Oregonians! Rally Round!

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Hi! yeah, yeah, I am a mod here on WP but I am an Oregonian living in Salem. I have a short bike ride to the Capitol building and I do a lot of testifying in front of the legislature. So far I have:

1) HB2599 A -Bullying legislation
2) HB 3466 - autistic database for law enforcement?
3) SB 460 - Birth anomalies and pregnancy outcomes registry
4) HB 2507 - extended diploma and transition services
5) HB 3000 - Autism (covered by) Insurance

Both the law enforcement and birth anomalies registries IMO need careful monitoring to make sure they aren't creating mandatory autism registries with out our consent, and to make sure that ethical considerations are fully explored and there are clear opt-outs. The bullying bill I'm especially interested in as I strongly believe that tolerance training is necessary--just cracking down on bullies is not in itself effective.

anyone have any imput they want to include?

I'll rally with you! I'm a Portlander, but my job sometimes takes me down Salem way. If this requires that I have an official Dx, then I think I may have finally found a valid impetus to seek one. I have excellent insurance through work, so it shouldn't be expensive.

Strengths:
- I have a strong sense of social justice and enjoy activism and reading.
- I have what could be described as a decent memory
- I can script my behaviors to pass as an NT and the collection of scripts I call "The Presenter" is probably my most polished.
- I know how to write and am published (magazine articles only, I'm afraid )
- I have strong ties to the Japanese community here in Portland and with our sister city Sapporo. In fact, I'm going there for a month this July. I also know several municipal officers of many other Japanese cities through involvement with The Tokyo Foundation and their former Municipal Officer's Mid Career Training Program. If it thrills you, I can PM you more about this; I risk becoming 'identifiable' if I disclose anything further.
- I like frogs and I know what to do if my kite winds around a power line. Only Oregon natives roughly my age are going to get that joke...

I can't drive to the Capitol and I wouldn't know what to do once I got there. Isn't there another way (online petitions, writing congressmen, etc?)

oh, absolutely! I was asking for people to WRITE A TESTIMONY about how bullying, or how you feel about a data base maintained by law enforcement on who is Autistic in the state or being on a 'birth outcomes' registry, etc. I have the proximity to the Capitol and can read off anything that needs to be put into the record towards the senate and house bills.

Damn, I'm impressed.

I'd suggest a "Million Autistics March on Washington," but everybody would take off in a different direction and most of us would end up at the Smithsonian or the National Art Gallery.

Apologies for double posting, but hey, I just thought of something.

I got laid off from my job a few weeks back. Pretty much the same story as millions of other people, hit by a rock during a landslide.

So last week I got this notice from the state unemployment people that I have to go into their office day after tomorrow to participate in some federal program involving "re-profiling and re-training."

I was deeply concerned I was being investigated or something, because there's a zero chance that anybody who talks to me is going to conclude that I'm an honest responsible citizen, but then I noticed some stuff in the news.

About the only thing I've seen in the federal "stimulus" package that sounds like it might do any significant good is the "green jobs" initiative. I think America's days as the world manufacturing center are over with and the "information age economy" was a fantasy. Creating jobs by fixing roads is fine, but once the road's fixed, everybody's unemployed again.

"Green Jobs" is a federal program, but I gather there's some state involvement in managing it.

It seems to me that this might be a nearly ideal situation to enhance employment opportunities for aspies and autistics while allowing us to make the greatest possible contribution to the rest of society by generating more jobs for the general population.

Aspies and autistics aren't disabled when it comes to understanding scientific and technical information, creating a green economy is all about innovation, and because of the nature of our thought processes, we would be more likely than Joe Ordinary to see connections and possibilities that didn't occur to other people.

In creating a green economy, a substantial amount of the professional communication would be in writing, so our disabilities in personal interaction would be far less disabling.

We're different, but we aren't dumb. If they give us a chance, they'll see how much we're capable of contributing.

Last edited by CanyonWind on 26 May 2009, 12:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Having a data base maintained by law enforcement on who is Autistic in the state? Are you frakking kidding me?

First of all, it's none of their damn business to know who is autistic, period.
I can understand the need as a way to not shoot an autistic person coming at you with a knife, but I can see more abuses by law enforcement knowing this information. I can see cops, especially the bullying kind, using this information to abuse or ridicule any autistic person in custody.

If a high functioning austistic wants to get a driver license, will the diagnosis inhibit the procurement, or cause the person to undergo further assesment? How about if they wish to purchase a firearm? Will these records be used to deny someone their Constitutional right? What other rights can be denied? Who decides what is good or safe for others? Would a pilots medical certificate be denied? Commercial driver? Might a firefighter be denied employment because of autism? How about a cop?

And just what pretell is a "Birth Anomalies Registry", and what is that supposed to do? Does that inform everybody their baby turned out to be less than NT? Will it include birth defects? Will it include DNA information? How will the information be used?

There was a movie I saw a good while back called Gattaca. Basically it's the story of a "love child" born without the "designer" DNA that was the norm for the upper class. The guy basically takes on someone elses identity and throught the use of technology and OCD, he becomes a part of that upper class and achieves his goal. I suggest viewing it to understand why I feel so strongly against records on ones health, both mental and physical, being kept by the State. It's already a slipery slope, and we don't need to throw more lubrication on it. (Sorry for the metaphor)

The State already has too much information on us, they need no more.

/rant

Last edited by Witch on 30 May 2009, 1:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

Correction. Just found out that I was randomly selected, and the lady I need to talk to at unemployment never heard of the green jobs program.

Around here, "environmentalist" is the worst thing you can call somebody, so I might have messed up already just by mentioning it.

I'm hoping against probability that this won't be one more case of, "Something I don't like about this guy. He's dumb and dishonest. I can always tell about people."

*Looks around at the gold pan waiting on the shelf and the tent in the corner. Wonders about next winter.*

Count me in!

I reside in Portland and will do anything possible to
get the attention of lawmakers in Salem.

I don't live in Oregon, but I can see it from here.
Viperaspis: I like frogs too and built a bog in my back yard for them.
CanyonWind: Ha ha! Yes, during a march on DC I would definitely end up at the part of the art museum built by I.M.Pei. I went there more years ago than I want to say and was astonished at how much more meaningful the building was than the art inside it.
Also, when did being an environmentalist become a bad thing? I am one, even though I believe that global warming caused by the sun is nothing we can do anything about and therefore cap and trade carbon credits are a human and economic disaster. We need enough wealth to be able to protect the environment.

But all that is beside the topic. Good going for you Merle!