disabled parents face bias, loss of kids

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DISABLED_PARENTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-11-26-04-27-21




In this Nov. 14, 2012 photo, Carrie Ann Lucas, right, mother of four disabled adopted children, holds up a mirror for her daughter, Adrianne, 13, at their home in Windsor, Colo., before going on an outing. Carrie Ann Lucas herself uses a power wheelchair and is reliant on a ventilator due to a form of muscular dystrophy. In diverse and profound ways, the millions of Americans with disabilities have gained rights and opportunities since Congress passed landmark legislation on their behalf in 1990. Advocates say barriers and bias still abound, however, when it comes to one basic human right: To be a parent. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Millions of Americans with disabilities have gained innumerable rights and opportunities since Congress passed landmark legislation on their behalf in 1990. And yet advocates say barriers and bias still abound when it comes to one basic human right: To be a parent.

A Kansas City, Mo., couple had their daughter taken into custody by the state two days after her birth because both parents were blind. A Chicago mother, because she is quadriplegic, endured an 18-month legal battle to keep custody of her young son. A California woman paid an advance fee to an adoption agency, then was told she might be unfit to adopt because she has cerebral palsy.

Such cases are found nationwide, according to a new report by the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency. The 445-page document is viewed by the disability-rights community as by far the most comprehensive ever on the topic - simultaneously an encyclopedic accounting of the status quo and an emotional plea for change.

"Parents with disabilities continue to be the only distinct community that has to fight to retain - and sometimes gain - custody of their own children," said autism-rights activist Ari Ne'eman, a member of the council. "The need to correct this unfair bias could not be more urgent or clear."

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1. K&R

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2. This pisses me off!