The Roving Activist’s Blog

Vicki from WV ADAPT sent this to me.

Disability community speaks up about Medicaid waiver cuts

By Susan Williams
Staff writer
WV Gazette

“Scary and heartbreaking” are the words Vicki Shaffer used to
describe how she views the Manchin administration’s approach to
programs that help the disabled.

Shaffer, who has cerebral palsy, has received the MR/DD waiver for
the last three years. In the federal Medicaid program, MR/DD means
mentally retarded/developmentally disabled. Besides her personal
perspective, she has a larger perspective that grew from her co-
founding ADAPT WV in 1997 with Ken Ervin. ADAPT stands for Americans
with Disabilities for Attendant Programs Today. The West Virginia
group is a branch of the national group that was founded in 1977.

Each year, Shaffer said, she has been forced to fight to continue to
keep her waiver services. When state officials have attempted to take
her services away, they always tell her it is because she is “too
intelligent.”

If someone gets a notice that services will be terminated, that
person can ask for a hearing. Shaffer said a Department of Health and
Human Resources lawyer asked Shaffer’s administrative law judge to
reconsider her decision and to deny Shaffer services.
“But my judge said I was eligible for services, and she wouldn’t do
it,” Shaffer said.

Shaffer, who lives in Morgantown, is active in a network of people
who try to make sure all disabled people have the services they need.
On ADAPT’s Web site, they have a drawing of a skeleton in a
wheelchair who is holding a sign that says, “Tired of waiting for
community services?”

She is also worried about the nonverbal people who need waiver
services.
“They will not know what hit them. Just because you are nonverbal
does not mean you are not smart.”

In the 1990s, she was able to take 20 hours of college classes at
then Fairmont State College. She would like to take a few more
college classes now, but state officials continue to deny her the
chance.

ADAPT has taken on several highly visible projects. They successfully
sued a cab company that did not want to give rides to the disabled.
Shaffer said she and ADAPT have had to fight for services over the
years.

“But we have never had so much trouble with a governor before. He
[Gov. Joe Manchin] is not listening to us; he is not answering our e-
mails. He just closes down the doors,” Shaffer said.

Members of ADAPT met with Manchin and members of his administration
when the administration hosted the Vision Shared meeting in
Clarksburg, but said they did not get far.
The other ADAPT co-founder, Ken Ervin, was in Charleston Wednesday to
show his support for legislation that would allow money to follow the
individual in need.

“There are about 2,000 West Virginians in nursing homes who want to
return home,” Ervin said. “But unless you create the infrastructure
to allow these people to live in the community, what is the point?”
There are other waiver programs in the state. Some help aged and
disabled people. Some help families who open their homes to the
disabled. ADAPT is worried about changes in all of the waiver
programs. A Charleston lawyer announced Monday that he will sue the
state on behalf of people who were denied services through the
Medicaid Aged and Disabled Waiver program.

“They [state officials] are doing what is expedient with little or no
regard for their citizens,” he said. “We are letting policy- makers
know that we are not going to stand for changes that leave us without
services. What are people going to do?”
People who rely on the waiver programs are not able to live in their
homes without help.

Ervin said he hopes all people who need waiver services will attend a
meeting at 10 a.m. July 19 in the office of the Bureau for Senior
Services in Charleston. “All waiver users should attend, and let
policy-makers know how they feel.”

Lara Ramsburg, spokeswoman for Manchin, said the administration “must
make responsible decisions with the amount of money we have.”

I received this from Chicago ADAPT. It’s pretty scary!

New Medicaid law is called a threat
Illegal immigrant fraud was target

By Judith Graham
Tribune staff reporter
       
No one has been able to figure out when Kevin Harris was born or
where. This blind, mentally impaired man has told the Cook County public
guardian he doesn’t know. Public-records searches have come up empty.

Until now, this hasn’t been a problem for Harris, who depends on
Medicaid, the nation’s largest health-care program, for medical care and his
community-based living arrangement.

But come Saturday, Harris’ setup could be jeopardized. That’s
the startup date for a controversial law that requires as many as 50 million
Medicaid recipients to prove they are U.S. citizens by providing passports,
birth certificates, driver’s licenses or other documents to authorities. All
new applicants also have to provide proof of citizenship before their
request to join Medicaid is considered.

As a result of the new law–an effort to keep illegal immigrants
from finding their way onto the Medicaid rolls–consumer advocates warn that
many vulnerable Americans could lose or be denied Medicaid coverage.

Especially at risk, they say, are seniors in nursing homes, the
severely disabled, children in foster care, the homeless, African-Americans
and Native Americans born outside of hospitals and Hurricane Katrina
evacuees who have lost personal records.

Harris, believed to be about 42, doesn’t have any of the papers
the government says it needs to establish citizenship. Efforts to find a
birth certificate in Illinois, where he was adopted, have failed. His state
identification card was stolen years ago. He doesn’t have a passport. And
the public guardian’s office says it knows of no relatives or close
associates who could tell the circumstances of his birth.

“The horrible thing is these people have lived in this country
all their lives, and no one would question that they’re Americans, but they
don’t have the ability to provide the documentation,” said Cook County
Public Guardian Robert Harris.

The controversy over the new Medicaid law is an offshoot of the
national debate over illegal immigration, and it shows how social policy is
being influenced by that discussion.

The intent of the law, signed by President Bush in February, is
to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining medical care through Medicaid
by falsely claiming to be U.S. citizens, explained John Stone, spokesman for
Rep. Charles Norwood (R-Ga.), a leading sponsor. Only U.S. citizens and some
legal immigrants are eligible to receive Medicaid benefits.

“Medicaid programs across the country face a funding crisis, and
the feedback we’re getting is that a lot of the financial pressure is coming
from illegal immigrants,” Stone said.

Not so, consumer groups counter, citing a June 2005 report from
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s inspector general that
found no evidence of widespread citizenship fraud in Medicaid.

But the potential for fraud exists, the report acknowledged,
because 40 states allow Medicaid applicants to assert they are citizens
without providing any proof. An additional six states often allow similar
assertions. Only Georgia, Montana, New Hampshire and New York have
documentation requirements.

“The problem is, the enforcement of existing regulations has
been almost non-existent,” said Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.), another key
sponsor.

That may argue for vigilance by state Medicaid authorities. But
it doesn’t make sense to subject 50 million current Medicaid members to
burdensome new requirements, said John Bouman, advocacy director at
Chicago’s Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law.

Many states, including Illinois, don’t have adequate staff to
take on new administrative tasks, he argued.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is concerned about the new federal
regulations and “raised the issue today with the Illinois congressional
delegation,” said spokeswoman Christine Glunz on Tuesday. If states don’t
meet the law’s requirements, the government will cut off financial support
for Medicaid.

What happens next is uncertain. Government guidelines issued
earlier this month indicate that current Medicaid recipients will get some
time to obtain documents, but it’s not clear yet how long that will be.

Consumer advocates had hoped the guidelines would be flexible,
but they’re “incredibly prescriptive and burdensome,” said Stephanie Altman,
policy director with Chicago’s Health & Disability Advocates. Her group and
four others plan to file a legal challenge to the new law Wednesday in U.S.
district court in Chicago.

The new requirements are going to make things hard for another
ward of the Cook County public guardian, Alocia Brown, who officials think
was born in 1930 or 1931 in Arkansas. State officials there have conducted a
statewide search for birth records for Brown, to no avail.

Brown’s driver’s license is expired, and her Social Security
card doesn’t count as proof of citizenship under the new Medicaid law. Brown
has end-stage Alzheimer’s disease, and she won’t have any way to pay for her
nursing home care if her Medicaid application is denied.

This is pretty scary, and shows how innocent folks can get caught up in an unintended legal “sweep”. Hopefully, lawmakers will add some provisions to the bill that will protect people like those in the article. I’ll keep a watch on this.

I was sent this by ADAPT:

ON Tuesday,, june 27th, Lilac ADAPT members Karen and Don went to Washington Governor Christine Gregoire’s open house. They gave Gov. Gregoire a large packet of
info on Money Follows the Person and urged the Governor to get Washington to
apply. The Governor personally took the information, so no one can claim
she doesn’t know!

“ADAPT’s busy here in Washington” said Don.  “FREE OUR PEOPLE!”

I know Don and Karen personally, and they are great advocates. I’m wishing
them all the best, and expect that I will receive an update from them. Gov.
Gregoire is reputed to be rather progressive, so I can’t imagine her not
seeing the benefits of MFP for the state of Washington.

The House, in a bipartisan effort, voted yesterday to extend the Voting Rights Act for another 25 years despite efforts by some Southern Republicans to add weakening amendments to it. One of the amendments would have eased the requirement for preclearance for states with a history of discrimination, while another would have required all states to go through preclearance. Another amendment would have struck down the temporary requirement of bilingual ballots in areas where more than five percent of the population spoke another language, wile the final amendment would have shortened the extension time from 25 years to 10 years. Each of these amendments were defeated.

“Today, Republicans and Democrats have united in a historic vote to preserve and protect one of America’s most important fundamental rights — the right to vote,” said House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).

Much of the legislation, including a section that bans racial discrimination at the ballot box, is permanent law. However, some of the provisions are temporary, and must be renewed by next year. These provisions:

1). Requires jurisdictions in all or part of 16 states to demonstrate to the federal government that a voting change does not have a discriminatory effect on minority voters.

2).  Requires more than 450 counties and townships to provide voters with limited English proficiency assistance at all stages of the election process.

3). Gives the U.S. attorney general authority to send federal examiners to monitor elections.

The permanent provisions of the Act:

1). Bans the use of literacy, understanding or good-character tests as a voting requirement.

2). Prohibits the use of any voting procedure or practice that “results” in the denial of the right to vote because of race or “language minority”.

3). Requires courts that have found a violation of the Voting Rights Act to require a jurisdiction to preclear new voting practices or procedures for an “appropriate” period of time.

4).  Authorizes courts to appoint federal examiners to register voters.

5). Prohibits elections to be held solely in English in jurisdictions where more than 5 percent of the voting-age population are in a language minority.

Now that the House has voted, Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said he hoped to bring the extension to the Senate floor before the August recess. Let’s see what happens. It will be interesting to see if Senate Republicans from the South try to hold up the Act, or weaken it with amendments. I’ll keep you posted.

Yesterday, Metro celebrated an achievement of 100% accessibilty on all of its buses. No longer will passengers who use wheelchairs have to experience the utter frustration of being left at the bus stop because they couldn’t get on an inaccessible bus!

Metro’s next step will be to move away from the hydraulic lift buses, which commonly have mechanical problems, to an entire fleet of low ramp buses. These have the advantage of being able to be operated manually in case the automatic mechanism fails. The driver merely has to lift the ramp, and let it down. The process takes seconds, and the ramp, itself, it quite light.

The event was attended by most of the WMATA bigwigs and managers. A new low ramp bus was there so that people could check it out. I was able to speak at length with Metro’s interim General Manager, Dan Tangherlini, and WMATA Board President, Gladys Mack. My friends, Jack Requa, head of Bus Operations, and Glenn Millis, with the Office of ADA Programs were there, and I spoke with them as well. Glenn reminded me that he had not forgotten our meeting.

Unfortunately, I must admit that I was disappointed with the turnout, and the way that this was put on. Perhaps, I am spoiled by being from Denver, where an event like this would have been a huge deal. Had this been in Denver, the event would have lasted several hours, and practically every employee from RTA would have been there. The mayor, or his representative, as well as several politicians would have been there, and there would have been food up the yin-yang! There would have been dozens of speakers, mostly from the disability community, but the RTA bigwigs, and local politicians would have had their say as well. The media would have been out in force, and attendance by the disability community would have been in the hundreds, at least, because we would have known about this several weeks in advance. Last, but not least, the event would have been held downtown, in a very public place. The entire city would have known that this celebration was taking place!

Although I appreciate the efforts, the DC event was dismal, at best. The largest number of attendees were from Metro. The event started at a bit past 9:00 am, a tad early, in my opinion, and took place at The Ft. Totten rail station, an out-of-the-way train station, and bus transfer point. The entire celebration lasted less than 20 minutes, no one from the general public was there, and because of the DC media’s policy of “if it don’t bleed, it don’t lead”, no one from the media was there. Someone was taking pictures, but I’m sure that he was an employee of Metro. Interestingly enough, there was a two-sentence blurb on NPR later in the afternoon. I guess we should be grateful, eh?

The most disappointing thing for me, however, was the turnout of the disability community. There were exactly three of us. There was a woman from Metro, whose name I cannot remember, my colleague on the E&D Committe, Doris Matchett, and yours truely. Doris was the only speaker representing the disability community. I find it hard to believe that the leaders in the disability commuinty throughout the region would have dissed Metro like this, so I can only surmise that the reason for the nonexistent turnout was due to the poor outreach on the part of Metro. Yes, there were e-invites, but not every person with a disability has access to the Internet. Invitations and flyers should have been sent out to every independent living center, and every organization that had anything to do with disability.

It also would have been good to have invited a couple of politicians, especially, the two city council members who serve on the WMATA Board of Directors. At least, if they, themselves could not have come, they could have sent their representatives with some kind of statement. I have an idea that one big reason for the press not showing up was that no one thought to send out any press releases. I’m going to check and see if there are any mentions in the various papers today, but somehow I doubt if I’ll find any.

As I said earlier, I do appreciate Metro’s attempt, puny though it was, to put on a token event for us, but there simply wasn’t much thought put into this. I’m sorry to say, but I could have done a better job. Not to toot my own horn, but I have done a better job when it comes to planning events. Maybe the next time Metro wants to put on a shindig for the disability community, I’ll offer my services, and we’ll have a real party going on!

My dad, Ricky Dale Bozeman, passed away on Friday, July 7, 2006. This post is dedicated to him because though he was a sweet, shy, yet, funny and loving guy, I feel that his most amazing work was done after he got sick. Sometimes, I’m not sure if he realized that he’d become an example of the positive aspects of independent living.

Popz, and his doctor, Stuart Ferguson

Popz was born in North Carolina, but moved to Colorado after he married my mum, Alice. Though shy when first meeting folks, once he got to know you, his generosity, and sense of humor would shine through. He was a fabulous cook (one of his specialties was homemade pumpkin bread), a great handyman, and he loved cats, dogs, and kids. Popz loved working on cars and motorcycles, and would often fix somebody’s ride for little or nothing.

Though he came from a part of the country that wasn’t particularly diverse, once he came to Colorado, Popz made friends from all backgrounds, races, abilities, and orientations. If he loved you, well, the rest didn’t matter. He was just as proud of me as the rest of the kids, and didn’t mind saying so.

Popz was a TV buff, and had a huge collection of movies. He loved country music, R&B oldies, some Bob Marley stuff, and old school pop. An avid Star Trek fan, he had all the Star Trek novels and movies, as well as other sci-fi stuff.

I loved being with Popz. Sometimes, we’d just sit around doing nothing, and sometimes, we’d go for a ride, and listen to music. Sometimes, we’d have lively debates, and sometimes, I’d just listen. Shopping was always cool because one or both of us would be involved in some rather memorable antics. I loved to watch him carving wooden plaques and other beautiful objects. He’d find an intereting looking piece of wood near his home on the mountains, and I’d watch him transform it into a work of art. He never sold these pieces, but gave them away to family and friends.

Popz loved the outdoors, and back in the day, would often go camping with my mum. He loved the wild beauty of the Colorado mountains–the elk, and deer, and the aspens turning colors in the fall. To Popz, the mountains were his home, and he never imagined himself leaving, but his body had other plans…

In August on 1999, Popz had a massive heart attack. It wasn’t his first, but it was the one that changed everything. Deprived of oxygen to his brain for 11 minutes, Popz suffered global brain damage, and was in a coma for several days. When he regained consciousness, he was transferred to a place called NextCare, and after that,
to Craig Hospital, a rehab center for people with spinal cord and brain injuries. While there, he suffered kidney failure, and it seems that this affected his brain injury.

Something then happened that I won’t forgive Craig Hospital for. Instead of allowing Popz to go home when he got better, they forced my mum to put him in a nursing home.
We knew that it was going to be bad when the next morning, Mum found Popz lying in urine and feces literally up to his neck, and Popz kept saying that lizards were crawling all over him. Well, it wasn’t lizards, but rats, and thankfully, Mum had the presence of mind to take pictures of him lying filthy like that with rat dropping on him, and in his dresser
drawers.

Things only got worse. His clothing was stolen, the nursing home had no sheets or linens, and the food, when Popz got it, was beyond atrocious. At this point, Mum enlisted the help of Atlantis Community, a home health agency which is also an Independent Living Center, and the home of National ADAPT, to get him out of there. That was on day ten of his stay, and the nurses at Atlantis were sure that he would not survive another week if he were left there.

On day 13, I was visiting Popz, and he told me that he was hot and cold at the same time. I told this to the nurses, but they said that nothing was wrong, it was just his brain injury. One nurse then had the gall to ask me to do my dad’s tube feeding. My response
to here was that this was her job. I had neither the training, nor the vision, being almost totally blind, to do this. I stayed with Popz for a few more hours, and the nurses still did nothing, so I called Mum.

Since I left not long after Mum got there, I missed the fireworks that ensued when she spoke to the nurses and saw that Popz was getting worse. She went into orbit, and had a massive diva fit, and took Popz out of that snake pit, to the emergency room right then and there! It turned out that since his catheter had not been changed
the entire time that the was there, Popz was completely blocked, and had to have emergency surgery right in the emergency room. Mum was told that had Popz been allowed to remain in that condition for another day, he would have died. Since the nursing home doctor was still in charge of his case, but would not do anything, Mum fired him, er, rather publicly, and asked Dr. Ferguson, who had been their doctor in the past, and who was my doctor as well, to take over. He graciously did so, and gave Mum some basic training so that he could go home with attendant services.

In the following months, Popz got better, health-wise, but it became apparent that there had been permanent changes in Popz’s personality, and abilities. He screamed, shouted obscenities and slurs, and most of the time, did not know where, or who he was. He was unable to care for himself, so my mum made it her life’s mission to make sure that he received the best care possible–at home.

Over time, he did calm down a bit, and even became lucid at times. We were able to take him shopping, to parties and picnics, and to ADAPT actions. It was during this time that he became the family “poster child” for at-home care.

It all started when the state wanted to cut the reimbursement rate for home health agencies. This was done so that the state could balance its budget, and programs across the board had to take a cut. Unfortunately, because of the cuts, many home health agencies would be forced to close their doors, and the clients would be forced to go, or return to a nursing home. Worse, the policy would would be enacted before the public would be allowed to comment on it. Colorado ADAPT wanted to do something, so I suggested that we do a vigil. A couple of ADAPT chapters had done vigils with varying degrees of success, so we thought that we would be successful, especially if we stuck to our demands. We formed a coalition with several other disability groups, as well as home health agencies. It was decided that we would hold a press conference on July 5th, 2002, then, attend a meeting with the Health Care Policy and Finance (HCPF) director, and if they would not back off the cuts, we would hold a vigil until they did. ADAPT members, including myself decided to stay around the clock.

Of course, on the 5th, the press conference went very well. I gave a number of interviews to the media, and talked about how the cuts would affect those most in need. I spoke of how home health care saves the state money, and used Popz as an example. His care in the nursing home cost the state $625 a day, which didn’t include doctor’s fees, while his care at home cost $72 a day, including nursing visits. Mum and Popz couldn’t be there, but they got some friends to come on their behalf. When the time came for the meeting, it did not go well. I spoke with the other lead organizer of the vigil, and we made the decision–we were staying!

The 7th day of the vigil

Over the next 13 days, we were out on the sidewalk in front of the State Human Services Building. We staged a massive education campaign, and Mum called several state legislaters, who came down to the vigil site to talk with us and offer support. We had so much support from so many people and groups that it was unreal! Finally, Karen Reinertson, the HCPF director, and her staff sat down with us, and at our suggestion, went over their budget and found areas within the budget that could better afford the cuts, and a plan was put into motion to rescind the cuts in attendant services programs.

On day 14, after everything was in writing, we held a press conference, and with Ms. Reinertson present, declared victory. This victory had lasting reprocussions. I testified before the State Medicaid Board, along with Dr. Ferguson, and HCPF director, Reinertson
about the benefits and cost savings of home health care. Once again, I told about Popz, and the hell that he’d gone through in the nursing home, the outrageous expense of horrible treatment, and how well he was doing since he was home, and how much money the state was saving with his being home.

Then, still pumped up after our amazing victory, Colorado ADAPT went to an ADAPT strategey meeting and updated everyone about the vigil, and the continuing successes that we were enjoying as a result of it. Everyone was so excited that one of our Philadelphia folks giddily suggested that we do a march from Philadelphia to Washington, DC to bring public awareness to a piece of legislation that we had written
giving people with disabilities and seniors who were in nursing homes and other institutions the right to receive care in their homes. After some frank discussions, we decided to do it. It would be called the Free Our People March.

After a year of planning, we were coming down to the wire, and the time for the March was near. ADAPT began a campaign that we called Stolen Lives because folks who had been institutionalized often felt that a part of their lives had been stolen. As part of the campaign, Rochester ADAPT created a 150 foot banner with the names, pictures, and stories of people around the country who had been in nursing homes, and other institutions, and who were now living in the community in their own homes and apartments with attendant services. Popz’s picture and story are on that banner, which has now traveled across the nation.

I am emcee of the Stolen Lives rally in Washington, DC. Here, I am telling Popz’s story.

In the months prior to the March, Colorado ADAPT put on several media events. Often, Mum and Popz were there, and she would tell his story. In May, 2003, I was asked by the Greeley Tribune, of Greeley, Colorado, to be a guest columnist for their paper. They wanted me to write a column on issues affecting people with disabilities. Since the March was upcoming, I wrote about independent living, and how it saves the states mony. I wrote about the cost of care for Popz before, and after, and I used some statistics for the state of Colorado that Karen Reinertson, the HCPF director had given me. The story appeared on June 1st, 2003.

Over the months, until the going away party for the marchers, reporters from various newspapers and TV stations in the Denver area met Popz and told his story. During the March, whenever I gave interviews, I talked about Popz. Even after the March, I kept telling his story, sometimes to some high-level folks. I did it because Popz was the first person in my life whose nursing home experience had struck home. I had helped others to get out of nursing homes, but since they were not family, it didn’t hit me as hard. This hit me hard. I saw first-hand what nursing homes do to people. I knew that Popz was happier, and better cared for at home. I saw it for myself.

Popz on the Stolen Lives banner. Day 10 of the Free Our People March, Baltimore, MD

Eventually, Mum and Popz had to move back to the city. Mum’s health was not good, as the breast cancer that she had battled was back, and she needed attendant services, herself. City life didn’t appeal to my folks, so when Mum got better, she and Popz moved to a little spot in the suburbs. His health started going down because whenever he had to go to the hospital, or repite care, he would be neglected, and more health problems would arise.

With Mum’s care, though, he would get better, and Mum decided that he would no longer go to the hospital if he got sick. With Dr. Ferguson’s guidance, he was cared for at home, which is where he wanted to be. In the meantime, I accepted a job in Washington, DC, but called home as often as I could to see how they were doing. 

About a month ago, Popz got really sick, and antiboitics didn’t help. He wanted to see his siblings, and so they came out for a visit. It seemed to cheer him up, and he got a little better, but not for long. A couple of weeks ago, he got pneumonia, and it didn’t respond to any medications. By this time, Popz’s body was worn out, and he was tired of fighting. He began talking about going to see God, and sometimes, he would ask if he was at home.

At 4:00 am, on July 7, 2006, Popz passed away peacefully, with Mum, and Judy, his attendant, at his side. Though I am very sad, I, like Mum, am glad that he is in a better place, and is no longer suffering. He was at home, which is where he wanted to be. He didn’t die alone in some hospital or nursing home. He was able to do some cool stuff in the year or so before he died. He went to see the Grand Canyon, and then, to Las Vegas to to see some of the shows. It was something that he always wanted to do. He then went to Olympia, Washington, to see my sister, Saundra, and my nephew, Logan, whom he loved to pieces. Saundra was able to come to Colorado last year, so at least, she was able to see him while his health was decent.  

I am going to miss Popz. I’ll miss his smile, and his laughter, and his jokes. I still have things to remeber him by. I have pictures, and the beautiful wooden plaque that he made me less than a month before he got sick. I also have countless funny memories, and that will help with the sadness. Of course, Popz wouldn’t want us to be sad, he’d want us to celebrate his life, so rest in peace, Popz. We love you!

I spent yesterday, the 4th of July checking out the launch of space shuttle Discovery. It was the first time ever that the shuttle had launched from Kennedy Space Center on the nation’s birthday. I watched with pride as the bird took off on the 230th birthday of the United States. I was especially proud of the two female crew members, one of whom is an African American. It reminded me of my childhood dreams of being an astronaut back in the days when neither women nor Blacks were accepted into the astronaut program.

This led me to wondering if NASA employs people with disabilities. Are there any folks with disabilities who are members of any of the many projects and teams that NASA has, or are we relegated to being merely janitors, cooks, or maybe, secretaries? I then began wondering if we ever got off of this rock, what role would people with disabilities play in this. Would we forever be left out of the important stuff? I believe that most folks with disabilities are healthy enough to withstand the rigors of spaceflight. At this point, though, I think that the only way that someone with a disability will get into space is if they are a rich tourist.

That is why I will be glad when private companies start doing regular space trips. Space travel and exploration should be for anyone who wants to go, and is healthy enough to do so, regardless of disability. It shouldn’t be just for government employees, or the super-rich. Just wait–when we have habs on the Moon, I’m going to apply as a policy analyst or an accessibility specialist. My skills and talents can be put to use anywhere, so why not the Moon, eh?