A program to provide meaningful employment to people with autism, run by energy company Pepco Holdings and Wilmington-based disability employment promoters The Precisionists, won the Exelon Innovation Expo. Pepco employees with autism enter a four-week career development course, then work managing and updating databases, processing invoices and analyzing customer care information.
Seventy-one disability advocacy groups are calling on federal education officials to argue that funding available under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and through vocational rehabilitation should be used to pay for transition programs offered on college campuses for students with intellectual disabilities. More than 250 colleges and universities across the country, including the University of Delaware, offer such programs.
Data from a 2016 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study indicate that 25 percent of U.S. residents report having a disability and that people with disabilities, especially between ages 18-64, face greater barriers to receiving health care than people without disabilities. CDC data from 2013 indicated that 20 percent of people reporting having a disability, but the increase is likely due to a change in the survey criteria.
Paralyzed Veterans of America filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation for delaying the release of rules focused on adding wheelchair accessible restrooms to single aisle planes. The veterans group stated that, without accessible restrooms on domestic flights, individuals with disabilities are left uncomfortable and often have to resort to dehydration to travel long distances.
A recently proposed bill known as the Healthcare Extension and Accessibility for Developmentally Disabled and Underserved Population (HEADs Up) Act, sponsored by Reps. Moulton (D-Mass) and Harper (R-Miss), would classify individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities as a “medically underserved population,” qualifying them for increased access to medical and dental care through federal programs. The act would also offer student loan repayment to health professionals specialized in serving this population.
