned that the nonprofits themselves are in precarious financial positions and would need more state funding to take on additional responsibilities. And nonprofit leaders worry that the budget cuts could instead mean cuts in the rates private providers are paid by the state.

Connecticut Daycare Center Settles with Family Over Child with Autism

OLD SAYBROOK, Conn. -- The Justice Department has reached a settlement agreement with Beach Babies Learning Center LLC, in Old Saybrook, to resolve allegations that the center ended the enrollment of a 2-year-old child because the child has autism.
The center will pay $7,341 to the child’s parents and will also implement policies so children with disabilities have equal opportunities to participate in from the center’s programs and it will post a nondiscrimination policy at its facility and its website, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

Music as Medicine for Child on Spectrum

WESTPORT, Conn. -- Ethan Walmark's dad sang The Beatles' "I Will" to his child every night. It's the gentle type of song that a proud father would sing to his son, with lyrics like, "Love you forever and forever/Love you with all my heart."
When Ethan was four, he played the song by ear. At five years old, he knows The Doors, the tunes from Glee and just about anything else he hears. For Ethan, who has autism, music is medicine, therapy and a rare gift.

One Small Step for Autism in Health Care Reform

I've been looking to see anyone address health care reform and how it will effect people with developmental disabilities. Haven't been able to find much until this morning, thanks to Kim Stagliano is Managing Editor of Age of Autism.

Thursday night, my husband, three daughters and I attended the health care town hall meeting in Bridgeport, CT, hosted by our Congressman Jim Himes (D.) We couldn't get a sitter, so we decided to bring the kids along rather than miss the event. After all, healthcare for children is of paramount importance.
The evening began with a few words from Congressman Himes about his desire to see all Americans with health care coverage and his honest appraisal of where he felt some of the faults in the system are today.
After two hours, I got my chance to ask a question. "Hi, I'm Kim Stagliano and I live here in Fairfield County. Last year my husband lost his job. We couldn't afford COBRA. We applied for private health insurance. We were turned down because our three daughters, who are seated behind me, have autism. Will you make certain that people with autism are not turned away from health care? Also, we are, I believe, the only nation that allows direct to consumer ads by pharmaceutical companies. They spend billions. Could we tap into that dollar pool to help pay for healthcare? Thank you."
Congressman Himes answered that just last night he'd spent the evening with families who have children on the spectrum and he was shocked to learn about the financial devastation that never seems to end. So "yes" was his answer, he would include autism in health care.