As part of adding justa little more time on this blog, to help layman people what people like me exist and why we are out, since I am interested in policy and understanding governance, I feel like I should be the one that can try to help out to extract the jargon to more understandable (or sometimes politically incorrect phrases).

I feel for my peers who can’t really speak for themselves with the force feeding of HCBS… ahem OBS

Since the 1990s, the state had supported adults with intellectual disabilities home & community based supports also known as HCBS in the so-called “advocates” and other related groups.

The services unlike in special education, where one was most likely secluded in an out of district program as the worse case, the individual in this situation would be in the community for a measurable 30 hours a week. The theory – that is by having an active person with a disability in the community would being inclusion and tolerance. The “Out of Bathwater Services” or OBS as I will rename this can be an emotional burden to the individual or support staff. The reason why I say “out of bathwater” is because it’s taking people into uncomfortable and often unforgiving places even in 2024; a lot of this force began ten years ago to be implemented right as COVID brought mass infections in 2020, the regulations put a deadline.

“feeling like I am walking on a four sided Plexiglass telephone booth where I can see things and not touch it.” ironically the plexiglass metaphor couldn’t be so literal after COVID just five years after I mentioned this

Part of these regulations also forced a “code of ethics” for the direct support professionals, known to the people as DSPs and the power structures that would change to make the DSP be extremely Swiss or have sudden strict boundaries. This can make or break an individuals mature experience in society.

From ASAN, the Autistic Self Absorbed Network, to our trio of activism, question the effectively of being out in the community literally for 6 hours a day assuming you’re going to have a job. What if you don’t? What if you don’t have money to shop or eat out food?

In fact the push of OBS was one of the reasons I fought against it, the creation of the Hopeless Autistic was my written accounts of what I had already seen in SPED a decade before. It was the most literal example of Read the F-cking Manual and interpret it yourself, and be sure you  understand it properly to avoid a non-compliance fine.

I went so far to explain my experience to several seasoned professionals at DHHS “feeling like I am walking on a four sided Plexiglass telephone booth where I can see things and not touch it.” ironically the plexiglass metaphor couldn’t be so literal after COVID just five years after I mentioned this. COVID delayed this forced feeding of OBS at least another two years because the pandemic, but since late 2022, things are “back to normal”.

And back to normal of walking around as if one is socially isolated with a group of people and getting conflicting messages whether to be part of it or stay isolated. I feel for my peers who can’t really speak for themselves with the force feeding of HCBS… ahem OBS