This is a special page meant for special announcements. Please send these to the list owner/moderator for approval TGuppy@lgc.com.

LEGISLATION TO HELP AUTISTIC CHILDREN 

Write to your congressmen to let them know what you need and what you think:

FOR THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS:
To contact your US congressman:  http://congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/ 
For Federal Legislation:  http://congress.org/congressorg/issues/ 

IN TEXAS:
To contact your representative: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us
To view information on bills and committees:  http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/capitol/legis.htm 

Families need more help from our government. 
 We encourage everyone to keep up with the legislative activity in Congress and in your own State. 
At this time, there are two bills that we are encouraging everyone to 
call or write their congressman in Washington to support; 
S.1122 sponsored by Senator Torricelli,
House Bill # HR2339 sponsored by Rep English. 

Both bills would allow tax credits for education and training for "developmentally disabled children." They are stuck in the Committees now and we need one of "YOUR" senators to get on it and get it out of committee. Any assistance in this matter would be a great help to our families and greatly appreciated.

A third bill has been added below:
HR 3741 sponsored by Burton and Waxman.

This bill would make much needed improvements to the 
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program is broke-H.R. 3741 
will help fix a few of the major problems.
PLEASE LOBBY FOR PASSAGE OF THIS BILL
WHAT DOES H.R. 3741 DO?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This bill provides for changes in six (6) very important areas:
1. The Statute of Limitations
In order to file a claim under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
(NVICP), it has to be brought within 3 years of the onset of the injury
claimed to have been caused by the vaccine(s). It does not matter that the
claimants may not have even known that the vaccine caused their injuries.
H.R. 3741 will extend the time period for filing a claim under the NVICP
from 36 months to 6 years. The bill will also provide a 2 year lookback
provision that will allow claims to be filed if a parent or injured
individual sustained an adverse reaction to a vaccination after September
30, 1988 until 2 years passed the date this legislation becomes enacted.
This provision will help the families who never got a correct diagnosis of a
vaccine injury and who did not find out about the program until too late.

2. Interim Fees and Costs
One of the reasons so few lawyers are willing to get involved and stay
involved in these cases is because the payment for attorneys is extremely
low compared to the rewards of traditional civil litigation. Claimants and
their lawyers must often wait years to receive reimbursement of their costs
and payment of the attorneys' fees. Lawyers are expected to compete in a
highly litigious environment, where the burden of proof is relatively high,
without the benefits of traditional civil discovery, and with small and
delayed compensation for their effort. This bill would make it possible for
claimants to petition, no more than once every 90 days, for payment of
interim fees and costs. This will allow experts to be paid in a timely
manner, and Petitioners will finally be able to conduct the testing and
studies necessary to prove their claims.
Remember that the attorneys for the government are paid every thirty days
and the attorneys for the children have to wait until everything is
finalized, in many cases, waiting for years. In the meantime, the burden of
financing the case falls on the shoulders of the family and the attorney.
This provision will help level the playing field for the attorneys who are
trying to help the families.
3. Allows for compensation relating to the costs of Family Counseling and
creating a guardianship.
4. Makes the compensation for lost earnings more generous.
5. Creates a mandated Public Service Announcement Campaign to advise people
of the NVICP and their rights under that program.
6. Increase the cap on an award for a vaccine related death from $250,000 to
$300,000.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:
On February 13, 2002, H.R. 3741, The National Vaccine Injury Compensation
Program Improvement Act of 2002, was introduced in the House of
Representatives by Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN).
This legislation will help families who are trying to get compensation for
their children. You can call your Washington DC representatives at
202-224-3121 and ask for your member of Congress. If you do not know who
that is, ask the operator to help you identify that person. (Or use this
website to write a letter: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ ) When you reach
your member's office, ask to speak to the staff person handling
health-related legislation. Give them the bill number and a short
explanation and ask them to become a co-sponsor of the bill. If any of the
provisions in this bill have a direct bearing on your ability to receive
compensation for your child, relate your story to the staff member. It is
more likely that they will be interested in helping. Ask to meet with your
representative when he/she is in the home district.
The original intent of the compensation program was to provide a quick and
easy way for parents to get financial help for their vaccine injured
children. The program is anything but quick or easy. This legislation is the
beginning of an effort to restore the bill back to the original intent of
Congress as to how this program was supposed to work.
Please call us at Hitt.Patterson.Sell 832.797.8191 if you need more help or
information or visit the links page at our website www.HittPattersonSell.com
for help.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lawmakers Seek Reforms in
Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
Washington, D.C. - A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Government Reform
Committee Chairman Dan Burton (R-IN) and Ranking Member Henry Waxman (D-CA)
today introduced legislation to make the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
more generous and compassionate.
During two days of hearings before the Government Reform Committee, families
of injured children complained about long delays, overly adversarial tactics
employed by government lawyers, and other difficulties with the program.
The legislation introduced today would:
Increase the compensation for vaccine-related deaths to $300,000;
Make the compensation for lost earnings more generous;
Allow compensation for the costs of family counseling and creating a guardianship;
Allow for the payment of interim attorneys fees and costs while a case is under review;
Extend the statute of limitations for filing a petition to six years; and
Establish a two-year window for families to file a petition if they were
previously excluded from the program by the existing two-year statute of limitations.
"Vaccine-related injuries are devastating for families that have to deal
with them," said Burton. "Congress intended this program to be swift,
compassionate and generous. However, too many times, these families are
confronted by bureaucratic indifference, long delays and overly adversarial
tactics. We heard testimony from parents who fought for ten years to win
compensation for their children. That's not acceptable. This bill won't fix
every problem that people have experienced, but it's a good first step. We
have bipartisan support for this bill, and I hope we can get it signed into
law this year. I want to thank Congressmen Waxman, Congressman Weldon, and
all of the other cosponsors who helped put this bill together."
"The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has been largely successful in
stabilizing the vaccine industry; in maintaining public confidence in
immunizations; and in compensating people who have been injured by vaccines.
However, the system is not perfect. This legislation would help to improve
the program and help to make sure that it is as generous and easy as it can be," said Waxman.
Immunizations are considered the most important public health achievement of
the 20th Century. Because of immunizations, children are no longer disabled
by polio, suffer brain damage from measles, or die from smallpox. However,
immunizations are not risk-free. In rare cases, they can cause serious injuries.
Congress created the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in 1986 to
compensate families quickly and generously when vaccine injuries occur. At
the time, vaccine manufacturers were facing numerous vaccine injury lawsuits
and were threatening to leave the market. Creation of the VICP helped keep
manufacturers in the market and stabilize vaccine supply. Under the program,
vaccine makers are partially shielded from liability for vaccine-related
injuries. An excise tax is charged with each dose of vaccine. The proceeds
go into a Federal fund used to compensate victims.

Joining Burton and Waxman as original cosponsors of the bill are:
Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL)
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
Rep. Ben Gilman (R-NY)
Rep. Steve Horn (R-CA)
Rep. John Duncan, Jr. (R-TN)
Rep. Martin Frost (D-TX)
Rep. Connie Morella (R-MD)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA)
Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA)
The legislation expands on a set of reforms proposed by the Advisory
Commission on Childhood Vaccines in 1999. It also addresses problems
identified by parents of injured children who testified at two Government
Reform Committee hearings last fall.
_________________________________________________________________

THE POWER OF ONE! IDEA is coming to WASHINGTON, DC
with an event that is FREE and OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
Unlocking Autism will be in Washington, DC again this year on April 21st
hosting The Power of ONE! IDEA Rally on the Mall between 3rd and 4th streets.
The rally is being cosponsored and underwritten this year by Cure Autism
Now, The Autism Society of America, The New Jersey Center for Outreach &
Services for the Autism Community, The Autism Coalition for Research and
Education, The Vaccine Injury Alliance, Youth Consultation Services: Sawtelle
Learning Centers, SAFE Minds and Medical Interventions in Autism.
Last year, the theme of the rally was "The Power of ONE!" and the purpose was
to remind everyone that they do personally possess the power to make a
difference not only in the lives of their own children but in the lives of
all families affected by autism.
This year, we have expanded on the power of one theme and incorporated a
primary focus on I. D. E. A. In 1975, Congress passed the Education of the
Handicapped Act which served as the precursor for the law known today as the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The purpose of the law was to
ensure that individuals with disabilities had access to free and appropriate
education in the least restrictive environment. The act set a goal for the
Federal Government to provide states with 40% of their funding needed for
special education programs.
Until 1997, with the reauthorization of IDEA, the funding hadn't even passed
8%. Since that time, disability groups have joined forces and have increased
the funding last year to approximately 18% but we still have a long way to go
to get the money through the Federal Government to make sure our children are
receiving the services they deserve, and that the government said that they
deserve all those years ago.
IDEA is important to everyone in every community whether they have a child
with a disability or not. If the Federal Government doesn't provide the
funding to the school systems, then states and counties are burdened with
generating the funds to provide the services that they are required by
federal law to provide, which in turn affects the funds available to all
students in the public education system. It is in everyone's best interest
to see IDEA fully funded.
IDEA is up for reauthorization during the 2002 Session. The leaders of the
autism community this year thought it would be a good IDEA to discuss it in a
public forum in Washington, DC at the rally this year!
We will kick off the rally with performances by the band Jonasay. Jonasay is
a cutting edge quintet who spent much of 2001 touring with Hootie and the
Blowfish. Their CD will be out in April and their clean smooth music packs a
punch that everyone is sure to enjoy.
The Emcees of the event this year will once again be Jeana Smith with
Unlocking Autism and Jeff Sell & Lee Grossman with the Autism Society of America.
Speakers will include from over 15 Different Organizations will include:
Shelley H. Reynolds - President, Unlocking Autism
Nancy H. Cale - Vice President, Unlocking Autism
Stephen Shore, Board Member, Unlocking Autism & Autism Society of America
United States Congressman Mike Doyle - Pennsylvania - 18th District
United States Congressman Chris Smith - New Jersey - 4th District
Jonathan Shestack, President & Cofounder, Cure Autism Now
Kevin Murray, Founder, Autism Coalition for Research & Education
Cliff Shoemaker, J.D., Vaccine Injury Alliance
Dr. Cathy Pratt, Ph.D., Director, Indiana Resource Center for Autism
James Ball, Ed. D.,Vice President, Autism Services, Youth Consultation Service
Sallie Bernard, Ph.D., SAFE Minds
Barbara Loe Fisher, President & Cofounder, National Vaccine Information Center
Andrew Baumann, New York Families of Autistic Children
Victoria Beck
Veronica Bird
Jeff Bradstreet, M.D., FAAFP, International Child Resource Development Ctr.
Bill Davis, UA Pennsylvania State Representative
Ray Gallup, President, Autism Autoimmunity Project
Miss Sherri Grippo - Miss Jefferson County 2002 - West Virginia
Jennifer Lassiter, UA Virginia State Representative & President, N. Virginia
ASA
April Oakes, President & Founder, Casi's Quest
Miss Brandi Peterson - Miss Omaha 2002 - Nebraska
Lenny Schafer, Editor, FEAT Online Newsletter
Laura Weinburg
EMCEES:
Jeana Smith, Unlocking Autism
Lee Grossman, Autism Society of America
Jeff Sell, Autism Society of America
So, grab those blankets, pack a lunch and
head down to DC with your family for the rally on April 21st.
We are planning a day of family fun!

For information on the rally, stay tuned to UA's website:
www.unlockingautism.org.
For information regarding the band Jonasay, visit their site at:
www.jonasay.com.
For hotel rooms, which are available at $129 per night at the Capitol Hilton
located only 4 blocks from the Mall, write Shelley Reynolds at
Keys2UA@a...
________________________________________________________________

      OSEP  Continuous Improvement Monitoring Process 

      The Texas Public Comment Meeting Report is available. 

      Texas 
      Public Meeting Report

      The Texas Public Meeting Report consisting of input from the public meetings 
      held in June and written public comments received as part of the Continuous 
      Improvement Monitoring Process (CIMP) Validation Planning phase. The Report 
      was mailed to the U.S. Department of Education Office of 
Special Education Programs on September 6, 2001, for review.

      

      Download the complete Texas Public Meeting Report 
(Available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format) 
      Texas Public Meeting Report
      Download the Texas Public Report by Sections 

      (Available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format) 

      

      Sections  1-3

      Intoduction

      OSEP CIMP Process

      Phase 2: Validation Planning 

      Section  4

      Executive Summary 

      Section  5

      Summaries of Input by Location 

      Appendix  A: Detailed Public Meeting Comments by Location 

      Appendix  B: Public Meeting Invitation Packet 

      Appendix  C: Written Comments 

      Download Free Adobe Acrobat  Reader!

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