SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 17

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013

INTRODUCED BY

Gerald Ortiz y Pino

A JOINT MEMORIAL

DECLARING OCTOBER "DISABILITY HISTORY AND AWARENESS MONTH"; RECOMMENDING DISABILITY HISTORY AND AWARENESS INSTRUCTION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS DURING OCTOBER OF EACH YEAR.

     WHEREAS, according to the United States census, at least forty-nine million Americans live with a disability; and

     WHEREAS, in the past, it was common for people with disabilities to be segregated and institutionalized; and

     WHEREAS, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a "eugenics" movement led to laws and practices that caused people with disabilities to be institutionalized and sterilized; and

     WHEREAS, after American soldiers returned home from World War I with disabilities sustained during service, laws were passed to provide them vocational rehabilitation; and

     WHEREAS, thereafter, multiple private foundations were established by people with disabilities or their advocates to spread awareness about and obtain services for people with disabilities, including the American foundation for the blind founded by Helen Keller and the national paraplegia foundation founded by the paralyzed veterans of America; and

     WHEREAS, immediately after World War II, President Harry S. Truman signed into law a "National Employ the Handicapped Week", which led to state and local committees promoting the competence of people with disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, after World War II, workers exposed the abusive conditions at the mental health institutions in which they served during the war and founded the national mental health foundation; and

     WHEREAS, the 1950s and 1960s civil rights movement that sought to address inequities in the treatment of African Americans and others accelerated the change in perceptions about another significant population of people treated unequally, namely, people with disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, in the 1960s, laws and local practices led to more access to public buildings and transportation for people with physical disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, in 1972, the commonwealth of Virginia ceased its forced sterilization program for people with disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, in 1972, two United States district courts ruled that public schools could not exclude disabled children, and in 1975, the federal Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 was enacted, later renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, requiring free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive setting; and

     WHEREAS, in the 1970s, twenty years after Mary Switzer, director of the United States office of vocational rehabilitation, emphasized independent living as a quality-of-life issue, centers for independent living were established to empower people with disabilities by providing necessary support services without institutionalization so that people could remain in their homes and communities; and

     WHEREAS, a monumental shift in disability public policy resulted from the passage of Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which banned discrimination on the basis of disability by recipients of federal funds and was modeled after laws that banned race, ethnic origin and gender-based discrimination by federal fund recipients; and

     WHEREAS, in enacting the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, congress adopted the viewpoint that the inferior social and economic conditions of people with disabilities were not a consequence of the disability itself, but rather a result of societal barriers and prejudices; and

     WHEREAS, after the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the exclusion and segregation of people with disabilities became viewed legally as discrimination; and

     WHEREAS, a 1986 amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 defined supported employment for people with disabilities as a "legitimate rehabilitation outcome"; and

     WHEREAS, the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 prohibited housing discrimination against people with disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, in 1990, congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act; and

     WHEREAS, in New Mexico, the disabilities concerns subcommittee of the legislative health and human services committee was created in 2010 to focus on the concerns and needs of people with disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, despite gains in awareness about people with disabilities since the time of forced institutionalization and sterilization and widespread discrimination and marginalization, there remain significant impediments to the acceptance and integration of people with disabilities; and

      WHEREAS, people with disabilities continue to face a significantly lower level of income and a likelihood of living in poverty; and

     WHEREAS, education is needed to dispel persisting myths, stigmas and stereotypes that persist about people with disabilities;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the month of October be designated "Disability History and Awareness Month"; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the board of each school district and the governing body of each charter school in the state be requested to encourage each school to provide disability history and awareness instruction in grades kindergarten through twelve every October; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, during disability history and awareness month, students be provided instruction to expand their knowledge, understanding and awareness of individuals with disabilities, the history of disability and the disability rights movement; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that disability history instruction include the events and time lines of the development and evolution of services to, and the civil rights of, individuals with disabilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the contributions of specific individuals with disabilities, including acknowledged state and national leaders, be recognized; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that disability awareness instruction be integrated into existing school curricula by supplementing lesson plans, inviting classroom and assembly speakers with experience or expertise on disabilities or by providing other school activities related to disabilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that disability awareness instruction be delivered by qualified school personnel or by knowledgeable guest speakers, including people with disabilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the goals of disability history and awareness instruction include:

          A. instilling in students a sensitivity toward fellow students with disabilities and encouraging educational cultures that nurture safe and inclusive environments for students with disabilities in which bullying is discouraged and respect and appreciation for students with disabilities is encouraged;

          B. a discussion of disability as a natural part of the human experience, in which individuals are more alike than different;

          C. an acknowledgment that, regardless of disability, each citizen is afforded the same rights and responsibilities as every other citizen;

          D. the creation of a more inclusive school community, where students with disabilities are included in every aspect of society and every student is acknowledged for the student's unique gifts, talents and contributions; and

          E. a reaffirmation of the local, state and federal commitment to the full inclusion in society of and the equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the public education department be requested to encourage each school board to use an established disability curriculum that incorporates the goals for disability history and awareness instruction; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each school district and charter school be encouraged to exercise innovation to accomplish the goals of disability history and awareness instruction; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that state higher education institutions be encouraged to conduct and to promote activities on each campus to provide education, understanding and awareness of individuals with disabilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of public education, the director of the vocational rehabilitation division of the public education department, the secretary of human services, the superintendent of the New Mexico school for the deaf, the superintendent of the New Mexico school for the blind and visually impaired, the superintendent of the New Mexico military institute and the executive director of the New Mexico commission for the blind.

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