Easter Seals is proud to be part of Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism (AFAA), a national consortium seeking to create meaningful futures for adults with autism. At the town hall meeting this Friday, over 1,000 people in 15 cities will join the discussion to make recommendations on these important issues. Caregivers, advocates, elected officials, family members, and adults with autism will participate, and we hope you will, too!

The event will be orchestrated from a central hub in Chicago, and a webcast will allow us to hear ideas from participants at satellite sites all over the country. The unprecedented scale and diversity of the AFAA Town Meeting will attract national attention and build momentum around addressing the needs of adults with autism. Easter Seals is hosting the satellite sites in Long Beach and in Fort Worth.

There are a few slots left in these sites — register now!

Safeway executives unveiled the 2009 Safeway Foundation’s Empowerment Grant award winners during Easter Seals’ annual convention in Washington, D.C., granting $1 million to expand programs across the country that measurably improve access to services and outcomes for children and adults living with autism and other disabilities.

Now in its second year, the 2009 Safeway Foundation’s Empowerment Grants are awarded to Easter Seals affiliates across the country whose innovative programming truly makes a difference in the lives of people with disabilities, whether through autism services, employment support, inclusive child care, early intervention, medical rehabilitation or respite.

You might remember the post I wrote about Safeway last may, where I mentioned their long-standing commitment to hiring people with disabilities:

Safeway employs more than 10,000 adults with disabilities. You read that right. They hire more than 10,000 adults with disabilities. There are over 1,700 Safeway stores across the United States and Canada, operating under various brand names including Safeway (East Coast, Seattle, Portland, Northern California, Phoenix and Denver), Vons and Pavilions (Southern California and Nevada), Dominick’s (Chicago), Randalls and Tom Thumb (Texas), Genuardi’s (Philadelphia) and Carrs stores (Alaska). Look around the next time you are shopping at one of these stores — it’s likely you’ll find an employee there with a disability. What a welcome sight!

I can tell you firsthand — when you have a disability, it is extremely difficult to convince employers to hire you. Safeway’s commitment has given many adults with autism and other disabilities a career and a means to live independently. Now these new 2009 Safeway Foundation Empowerment Grant awards will support Easter Seals local programs, which will help us reach more families living with disabilities.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Thank you Safeway!

Over 1,000 people (caregivers, advocates, elected officials, family members, and adults with autism) will join the discussion to make recommendations on these important issues. The event will be orchestrated from a central hub in Chicago, and a webcast will allow us to hear ideas from participants at satellite sites all over the country.

The unprecedented scale and diversity of the AFAA Town Meeting will attract national attention and build momentum around addressing the needs of adults with autism.

Easter Seals is hosting the satellite sites in Long Beach and in Fort Worth.

Sign up now to be part of Advancing the Future of Adults with Autism. Be part of the solution. Ensure adults with autism have the quality of life that all citizens deserve!

This was a special night for Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin, as we were publicly announcing our merger with Waukesha Training Center. I was so grateful Maurice spoke after I did. Everyone knows there’s no topping Maurice’s inspiring personal story.

Maurice has autism, and when he was a child the system very often considered institutionalizing children with his symptoms. In his speech, Maurice shared his life and a tale of his personal strength, devoted family and the help of Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago. Today Maurice is a college graduate, and I actually heard a gasp of surprise from the audience as Maurice shared the story of earning that degree. When Maurice’s talk drew to a close, the audience gave him a standing ovation.

Maurice’s personal story spoke to one aspect of our merger, bringing together an array of services:

• Early intervention
• Work services
• Case management
• Adult day and recreation

Families seeking help, hope and answers will find resources and support at Easter Seals. Maurice’s story also speaks to the need for a continuum of services across the lifespan, to give people with all types of disabilities more opportunities for inclusion, access to services, careers and most importantly, choices in their futures!

Thanks, Maurice, for coming to Milwaukee! We want to bring you back to share your story with our work services participants so they can start dreaming of their futures too.

We started the day off with a tour of the White House. About 200 Easter Seals staff and volunteers got to take advantage of this rare opportunity!

Then we met with members of Congress for our home state of Wisconsin — Senators Kohl and Feingold, and Representatives Kagen, Sensenbrenner and Moore. We had a half-hour with Sen. Kohl discussing health care and long term care. We were pleased to find all the members we met with agreed with ending pre-existing conditions as a major policy goal for people living with disabilities. Each office told us they agree on 80% of the issues involved. Rep. Kagen is a doctor and is following this issue closely. We even got a fist bump from him for the work done at Easter Seals!

As an organization, we were pleased to hear the praise from all our visits about the work done by Easter Seals. This year, Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin is investing $100,000 to start to a new Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) program for children with disabilities. Annually, we raise over $100,000 to cover shortfalls in our Birth-to-4 program. Each person we met with knew Easter Seals is a vital piece of the network in providing community supports for children and adults with disabilities.

But one day of staff and volunteers in D.C. is not going to get the job done. One office told us the people back home need to weigh in.

It’s not too late to keep calling, mailing and emailing your thoughts. It helps in guiding policy and letting members know what people back home are thinking. There are concerns within any of the current bills that can affect those living with disabilities, their care and their supports. Many people living with disabilities have long term health conditions and will be impacted directly by the changes in our health care system.

So … stay tuned and stay involved!

We’ll be visiting our legislators and asking them to support health care legislation that includes:

• Coverage for pre-existing conditions, guaranteed coverage renewal, and no annual or lifetime caps.
• Benefits like rehabilitative and habilitative services, medical equipment and devices, and mental health services.
• Affordability provisions, so that all people, including those with disabilities, can receive the health care they need to live, learn, work, and play in their communities.

Send a message to Congress voicing your support, and help reinforce Easter Seals’ message as we head to Capitol Hill to meet with legislators.

And make sure you get our updates during our Capitol Hill Day! Join us on Facebook and Twitter. And if you’re already on Twitter, help us spread the word by tweeting about Easter Seals Capitol Hill Day by using the #CapHill09 hashtag.

Together, I know we can make our message to Congress heard loud and clear!

The struggle for equal opportunity for Americans with disabilities is an essential part of our country’s commitment to civil and human rights for all Americans, and no legislator understood that better than Kennedy. He will definitely be missed, but his legacy will be felt for generations to come. My prayers go to his family and to our country.

The softball tournament featured sponsors such as the CENTURY 21 Real Estate Corporation, CVS Caremark, and many other employees from different Easter Seals sites throughout Chicago.

The event would not have been complete without the presence of notables such as Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd. I, along with my mother and father, had the opportunity to meet the Governor and share my life story along with other families of Easter Seals clients. Then I had the opportunity to get together once again with my buddy White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, a great spokesperson for autism at Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago.

The reunion with Ozzie was great, he recognized me right away! It would be greater if the White Sox were on a roll, though. I grew up on Chicago’s south side and have always been a White Sox fan, and while I am writing this they are in second place. No matter what happens the rest of the season, I will always be a fan of this White Sox charity that pledged one million dollars towards our new school. I had a conversation with Ozzie and Gavin on Saturday and I told them to hang in there. I hope my words will help — the Sox have a month-and-a-half left to get on that hot streak to overtake the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central Division.

In closing, I would like to personally thank Governor Quinn, Ozzie and Gavin for taking time out of their busy schedules to come support Easter Seals. The dream of this new school and research center would not have been possible without their support of our services and dedication to our mission. I look forward to continuing this great relationship with the White Sox organization and the Governor of Illinois as we continue to support clients at Easter Seals.

The Autism Society of America, along with dozens of other disability groups, signed a letter supporting Sotomayor’s confirmation. The letter was sent to Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL).

I’m sure ASA members enjoyed seeing Judge Sotomayor sworn in as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Saturday! A story in the Los Angeles Times acknowledged that Sotomayor’s experience as a Latina seemed to overshadow discussions about her qualifications during the debate and confirmation hearings. The reporter wrote that other aspects of her background that might influence her decisions were hardly mentioned in the Senate fight.

After she is sworn into office Saturday, she will be the only justice whose first language is not English. She has had diabetes since childhood — a medical condition classified as a disability under federal law.

A story in the New York Times compared Sotomayor’s attitude about her disability to the no-nonsense way she handles herself in court.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor carries a small black travel pouch, not much larger than a wallet. It contains the implements she needs — a blood sugar testing kit, a needle and insulin — to manage diabetes, a disease she has had for 46 years. Friends say she is not shy about using it.

“She’ll be eating Chinese dumplings,” said Xavier Romeu Matta, a former law clerk to the judge, “and she’ll say, ‘Excuse me sweetie,’ and pull out the kit and inject her insulin.”

That no-nonsense attitude, combined with the attention to detail that characterizes her legal opinions, has been a hallmark of Judge Sotomayor’s approach to Type 1 diabetes, according to friends, colleagues and her longtime doctor, Andrew Jay Drexler.

The Los Angeles times story reported that some lawyers are saying Sotomayor’s experience with a chronic illness is bound to influence her views.

“She may be a strong voice for access to healthcare,” said Sylvia Lazos, a law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “She will be a real player in the debates over what is a disability.”

The Los Angeles Times article said that advocates for people with disabilities have suffered some major defeats in the Supreme Court the last decade, and they are very hopeful about Sotomayor’s appointment.

“We’re very excited. We don’t feel we have had a champion on the current court,” said Andrew Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities.

First, some background. Alan Jackson agreed to do a benefit for Easter Seals of LaSalle and Bureau counties last month, and before the concert he spent some time with Easter Seals clients. As reported in the News Tribune, a newspaper Serving North Central Illinois:

The country superstar met 3-year-old Corvin Berg and his mom, grandmother and aunt last week as part of a meet and greet with the children and families of Easter Seals of La Salle and Bureau Counties. He was impressed with the difference that Easter Seals had made in Corvin’s life and the lives of the other children in the area, according to Diana Baron of d.baron media relations.

Unfortunately, the concert after the Meet and greet ended up as a large financial loss for organizers, which means there was nothing left over to donate to Easter Seals of LaSalle and Bureau counties. Alan Jackson heard about this later and dug into his own pocket to donate directly to the cause. Shelley Threadgill, marketing director for Easter Seals of LaSalle and Bureau counties, was the one to receive the overnighted envelope from Alan Jackson. She assumed the envelope contained an autographed picture, and boy, was she surprised to see what was inside instead!

“Oh my gosh,” she exclaimed. “This is beyond belief. Alan’s concern for us is outstanding. We cannot even take it all in yet.”

The amount of the check? Twenty thousand dollars. Threadgill said the generous donation will have a significant impact on many programs that have been affected by the economy, including their autism resource center.

“This is a miracle. Thank you so much to Alan from the children and families of Easter Seals.”