Editor, Times-Union: This cut funding the disabled is unimaginable. The people that need and have to be cared for are losing their money and care hours. They are also losing programs that help them and transportation to get to medical appointments. These are people with disabilities. They can not take care of themselves, that’s why they need care givers, but cutting their hours and money, especially their care hours, will put them at a higher risk of something bad happening. Some of these people that are getting their hours cut need someone there with them 24 hours a day. With these cuts they could be left alone for hours by themselves. What would they do if the house caught on fire? The people that can’t walk would die, and the people that are mentally handicap and handicap in other ways wouldn’t know what to do. You are treating these disabled people like a normal person. Yes, they are normal, but they have needs. Their minds aren’t at the age they are. My brother is a good example. He is 25 years old, but his mind is that of a little kid. He can’t walk, talk or see. He has cerebral palsy, MR, self injurious behavior and many other medical conditions. As you might know, cerebral palsy is a condition that affects muscles and movement. Most cerebral palsy patients can not walk do to cerebral palsy. They have spasms and seizures. So my brother needs 24-hour care. He lived with a roommate that is mentally handicap. He’s around 50 but yet again his mind is not that of a 50 years old. He also needs 24-hour care just like my brother. You have to understand that for my brother to be able to get out of bed, into his wheel chair, into the shower and to get changed there has to be at least two people there, but with this cut there will be two hours that nobody is with either of them, because my brother will only be receiving 11 hours and his roommate will only be receiving 11 hours. This comes to equal only 22 hours, so what happens with the two hours when nobody will be there? It will probably be that no one will be there with either of them. This can not happen because if something dangerous and life-threatening were to happen they would have no way of helping themselves. Also with this cut, there is not going to be two people on duty at the times there needs to be, therefore how is my brother suppose to get up, eat, take a shower or anything? He is totally dependent on his caregivers, he can not do things for himself. I feel that instead of cutting the budget for the disabled you should use some of the money that comes from the lottery. You could also use some of the money that goes to retired congress officials that use to work for the government. They do not need to get paid the same amount after they retire. Yes, they help run our country, but look at all of the people in the miliary. They are getting cut and they don’t make nearly as much, but yet they risk their lives to keep us free. The should be the ones earning more money. How would you feel if you had a son, daughter, mother, father or any relative or friend with a handicap that needed 24-hour care, but their care time is getting cut? You would be outraged. You would feel the same way I do. I feel that they should find another way to save money instead of taking money away from the handicap. Taking money from the disabled person, like my brother or anyone that is handicapped, is like going into their house and stealing everything they own and then leaving them to die. I don’t feel that anyone who is trying to help people and the economy would ever do that to someone. Instead of us moving forward with the handicap it’s as if we are moving backward. What does the government officials expect parents, guardians to do with their handicap loved ones? Do they expect them to put them back in state institutions and nursing homes? So I ask you to please take my statements into considerations, and think about ways to make other cuts instead of taking them away from the disabled. Thank you. Mandy Lowe 15 years old Warsaw
