Action Alert: Please Take Action Today!

Dear Down Syndrome Indiana Families,

Over the past 5 ½ years, I have had the pleasure of speaking with many of you about your hopes and dreams for your children whether they are newborns or adults. I know you want your children to grow up to live independently, have a meaningful career or go to college. The most frequent questions I hear are, “How am I going to pay for this?” and “How will saving affect my child’s benefits?” This is precisely why the ABLE Act is so important! It will allow you to save for the future needs of your child, such as, a college education or housing or transportation needs without negatively impacting the benefits they receive.

It takes a huge amount of effort to pass a piece of legislation. I was on Capitol Hill advocating for this ABLE Act in February 2009 and we are still trying to get it passed! Many others have been working on it longer. The point is your voice is needed now more than ever. Please contact your legislator today and encourage them to support the ABLE Act, also known as, the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2011 (S. 1872/H.R. 3423). It isn’t hard, it’s not scary and you really do make a difference.

The National Down Syndrome Society has made it very easy to contact your member of congress, whether a representative or senator, at this link:

http://capwiz.com/ndss/issues/alert/?alertid=57010501&queueid=%5bcapwiz:queue_id

It even has a sample text you can use to email or call.

And here is another link for even more information:

http://ndss.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=262%3Alegislation-and-initiatives&catid=39%3Apolicy&Itemid=143&limitstart=3

So often, when there is such a big and overwhelming issue such as this, we think that so many people are already participating in contacting their legislators that our own call or e-mail won’t make a difference but that’s not true. There really aren’t a lot of people stepping up to the plate to make this happen. An analogy…. I attend a huge and I mean HUGE church. One Sunday they asked for volunteers in their disability ministry and I thought, surely in a church this big, there are people just lining up to help out in this area so if I wait to sign up, I won’t be missed. But you know what? I was wrong! Out of the thousands of members, they still didn’t have enough volunteers to pair up one on one with children in Sunday school that needed extra support. Seriously?! It doesn’t take that many volunteers! (Yes, I signed up as soon as I found that out). It is the same with the ABLE Act, we think everyone else is calling in or writing but I assure you they are not.

I was on a conference call regarding this piece of legislation late last year and a long-time advocate and leader in the Down syndrome community said, “This is the most significant piece of legislation I have seen in years”. That is powerful when you have witnessed the growth in the disability movement throughout recent history, such as, the signing of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and deinstitutionalization. In a speech given by Tom O’Neill at a Down Syndrome Indiana Annual Meeting in 2007, he said, “While the disability and the Down syndrome movement has come a long way, we haven’t yet arrived. We haven’t arrived at that place where we can sit back, admire our accomplishments, and rest on our laurels. While much as been accomplished, there are many challenges yet to address and the opportunities, too, remain many. The power in the Down syndrome movement- and there is power as we stick together and use it wisely – comes from our united strength”. So true. Let’s demonstrate our united strength and be a voice that cannot be ignored. So, again, please ask your legislator to support the ABLE Act.

Dedicated to enhancing the lives of individuals with Down syndrome,

Lisa Wells, Executive Director

P.S. Below you will find additional information….

You can read the full version of the bills here:

Senate - http://fifthfreedom.org/u/d0

House - http://fifthfreedom.org/u/d1

If this issue is important to you, you may wish to contact your representatives with your opinion. You can find contact information at http://fifthfreedom.org/findrep.php .