Alright, if you follow local news and/or local MN autism issues, you have heard that MN Autism Task Force had some members that left and some that have been appointed recently. All members of this task force are only appointed by an elected official, usually the senate majority leader or the speaker of the MN house.
One of the new members appointed by MN House Speaker Thissen is Rep Norton. Yay, my least fav autism elected official in MN. Rep Norton has written and voted as I have said many times some really horrible autism policies. Rep Norton’s autism bills/legislations flat-out discriminated against low income autism families who are disproportionately minorities. The worst of it all is that Rep Norton does not want to own, explain or defend her legislatons, rather run away from them and pretend it did not happen or we are stupid.
At any rate, the first thing Rep Norton does when she joins our little state autism task force is pick on & try to remove the only black person in this committee which is me. I kid you not and of course her disparity creator pal – Sen Eaton quickly joins her along MDH & Pacer reps who I have blogged about their failed policies and hogging Federal/State funds which clearly have not decreased autism disparity in Minn. So, this was not a surprise in my opinion.
Well – needless to say, I am not going to be bullied by them or anyone about autism and fighting for communities of color and under-served families. In fact, such bullies energize me to advocate even more for so many voiceless minority autism children and parents. So, I contacted MN GOP, MN DFL, Minority Liberty Alliance and Somali community leaders. And I got a call and support from MN GOP and MLA who also sent supportive emails on my behalf. In addition, I received unparalleled support letters from Somali American Parent Association and Confederation Somali Community of Minnesota. MN DFL approach to this “drop dead & don’t care” which was not a surprise and is the norm for them.
Nevertheless, I am sooooo grateful to MN GOP, MLA, SAPA and CSCM (which is the biggest Somali Community center MN and in the country per the number of Somalis it serves). I am also thankful to everyone especially parents who contacted me offline. You are all truly the wind behind my little wings. Thank you very much!
Here is the bottom line and a fact; MN Autism Task force is a public law written by Rep Mack (R) from Apple Valley and it has specific charge which is in a nut shell to write and implement a statewide autism plan from birth to adulthood across the spectrum. Nothing more and nothing less is needed. We are not there to be friends or enemies – just to debate autism policy publicly, vote on them publicly and defend our votes for All Minnesotans dealing with ASD. There are 19 members in this task force and I was nominated by chair of health and human services finance committee, Rep Abeler and appointed by previous speaker of MN House Rep Zellers. Here is the ASD charge.
The notion and the audacity of any member of this task force to remove another member or dictate what any member can or cannot say in their own time in their own opinions is silly, ridiculous and wrong. Rep Norton or any other public official has zero right & nerve to bully another member who disagrees with their autism policies.
Therefore, what I think of xyz MN elected officials public policy is my own opinion and my right.
My advice for Rep Norton and Sen Eaton would be – don’t introduce policies that you are going to be ashamed of in the first place. And your autism bill which said limited coverage for low income kids and unlimited coverage for wealthier kids is a shame in every sense of the word. I did not write that bill – you did and you should own it and defend it to all of your voters.
These are my opinions, what I think and do not represent MN autism task force or any committee.
Thanks!
Idil – Somali Autism Mom and Minority Advocate