Monthly Archives: April 2025

Comments Off on Somali DFL Caucus – what the heck does it do for the Somali community

Alright – so, I am sooooo trying to retire from advocacy but these publicly elected officials keep pissing me off. They want to be elected, write whatever policy they want, and we shall have no right to say nada about it. How do you like them apples?

The Somali DFL Caucus had what they called listening session in Cedar/Riverside today (April 12, 2025). The flyer said it starts at 4pm. So, I went there at 4pm. Guess what? doors were locked and no one was there. The first thing they start is lying about the start time. Yuk. They finally show up and start the so-called listening session an hour and 15 min late. Then they praise themselves, tell us how wonderful they are and how yuk yuk the other side is, yada yada. They give the microphone to school board members, city council, the new NE Mpls senator, house representatives, Somali caucus people, on and on. I thought this was a listening session. You just wait….and drum roll pls… then they say we are waiting for Sen. Fateh who was late almost 2 hours. This is the guy who wants to be the boss of Minneapolis. He can’t even show up on-time for what appeared to be a meeting for him.

Sen. Fateh says few useless and untrue words like – we are united. Who exactly is united, Mr. divide autism families. Then he says… Let me think, nothing to write home about or significant. Then he leaves without hearing from one single person.

The newly elected MN DFL chair was there and told us how the name of democratic farmers & labor name came out. He mentioned Sen. Paul Wellstone. They always mention him, but no one has ever measured to Sen. Paul Wellstone – he was a true human being who was approachable, humble and did his job with humility. I have never seen any dfler like him – ever. Then he said the DFL party is losing the farmers. What now? how does this relate to Somalis. We do not farm. How about you tell us what the ones already elected have done and/or will do about – oh I don’t know, autism, opioids crises, affordable housing, home ownership and education disparities. Nope, they did not talk about anything that is important to this community.

I have always wondered why the Somalis who have worked very hard for this party never graduate from community outreach and getting more votes. How come they don’t end up in the administration of the person they campaigned for. Let’s see Simba has been helping the DFL for almost two decades. Why can’t these crappy politicians hire him as an advisor or in their administration. Oh wait, we are only good for getting the votes not being successful in the dfl party.

The Mpls school board something was there. Let’s see Mpls public schools is soooo bad for black/brown and students with disabilities to the point they are sued by the federal government. The school board association constantly comes to education committees in the capitol and lobbies to suspend students instead of keeping them in the classroom. I tried to ask him why Mpls does not write a dissent opinion to bills like HF 1052 and HF 1436. You see, I am tired of preaching sugar while practicing salt. Mpls public schools despite having more black/brown board members still have horrible education gap and discriminatory practices. Furthermore, the idea of the dflers care about teachers of color shortage, oh please. They controlled all three branches of government until this year for years and did not move this issue significantly. The problem is they know most of us do now follow legislations and policies and believe whatever crap they feed us in Cedar. I sat next to a lovely African American dfl and she listened more than all of these Somali caucus combined. Sheeko iyo hadal baad haysaan, ee dadka dhagaysta. Qabtana howshii la’idiin doortay. Ha noo afmacaanaynina, oo qowda maqashii, waxbana ha qabanin naga daaya.

Waan codaynaa – waan seexanaa. Waan codaynaa – waan seexanaa. Yep.

On a good note, I saw so many people that I have not seen for years. It was yum yum seeing so many Somalis who are doing awesome work for the community. I just wish we learned how to hold elected officials accountable. I was also impressed by the leaders of the Somali DFL Caucus Ali, Ilhan and others. I have friendly unsolicited suggestions:

  1. Make an election plan for the Somali community each election year.
  2. Have a list of potential policies and/or funding those that you supported will support and hold them accountable if they do not.
  3. Get the governor to appoint several Somali lawyers to be judges.
  4. Help Somali lawyers to run to be county, district, court of appeals and MN supreme court. All of them are up for elections without any competition. If we want justice to be fair then we need to ensure the judges reflect those they judge.
  5. Be constantly on media to tell people your accomplishments and what you are working on. In fact, I would encourage you to start a podcast and do it weekly.
  6. Make sure the many young Somali professionals who campaign long and hard are hired in the winner’s administrations.

Thanks so much for what you do Ali and Ilhan!

The above words do not reflect any candidate, agency, or committee.

Idil Abdull – Somali Autism Mom & retired advocate

Comments Off on Idil Abdull Testimony re SF 3054 – Opposing Sen. Hoffman’s autism language unapologetically

Alright – so, I heard Sen. Hoffman is coming to a Somali autism event this week by Somali Parents Autism Network (SPAN). To see that then to read his human services omnibus where he refuses and denies autism families and agencies proper and person-centered training is exactly why our community votes wrongly. We have not learned thus far to understand the importance of holding elected officials accountable. Just because they smile, like sambusa, can say couple of Somali words does NOT mean they care. When will we learn that. Ugh so depressing.

If you are an autism parent, the language in SF  3054 will hurt you. This language is intended to hurt and close without due process Somali EIDBI agencies. Yet, we are asking Sen. Hoffman to talk and sell us wrong information. How lovely. I am disappointed in SPAN. You should know better. Sucking up should have limits and first must do no harm to our autism families.

Below is my written testimony to his committee on 4.9.25. I urge all autism families and EIDBI agencies to send their written testimonies and orally testify. We cannot remain stupid every election year. Sambusa does not equate to equality – period. Tell Sen. Hoffman to listen to autism families and add training plus objective appeal if DHS shuts down an EIDBI agency. Qofkii walaalkiis loo xiiroow, adna soo qoyso. 

 

Minnesota Senate

Human Services Committee

Chair – Sen. Hoffman

April 9th, 2025

 

      Re: Human Services Omnibus SF-3054 opposing the autism language  

Mr. Chair and Members, my name is Idil Abdull, I have a son with autism, and I am a retired advocate.

I want to tell you about my deep concerns regarding the governor’s language for autism, especially for Early Intensive Developmental Behavior Intervention (EIDBI). While I understand and agree with the need to license all facilities that have access to children and adults with autism and other disabilities, there must be a fair and balanced way to do it.

The way the governor’s language is written is more authoritarian than balanced and equal. It essentially gives DHS the authority to investigate and close autism therapy agencies without any objective and/or administrative appeal rights.

Further, there is no training done for autism families and/or the agencies to ensure they understand the EIDBI policies and set them up for success. Additionally, when DHS says they gathered information from “stakeholders”, please know the EIDBI advisory council is secluded group that does not follow open meeting laws and never hears from the public. They are controlled by DHS.

Somali autism families have tried to explain to this committee’s chair without any success the need for fairness and just services for children with autism. Many of you, if not all of you, have autism families and autism therapy agencies in your districts. I hope you speak for your constituents and add training by DHS as well as the right to appeal to an objective entity other than EIDBI staff making all the decisions by themselves.

 

Sincerely,

Idil Abdull – Somali Autism Mom & Retired Advocate.

 

The above words do not represent any candidate, agency, or committee.

Idil Abdull

Comments Off on Idil Abdull Testimony Re HF 2434 in Minnesota House – Autism and EIDBI

Alright – so, it is the end of the state legislative session and as usual, most autism families and almost all Somali EIDBI agencies are sleeping. Ugh, so sad and depressing. At any rate, I sent my written testimony and will try to orally testify on 4.9.25. I urge autism families and EIDBI agencies to do the same. Speak from your heart and perspective. Noor is the co-chair in this committee, it is important to note – his district has the highest autism rate in the state and arguably in the nation.

Minnesota House
Human Services Finance & Policy
Chairs: Noor and Schomacker
4.9.2025

Re: HF 2434 Opposing the Gov’s Autism Language for EIDBI

Co-Chairs Noor and Schomacker, my name is Idil Abdull, I am a Somali Autism Mom and retired advocate. I also advocated for EIDBI back when it passed as a 1915i waiver on 5.16.13 on a rainy Thursday night. I feverishly oppose the language of this bill for many reasons.

1. There were not robust and engaging conversations with autism families nor EIDBI agencies when DHS produced these self-serving rules.
2. DHS refuses to provide EIDBI training that is person-centered to autism families and agencies.
3. We have been asking Chair Noor since 2023 to add EIDBI training which he has not done thus far.
4. DHS wants to act the prosecutor, the judge, and the jury in autism services under EIDBI without any rights for us to appeal administratively to an objective        person and/or agency. How is that exactly right?
5. I would propose adding EIDBI training for both the families and agencies to ensure they understand the policy and statute.
6. I would decrease EIDBI staff from 3 to 1, that is waste of time since they mostly do not do anything meaningful – ever.
7. I would add the ability to appeal to an administrative judge if/when DHS closes an agency wrongly and unjustly.
8. I would add the new OIG office to audit and oversee DHS’ programs, especially EIDBI, to ensure fairness and objectivity.
9. I would put a moratorium on EIDBI until current ones know what they are doing and do it correctly in a manner that helps the children and families.
10. I would ask DHS to send you and the public the answers to the many questions you asked the last time they were on this committee explaining EIDBI.                There were a lot of questions they were not able to answer. DHS should come prepared.

 

Sincerely,

Idil Abdull – Somali Autism Mom & Retired Advocate

The above words do not represent any candidate, agency, or committee.

Idil Abdull

Category: Autism Policy

Comments Off on Repealing The Suspension Bill from Just Two Years Ago is Premature and Sen. Abeler Got it Wrong

Alright – so, this is probably the hardest blog I have ever written. In the interest of transparency and giving credit to those that helped us with Somali autism from every corner, Sen. Abeler has been simply the fuel that kept us going when we had no one else for almost two decades.

Honestly, I do not remember Sen. Abeler in an education committee before this year. I would hate for him to be on the wrong side of history and fairness.

I became interested in education discipline when my son with autism who does not understand suspension was suspended by teacher Kelly Morris and principal Jaysen Andersen on Thursday, May 3rd, 2018 at 5:18pm. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I went to the Education committees in 2019 to see what I can learn and boy did I learn. Facts and data tell us students with disabilities, black and brown as well as Native American students are suspended disproportionately more in Minnesota schools. You see 2+2 is four no matter how the principal associations and their lobbyists try to spin it. It ain’t 3.5 nor 5.

Furthermore, Minnesota as usual ranks the worst in every category of education gap and discipline in the nation. This has been documented. The Dayton administration’s human rights agency analyzed and worked with school districts to reduce this shameful record.

Thanks to Rep. Richardson who left the legislature now (I miss her so much!), had two bills passed prohibiting suspension for preschoolers then kinder-garden to third grade in just couple of years ago. Additionally, Gov Walz’s administration added using non-exclusionary methods before kicking a child out from school. They added funding so that the state education department can support and train schools. I am thankful for that, MDE has been wonderful in this. Yum. The teacher’s union – Education Minnesota also came out supporting. It does not get better than this.

Now, the hot shot lawyers and lobbyist for administrators and principal’s associations want to repeal this, ugh. What the heck. I guess they asked Sen. Abeler to help them in the Senate. Abeler tried to introduce an amendment to the education policy bill and said something that bothered me to my core. He said – all the superintendents and principals coming to him say they do not suspend students who have a disability or are from different ethnicities disproportionately. That is like trying to sell – it does not snow in Minnesota. It is simply not true. He also said someone has to listen to them because there are dozens and hundreds of them.

My response would be – there are thousands of students and families affected by this and we MUST listen to them first before adults who chose this profession. Schools are children’s home to learn, grow and get nurtured. Furthermore, if students are not in school, they cannot learn which only contributes to already yuk education gap record in Minnesota. Do we want to be known for disparity after disparity after disparity. Elected officials are supposed to address these.

Sen. Abeler – it pains me to say, you are on the wrong side of history on this one. Fight for kids not lobbyists. 

The above words do not represent any candidate, agency, or committee.

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Retired Advocate

Comments Off on Minnesota SF 3040 Tries to Clarify Swimming to be allowed in Waiver services under CDCS and CFSS

Alright – so, first my heart and prayers are with all the families who lost children to drowning. Sadly and heartbreakingly, there were two children with autism who drowned last year in Minnesota. No family should go through that.

This gained a lot of news attention and rightfully so. It also made lots of people get interested in this issue and advocate for it from different perspectives. Sen. Mohamed in Minnesota Senate introduced a bill SF 3040 to modify the current language in waiver services under CDCS and CFSS. She attempted to explain to allow families who already has wavier or CFSS services to use such funding for swimming lessons.

Now, that is a lot to understand and process unless you are a waiver policy junkie which I am. Sen. Mohamed was not able to clearly explain when Sen. Utke and Sen. Abeler asked – does this have a fiscal note. DHS person said – maybe, we do not know. DHS should know better.

Let me explain in the words of Denzel Washington in Philadelphia: 

  1. No, this bill should NOT have any fiscal note.
  2. Yes, the current policy technically should allow it because it is a waiver that is person-centered and consumer directed.
  3. Yes, autism families including me and countless others have gotten swimming lessons for their children with autism via the waiver CDCS.
  4. Recently, counties have started denying autism families the whole cost by not saying it is a recreational but that families should pay the extra cost that is beyond what it would cost for a typical child. Example: You have a typical kid who is getting swimming lessons in a group setting because he/she has no sensory, safety, motor imitation issues and can learn how to swim in a group of 2 or 3 other kids. That cost is $50 per lesson. In parallel, a child with autism has no safety skills, has sensory issues, and no imitation skills. He/she needs one on one swimming lesson that will cost $75 per lesson. The counties started saying the waiver will cover the additional cost that is above and beyond what a typical kid needs which in this case would be $25 per lesson. The counties say parents still must bear some responsibility taking their child to swimming lessons and we will cover the extra fee.
  5. I agree with that because the waiver should not replace parental responsibility. If your child does NOT have autism, you should still take him/her to learn how to swim. That is parental responsibility. The county does not typically say swimming is a recreational.
  6. Now, let’s say a typical child learns how to swim in 25 to 30 lessons which is the average but a child with autism will take years to learn then the county approves the cost above and beyond the cost for a typical child. I also agree with this.
  7. Finally, any family whose swimming is denied by the county via CDCS or CFSS can appeal to a judge. I know families are not lawyers but after a while it gets easier to just appeal if the policy is in your favor which it is if asking above and beyond swimming lessons than a typical child.
  8. Oh and the Hopkins kid’s name is Waeys not Aways. Plus, it would’ve been right to name this bill after him and Mohamed, and ask their families to testify. That is more powerful than anyone else – to hear from the parents who went through it.

In summary, while the bill has good intentions, the explanation was less than stellar and not cohesive by Sen. Mohamed, DHS nor the testifiers.

 

The above words do not represent any candidate, agency, or committee.

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Retired Advocate

Category: Autism Policy

Comments Off on MN State Senator Hoffman – Must be defeated at the Polls next Election

Alright – so, from day one, I knew he was turafatoore. That means never mean what he says and never says what he means. He constantly dances around the issue, asks more questions with every question. Asks you to go to that person and this person for things he is clearly in charge of, and blames everyone especially the GOPs for probably snowing in Minnesota. How lovely and original.

I met Sen. Hoffman over a decade ago when he voted against what is today known as EIDBI on the senate floor in 2013. He voted against everything about autism back then as most dflers did. Let me take you back in memory lane. Back in early 2010s, Rep. Norton (also known as the queen of autism disparity) and now the mayor of Rochester Minnesota kept introducing legislations that wanted to take funds from the health and human services budget to subsidize private insurance companies to pay for autism therapy while it denied low income autism families for the same therapy. Nope, not kidding.

In fact, it was the MN Republican legislators (Benson, Gottwalt, Abeler, etc.) who voted for Medicaid to cover autism therapy while the MN house dflers and many dfl senators including Hoffman voted against it. So if you are a Somali person and want to preach how welcoming and inclusive Hoffman is, please go back to legislative history. Don’t believe his empty calorie charm.

Now in the end in giving credit where credit is due, it was Gov. Dayton a dfler who added $12 million to his budget in 2013 to cover autism therapy for children with autism. The senate voted against it including Sen. Hoffman, Eaton, most of them. The House voted against it including Rep. Norton, Huntley, most of them. Then in conference committee, we (Somali autism parents and community members) went to Sen. Laurey and Sen. Cohen and convinced them to eliminate Norton’s bill and add Gov. Dayton’s language. That is exactly what passed on a rainy Thursday night on May 16th, 2013. Then we went to CMS and convinced them to do it for all states in July of 2014. 

I blogged and documented all of this back then. It seems that Sen. Hoffman wants to vote against autism and we should be happy and thank him. No way. We have the right to criticize his votes and policies. In fact, when non-Somali autism parents or any other group like Isaiah does not like his policies and criticize him and campaign against him, guess what? he is ok with it and even apologizes. But for us – not allowed. How do you like them apples.

Listen Sen. Hoffman, I do not have to like you and vice versa. But know you are a publicly elected official and is supposed to help all Minnesotans – period. I personally think you should be defeated next election by someone who cares about Minnesotans and means what he/she says by doing it.

I hope you stop learning two words in every language pretending to care which you do not. I also hope you stop giving people the run around. You can simply say – I cannot write, author or support xyz issue. That is fair and you have that audacity. But when you promise things you know will never be delivered and waste people’s time is a higher level of cruelty and hurtful. You also must accept to learn that anyone from anywhere in the state has the right to be happy or not happy with your policies. If you want to be liked by everyone, maybe you should work in a shoe store. I am sure everyone is happy there.

I wonder Sen. Hoffman when you wrote this Op-Ed, and those on the other side saw your view as offensive and sensational, did you also get angry at them and try to vilify them. My guess is no, because we all have the right to our truth and opinions.

One of my favorite show is Frasier, I must’ve watch it kazilian times. One of my favorite episodes is this one.

One of my favorite columns was Dear Abby Questions are good if it leads to answers and deeper understanding not to give people the run around and waste time. Have you ever listened to Joel Osteen – he talks common sense things and ties it to God. He always starts with a joke, this is my favorite. Every ethnicity has different strengths and things they are good at or known for. For Somalis it is “Fadhi ku dirir”. That is what makes us different and same in a humane manner.

The above words do not represent any committee, agency or candidate.

Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Retired Advocate

Category: Autism Policy