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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Providing the Voice for a Million Disabled Tennesseans

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Hundreds of Tennesseans with disabilities and their advocates will converge on the Legislative Plaza in Nashville today for the annual Disability Day on the Hill.

Among those on hand will be Angela Webster, public policy analyst for the Disability Law and Advocacy Center of Tennessee. She says they'll be talking to lawmakers about a variety of challenges among people with disabilities.

“And a broad range of disabilities,” she says. “People with mental illness, people with developmental disabilities or intellectual disabilities, people who are deaf or blind - so, just to raise awareness to issues that are of concern.”

According to the Tennessee Disability Coalition, 1 million people in the state are coping with disabilities. Webster says one issue that is a continual focus is helping those with disabilities who have been abused or neglected. Another never-ending concern is financial.

“Funding for services for people with all types of disabilities is certainly a critical priority right now, so that's one issue,” she says. “But we look at a broad range of what's going on and determine which are things we can tackle today and which are things that we’ll work on with other agencies and with our partners.”

The state Legislature will soon take up a bill to bring the Tennessee guidelines on service dogs in line with the federal guidelines. If approved, business owners could ask why a person has a dog with them, but could not ask for documentation of a disability. Dan Dillon, president of the Tennessee Council of the Blind says the guidelines would apply for all service dogs, not just guide dogs.

“They could have a service dog that can let people know when their owner is about to have an epileptic seizure. Or some people, they have anxiety issues and so they have a service animal to help them if they have an anxiety attack or anxiety reaction, this type of thing. They can alert people to come to their assistance.”

Another focus this year is concussion management and prevention in youth athletics.

More information is online at tndisability.org.


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