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Disability Awareness at Illinois Capitol Thursday
The "freedom riders" finished their trip to Springfield Thursday. That name makes them sound like a bunch of rebels, and maybe they are. They say they realize they are their own best advocates for home- and community-based services for the disabled.

A gold medal-winning paralympian in wheelchair basketball and an 8-year-old boy who is beating autism joined lawmakers and other advocates at a statehouse news conference this morning to bring out some success stories -- stories which, supporters say, are few. That's because, according to a report from the University of Colorado (Department of Psychiatry and Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities), Illinois ranks 51st -- behind the other 49 states and the District of Columbia -- in providing those services.

State Rep. Patti Bellock (R-Hinsdale) says there are 17,000 people on the waiting list for the services, adding some disabled people are told no services will be available until their parents die. Rep. Kathy Ryg (D-Vernon Hills) says rather than institutionalize people, the state should help them toward independent living.

(Illinois Radio Network)
05 21 09 by Newsroom
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