Indiana Family to Family

As Hurricane Florence makes landfall, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and its federal partners remain in close coordination to help ensure that emergency officials effectively address the needs of at-risk populations as part of disaster response.  To this end, emergency responders and officials should consider adopting, as circumstances and resources allow, the following practices to help make sure all segments of the community are served: Employing qualified interpreter services to assist individuals with limited English proficiency and individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing during evacuation, response, and recovery activities; Making emergency messaging available in languages prevalent in the affected area(s) and in multiple formats, such as audio, large print, and captioning and ensuring that websites providing disaster-related information are accessible; Making use of multiple outlets and resources for messaging to reach individuals with disabilities, individu

from Ntl Family Voices: IN CONGRESS Kavanaugh Hearings The Senate Judiciary Committee held four days of hearings last week to consider the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. He was questioned extensively regarding health care issues, particularly his positions on abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act. Since the  Texas v. United States case challenging the constitutionality of the ACA (see above) could well wind up before the Supreme Court, his positions on issues raised in that case could determine the future of the law. As is the tradition among Supreme Court nominees, however, he refused to make any comments that would reveal how he might rule on specific issues.   The  last day of the hearings  was devoted to outside witnesses, among whom was Jackson Corbin, a 13-year-old with Noonan Syndrome, a disorder he shares with his brother and mother that affects multiple body systems. His moving written  testimony was

from AUCD: Last week's confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh did nothing to allay concerns that if he were appointed to the Supreme Court, he would pose a threat to the hard-won rights and protections for people with disabilities.  Judge Kavanaugh’s  record    indicates that his confirmation would place at risk access to health care and civil rights protections for people with disabilities, opportunities for people with disabilities to make choices about their own lives, and the ability of executive branch agencies to interpret and enforce laws protecting people with disabilities.                                 What We Learned at Kavanaugh's Confirmation Hearing During his hearing, Judge Kavanaugh refused to answer even basic questions concerning his views on important issues, and repeatedly refused to say that he would uphold the Affordable Care Act's protections.   The hearing featured  testimony  from Liz Weintraub, senior advocacy specialist at the As

My husband I are somewhat picky eaters. I don’t do onions, and he can’t handle tomatoes or cheese. When our son was born we figured he’d be picky too. Yet we were in no way prepared to learn that for some children “picky” doesn’t begin to describe it. Pureed baby foods went fine at first, and he liked Cheerios. However, he showed little interest in most table foods. We expressed concerns to his pediatrician as early as nine months, but until his eighteen month check up we were told, “Wait and see.” Finally, at eighteen months, we were referred to First Steps. First Steps agreed that he needed occupational therapy to focus on feeding. Thus began a long line of feeding therapies... over a year of OT in First Steps, a month-long feeding social group with an OT during that time, a month of feeding therapy with a speech therapist at a children’s hospital, a year-long food program with ABA therapists, and over two years of the SOS feeding approach with both speech and occupational therapy a