Alright – so, if you know me or read my blog you understand my distaste for the current DHS commissioner and all her leadership team. They have done nothing about or for autism for years now. They do not train anyone including families and providers. They do not explain anything thoughtfully nor comprehensively. Then they have the audacity to complain to the media about people not doing what they are supposed to do. My favorite – oh wow the amount of funds has increased. Of course, village idiots when more children are being served then of course the funds will increase. That is how things work. First, train families and providers. Now, they have put Ms. Merz in charge and promoted her to be assistant commissioner in the disability area. What the heck?
Merz knows nothing about autism, EIDBI or any policy in my humble opinion. I think she is a privileged, white liberal woman who is entitled and protected. I have never seen her testify cohesively even when she took over Alex’s position. If you knew Alex, then you are lucky. Alex knew disability policies better than most. I remember when she first came to DHS from Hennepin County. She was humble, kind and always in the corner of people with autism and all disabilities.
Merz is clueless, egotistic, arrogant, out of touch, privileged, and entitled who thinks wrong and never does anything for autism right. One would ask why they promoted her to a higher position. Well – one name – Harpstead. Arguably, the worst and most racist DHS commissioner I have ever seen. Usually, DHS is never good even if the commissioner is, simply because middle management who never leave are the female version of George Wallace. But usually, if the commissioner is smart, and cares, she/he can direct lower-level staff to do better.
Harpstead and Merz are two peas in a pod. Well, actually at least Harpstead can fake testimonies and testify in the state human services committees. Merz looks nervous, cannot connect two sentences correctly and hardly testifies. Remember the number of times Alex would explain and testify at the state legislature about all things’ disability. Not Merz. She is yuk and yuky in my opinion.
They say all good things come to an end. I am hoping all bad things come to an end. I am hoping Walz’s term as a governor will end and we will get a new commissioner who then God willing will hire competent assistant commissioners. I for one cannot wait for Harpstead and Merz to go bye bye.
It seems that the new disability director who replaced Merz is Heidi Hamilton (HH). In the interest of fairness, which I cannot say the same for DHS in general, HH knows about statutes, policy, and disability almost as much as Alex did. After all Alex trained HH. From what I remember in my days at the State legislature, HH was quiet, neutral when needed to be, told facts when asked, and did not take sides. In terms of equity and inclusion which is a buzz word for most liberals who never mean it, HH did not care or understood it.
This is an election year folks, how we vote directly reflects who oversees so many things including DHS. Granted the One Minn Hoax Gov is not on the ballot, but the house is. We need to learn how to vote smarter and better. We must connect how we are treated and supported to our votes. Otherwise, our votes are Lax Ba’caad Lagu Lisay.
In the house: We need to vote out Rep. Kim Hicks who has worked behind the scenes against Somali autism families more than any other legislator. I think she is even worse than Rep. Kim Norton (current Rochester Mayor). If you know history then you remember – Norton was unapologetically against low-income autism families and MA paying for ABA therapy. They are both from Rochester and that county is as bad as it gets. Plus, Hicks campaigns against any Somali autism research. The nerve of her. I mean really. What the heck?
Autism in our community is 1 in 16. When I first started advocating – it was 1 in 32. How long can we sleep and be screwed with while our children get autism like it was candy. There are Somali families with two, three and even four children with autism. That should shock and anger all of us.
Something is happening in Minnesota. What if this is another modernized Tuskegee experiment? Think about it. Our teenagers who were lucky enough to not get an autism diagnosis are dying from drugs or in jail and our children are disproportionately being diagnosed with a disability. No way this is normal.
Qofkii walaalkiis loo xiiroow, adna soo qoyso. Ha is oran autism waxba igama galin.
The above words do not represent any candidate, agency, or committee and are solely my opinion based on my experience.
Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Retired Advocate