First Conference of American Indian Women with Disabilities

By Barbara Duncan

Representatives of 59 tribes from 29 states participated in this ground-breaking five-day event, held February 29-March 4 by tribal invitation at the Ft. Mojave AVI Resort in rural Nevada. Participants included 250 women with disabilities and their allies, government officials and Native American health, education, advocacy and training specialists.

The situation of disabled American Indians was made clear in numerous presentations: they are overlooked and poorly served by all entities responsible for assisting them--government and tribal. A typical question posed by advocates that struck to the heart of the matter: "How can we begin to talk about prevention of secondary conditions when our primary conditions haven't even been recognized or responded to?"

Recommendations

The stark reality of life for this population can be described in statistics-estimates range from 21-30% rate of disability, the highest rate in the country-but, perhaps can only really be captured by face-to-face encounters. The impassioned pleas for immediate and greatly expanded attention to the needs of disabled children and adults living in Indian Country centered on:

• Simplified, streamlined services and support, with an end to the circuitous referral system now in place;
• Real coordination--or even, centralization among government agencies of available benefits and services;
• Increased support for services and awareness & advocacy projects created by American Indians that adhere to their cultural traditions;
• More frequent government-initiated consultations -especially about new laws, policies or regulations--held in Indian Country, with sufficient advance information to enable participation by more tribes in the process; and
• Assistance in educating tribal elders about disability issues, including on-reservation awareness events designed to prevent vehicular accidents, diabetes, abuse of alcohol and drugs, and to introduce the concepts of accessibility and inclusion.

The typical American Indian with a disability lives in or close to poverty, on a sparsely-populated reservation based 100 miles from a large town or city. She probably has no access to early intervention services, accessible or inclusive schooling or assistive technology. She and her family will find it difficult to determine what equipment, devices, therapy, housing adaptation or training are available, if they can be subsidized and if so, by which entity. She will probably not find a local support or advocacy group, unless she happens to live on one of the few reservations with its own vocational training or independent living project. Her ability to learn about and access services is likely to be further hampered by the lack of a tribal phone or local transportation system.

The Conference was one of a series organized by the World Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation International, sponsored by the Social Security Administration and the Department of Education. The conferences are designed to outreach to disabled women who, because of their minority group status or youth, are least likely to be connected in to education & employment opportunities. A full report of the Native American Conference is being prepared with the assistance of AIRROW-American Indians Rehabilitation & Rights Organization of Warriors.