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March 04, 2004 5:58 PM
March 11, 2004 5:43 AM
March 12, 2004 11:35 PM
March 19, 2004 7:32 PM
----- Original Message -----
Subject: Links to Newsletter Archives
online Online
Some people have asked me if back issues of our newsletters are available.
Links to each of the email newsletters can be found at:
A
few people have asked me if the Cognitive Dissonance essays are available
in one place. This has prompted me to compile a page that links to each of
the essays without sifting through the newsletters. I posted each essay on
separate pages to simplify access to them. The list of links can be found
at:
Thank you for subscribing. Remember that you can unsubscribe at any time
from our home page at http://www.pabia.org
I
never share rent or sell my subscriber list. Fell free to forward the
newsletters in part or wholly to others you believe might benefit from the
material it contains.
John Pistorius, editor
PABIA-NEWS, Support
Lines
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----- Original Message -----
Subject: ACTION needed- IDEA, MiCASSA,
Money Follows the People-
Please forward to your lists
and friends.
2. MiCASSA and Money
Follows the Person-Action needed.
Your letters are important and will make
a difference. Please take action now. This will take you less than ten
minutes to copy and paste the sample letters, visit the Senator's
website, paste the letter into their email form and submit it. The
Senators need to hear from us folks. Do it now!
Subscribe or
unsubscribe from the PABIA-NEWS at
I.D.E.A.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Info
March 24 & 25, 2004 event
Sample Letter
February 29 Update
A Washington Event
for Families and Advocates. March 24 and 25, 2004
Training and
Networking on March 24
Visits and
briefing in the U.S. Senate on March 25.
(For more detailed
information about the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA), please send a blank email to
idea@pabia.org to receive
the National Information Center for Children and Youth with
Disabilities paper-QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THE IDEA.)
Accommodations:
It is too late to
make reservations at the Sheraton National Hotel. Each person or
family must make their own reservations. If you are interested, you
can still Contact the Sheraton at 1-800-325-3535. Identify yourselves
as members of the TASH group -- Reservation number is TASH04. It
could help.
Training and
Networking:
Several advocacy
organizations have joined forces and will be holding training sessions
to help prepare advocates for Hill visits on Wednesday, March 24 at
the Sheraton. First session will take place from 12 noon until to 2
p.m. Second session from 3 to 5 p.m. Our Networking and
information-sharing meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Everyone is welcome!
Meetings with your
Senator:
Everyone should try to
make an appointment to meet with their own Senators on Thursday, March
25. Names of your Senators and contact information available at
www.senate.gov
or call (202)
224-3121, the Senate switchboard, to be connected. Please email
jruppmann@tash.org or
SpEdVoters@optonline.net
to let us know if you got an appointment and with which office. Thanks!
This event has been
conceived in the hearts of parents and advocates across the nation, with
the support of
TASH,
www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com, the
League of Special Education Voters
and APSE.
More Information can be found at
the following links:
http://www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com/pages/1/index.htm
http://www.spedvoters.org/
http://www.tash.org/govaffairs/idea_concerns.htm
Here's how to find the contact info (fax and email) for your
Senators:
http://www.senate.gov OR
http://www.congress.org
If for some reason it’s difficult
for you to locate your Senators’ contact information, you can just email
your letter to
parentvolunteer@ourchildrenleftbehind.com and they’ll make
sure it gets to the right place.
MiCASSA and
Money Follows the Person
more info http://www.pabia.org/micassa.htm
Contact these Senators today and urge to them to
have a hearing on MiCASSA, Money Follows the Person and the institutional
bias in the Medicaid program. (Senator Grassley is the Chair of the Senate
Finance Committee, Senator Baccus is the top democrat on the Committee).
Please contact these
Senators now before you forget.
A sample letter can be found on our website at
http://www.pabia.org/micassa.htm
The Honorable Charles E. Grassley
United States Senate
135 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1501
Phone: 202-224-3744
Fax: 202-224-6020
http://grassley.senate.gov/webform.htm
The Honorable Max Baucus
United States Senate
511 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-2602
Phone: 202-224-2651
Fax: 202-224-4700
http://baucus.senate.gov/emailmax.html
Check out
S.
971, the Medicaid Community Attendant Services and Supports Act
introduced 5/1/03 (MiCASSA)
Current Action on S. 971 listed on
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Medicaid
Community Attendant Services and Supports Act (MiCASSA) UPDATE(S)
MiCASSA Bill
A
Summary of MiCASSA
Current Status of MiCASSA
Questions and Answers about MiCASSA
Current Supporters of MiCASSA
MiCASSA
Supporter Form
MiCASSA
Talking Points
Principles of MiCASSA
MiCASSA
Alerts
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----- Original Message -----
Subject: Action request: Upcoming
Independent Living Council Forum
Hello folks:
This message is specifically for people living in South Western
Pennsylvania.
I need your help. Many of you have learned of the COMMCARE Waiver Program
and have begun the process of applying for funding for services. A number
of you have complained about the process being slow. Last night at the
Monroeville Area Peer Support meeting, it was explained that the Three
Rivers Center for Independent Living is swamped with applications. Someone
asked why we do not have more centers to administer this program.
This is where I need your help. I need people to attend the
Pennsylvania Statewide Independent Living Council (PA SILC)
forums to advocate for more centers. The next forum is going to be held
March 25, 2004, 2:00 PM – 7:00 PM at the University of
Pittsburgh at Greensburg in Smith Hall lounge, 1150 Mt. Pleasant Road,
Greensburg, PA 15601.
Your attendance can make a difference. You can show your support and have
a chance to tell the people of the Statewide Independent Living Council
that we need a center in Westmoreland County. Westmoreland is a huge
county without an Independent Living Center. Having one would surely
benefit many of you and possibly your family members and friends in more
ways than I can express in a short email message.
All people are encouraged to attend or send comments, not only folks with
disabilities. You can also share your concerns, frustrations and ideas for
a better quality of independent living services here in PA. Please call me
at 412.481.0443 or email me if you want more information or you need
transportation. You can also access an article that contains more
information at the following link:
If the above link is
split into more than one line, you may need to copy and paste the entire
link into your browser to access the page. You can also visit
and click on the link
to the upcoming forums article.
Several options are available if you cannot attend a forum:
-
You may call your
comments into the SILC office Monday -Friday from 2:00 - 4:00 PM AT
1-800-796-9163,
-
Fax your comments to
them at 717-236-8800,
-
email them to
BJMPASILC@HOTMAIL.COM,
-
or mail them to the
postal address below prior to April 2, 2004.
PA STATEWIDE INDEPENDENT LIVING COUNCIL
2 N. SECOND STREET, SUITE 100
HARRISBURG, PA 17101
Send this email message to others and enlist their
help too. Please use your voice on this one folks. It really is important.
Here is your chance to do something to help make positive change happen.
I'm counting on your help.
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----- Original Message -----
Subject: What you can do to help the children in five minutes
or less
Time is short - the rally is next week!
Here's what you can do to help, even if you can't make it to DC:
WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW
In Priority Order
(1)
(2)
** For the Call-In Day, simply say that you are "calling to urge
Senator ______ to Vote No to S.1248 because it will hurt children
with disabilities by weakening the I.D.E.A." That's all you have
to do - they tally the calls so every call counts!
(3)
** Here's a copy of the template letter, cut and pasted below:
Dear Senator _______________________________,
My family desperately needs help that only you and the other
Senators on Capitol Hill can provide. We need you to stop this
extremely dangerous and reckless IDEA reauthorization train from
derailing and potentially harming 6.5 million students who receive
special education services in America. If families like mine do not
get the help that we need, we will suffer physically, emotionally,
and financially.
There are no valid reasons for having to bring Part B of S.1248 to
the Senate floor this year. Part B of the IDEA is permanently
authorized, and the present IDEA legislation (IDEA ‘97) is actually
much more aligned with No Child Left Behind than either H.R.1350 or
S.1248. This is especially true now that the No Child Left Behind
rulemaking process for individuals with disabilities has begun
taking form.
The proposed House and Senate bills (H.R.1350 and S.1248) are
neither grounded in present No Child Left Behind realities, nor are
they based on reliable data to validate any of the major changes
proposed therein, changes which will only serve to hurt children and
the people who love and care for them. Both bills are already
obsolete, given that they were first drafted prior to many of the No
Child Left Behind rules being released and prior to states and local
districts having an opportunity to figure out what they would
eventually look like.
Families across this country now understand what No Child Left
Behind looks like for students with disabilities. We are terrified,
and these bills will do absolutely nothing to help our kids escape
the numerous unintended consequences that will compromise their
access to learning and productive futures.
H.R.1350 and S.1248 are certain to push students backwards rather
than forwards. Both bills will compromise access to the general
curriculum and banish any hope of having many of our students with
disabilities make AYP and become proficient by 2014. It is not the
fault of our children and families that No Child Left Behind did not
carefully consider them in the first place. Now the same people who
brought us this controversial legislation are looking at dismantling
our only safety net.
Until No Child Left Behind has been completely rolled out, is
understood by all the relevant stakeholders, and has thoroughly
addressed the unintended consequences that our students face as a
result of its enactment, I am begging you to ask Senator Frist to
please remove S.1248 from this year’s calendar and allow our
families to reclaim time with our students so that we can work with
them to assure that they truly are not left behind.
Please feel free to contact me at any time should you want to
discuss this further. I may be reached at: Phone
_______________________ Email ____________________. Let me know how
I can best help you with your consideration of this life-altering
legislation.
Thank you for your serious consideration of this most important
matter. The lives of members of my household depend on it.
Sincerely,
____________________
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