"Nancy Iannone, (left with her daughter) a Democrat and mother of Gabrielle, 3, who has Down syndrome, said that she was so thrilled to see Trig on stage that she had to remind herself: 'I am a liberal. I am a liberal. I am a liberal.' Ms. Palin, she said, 'has a child with a disability, but that doesn’t mean her party is disability friendly.'”
The intro from The New York Times story Sept. 6:
Amid the barbs and hockey banter Wednesday night, Gov. Sarah Palin directed an emotional appeal to the hearts of millions of parents with children who have special needs, promising they would “have a friend and advocate in the White House” in a McCain-Palin administration. As she spoke, the camera panned to her baby, Trig, who has Down syndrome.
Ms. Palin’s offer of friendship sparked hope in many parents, advocates and lawyers as the often-marginalized subject of disabilities rights took center stage. “We need one, that’s for sure,” wrote one blogger, Rhymerchick, a Phoenix mother with an autistic child, adding, “I am tempted to vote for them just because of that promise.”
In animated debates in blogs, chat rooms and classrooms across America, others wondered what such advocacy would entail. But the governor offered no details, and Maria Comella, her spokeswoman, would not elaborate on what Ms. Palin would seek to accomplish for disabled children as vice president. “She is going to be an advocate in the White House on multiple levels,” Ms. Comella said in an e-mail message Friday, “because she understands the issue, what’s needed and what works.”
To those in Alaska who work with children with special needs, Ms. Palin’s pronouncement was surprising; the disabled have not been a centerpiece of Ms. Palin’s 20-months in office or any of her campaigns for office.
She signed legislation that would increase financing for children in Alaska with special needs — though she was not involved in its development — yet that state is the subject of two lawsuits that allege inadequate services and financing for those children, particularly those with autism.
“I never heard Governor Palin say as governor, ‘You have an advocate in Juneau,’ ” said Sonja Kerr, a lawyer specializing in disability law in Anchorage.
What lawyers, advocates and parents are seeking now, Ms. Kerr said, is to learn. “What is behind the announcement?” she said. “An advocate is someone who pleads another’s cause, so what is her plea going to be? To get rid of Medicaid wait lists so we can get kids services? To quickly pass the American with Disabilities restoration act? That is what I haven’t heard.”
Alaska, both by dint of its sparse population and lack of resources, has often struggled to provide care and educational services for its roughly 18,000 children with physical and emotional disabilities.
