Post by Logan on Mar 12, 2016 20:45:29 GMT -6
March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month and, unfortunately, the government of Guam still has long way to go to improve opportunities for people with disabilities.
To start with, the government of Guam doesn’t do a good enough job at providing resources and assistance to children with developmental disabilities in public schools. One of the glaring deficiencies is the lack of speech therapists, in large part due to low pay for the position. This has been an obvious problem for years, yet nothing significant has been done to rectify this shortfall.
The government also needs to do a better job at helping people with developmental disabilities transition from the school system into the “real” world, especially the job market. It needs more training and assistance programs, and needs to look at ways to help those with developmental disabilities to become more independent and active citizens.
The government of Guam should look to emulate the federal government. In July 2010, President Obama issued Executive Order 13548, to make the federal government a model employer of individuals with disabilities. Just four years later, it was employing 57,491 people with disabilities, more than at any other time in the past 33 years, according to the White House. The government of Guam should make a similar effort to be the model employer for our island.
Read more: www.guampdn.com/story/opinion/editorials/2016/03/12/our-view-govguam-falls-short-assisting-those-disabilities/81680038/
To start with, the government of Guam doesn’t do a good enough job at providing resources and assistance to children with developmental disabilities in public schools. One of the glaring deficiencies is the lack of speech therapists, in large part due to low pay for the position. This has been an obvious problem for years, yet nothing significant has been done to rectify this shortfall.
The government also needs to do a better job at helping people with developmental disabilities transition from the school system into the “real” world, especially the job market. It needs more training and assistance programs, and needs to look at ways to help those with developmental disabilities to become more independent and active citizens.
The government of Guam should look to emulate the federal government. In July 2010, President Obama issued Executive Order 13548, to make the federal government a model employer of individuals with disabilities. Just four years later, it was employing 57,491 people with disabilities, more than at any other time in the past 33 years, according to the White House. The government of Guam should make a similar effort to be the model employer for our island.
Read more: www.guampdn.com/story/opinion/editorials/2016/03/12/our-view-govguam-falls-short-assisting-those-disabilities/81680038/