I am the mother of an adult low-functioning, non-verbal autistic son with mental retardation.  He attends a day program designed to give mentally and physically disabled people the opportunity to make friends, participate in daily activities and the chance to go out for community outings, even job assistance.  During the Obama registration there were laws passed that day programs must all be community based.  There were individuals and lawmakers who did not believe in "warehousing" the mentally disabled together.  They are referred to as sheltered workshops.  It was felt that these programs should be "meaningful."  As a result there was a mandate handed down that all sheltered workshops for the mentally disabled had to be almost completely community based.  Which means every day they go out in the community for "field trips" to various locations for almost the entire day.  The destinations can vary, but most of the time these community outings are not meaningful to the people who go on them.  It means nothing to them, but because of the new mandate every individual who attends these workshops must go on these outings whether they want to or not.  In the past they could have a choice whether to go or not, now they don't.  That choice was taken away.  There are countless disabled people who have a great deal of difficulty being able to go out in the community every day.  Like my son, it creates a great deal of anxiety for them, the outings mean nothing to them, they don't always enjoy them. They're piled into vans. They have extreme behavioral issues which is hard for them and for the providers taking care of them.  In order to stay in these programs they have to go on these outings a certain percentage, if they don't meet that percentage or have too many behavioral issues they get dropped from these programs and families have no other options.  In the past, my son has enjoyed going to his workshop, he looked forward to it every day.  He has no place else to go, but he is in danger of getting kicked out. My son was assaulted by a provider last week because the worker did not know how to respond to his behavior and because he didn't want to go on the outing. The worker wasn't properly trained how to handle the situation and was terminated.  The incident is considered to be a violation of his rights.  Yet, being forced to participate in activities and community outings that he does not want to do or is difficult for him, not being given the opportunity to choose to do it- is not a violation of his rights or anyone else's in the same situation.

The disabled should have a choice on what they want to do and where they go.  Please help get the law changed so that they aren't forced to go on community outings unless they want to.  Not every disabled person is the same.  Every person has their own likes, dislikes and abilities.  Let's start treating them as individuals and not lump them all into the same category.