President-Elect Plans to Empower Those with Disabilities

President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-Elect Joe Biden have a four part plan to provide Americans with disabilities access to the same possibilities as those without disabilites.

Obama plans to make the United States a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a human rights treaty for respecting the rights of people with disabilities worldwide. First, he plans to provide disabled Americans with educational opportunities by funding and enforcing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Obama and Biden also plan to invest $10 billion yearly for early intervention education and development programs for children up to the age of five. They also plan to assist high-school graduates with disabilities by improving their opportunity for attending college. Secondly, Obama and Biden also plan to promote equality of opportunity by restoring the American Disability Act and increasing funding for enforcement, among other things.

Third, the pair would like to increase the employment rate of American workers with disabilities. To do this, they plan to increase executive branch hiring of people with disabilites and provide private-sector employers with resources to accomodate disabled employees.

Finally, they hope to improve independent, community based living for disabled Americans. They plan to do this by amending the Medicare "Homebound" Rule and supporting VA specialty care and supporting Americans living with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

For more information and to view the whole plan, click here