North Carolina hosts self-determination conference

From News14-TV:

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – A two-day conference in Winston-Salem is aimed at giving people with disabilities greater say in their futures.

Organizers of the International Conference on Self-Determination are actively pushing for reform of the Medicaid system and working to increase the numbers of disabled with jobs.

Some 165,000 people in North Carolina are developmentally disabled, according to the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities. Thousands more have acquired disabilities.

What they all want in life is to make their own choices, says Michael Murray, director of the Disability Action Network

"What we're talking about is the freedom that we're all given. the right to pursue our own happiness," Murray said.

Rusty Bradstock is intellectually disabled and mentors disabled students at UNC Greensboro.

"They want to live on their own," said Bradstock. "They want to know where they want to live and what they want to do for a living."

The council said only 22 percent of the developmentally disabled have jobs.

Judy Taylor's son David is one of the lucky ones, running a company called Racecar Waterboy that sells water at NASCAR and other events.

"Micro enterprise is customized self employment. It gives you an opportunity to work when you want to work, be off when you need to be off," Taylor said. "People with disabilities have so many health issues that they can't work eight-hour days or 40-hour weeks."

The council said the state's Medicaid system, which provides financial support and programs for the disabled, is in financial crisis. Advocates say better use should be made of Medicaid funding, including promoting shared living between those with and without disabilities.

"It's a companionship mode of providing support that doesn't rely on very expensive hourly shift expense in most long-term care facilities like nursing homes and places like that," said Tom Nerney, director of the Center for Self-Determination.

Nerney said everyone in North Carolina should be concerned about the issues facing the disabled.

"Disability is a natural part of the human condition and it can happen to anybody at any age, so, we all have to be prepared," said Nerney.

In addition to disability advocates from North Carolina, the conference drew people from several other states and countries including Ireland, Pakistan and Nigeria.