CODA-Acclaimed Movie Spotlights Deaf Culture

The movie “CODA” (children of deaf parents) took home three Oscars at the recent Academy Award ceremony, including the top prize of Best Movie. Troy Kotsur, who plays Marlee Matlin’s husband won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Both Kotsur and Matlin are actors who are deaf. Kotsur is only the second actor who is deaf to win an Oscar. Matlin was the first, winning years ago for Best Actress in the film “Children of a Lesser God.” The third Oscar for “CODA” went to Sian Heder for best adapted screenplay.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature passed a budget that has been met with mixed reaction from the disability community. The New York fiscal year 2022-2023 budget expands eligibility for Medicaid and the Medicare Savings Program (MSP) reforms that will help hundreds of thousands of people better access and afford services. In contrast the budget denied direct support professionals (DSP), who support people with disabilities in their homes and in group homes, a cost of living (COLA) raise of 11 percent that the workforce had demonstrated and lobbied for.

A class-action lawsuit was brought against New York State for denying Medicaid-eligible children their legal right to mental health care. The suit was brought by Disability Rights New York, Children’s Rights, the National Health Law Program and Proskauer Rose LLP. The lawsuit is brought on behalf of Medicaid-eligible children under the age of 21 with mental health conditions. It asserts that despite federal laws requiring mental health services be available and provided to the state’s Medicaid children and youth, New York administers an inadequate, inaccessible and fragmented mental health system for these children and youth.

Excavator, backhoe, skid-steer, front-end loader and bulldozer are some of the heaviest tools of the construction trade, and The Learn Center in Ronkonkoma, N.Y. is training people with disabilities to operate these powerful machines. In 2011, The Learn Center became the first and only heavy equipment operator and safety training school licensed by the New York State Education Department (NYSED). As a result, the school became eligible for referrals from NYSED’s Adult Career and Continuing Education Services and Vocation Rehabilitation (ACCESS-VR) whose mission it is to assist individuals with disabilities to achieve and maintain employment.

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